I'm going Linux... I think...

Taco Bot · Post by **Taco Bot** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 12:41 am

Okay, so I've been thinking about going Linux for I while now, but I haven't gone through with it. I'm finally gonna do it! That is, if I can find a good version to use. Any recommendations? Here's my current specs:

Toshiba Satellite C55-A
Intel Pentium CPU 2020M @ 2.40GHz
6.00 GB RAM (5.88 GB usable)
64-bit OS
Windows 8.1

I was thinking of something Windows-ish, with a taskbar and preferably window controls on the right.

Thanks, dudes.

Meowskivich · Post by **Meowskivich** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 1:22 am

I will watch this, as I'm interested in Linux as well.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 3:12 am

Some Ubuntu variant would prolly be the easiest if you're looking for something easy to transition to. Or you could go with Debian.

As for "flavors", personally, I'd recommend going with XFCE over Gnome or anything else, but that's mostly because I'm an XFCE fanboy, hehe.

Foxley · Post by **Foxley** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 3:51 am

I haven't tried Linux Mint but I hear it's one of the easiest distros to transition to from Windows. Min/Max/Close buttons are on the upper right of windows, too.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 4:14 am

I use Ubuntu, but the first thing I do when I set up ubuntu on a computer is install the gnome-shell package, log out, switch to "Gnome Classic" and log back in.

Both Linux Mint and Xubuntu are solid recommendations. I have used both at work, and I like them both.

Taco Bot · Post by **Taco Bot** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 4:53 am

Sweet! Thanks for the help, guys. I'm thinking of going with Mint Debian or Xubuntu, but I've heard that Windows 8 doesn't do well with other oses. Any info on that?

Post by **TMC** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:12 am

The window manager is responsible for things like window "decoration" (including window buttons) and task bars. The WM plus the core OS programs like configuration is often called the shell (e.g. gnome shell). That's somewhat independent of the distribution: a distribution may officially support multiple shells and and probably many different WMs.

KDE is what I use on my desktop machine, and it's more Windows-like than GNOME. But realise that in GNU/Linux land, WMs are hugely more customisable than the standard Windows and OSX WMs. Probably even GNOME could be made to look and function identically to Windows.

Taco Bot · Post by **Taco Bot** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:07 am

BIG UPDATE!

After countless hours (like 2) of thinking, I have decided on a distro!
Which one is it you may ask? Xubuntu? Mint? Debian?
Actually none of these.
In the end, after trying out countless live sessions, I've settled with...
Zorin!
(Everybody boos and throws popcorn)
I got it to dual boot really easily, and it works swimmingly!
Currently using it in GNOME 2 mode, and I'm loving it. (Yes, I gave up WinXP and Win7 modes for GNOME.)

Post by **TMC** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 9:49 am

GNOME 2 must be nice and fast. Just like Win XP on modern hardware is so amazingly fast, it almost makes up for being over a decade old.

Zorin actually seems quite nice. Having a premium version is both a positive and negative.

Taco Bot · Post by **Taco Bot** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:15 pm

TMC wrote:Zorin actually seems quite nice. Having a premium version is both a positive and negative.

Yeah. But I don't need to shell out the cash for a Mac desktop.