Brings to mind a memory (probably not at all helpful here:) my aunt a lawyer once told me she couldn't deal with the more technical sides of her computing, "too much jargon" to which I quickly replied "Jargon? Your a lawyer!" http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?letter=L

Not much jargon in a G.U.I. (here's the acronym for acronym A..)

Most Linux distributions have excellent desktops that are easier to learn than Windows. Common tasks such as installing software and setting up new hardware are often easier on Linux than on Windows, due to hardware support being in the kernel and software being in the repositories. Let's not sell Linux short in the ease-of-use department.

1 members found this post helpful.

Try to use Windows when you are used to Linux. Total disorientation. Does that mean Windows has a steep learning curve?

I can't even use an Android tablet. When I try to install software I see windows popping up all over, then asking for this, then for that, then for my Google account... I don't touch Android devices and let my 12 yr old son do whatever has to be done.

A steep learning curve as well?

jlinkels

1 members found this post helpful.

I notice that Mr GypsyDan has not posted back, perhaps just wanted us to start an internel disscussion?
Really Dan it's not that difficult, it's just you cannot buy it ready installed in the high street in some countries.

Fred.

I thought the OP was a troll, until I looked at his posting history.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post4615456

The problem is simple, but I do not understand it. You want to stop using Windows, but you do not want to learn another system. You want something different, but you want to continue using the Windows applications you are used to.
1) Using something different will be different. It will require getting used to something new.
2) What is the point of using something else, if you want the new thing to be the same as the old?

The real hurdle you are facing is being unwilling to change your outlook. As long as you continue to look for something that is both different and the same, you will never find a suitable substitute. Needing to learn is not the problem you are having. The problem is being unwilling to learn. For some reason, you expect all operating systems to be the same. If that were the case, why would there be more than one?

1 members found this post helpful.

Linux is not for young geeks only. Many of us here are neither young nor geeky. (See, for example, http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...re-4175473149/)

I'm not young, and no one would consider me a geek. I've had Linux and Linux alone on my personal laptop since around 2002, when Windows came up with an upgrade that wouldn't fit on my two-year-old laptop. I had already used Unix, so it wasn't such a big shift, but I had never partitioned a disk. It just takes a little bit of patience to research how to do things. I tried switching to Mac OS-X in 2006 after several friends told me it was the same as Linux but better. It wasn't. After four months of exasperation, I ended up selling that machine for half of what I'd paid for it. I was forced to use Windows for work for close to two years, and it was a nightmare. When you're used to Linux, having to remember things like which menu is where is a nightmare. Things stop working, and you have no idea how to fix them. I've never come across a Linux problem I couldn't solve with a Google search. (I don't even ask questions; I simply find similar questions that have been asked and answered.) Moreover, there are things you can do on Linux that you simply cannot do on Windows or Mac -- for example, re-define a keyboard key (such as the Windows key) to do something useful (such as turn it into a Compose key to be able to type foreign characters). This may seem arcane, but not if you've tried to use Emacs, a program that requires frequent use of the Ctrl key, on a machine made by Apple, which has brilliantly replaced it with its Apple key and left a Ctrl key only on one side of the keyboard.

Windows works well if you can afford to buy a new computer every three years along with expensive anti-virus software, and/or work at a company where you have a system administrator or more experienced colleagues who can help you fix things when you're completely stuck. Linux is for the rest of us.

2 members found this post helpful.

Made me wonder if the problems the OP are facing have to do with "starting" with Linux. I will grant that to obtain and install Linux, a person has to take some initiative rather than just buy a new PC with Windows all set up on it. You can buy Linux PC's they're just less common and definitely not on sale at the large retail stores.Good thought researching that. Does shed some light. I wonder if the OP means Wordperfect for DOS from back in the 80's or if they actually are interested in Wordperfect which actually has a current release. My suspicion is that they prefer the older variant.Agreed. I've seen quite a few retirees posting on these forums, some of them quite intelligent as well as covering interesting topics.

Hi,

I have been a Linux user since Slackwares' first release. Never looked back. I wanted a UNIX-like system and Slackware provides that to me. Learning curves are a challenge for some because they put up the block; 'So hard, where do I go next but forget where they just step from?'. You learned to walk by taking that first step and when you fell down you learned to get up in order to take the next step. Sure, Gnu/Linux semantics & syntax can be troublesome but repeated use will help you to respond from the learned process. There are many hold-your-hand Gnu/Linux that can and will fulfill the needs of the masses to have a working system that will require you to step through the portal to get things done on the new Desktop. Personally, I like the command line(cli) and find that you can learn to do more directly than you can from a GUI that someone else has developed to hopefully provide a completed action without fault.

Thankfully, you will have DuckDuckGo or Google to find useful information for that new Gnu/Linux that you seem to stumble through. You can use the documentation that should be available for the chosen Gnu/Linux. As they say, RTFM or you post back here to get some useful aid. Some members may even suggest that you to RTFM or reference LQ FAQ.

Or learn to follow this quotation to motivate your endeavors with a Gnu/Linux;
Learn to accept the challenge as a means to the end when learning to use the new Desktop. Investigate and look into the deep abyss to find the answers to your questions.
Plus;
Walking uphill is beneficial to your well being! It may be hard but each step leads to the crest and then things becomes easier as you descend to the goals in the future. The hills become smaller inclines that you will achieve from the time spent learning from your involvement with achieving each step of the process of learning something new. That you too could share with fellow members.

Plus, Have fun & enjoy!
Hope this helps.

Nothing like a one shot. If you cant invest the time to learn it, that's your problem.

as i tell everybody that says linux is too hard to learn try learning american english if i didn't learn it from birth forget it

1 members found this post helpful.

Shouldn't that be "fugeddaboudit"?

I think Mr Gypsy has gone and left us to it.

Fred.

Hi,
Not a constructive post! Encouragement will help others to gain in their endeavor rather than discouragement which does nothing but cause one to look blankly at that poor type of response.

Have fun & enjoy!

I just looked at the registration date after i read this post. 10 posts since '06? Maybe if he used the computer more he'd be better at it..

Burn Mint to DVD & boot.
Your files are protected.
If you like it, take a backup and install the Linux DVD.