I am one of many (I suspect) who wants to get right away from Microsoft! I am a very happy user of Windows 7 and resent both W8 and W10! I also use vb6 extensively. I'm looking for an easy to use distro that has a look and feel as much like Windows 7 as possible (eg no black screen!) and that I can put straight to work with email, net, word processing, spreadsheets, and that will run Wine, so that I can sandbox applications like vb6. What do members advise for a person with not a lot of spare time for a steep learning curve, who just needs the o/s to *work*!?

I note that last year I asked a similar question and other work got in the way of proceeding. Hearing that I can run vb6 IDE and apps in Wine has rekindled my interest, as well as the fact that Micro$oft pulling the plug on W7 is getting ever nearer. I am moving towards making my laptop entirely Linux and then if that works out, doing the same with my production desktop. I do like the look and feel of W7 however, and would like to keep it (the look and feel that is!).

If you truly want to "get right away from Microsoft" you sure do have a lengthy list of their products to run on Linux.

Sincere Advice:
Stay with Windows.
Run Linux in Virtualbox. Finding a Distro that has all those elements/requirements is just not in the cards. Sorry.

1 members found this post helpful.

I'm surprised to read this. Surely there are alternative word processing and spreadsheet programs, browsers and email clients? plus I understand I can run vb6 under Wine. And surely there is a distro that does not have a black screen and has a similar look and feel to W7?.

Run Linux Mint. Embrace and appreciate the differences from Windows 7, and the similarities to it too. You're on a hiding to nothing if your main aim is to get a distro as close to Windows 7 as possible - you'll never be happy. You can't stay in the Windows 7 time bubble for ever.

Once you get Mint up and running, you can set up a Windows 7 Virtual Machine in Mint and use that for any software for which you truly can't find the equivalent software in Linux, but make every effort to find and use Linux equivalents.

But, most important of all, keep an open mind and throw away your preconceptions. Use software to get things done, not just because it has a look and feel that you're used to.

1 members found this post helpful.

Point taken. Providing I do not get forced to have a black screen (!) I'm quite willing to change. I probably overemphasised the keep look and feel issue!

Yes there are. *Lots of them*.

See here, for example:

http://lifehacker.com/lifehacker-pac...l-li-815376368

http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...ware-linux.htm

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...f_applications

https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index...Linux_software

https://prism-break.org/en/categories/gnu-linux/

The way I moved across to Mint from Windows 7 was to initially set up a dual boot, setting up a shared NTFS partition for data. I then found as many Linux programs as I could to carry out similar functionality as the ones I had used in Windows (easy for some programs such as Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice and VLC which exist for both operating systems) and installed/configured them on the Linux side.

I then set up a VirtualBox Windows 7 VM in Mint, as I mentioned in my previous post, to run any Windows software for which I couldn't find suitable Linux replacements (there weren't many).

For several months I booted up solely into the Mint side of the dual boot, and then I booted up into Windows one day, deleted all the non-system software to retain a core Windows 7 Operating System ("just in case") and never booted up into the Windows side of the dual boot again. The "just in case" never happened.

1 members found this post helpful.

What exactly do you mean by a "black screen"?

Like the way photoshop renders!

I have the luxury of several machines so I can just devote one to Linux. I wonder if they will continue to network?

Yes they will. Google network linux windows for more info.

Ah, I've been fortunate never to experience that with Photoshop. I'm using GIMP now - it's pretty nifty.

https://www.linuxmint.com/documentat...glish_18.0.pdf

>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNVBpuoLOE <<<

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQA29l0xXl4

1 members found this post helpful.

...

You haven't FELT the wonder of OS VirtualReality until you have spent JUST a FEW minutes with VBox
Relegate the MagnificentMalfeasance of Win10 to being a huge device driver, on a web kiosk.
And osBoxes.org, to skip the 5 minutes it takes to install Linux (vs 5 hours to install M$Win)
I offer a full double-your-time-back guarantee, if you don't fall in love with VirtualBox
p.s. BlackScreen=CLI; GUI=BloatWare

1 members found this post helpful.

What about taking Lennart and his guys to court?

This one is right over my head. What's it all about? BTW, Mint seemed to be the preference.... or have I opened a can of worms?