Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

From a previous thread;
Some good links to help you;
Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

It does look like Mint may be the way to go for me.

While I understand that it isn't going to be exactly like Windoze, I need some common ground to work from so I can get familiar with the Linux/Unix system and become more familiar with it. Otherwise it's no different to being a car mechanic and then apply for a job working on jet engines, you're completely out of your depth and wouldn't last 5 minutes in the job. Being the type of person I am, the fact that it works isn't the issue, I want to know how it works and what I can do to solve problems when it decides not to work for some reason.

As with Windoze, I know that some issues are caused by drivers and some by corrupt system files, viruses and malware and I know how to identify and solve many of the problems, I don't like waiting around with an unusable computer too long until I get answers. I am very impatient and would rather format the HD and re-install the OS than wait a couple of days for an answer that will solve the problem.

Thanks for the help guys, I will lurk around here for tips that may help in future. I'll probably be more of a lurker than a poster unless I want to get some info I can't find elsewhere.

To use your car analogy, this would come down to buy a new car instead of learning how to fix it.

Give the Xfce edition a shot.

Or the Cinnamon variety if you want a full featured desktop, file manager etc.

I think using the right forums, like Newbie that you've used here, Software, or Linux General you can probably ask many questions just about things like "What spreadsheet program is available to me?" And cite that you're just getting started, have installed (blah-blah), just don't know and are looking for suggestions. When people understand what your situation is and what you're looking for clearly, it helps a lot. And you've already done that here.

Given that you wish to get a similar experience to Windows and also that you've mentioned it's not always easy to determine what the system has available, I figured that it might be something they've documented. MINT has an Introduction and User's Guide document which you can peruse. The first half seems to be all about installation, but the second half discusses using MINT. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the screens to aid in one's choices. Here is their screenshots page and what I was hoping was that they'd show some differences to demonstrate the differences between MATE, KDE, and Xfce desktops, but they end up all looking near identical. My thinking is that when a new user goes to download, they get about 8 choices and probably many of them sit there thinking, "Well, which one do 'I' want?" Sorry, I hope this helps versus causes you to have more questions. For myself, I usually grab the top option and play around with it to determine if I really like it.

Zorin strives hard to please Windows refugees.

Personally i would recommend to you to pick something that is as far from Windows and close to modern Linux (not UNIX) as possible, like Fedora or Debian, and play with it in virtualbox or something. That way you can fully realize Linux is not Windows: user account by default is a good thing (it might be your disc, but it is your security as well), questions about antiviruses are moot.

Hi,

Anti-virus is not moot if you service MS Windows systems on your LAN.

Linux, the best anti-virus.

I'm kinda suprised nobody pointed to this

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...reenshots-114/

Made for noobies.