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Why would I move from Windows to Linux?
I've got a feeling macOS is the most secure out of all of them. It's just something unexplainable that I saw that I cannot put into words. This makes me feel there's no point in switching from Windows to Linux and I don't like MAC so not much more needs to be said there.
I really love the reboot command in Linux, makes you actually want to reboot the system every now and then since it's so easy to do. Windows is a beautiful design in my opinion, or maybe I am just brainwashed from using it for so long. I really have no clue why I would want to move to Linux yet something is still bugging me to do so. This post makes no sense to me whatsoever any more, maybe someone can enlighten me and we shall see if I can wake up a little. |
Hey proN00B,
If you're interested in linux, try it ... You don't need to "switch". You can try linux in a virtual machine on your Windows host system, you can try it in a dual boot configuration on the same machine, on a different machine ... You may only figure out if you want to "move from Windows to linux" after having used it for a while .... I've been using Linux for about 11 years now but I still use Windows occasionally. I gather you're here on LQ because you're, at the very least, curious. Curiosity is a good thing IMHO .. the more you know about different things the better off you are. Let us know if you decide to give linux a try and if you need any help. Cheers. |
Personally, I find every version of Windows is harder to use then the last. If Microsoft was smart, they would stick with a simpler interface that everyone could use, like Window 7 and then put the security and such of Windows 10 underneath. I would never give a Windows 10 computer to a computer illiterate person, but I would give a Raspberry Pi to one. It is just simpler to use.
On Linux, if you don't like the user interface, you can try another one. I think there are over a dozen active desktop environments right now. I know some people are afraid of the command line, but I find it exhilarating. I am often surprised how many complex tasks that I can do with awk, things that an ordinary Windows user would have no clue how to do. Grep is a lot of fun too, again things a Windows user wouldn't even know how to do. And then there are the toys, Linux comes with lots of free toys, free networking, free databases, and more free compilers. Ok, there is a learning curve, a few good books help. It is like any discipline, the more you put into it, the more you get out. Terry H. |
You should move from windows to Linux if Linux will solve one or more problems you're having under your current OS. You may want (instead of need) to make the move if you prefer Linux. You'll only know if you give it a try, and here you have several options.
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Something that worries me about Linux is that it doesn't seem very stable, like there are always errors when using it. I remember when installing there would be this microcode 22 error or something like that, it would still install but then what was the error about? It makes me feel like something about the installation is corrupt due to that error. Then I'd also find errors when downloading updates and stuff, and it makes me wonder how does the system make sure that it stays clean, like I'm not sure how to explain this but when it comes to Windows I feel like if you want to keep your system clean you simply need to reinstall every now and then. I can only imagine it being similar for Linux?
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As someone already mentioned, you don't have to switch, you can have it all.
However, one glaring reason does come to mind. Free software. Almost everything you can do in Windows on a paid piece of software has a counterpart in Linux that is free of monetary costs (learning curve yes, cash no). Examples, Microsoft Word/office apps - Linux has Libreoffice (and several other options!) Adobe Photoshop - Linux has Gimp Adobe Illustrator - Linux has Inkscape Plus, there are tons of specialized software packages available, and even distributions focused on specific things such as audio production (Ubuntu Studio), HAM Radio (Andy's), pen testing (Kali linux and Parrot linux). Here's a big list to give you the idea of the range of software available on Linux for several specialty areas. Note that the items with an asterisk in front of them I get in my distros "standard" repos though, like the security ones below could be found in Parrot Linux repo, which wouldn't be a default for the big name Linux distros. Video production:
graphic design:
Astronomy:
graphics utilities:
Photography:
Audio Production:
Effects:
Instruments:
Mixers and Card Controllers:
Hamradio
Antenna
CW -Morse Code
Digital Modes
Electronic Design
HF Propagation
Logging
Rig Control
Satellites
Other random ham stuff:
Parrot Security top tools
Information Gathering
Vulnerability Analysis
Exploitation Tools
Post Exploitation
Password Attacks
Wireless Testing
Sniffing & Spoofing
Digital Forensics
Reverse Engineering
Reporting Tools
Cryptography
Anon Surf
Games:
Misc. stuff
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn2Ow...5%E2%80%932018
While NetBSD/OpenBSD tend to be one of the higher secure reported OS's, the problem is that that the path to secure is a whole host of things to make a system secure. From hardware to software and all the settings and patches in the OS and programs tend to make it secure. Look at "best practices" and use as many as you can. |
The main kicker for me was development. If you want to develop for windows, you're out $2,500 (circa 1996) for visual studio 97 (v. 5.0). If you want to develop for linux, FREE.
As a mostly linux user (circa 2002) since I haven't had a job that required windows since then. I find it difficult to "use" windows. Highlight and middle mouse click to paste, not in windows, right mouse -> copy, right mouse -> paste. ALT+down arrow to bring the current thing under the other windows (in linux / cwm). Not in windows, ALT+tab ... over and over ... until you're where you want to be ... *sigh*. Less of an issue when screens only had 640x480 pixels. But with 3840x2160 pixels, it takes a long time to move the mouse to the bottom (taskbar) to select the app and back to the app. If you're vision / eye sight is even "that" good. Windows drives a man to drink. Linux lets a man drink if he so chooses. |
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So is Linux any better in terms of stability? Well, in the 5 years or so of using it as a daily, Xubuntu was fairly stable, but had a few tiny glitches - nothing that broke functionality. Ubuntu I moved to a year ago, but it was very unstable for me - loads of issue started popping up after about a month and I was not really doing much other than using it for work. Now for the past 3-4 months I have been using Debian 10 with Cinnammon and some nice themes/icons and this is rock-solid - not a single app or OS error whatsoever - it is early days I suppose, but Debian is known for its stability and is popular for servers and desktops alike. Gaming is great, everything is great so far! There is so much choice - I can only mention my experience as above as those are the only distros I have given much time to. IMHO - I think Windows 10 is not great looking and the start menu has to be the worst idea ever. MacOS is clean but dull as dishwater design-wise. Cinnammon with my themes (Adapta-Nokto border and controls, Paper icon pack, qob desktop) - looks stunning :D |
Because you wanted to...why else would ANYONE move from one OS to another?
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I'm currently installing updates in my Windows 8 virtual machine, and it's about annoying as it can be. In comparison, updating a Linux distro is as painful as eating a Boston Cream Doughnut. My girlfriend uses Windows 10 (she's an MS Office person who is a professional editor and needs Word), and it makes Windows 8 look cooperative by comparison. Then there's the whole Windows spyware thing, but that's another issue. As for why switch, as others have pointed out, that's up to you. My own thought is that, unless you are wedded to some bit of Windows software (like my friend and MS Word), giving Linux a look-see might be worth your while. And, unlike MacOS, Linux will not lock you into a walled orchard. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) |
Freedom - for you & your computer. ;)
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My own experience has been that in general, I've found linux more stable than Windows. I haven't used MacOS to the extent that I can offer an opinion there. I've found certain distros more solid and stable than others, and I eventually arrived at my current distro of choice (Arch) based on my objectives and, I guess to a large extent, personality. I like to be able to have a lot of control over the OS .. What is installed, what isn't, how it's tuned, etc. (one of the reasons I've never been attracted to Apple products ...). So in my particular case, Arch fits the bill. I can install as much or as little as I want : the computer I'm typing this on is a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 with Arch and Gnome ... pretty full-featured, however my servers at home have a very stripped-down base install of Arch without even the X layer, much less a desktop environment ... I interact with them almost exclusively through ssh and VMs. In between I have several older machines that I configure Arch on as optimally as possible to attain the best performance / functionality balance. Finally, since I am really not a fan of huge updates, I *love* Arch's rolling release nature. It's simply always up to date if I update it ... that simple. Paradoxically, although this in theory can introduce a higher potential level of instability, my actual experience has been that my Arch systems have been much more stable than anything I've previously tried with linux (Ubuntu / Debian derivatives, mostly). Hope this helps. Cheers. |
There are as many answers to the question of "why DID you switch" as there are people who moved to Linux from anything else. Many people do not have an answer until AFTER they switched, and it may not be the answer that would have moved them before they tried.
In general: economy, freedom, access to a greater range and quality of free and open source software, avoidance of vendor lockin (fits with freedom but with additional economic considerations), need for better disaster recovery, need for better performance: the list could go on for pages! Not everyone should move Desktop, Server, or laptops to Linux if they are on something else. For some, whatever they have is a perfect fit for what they do. For everyone else there are choices, and about 92% of the best choices involve Linux. Most of the rest involve BSD/FreeBSD, KolibriOS, or another of the alternative operating systems. (If a proprietary Operating System is the problem, another proprietary operating system is seldom the answer.) If your current platform is working for you I would not reload it. Run Linux on alternate (used, perhaps free/cheap) hardware or in a virtual machine as guest within your current OS (the tools are free) and explore. This way you risk little, and gain knowledge. |
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