New PC! And... Linux?

I have used Linux Mint, you made a good choice. It is based off the larger branch of Debian linux.

Here's what I can say, most things that you will want to do with your computer can be done with Linux, including software RAID which Windows supports and not too distant in the past Linux would not support... Anyway, the problems I ran into were that some applications, in my case SlingTV, are not ported to Linux at all and there's no work around. I also had problems with getting Linux to pass AC3/DTS surround sound to my sound card and couldn't really find any information or fix.

If you're not concerned with a lot of that stuff then you'll probably be fine.

You may find that there are some things you have to do through a terminal window (or command prompt) which if you're used to the Windows command prompt are completely different syntax, so there is a learning curve there.

 

Desktop Linux is undergoing a major transition right now. The display server is being changed from the ancient and insecure X Window System to a more modern implementation, Wayland. Right now, Mint is kind of on the wrong side of the road: as it is based on Ubuntu long term support releases, it won't get any major updates until mid-2018.

The best Linux distribution right now is probably Fedora. I wouldn't usually recommend Fedora as it's too bleeding edge sometimes but right now, it's the only major distribution which has undergone all the major changes.

---------- Post added 13th Jan 2017 at 08:21 AM ----------

By the way I see you have a dedicated video card. If it's a newer Nvidia card, you aren't getting Wayland anyway. Nvidia support for Linux is rather poor.

 

I have used Ubuntu...getting it setup & running correctly was a bit of a pain, but I found answers to the issues I was having through google searches (I have no idea if the stuff like the soundcard works since I have no need for it on that computer)

It ofcourse helped that I was also comfortable using a terminal/command-prompt window, having used actual Unix in the past.

 

I've been using Linux for more than a decade and love it. I'm currently using Mint and have few if any problems with it.

 

Linux does have a learning curve, but the difficulty depends on which distro you're using.

Installing any mainstream distro such as Ubuntu is literally easier than installing Windows, especially if you also consider the time you will waste by separately obtaining/installing necessary tools/applications from various resources. By the way, good choice with Mint; Linux Mint is already providing a quite functional "out of the box" experience by having pre-configured proprietary drivers/third party packages.

If you want to continue to run Windows apps on Linux, there's a program called Wine that allows you to install Windows programs and use them just as if you were on a Windows OS. All platforms are supported by popular applications, too... For example, Skype and Spotify have official Linux ports. On the other hand, there will be always platform dependent/native applications. The thing is, OS X and Windows are suffering equally from that problem.

From my perspective, it's difficult to understand why people bother with Windows (outside of 'comfort zone'), between defragging, cleaning out caches, all the trouble with firewalls, and maintaining 3 different antivirus programs, plus a malware scanner. Windows really doesn't change anything except for the desktop interface.

 

I would recommend ubuntu ,with their new version it is very user friendly (not so much as windows). But it hardly hangs up or slow.With the support and software center it is very easy to use than other linux versions.

 

I switched to Linux from Windows about a year ago and it was a little hard to get used to at first but overall I like it better than Windows. I do a lot of programming and it's much easier to do on a Linux system

 

I would not hesitate to get into Linux instead of Windows. I think it's fascinating to explore and it gives you so much to work with.

Patrick

---------- Post added 2nd Mar 2017 at 08:25 PM ----------

Also if you're curious check out Raspberry Pi, which I've done some work on recently. For not even $80 it's a self-contained server and Linux distribution that's great for trying things out. I've actually used Java to run my model railroad with it! Lots of interesting things to try that are challenging but not too complicated.

Patrick

 

I've used Linux for more than 10 years now. In recent years, it's been my primary OS. It has worked well for me.

I'm currently using an older version of Linux Mint, which has worked well for me, and I may continue using until the end of support.

One thing that helps me: I don't need any sort of specialized software that's Windows only.

Above, someone suggested Fedora. It might be worth playing with. But Fedora has, historically, been a bit more demanding to work with when it comes to administration. (That said, when setup and running properly, it's probably no different than any other distro similarly equipped.) The fact that its cutting edge can also pose problems (stuff more likely to be buggy). Although, unfortunately, I've heard some rumbles that Ubuntu has had some...ah...growing pains? in Ubuntu 16.04 (which is the base for the current Linux Mint).

I've read one reviewer who liked Ubuntu 14.04, but seems to now favor Fedora. But it's not because of new technology, but because it worked well for him in testing as a desktop OS.

---------- Post added 3rd Mar 2017 at 12:38 AM ----------

What?!? Control a model rail road? I thought one was supposed to dress up in an engineer's uniform, and stand there carefully running the trains one self! :lol:

Seriously, though, the Pi is interesting in being cheap and able to do specialized tasks.

When I was in high school, my chemistry (and maybe my physics teacher) actually had old Apple II Plus computers that they'd use as experiment computers. They were probably the Pi of the day in many ways. It was easy to make measurement systems that could connect. (I think my chemistry teacher had one that he made that connected to the joystick port.) And it was probably easy and fast to write software.

 

Exactly, the Raspberry Pi and Linux to run trains are just an example of embedded systems programming. I use the "Java Model Railroad Interface" (JMRI) dev environment. Just getting into unraveling train control and soon to be automating turnouts, lights etc. Sometimes universities use trains to teach systems automation even so it's kind of like industrial process design.

I may also have a denim cap too. Blue collar guys are just plain hot! *grin*

Patrick

 

I have a Pi as well & will be using it to control lights
Interesting that people are using them to control Model Trains!

 

If you're looking for something that's really easy to get used to and should work well, I would consider Zorin OS. It is designed to look like Windows 7, but can be easily changed to designs like XP, 95, Mac OS, and others if you donate. Though I haven't used it in a long time, it ran well and is based on Ubuntu, so stability should be no issue.

I have nothing against Linux Mint, in fact, I think Mint is great. I'd just consider looking at Zorin if you're looking for something easy to get used to.