Changing Laptop to Run Linux

[Duman]

I want to run Linux on an old (Windows-7) laptop. The reasons I can explain offline.

Questions:
1. What flavor of Linux is more 'standard' these days, Red Hat? Ubuntu ?
2. Can I do this on a W7 machine, or should I get a W10 machine ? (since W7 support is gone).

I'm just getting started, looking for help/suggestions.

Thanks!

[soupsandwich]

Check out this Forbes article - https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2020/01/29/read-this-before-upgrading-from-windows-7-to-ubuntu-linux/#5b418b417345

The author, Jason Evangelho, has been doing a number of articles and podcasts about moving from Windows to Linux.

[Gman]

I would see if the laptop vendor has Linux drivers for your model. Desktops tend to be much simpler and don't require the large driver stacks that come with most laptops.

Are you planning on running a virtualized Linux machine on top of Windows? If Linux is the host OS, shouldn't matter regarding Win7 support.

If you're looking to run specific Linux applications, I'd check to see which distributions are preferred for the app. Linux applications don't have universal installation packages. The 'favorite distribution' seems to vary when distributions add new functionality.

I'd check out CentOS (https://www.centos.org/) (RHEL base) since I know it's used widely in development environments (if there's no application dependencies). Linux Mint (https://linuxmint.com/) is popular and has a familiar GUI. Ubuntu (https://ubuntu.com/) is big enough that there are specific installation packages that are almost singularly directed toward Ubuntu (TensorFlow used for machine learning is one I've run across).

[spqrzilla]

If you intend to completely overwrite the laptop, it does not matter which Windows it had. I suggest Linux Mint as the better choice especially for older hardware.

[whitewalrus]

I would go CENTOS or Debian if you want something that?s ?standard? Linux. Ubuntu isn?t standard Linux. They have done a lot to go their own way.

Both centos and Debian have a large following and plenty of packages.

As mentioned above if you are going to take the windows OS off and install Linux, no reason to get a new laptop or upgrade windows.

If you just want to try it out before you actually switch, you can get one of the many distributions that run off CD or USB. This will allow you to determine if you want to go down that path or not.

[Gman]

By the way, thanks for the nudge. ;-) I'm checking out the new distros as Hyper-V virtual machines on my laptop. It has been a while since I poked around with Linux.

[FoxtArt]

If you want a windows type-desktop user geared experience, consider Ubunutu. Want to adjust your nerd glasses, say you're going to learn how to swim no matter the cost - then dive into the deep end of the pool, command-line Debian. Want to do some server stuff and want a mix of GUI desktop but more server focused, openSUSE (on a KDE). As pointed out, CentOS has a strong following too.

Hardware's all that matters, not what version of an operating system something currently has. BTW it's harder to virtualize windows inside of linux than linux inside of Windows if you're planning to run virtual machines inside of linux. But it's still very doable (KVM/QEMU works, many others don't), just not really week 1 beginner stuff.

You can also run linux on 20 year old hardware - esp if you at most, run with stripped down GUI.

[Justin]

I made a similar switch a couple of years ago; bought a new laptop and set it up to dual boot Windows and Linux. I was just looking to use it as a standard laptop for doing standard laptop things; surf the web, check email, general MS Office type things.

For those kinds of things, and for the best user experience, the most common options seem to be either Ubuntu or Mint. I opted for Mint, but I would have probably been just as happy with Ubuntu.

For doing the installation, the website for whichever OS you pick should have pretty comprehensive writeups on how to go about installing the OS, and there are also tons of Youtube videos that show you how to go about doing an install as well.

The nice thing with them, is if you want to test drive the OS, it's pretty easy to make a bootable thumbdrive, so you can play around with the OS before committing to a full install.

As much as I like Linux, there are a few issues I've had with it. Open Office and Neo Office work quite well for 95% of applications. However, if you need to use files with inbuilt macros or that utilize specific plugins you're going to be out of luck. I ran into this issue when I was going through a few training classes last year, so had to pony up for an Office license on the Windows side.

The other thing I've found is that while Linux has gotten very user friendly, it still behooves you to be at least somewhat familiar with how to do things from the command line, as this is sometimes the only way to accomplish something.

I also ran into a weird issue where my laptop wouldn't boot into Mint after I stupidly allowed the machine to run the battery down. I ended up having to do a full reinstall of Mint, so I would suggest using the included backup tools to protect your files in case of something weird like this. (FWIW, I'm not sure if the issue was related to Mint, or if there's a problem with the laptop's hard drive.)

[CS1983]

Just spin up virtual box and try several.

[Duman]

Just spin up virtual box and try several.

Ummmm....yeah....

I'd rather get a refresh of inter valley scattering in high e-fields during ballistic transport........

[Duman]

I'm continually impressed with the breadth of knowledge of members on this site....