6 Things to Know When Switching to Linux from Windows

this was a great movie Chris - great direction, very generous and useful - congratulations!

I want to switch but I just want to know if my laptop is going to run better its not the best laptop in the world

This remains a really good, encouraging chunk of advice 4 years on.
During the process of retirement from my work in state education procurement for the UK Dept of Education, HM Prison Service and state run health (NHS) a group of techie colleagues and my staff embarked upon an overview of IT efficiency and some quite surprising results emerged.
As a civil servant with quite good computer knowledge I had been concerned for a number of years about corporate manipulation once people were 'locked' into Microsoft or Apple "ecosystems" [more like voluntary open prisons] so the techie chaps were tasked with reporting on value for money, branding tricks, swerves of policy, security holes, unrepaired operational weaknesses going back years and especially how IT acquisition worth £billions could be bruised by specious tricks of "supported/unsupported" in cahoots with hardware manufacturers. The Windows 11 scam seemed to threaten obsolescence of millions of machines until the truth about self-sabotage in W11 was broken open. For 2 years we ruled out purchase of machines running W11 in variously tweaked versions and noted that the upper end companies gave a choice of OS at bulk purchase. (We also concluded that Win 11 was and is innately inferior to what was supposed to be a rolling 'service' of W10).
We were also concerned that Mac OS changes and diminishing support for older versions had too many downsides to justify unit costs set against unalterable physical specs fell short of our 10 year expectations -- while accepting that RISC/ARM architecture (actually devised in the UK but squashed by big players using x86 CISC using takeover then closure) is innately less able to be upgraded. However, a paucity of ports ruled out numerous Mac models, particularly used in special education and by the NHS.
Our techies investigated Unix bespoke systems such as large companies use internally instead of using their own OSs and it is probable that many will emerge from Asia and northern Europe quite soon. The Nordic and British ones will all be encrypted.
BUT, what was found to be highly effective was the spread of Linux distros notably in universities and teaching hospitals because they could be precisely focused to allocated purposes by IT staff in situ and could be run on older machines at such as primary school level and where tasks were narrow such as in accounting, civil engineering quality plans and stats and in transportation systems -- inclusive of far less anxiety about hacking than with MS and Apple.
By 'tuning' various 'flavours' and types of Linux it was found that component stress and wasted power reduced significantly and we were fortunate to have access to a massive survey sample of everyday use scenarios.
Fads, fashions and designer names will still feed a gargantuan industry but what few realize is that boards and components might indeed be from Apple, ASUS, Lenovo but that a mix of parts for specific purposes need not have a brand name at all because spares and replacements are catalogued "under the hood", to use an American expression.
In terms of political economics this approach in northern Europe is morphing into less dependence on Chinese key components caused originally by US firms in pursuit of cheap labour underestimating the maturing of Asian IT.

My issue is that a significant amount of the programs that I use on both iOS and windows aren’t supported in Linux.

For those of us who want a little more customization and optimization, but still want it to be just a daily computer, it makes it tough if you don’t have a tech background.

You can't really know those things until you experience them.
If you knew them, you would already be using Linux ;)

dude you talk like tortoise can you talk a little faster i had to put your video in 1.5x

Your program is packed with unavoidable ads. SuckY!

So, I'm wondering if switching to Linux is like switching to Russian with sanctions.

for noobs like me, Linux Mint was pretty painless. Ubuntu was ok, but that was before Windows 7 went out of support, so I never pulled the trigger.

Okay, here is a few things to note.

1st, Windows has tons of open source software and freeware that's actually free

2nd, while it's true that the Windows Store kinda sucks, for windows, downloading and using software is super easy because it's so common of an operating system.

3rd, for Linux, you CAN download software from websites, it's just not recommended.

Finally, try to give a few distributions a shot... if you don't like having to constantly check the software or find you just can't enjoy Linux, there is no shame in going back to Windows. But try a few distributions first before you do.

For anybody reading the comments, ignore the advice to use a VM over dual booting. A VM slows both OS's because you have to share performance, even with 32GB ram and 11th gen 8 core intel Cpu my VM UBUNTU runs at less than half the speed as my dual boot. When you dual boot you just choose which OS to boot into and that OS is fast AF with no slowdown whatsoever and none of the restrictions of a virtual machine. Honestly telling a new user to VM is some of the worst advice i have ever heard in my life.

I use both oses but I'm watchng this anyway

my tip for switching to Linux is have a spare machine to practice and test things on on because you will make mistakes and have to reload the operating system a few times - it saves so much frustration knowing you have your stable machine to go back to...........

i just want to play games

In an open world who needs windows and gates?

I`m finding annoying change from Windows to Linux to study coding. I`m going to install Ubuntu as base, and go ahead.
I chose Ubuntu cause it's popular and, as I want to learn to find a job at coding, it makes sense, I guess. Probably, in the future, I`m going to try other flavors, when I become more "fluent" in Linux.

Sometimes linux is free with the exact same software windows charges for. HAM radio CHIRP

I use Linux on and off. The main thing to know about Linux is /etc/fstab. If you learn this, everything about Linux becomes a TON easier. 99% of problems a user will face come from fstab issues. There are 6 fields and they handle... everything. The other 1% of issues are caused by Wine being shit, but that can't be helped. If you need video games, just dualboot.

I still can't decide whether to switch to Linux. Windows is a horrible, buggy battlefield of viruses, but Linux has so little software compatibility.

As long as I understand linux completely, will I be able to fix anything on my own that is related to Technology?

I like that the video has such a huge portion devoted to how to avoid/endure certain parts of the Linux community.
It overlaps with my experience. Many of them are ok, but you'll constantly find some extremely opinionated elitists who are just godawful to deal with, and who can't for the life of them understand that not everybody knows all this stuff or is as fanatical and anal about it as them.

Just wanted to take a beat and say 'Thank you' for your efforts and wisdom.

I was wondering changing it to Windows 11 to any OS but there is some things that concern me. 1.) Is to lose data while downloading to a new OS. 2.) Is to not know how to use it and take all the juice of itvoperating systems since I heard some of them are not user friendly. 3.) To not have some features or softwares I need or want. These are my biggest concern that avoid me to download it. Another thing to consider is that I am majoring in mechanical engineering and play some games on laptop( some are emulators and other like steam) and I fear it cannot have the softwares I need like Solidword, Ansys, Simulink, Matlab, Python, CADS and etc. So I ask you or some of the coment section this: Is there any OS besides windows that can be versatile and manage very heavy softwares ? How do I download it? Where I can find forums, data , information or websites to inform myself about it?

I never really had a good pc for myself and wanted to get a fresh start with Linux once I get one, it was extremely helpful!

RTFM before you post

I have watched your videos for some time. You are the go-to when it comes to Linux. I call on your videos when I'm not sure what way to go on my system.
Just a question, if it's free. Why wouldn't you build something me and your fans can install as an OS?
If you build it they will come....

Very good advice, Thank U.....

In my opinion, Windows was running right until support was discontinued for all operating systems in exchange for staying in the dreaded Windows 10 full of spyware and pulling personal files via FTP techniques without even knowing it only under the word "updates"

Pc's not only microsoft. I even thinking to try google OS products.

Might be a dumb question, but who is in charge of keeping those linux software repositories up and running?
Like where are their servers physically located at? Who adds new software, and who scans new software before it gets included in the repositories?

The title is a bit odd....; we all know that nobody switches from Linux to Windows! :)

I wouldn't mind switching to Linux Mint but I'd have to give up Visual Studio, and Windows gaming seems hit or miss with Wine.

I just installed Mint. Had a few hiccups but I'm rolling now. So far, Im really enjoying the UI but more so the file system. I absolutely love tabs in my folders, it just makes sense.

Thanks for this amazing video!

distro does matter. Are you going to argue that there is no practical difference between Arch and Ubuntu.

Linux has come a long way in the last few years. When I made the total switch over from Windows to Linux as my daily driver about 8 years ago, you really needed to be tech savvy. Nowadays, the learning curve is much shorter for a newbie. Yeah, using terminal takes a bit to feel comfortable with, but for the most part, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel as many command lines are posted. Case in point… my wife is a Mint user and has zero tech skills and doesn’t need them. She can navigate and operate at a level that suits her needs. She just loves the stability and speed on her old HP laptop.

I switch from windows straight to Ubuntu and I"m having a blast! I'm such a rebel...

Loved the video. Hope "pronounciate" was a deliberate mispronunciation, otherwise that irony is killer XD

Even though I know I can't run everything that I use on linux, I just want it.

It's very customizable and it's fast.

About the trolling, you forgot about

: { : | :& }; :

Welcome. Cool channel YT you drive. Thanks for your work. I have a question. What Linux distribution will work for someone who does not know Linux and to want to change from Windows. To be steadily, respect privacy, easy to use. Small requirements: Office package, photo edition and graphic designs, video editing, screen screenshots and video screenshots for tutorials. I will ask you what programs on Linux will provide all? What Distro you recommend? Best wishes.

Do I have to have a password on my linux install?

Is it good for gaming now? Can u change from Windows 10 to linux without losing data?

But linux dont have Adobe after effects 😂💔

I was gifted a second hand laptop that was "upgraded" to Win10. It was a 32bit system made for vista and was completely incompatible. Had to rescue it with LxLe.

Thanks to the Linux developing community. If you need more people to drop Windows, you need to provide (within the Linux body) a platform for us (windows users) to run Windows software. This platform should comes automatically with the Linux installation. Don't expect us to come in and download a bunch of software (wine, ...), and run lots of command lines on a shelf ...

can i install inkscape old version 0.48.5 on linux mint ??? thank you for sharing

My copy of Windows has been absolutely fucked beyond belief ever since the xbox app downloaded the files for Halo directly into a file where the system files are kept, and then it wouldnt uninstall, so I got support from microsoft to uninstall the files for it, then I noticed that the Windows store wouldnt work anymore, as well as the xbox app, so I reinstalled Windows, and now none of the built in apps will open, and theres files that just decided to not get reinstalled, so Im stuck with a half-functioning machine with no functional built in features. Ive even tried using the getapp commands in powershell, tried some things in CMD, and it just doesnt work because certain paths just dont exist, certain files just dont exist after I reinstalled Windows, so Im trying to decide if I should just buy a new SSD with a new copy of windows on it, or if I should just get rid of Windows and go with Linux

if all my programs work on linux or have a good alternative the i am switching