Alternative to Windoze?

[Crosser 10]

I am sick to the back teeth with Miro$oft Windoze, and thinking about going to a unix/linux alternative.

 

Has anyone got any reccommendations and/or advice regarding such a changeover?

 

Presently I'm thinking of Ubuntu, would this be a good way to go?

 

I KNOW there will be a steep learning curve but I'm willing to do that because it's better than reinstalling windows 10 every 3 days because one of their "updates" fails, then the damned thing won't boot!!!!!!

 

[Yeah I'm very annoyed!]

 

Any help/pointers etc would be much appreciated

 

TIA

 

V1

[Crosser 10]

There is no massive learning curve anymore.

install ubuntu

install chrome/chromium

 

as most folk spend 99% of their time in the browser anyway its just the same

 

I don't

 

I use emulators quite a lot (obviously I'll have to check if they support ***x versions of course)

 

but another concern is drivers for hardware...

 

How do I find out what is/isn't supported?

[ez8004 10]

macOS is a good alternative to Windows and built upon Unix so does have some similarities to Linux.

[Crosser 10]

macOS is a good alternative to Windows and built upon Unix so does have some similarities to Linux.

 

Hopefully not as limiting or user UNfriendly (if you want to do anything Apple don't want you to do,or wouldn't make money for Apple) as their Iphone/Ipad Software?

 

---------- Post added 22-06-2018 at 22:48 ----------

 

Hopefully not as limiting or user UNfriendly (if you want to do anything Apple don't want you to do,or wouldn't make money for Apple) as their Iphone/Ipad Software?

 

Having said that, at least it may boot up occasionally

[Jomie 30]

The usual advice is to try your chosen distro via live CD, USB or to dual boot. Buying a suitable cheap laptop on which to install Linux would also give you an opportunity to see if it works for you. There is a Linux User Group in Sheffield (LUG) - it would perhaps be helpful for you. Take a look at the Ubuntu forum too because you will then know the kind of issues people experience.

 

Regarding Windows 10, could you do some research into why you are having these problems? There must be a reason. The manufacturer’s helpline might be a good place to start. Also, are you leaving it in sleep mode all the time? For updates to install correctly, the computer needs to be shut down.

 

Alternative operating systems will demand your time and energy so don’t go into it thinking it is a quick fix for your woes. Both have good points but many people find they have to make too many compromises and go back to Windows.

Edited June 23, 2018 by Jomie

[ez8004 10]

Hopefully not as limiting or user UNfriendly (if you want to do anything Apple don't want you to do,or wouldn't make money for Apple) as their Iphone/Ipad Software?

 

---------- Post added 22-06-2018 at 22:48 ----------

 

 

Having said that, at least it may boot up occasionally

 

If you think macOS is as tied down as iOS then you don't know anything about macOS.

[Waldo 96]

I have Linux Mint on my laptop, which I find very usable.

 

I didn't like Ubuntu because of the task bar positioning (along the side of screen), that said, I don't know if it can be repositioned or use another desktop.

[zach 233]

I think I'd be looking at the problem of "won't boot" first. It may not be a Windows issue and could follow you no matter which OS you go for. I have a few Win 10 PC's and none have a boot issue or update issues. Good old MS do break things with "feature" updates but not the issue you have... in my case.

 

I'm not saying Windows is the best out there and here are some of my more recent other OS runs.

 

 

MacOS. I built what some call a Hackintosh. Putting MacOS on standard PC hardware. Works ok but not for me.

 

Zorin. I looked at this after reading Swarfs guide. Worth a look.

 

Ubuntu. Have to agree with the above and didn't like the whole side thing. Again, it worked well and Nvidia drivers were covered but probably didn't give it the time it deserved.

[Crosser 10]

I think I'd be looking at the problem of "won't boot" first. It may not be a Windows issue and could follow you no matter which OS you go for. I have a few Win 10 PC's and none have a boot issue or update issues. Good old MS do break things with "feature" updates but not the issue you have... in my case.

 

I'm not saying Windows is the best out there and here are some of my more recent other OS runs.

 

 

MacOS. I built what some call a Hackintosh. Putting MacOS on standard PC hardware. Works ok but not for me.

 

Zorin. I looked at this after reading Swarfs guide. Worth a look.

 

Ubuntu. Have to agree with the above and didn't like the whole side thing. Again, it worked well and Nvidia drivers were covered but probably didn't give it the time it deserved.

 

I got the "free upgrade" from W7 at the last minute! which (to be fair) was ok for about 18 months, then one day, it wouldn't boot ... just the cyan window and frozen spinning dots, all HD activity stopped and the lights went out on my Micro$oft mouse (it looked like a shutdown, except the screen was still on & the fans were all still running)........

 

SO I did the usual thing... waited a few weeks, then attempted a reinstall (via the web) which worked ......

 

Until it did a few updates (6 I think, of which 2 were for Flash), then it went back to exactly the same scenario...

(note the only other thing I installed was Opera browser)

 

I've looked on several "knowledge bases" and tried several (so-called) fixes and up to now, nothing has worked.

 

This is a HP INTEL I3 (4gb ram) system with Nvidia GFX

 

 

I'm now using the very same system (only with Vista on a seperate HD) and it works perfectly apart from the obviously outdated software.

[Ghozer 112]

I got the "free upgrade" from W7 at the last minute! which (to be fair) was ok for about 18 months, then one day, it wouldn't boot ... just the cyan window and frozen spinning dots, all HD activity stopped and the lights went out on my Micro$oft mouse (it looked like a shutdown, except the screen was still on & the fans were all still running)........

 

SO I did the usual thing... waited a few weeks, then attempted a reinstall (via the web) which worked ......

 

Until it did a few updates (6 I think, of which 2 were for Flash), then it went back to exactly the same scenario...

(note the only other thing I installed was Opera browser)

 

I've looked on several "knowledge bases" and tried several (so-called) fixes and up to now, nothing has worked.

 

This is a HP INTEL I3 (4gb ram) system with Nvidia GFX

 

 

I'm now using the very same system (only with Vista on a seperate HD) and it works perfectly apart from the obviously outdated software.

 

Not had any issues really myself.. put 10 on several machines and works flawlessly, even on an older dual core with 2GB RAM

[Guest]

Regarding Windows 10, could you do some research into why you are having these problems? There must be a reason. The manufacturer’s helpline might be a good place to start. Also, are you leaving it in sleep mode all the time? For updates to install correctly, the computer needs to be shut down.

 

This. I have no issues what-so-ever with Windows 10. Usually it'll be a driver or something else that isn't quite compatible.

[the_bloke 17]

I got the "free upgrade" from W7 at the last minute! which (to be fair) was ok for about 18 months, then one day, it wouldn't boot ... just the cyan window and frozen spinning dots, all HD activity stopped and the lights went out on my Micro$oft mouse (it looked like a shutdown, except the screen was still on & the fans were all still running)........

 

SO I did the usual thing... waited a few weeks, then attempted a reinstall (via the web) which worked ......

 

Until it did a few updates (6 I think, of which 2 were for Flash), then it went back to exactly the same scenario...

(note the only other thing I installed was Opera browser)

 

I've looked on several "knowledge bases" and tried several (so-called) fixes and up to now, nothing has worked.

 

This is a HP INTEL I3 (4gb ram) system with Nvidia GFX

 

 

I'm now using the very same system (only with Vista on a seperate HD) and it works perfectly apart from the obviously outdated software.

 

Sounds like your hard disc that has Windows 10 installed on it may be struggling. I'd check that out first before wasting time and energy installing a new OS to a potentially failing drive.