i am thinking of migrating from windows 10 to a linux os. looking for advice.

[Oldrottenhead]

Like i said in the title i am considering moving my pc's operating system from windows10 to a linux operating system.

Currently windows 10 has been a pain in the ass with updates not installing and getting into a loop of install fail re install fail etc, problems with viruses and malaware. when such problems occur a lot of time can be used up trying to resolve the issues, time i would rather be writing songs.

so i have come to the point where i am considering leaving the world of windows and immigrating to ubuntu or linux.

i would also like this move to be as painless as possible.

of course in due time i will back up my important files and documents. but i am also thinking of trying to migrate a lot of things during the installion, browser bookmarks., passwords etc.

so the big question has anyone done this? and can you offer any advice. by the way i know i could run windows and linux side by side. but i just want to make the jump and leave windows behind.

[64Guitars]

One of the many great things about Linux is that it's free, so you don't have to commit to a specific distribution. You can try out as many as you like before deciding which one you want to stick with. And most of them can be booted from a USB memory stick or a CD or DVD, so you don't even have to install it on your hard drive right away. You can just boot from the memory stick or CD/DVD and try it out to see if you like it. Of course, once you decide which one you like best, you'll want to install it to your hard drive because booting off a USB stick or CD/DVD is too slow for everyday usage.

I like Ubuntu because it's one of the most popular Linux distributions, so there's lots of support online. If you just want to make the leap and not spend a lot of time trying out different distributions, I'd suggest Ubuntu. It's available in several different "flavours". The main difference between them is the user interface or "desktop environment" that they use. I prefer the standard desktop flavour which uses the GNOME desktop. Another version you might want to consider is Ubuntu Studio which is geared toward multimedia and comes with lots of audio and video applications included. Of course, any of those applications can be added to any of the other versions too. Ubuntu Studio just makes it easier by including them and pre-configuring them.

Ubuntu version numbers are based on the year and month they were released. So the latest version is 17.10 which was released in October 2017. A new version is released every six months. The next version will be 18.04 LTS (long term support) which will be released on 26 April 2018. LTS versions are released every two years and are supported for 5 years. The current LTS release is 16.04, which is what I'm using. I'd recommend using an LTS release since they're less trouble. The non-LTS releases have more up-to-date features but that sometimes leads to problems.

i am also thinking of trying to migrate a lot of things during the installion, browser bookmarks., passwords etc.

Migrating Firefox is pretty easy. In Windows, type about:profiles into Firefox's address bar. This will tell you which folder your Firefox profile information (bookmarks, passwords, etc.) is stored in. Copy that folder somewhere safe (a USB stick, for example). After you install Ubuntu (which includes Firefox), open Firefox and enter about:profiles to find out which folder the profile is in. Then copy your backed-up profile from the USB stick into that folder.

by the way i know i could run windows and linux side by side. but i just want to make the jump and leave windows behind.

That's good. You'll probably have a few Windows programs that might be difficult to part with, especially at first. Windows programs won't run natively under Linux, but some will run adequately under Wine which is a program you can install in Linux. For example, I run Roland's BR Wave Converter and BR Rhythm Editor under Wine and they both work just fine. Some Windows games will run under Wine too. See the Wine AppDB page for details about which Windows programs will work and what limitations, if any, there might be.

If you have Windows programs that won't work in Wine, then dual-booting Windows is one way to deal with them. Another way is to install a virtual machine manager in Linux, then install an old version of Windows in a virtual machine. If you have at least 4GB of RAM in your computer, Windows should run reasonably well in a virtual machine.

However, once you get used to Linux, you'll probably find that you don't need any of your old Windows programs anymore because there are plenty of excellent native Linux apps that do the same thing.

[guitarron]

i used ubuntu on my old laptop until it died-
i liked it-it was fast-
easy to install-lots of free programs-
didnt get a chance to try wine

i use windows for my DAW

[Oldrottenhead]

i have been doing some research, and i like the look of linux mint 18.3, the 64bit cinnamon edition.
i need to buy a larger external hard drive to back up everything from my pc before i pull the switch.
looks like i have a big learning curve ahead, but my windows 10 is so buggy, i need to make the move.
great advice as always 64, really appreciate it.

[Oldrottenhead]

gonna try it on a usb boot, to check for compatibilty issues with my pc which is an asus desktop pc k5310 series.

wish me luck.

[Oldrottenhead]

i am currently running linux mint in compatibility mode via a usb drive. and hey! it seems to be working

[Oldrottenhead]

cant get any music to play tho. erm.

[Oldrottenhead]

youtube working, very welllooks and sounds fab, but cant get any sound here on songcrafters.

[Oldrottenhead]

i eventually got music here to play, but had to download it.

back on windows and am missing linux already. lol.

ok
new external hard drive asap.

and going to leave windows forever.

[64Guitars]

cant get any music to play tho. erm.

Try this:  https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/codecs.html