Will you install Windows 10?

[Qqmike]

Wiping the disk sounds like a good plan! I'm tempted every time I think of that Windows laptop ...

[acheron]

Wiping the disk sounds like a good plan! I'm tempted every time I think of that Windows laptop ...

It's a 1TB Win 8.1 disk that was the original that came with the PC.

I just put a new one in and installed kubuntu on that.

So the Win 8.1 disk has hardly been touched in 18+months. Not even been connected for most of that.

So yes, on that basis a wipe and use as bonus storage might be the thing.

[Qqmike]

Here, the laptop is used only by the spousal unit for completely routine tasks like email (web-based), Skype, photos, and reading news and sports articles. For me, it is kind of an experience thing, seeing what goes on with Windows these days, learning 8 & 10 for the heck of it. It runs on cruise control, basically. No problems. Except when there is a problem, as is common with all Windows systems, a re-boot fixes it 90% of the time. The other 10% of issues I can fix through the Control Center. IOW, NBD. And so far it is free ($$$-wise). But she would also do OK with Kubuntu 14.04.

[Qqmike]

And so ... a done deal here. From start (downloading 3 GB Win X files) to finish (installed, configured) it took about 2 hours (ASUS laptop, 8 GB RAM, i5-4200U). And it looks very nice, clean -- I'm comparing the 10 to the 8 we had. Easy to use, easy to figure out.

Of course, while setting up, I did NOT accept Express Install; instead, I took the the Customized option (which was in small print at lower left of screen). I killed all the main privacy-invasion options, including not turning on Cortana (poor girl).

Interesting: After all this harassment all these months to upgrade to 10, all the pop-ups, all the very confusing forced and fixed choices on Windows update menus and configuring, when I finally did say "Ok, let's go," it came back after several minutes saying that the update to 10 failed! It offered many and several options, including try again, so I clicked Try Again, and it then started the 3 GB file downloads and successfully proceeded from there, for the 2 hours I mentioned above. Talk about a confusing user-communication interface!

But, frankly, although time consuming, with several re-starts, this was smooth, clean, and clear. Of course, I had read and studied half a dozen Internet articles on how to do this and what to watch for and ... tomorrow I'll double-check all the 30-some privacy settings.

[MoonRise]

I upgraded someone this week. Went smooth.

I agree with the comments with how much information M$ tries to collect on people. I deplore that. For the most part from my testing when you install you are given the option to not accept default. It's not obvious so you do have to read the screens but click on manual setup and turn the majority off.

I stay with Kubuntu as that is what I like but I do not have anything bad to say about Win10. To date it has been solid on the 12 systems that I have upgraded for people I know.

Yes, you still have to have AV software on there and that can be a bugger. I have had close calls with some users and opening e-mails that they shouldn't have, but good AV and BitDefender's AntiRansomware helps greatly.

[vsmmath]

I purchased Windows 640 XL Duos mobile which had 8.1 version of Windows. When they offered to upgrade I jumped at it. This upgrade was a disaster to me a dedicated user of Dos 3.2, Windows 95, XP Prof. XP 64 bit Prof. 2000 Prof. Office suite, OneNote all original in a country where all except big companies use pirated Windows. Windows 10 does not allow me to use any of my software, Unless you allow them to a copy of what all we save on the phone, nothing works properly. XL and OneNote were working fine with earlier versions, now when I click on OneNote it warns I cannot save anything on to local drive. Notes and all their applications wants permission to save on cloud if we want to use their software. That is outrages. I cannot afford the INTERNET cost.

Am I happy with Kubuntu, Yes ..... it rocks.

Windows OS 10 is beyond my tolerance level. I want to sell my phone at the earliest. I did some research and selected Kubuntu 16.04. I am very happy. I got all I wanted and some more.

Do I buy any Microsoft product again. NO, NO NO.......

[GreyGeek]

If you really want your blood to boil read Bill Parish (an accountant) who wrote "Microsoft Fraud".
http://www.billparish.com/msftfraudfacts.html
The year before I retired my employer wanted employees to convert their retirement accounts to "Cash Balance". Had I done that I would have retired with much less than I did. New employees are only offered Cash Balance. Items #2 & #12 explain how Gates used public money to play for the development of Win95 through stock options and a special perk from Congress. #12 explains how Gates plundered Cash Balance retirement accounts.

Americans are concerned that the government will create a database registry containing their names, addresses and firearm info: make, model, serial #, and how much ammo and accessories they buy. If they used credit cards and use Windows, Microsoft already has that info and no doubt so does the government. When one installs Windows it gives that computer a unique GUID which is transmitted to MS at registration and is attached to every document sent from that computer. When shopping on line and paying with a credit card that sales info is linked to the GUID, allowing MS to generate a "demographic" containing everything you buy and everywhere you go. Apple does the same. I have no doubt that Google does as well. That gives the government access to all that info. It has been used to trap virus makers stupid enough to use MS software, and to reveal the identity of Chinese dissidents. It's how social media sites identify banned users who try to log in using fake IDs. Even sending a document you wrote (using MS software) through a Tor connection reveals who you are.

[vsmmath]

Hard to believe. But truth is always stranger than fiction.

All the world trusted and believed in Msoft. but now we are getting a picture of reality. Spying on what we purchase will not help any one. For instance I placed an order for some kids dresses. We do not have any kids at home. Purchased these for my assistant. Keeping track of this kind of information is completely misleading, to anyone who is involved in this.

[GreyGeek]

Hard to believe. But truth is always stranger than fiction.

All the world trusted and believed in Msoft. but now we are getting a picture of reality. Spying on what we purchase will not help any one. For instance I placed an order for some kids dresses. We do not have any kids at home. Purchased these for my assistant. Keeping track of this kind of information is completely misleading, to anyone who is involved in this.

Ah, but now with that info the politically correct witch hunters will suggest/accuse you of being a pedophile. And on and on it goes.

[vsmmath]

I don't mind GreyGeek.
What others think cannot rule how we live. Our life should be lived the way we like. I have lived that way all my life and that will not change.

[JayDub75]

New to the forums and new to Kubuntu Anyways, Windows 10 was my gateway to Kubuntu.

I have Windows 10 on my laptop (which is an older Toshiba Satellite (C655D model).) and strangely, it ran fine after making the jump from Windows 7 (which surprised me as this thing only has 4 GB of RAM and Toshibas are notoriously tetchy when trying to upgrade the RAM with anything not supplied by Toshiba or Kingston). Was firmly in the "meh, it works" attitude towards Windows 10. Nothing really special, but nothing too overly obnoxious other than the occasional update that decides to break things because, well, M$

And trust me, working in tech support, I've seen the impact of some of these updates have caused on M$ servers...it's made for some really fun days at the office (where "fun" is defined as "probably needing to stop at the local package store on the way home for a 6 pack.").

However, flash forward to about 2 weeks ago when one of the newest updates came out. Wellp, the string of good luck I had with Windows 10 went right out the window as the new update did something rather rash...as in it completely borked the task bar and rendered the start button useless (as in, I click on it, and....nothing. Same thing for the notifications, the WiFi settings, sound, etc.).

That got me thinking that maybe going to a different option may be best.

So now, after testing out a few different distros via Live CDs (Kubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, and Fedora got the test drive), I found myself liking the setup with Kubuntu and seeing the software that came with it standard pretty much was some of the same things I use right now on my Windows 10 laptop (LibreOffice, GIMP, Inkscape, etc), I figured I wouldn't lose a whit of productivity at home by making the switch.

However, due to work purposes, I would have to keep Windows 10 around for the time being, due to some work apps maybe not carrying over, so I'm currently in the process of setting this up as a dual boot. So far, I think my little antique of a laptop (got it back in 2010) should be able to handle this.

At work, I'm one of the few that hasn't upgraded to Windows 10 on my workstation. I'm planning on keeping that at Windows 7 for as long as humanly possible because at least I know the updates won't do something stupid like break the task bar and start button.

[TWPonKubuntu]

Jaydub75
Welcome to Kubuntu. You don't mention which Kubuntu version you are installing on your laptop.

While many here are have good results from the newest LTS (Version 16.04). My personal experience, on an old laptop (Dell D820) has been less than usable. I'm using the previous LTS version 14.04 with no troubles.

I advise that your test using a live DVD install and test everything, first.

Spend some time and read the forum threads for Ver. 16.04 so you have some idea of what to expect.

Kubuntu is VERY good, but older systems are suffering from support issues.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions here, we are a very supportive group and willing to help on just about anything Kubuntu.

[GreyGeek]

Welcome Jaydub75,
My first leap into 16.04 was an experiment that attempted to combine the repository offerings of 16.04 with the User version of Neon, in order to get the latest. On my hardware, and with my limited knowledge of systemd it didn't end well.

I decided to reinstall 16.04 only and to learn how to use systemd. In Neon the systemd GUI is great but in 16.04 it lacks functionality. A stand in till Neon's systemd-ui package backport's is at github:

wget https://github.com/mmstick/systemd-m....4.5_amd64.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i systemd-manager_0.4.5_amd64.deb

Areas where you'll want to focus your attention is your display. If it gives you problems adjust your compositor settings (Settings --> System Settings --> Display and Monitor.

Since you probably don't use dialup another thing you'll want to do to take 30 seconds off your bootup time is to disable and mask the ModemManager.service using systemd manager.

Another thing, if you use FireFox, is to go into about:config and make changes I've described in another msg.

Access to the repository is via Discover. It is, a glitzy app but presenting every package with a graphic slows it down, unless you have an 100 Mb Internet, fast SSD's and the latest NVidia. Muon is the usual package manager but it had search issues, so until it gets patched I'm using Synaptic. It doesn't have that KDE look because it was written with GNome's GTK+ API. But it works great. When Muon gets the search problem resolved I'll switch back.

Xenial arrived at a time when two major ground shifts were occurring: the move from upstart to systemd, and the move from Qt4 (KDE Plasma 4 desktop) to Qt5 (Plasma 5). So, it's been a bumpy start, but the 16.04.1 update has smoothed out a lot.

Xenial is the fastest Linux distro I've ever used since I started using Linux in 1998. Now pardon me while I return to reading the systemd man pages.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Qqmike]

Nice post, GG, on 16.04 up-to-date summary.

Also, JayDub75, to get started, don't hesitate to use 14.04, which is what a lot of are using here. I think it has a 5-yr support life, so 2019?

[GreyGeek]

Nice post, GG, on 16.04 up-to-date summary.

Also, JayDub75, to get started, don't hesitate to use 14.04, which is what a lot of are using here. I think it has a 5-yr support life, so 2019?

According to acheron (and DistroWatch) Ubuntu stepchildren have the EOL option of 3 or 5 years. Kubuntu chose 5 years for 14.04 but only 3 years for 16.04, so they both will reach EOL on 2019-04. I haven't heard any talk of a Qt 6.0 release any time soon, so perhaps the EOL for the 19.04 release might be 5 years again.

So, at this point both14.04 and 16.04 will expire at the same time. JauDub75, running 16.04 from a USB stick to see how it works on your hardware may give you another data point in your decision process. Either way you can't lose.