Given all the game-related posts, I thought I'd post a work-related one:
In September, after beta testing the privacy nightmare that is W10, I dual-booted my work desktop and travel laptop. Since then, Mint has been my daily driver. This weekend, I deleted the Windows partition from my laptop and travel next week without the ability to fall back on Windows.
I have only booted into Windows twice since September. Once because I was on the road and needed to use PhotoShop for a minute tweak for a client. The second time was on Friday, figured I'd patch up before the trip, just in case. I don't know whether I only now noticed it but the update option no longer exists. You can't choose a time to patch, you just have to leave the computer running and wait. This is a mind-bogglingly stupid decision by Redmond. First, there's the telemetry without end. Now you can't choose a time to update? Goodbye.
Things I have learned:
- Libre Office 5 is a superb improvement over the previous release and is vitually as compatible with Office 2013 and 2016 as Office 2010. A win.
- Backups with rsync were a already godsend on servers. Now I have it native on my desktop. A big win. (Plus bash? Awesome!)
- Office 365 works the same across any OS. Chrome or Chromium does seem to work best. Gone are the days when Linux was an endless also-ran, so another win.
- Photoshop + Wine. When I need it, it works perfectly. A definite win.
- Dropbox and other cloud *aaS services just work. Win.
- Printers and scanners work as they should. A few tweaks can be needed but the manufacturers are shipping Linux drivers that pretty much just work. Gone are days of tweaking cups and hoping something prints someday. A big win.
- Lower attack surface is another win. Same is all the free, functional, and stable software.
The only thing I have yet to resolve is searching for text within .docx files. If anyone can recommend a tool that unzips the archive and permits direct searching the xml content I'll be at an all win. In a world of machines being eaten by ransomware, I wonder why organizations aren't moving in this direction?
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[–] DrBunsen 1 point 6 points 7 points (+7|-1) ago
Good for you! Switching to Linux is the best thing one can do. The people that complain about programs not working on it, obviously didn't try it out.
[–] Psylent 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
Or have tried it out and found that the software they need to do their job ... doesn't work... there is also the games issue, many are now developing for linux, but the amount of AAA titles on it is still few and far between.
[–] DrBunsen 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
So what did you find to be not working? I am truely interested.
[–] rhy 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
I'm so much more productive on Linux desktops it's ridiculous. Just the desktop alone is a giant win. Mint Mate edition.
[–] benoliver999 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I don't even notice how much quicker it all is until I boot Windows in a VM. I have never really been a Windows hater, but this edition has become a hot mess. It's like swimming in treacle sometimes trying to get anything done.
[–] NeedMoarGuitars [S] 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
That's a point I forgot to make. W8 booted twice as fast as W7 ((its sole advantage?). W10 takes minutes to boot, or longer. It isn't predictable and the GUI gives the end user zero indication what the OS is doing that takes so much longer ... beyond an endless spinning circle.
[–] 4898224? 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Plus one for Mint Mate. It's the desktop experience I grew up with. I wouldn't mind a more modern app dock with large icons and no text but that's not a deal breaker. It's how computers were meant to be used IMO.
[–] DinoRider 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
There are app docks like that you can install. They're worth a try if you really want that feature.
[–] SegFault 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
Win10 updates was what finally got me to stop using Windows completely.
[–] Frenchgeek 0 points 7 points 7 points (+7|-0) ago
Why? "You've just started playing a video game? Sorry, I'll restart in 10 minutes because updates." is a fun game.
[–] 2face-Maze 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago (edited ago)
"MICROSOFT MADE ME RACIST!!"
E: bonus points to whomever knows the reference
[–] executes_order_66 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I love how ironic it is. Microsoft tries so hard to get people to use Win10 but it just pushes them away from all of their products.
I had been meaning to switch to Linux for years, but didn't because I was too lazy. The forced Windows10 updates gave me the motivation to switch for good, and my only regret is that I didn't do it years ago.
[–] Psylent 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
We haven't made the move because there it's very hit and miss with solidworks - some people can get it to run on wine ok, (ok not 'well') - There are still some major drawbacks like nvidia drivers - if you install nvidia drivers from the site and upgrade your system chances are gnome will break - this requires some cli usage to get it working again.
I think the main issue really is that software developers just don't support it. Because there are just so many distros with so many differing issues that can arise it's a nightmare for support.
In saying that - the only distro I have actually got to function well enough to a point where I no longer have windows is fedora and even with it solidworks is just not happening.
Yes there are alternatives, but try telling your boss who forked out $14,000 for a bit of software that we can't use it anymore . . . .
[–] modestgaloot 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I'm building a new PC soon and this is heartening to read. I don't know what the deal is with my Steam games, I'm guessing I will need to dual boot for those
[–] MRPockets 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
I'd suggest installing Steam on the Linux side & seeing how many games work. Steam is doing a good job making gaming viable on Linux.
[–] 4898128? 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I don't have direct experience with these but I use voidtools Everything (the beta searches inside files) so in looking for an alternative for Linux I found https://www.maketecheasier.com/5-grep-tools-for-linux/
[–] pepepepepe ago
As a rule of thumb, if you don't need your Windows partition for high-performance things like video games, video editing, etc then you're better off using it in a VM.