Laptop query

[GarraGee]

I bought a laptop from a local dealer, W10 already loaded.

My previous machine had W7, which I was comfortable with for with many years.

Which ever way I look at it, I just don't feel happy with W10. MIcrosoft seem to have loaded a lot of stuff I just don't need, but it keeps popping up at random.

Even if I could tame it!!!!! I'm just not sure it's for me.

So, I'm considering a Linux variant, probably Linux Mint as it seems more comfortable for me. It's been at the back of my mind for sometime.

I understand I could keep the W10 stuff in a separate partition if I so desired !!!

I'm confident I could do it, albeit with some online assistance from the Fool as and when.

Would appreciate any thoughts, in particular from anyone who has done this.

Thank you.

GG

[Breelander]

I bought a laptop from a local dealer, W10 already loaded.... Which ever way I look at it, I just don't feel happy with W10. Microsoft seem to have loaded a lot of stuff I just don't need, but it keeps popping up at random.
Even if I could tame it!!!!! I'm just not sure it's for me.

My W7 laptop took the free upgrade to W10 in 2015. Took about two weeks to get over the culture-shock and feel at home. Now it feels as familiar as W7 (which I still use on another laptop).

Taming - some suggestions to get you started:
Settings > Privacy --- basically turn of almost everything except 'Allow windows to track app launches...', in Background Apps only allow the bare minimum to run (for me that's Weather and Windows Security).
Settings > System > Notifications & actions --- turn off all but those you consider essentials.
Settings > Personalisation > Start --- turn off 'Show suggestions occasionally in Start'.
Candy Crush (this, that and the other) --- right-click on the tile and uninstall.

So, I'm considering a Linux variant, probably Linux Mint as it seems more comfortable for me. It's been at the back of my mind for sometime.
I understand I could keep the W10 stuff in a separate partition if I so desired !!!

Can't help much with Linux, though in my limited experience Linux Mint Cinnamon seems one of the easiest (I do have it installed in a Virtual Machine).

You say the laptop came with W10 already loaded. Is this an OEM Windows 10 pre-installed by the manufacturer? If so, it has OEM drivers and apps specific to that model. It would be worth making a system image of it on an external HDD so that you can restore it to 'as received' condition, should you wish to pass it on or sell it later. Macrium Reflect Free is good for that.

[SeagoonN]

Before leaving Win 10 completely, you could try installing Classic Shell which will give you a Windows 7 style of interface. Although development ceased in December 2017 it still works (at least it does for me and I'm on Win 10 v 1903).

http://www.classicshell.net/

Hope that helps.

Neddy

[Breelander]

Before leaving Win 10 completely, you could try installing Classic Shell which will give you a Windows 7 style of interface. Although development ceased in December 2017 it still works (at least it does for me and I'm on Win 10 v 1903).

When development stopped Ivo Beltchev declared it Open Source....

After months of deliberation, I have decided to stop the development of Classic Shell....
...So, moving forward, I am making the latest version of Classic Shell open-source...

http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewt ... 147#p34911

Further development continues under the name Open Shell, you can get Open Shell here.

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases

[AF62]

MIcrosoft seem to have loaded a lot of stuff I just don't need, but it keeps popping up at random.

Such as? (so advice can be offered)

[Infrasonic]

I'd echo Bree's first post about taming some of W10's more egregious settings to make it less intrusive.

For Linux there is an entire thread that has been running since 2016 here...viewtopic.php?f=39&t=237
I've been adding relevant bits to it over the years, there are article and video links in there for running Linux as dual/multi boot with W10, as a 'live' OS from an external USB source (flash drive or SSD), within a virtual machine et al. Mint is specifically covered on some of those links.

There are issues around things like secure boot, Windows updates corrupting the Linux boot file et al. None are particularly complicated, all resolvable (but definitely worth knowing about in advance so you don't get frustrated when things don't go as planned).

The simplest solution initially would be to run Linux as a 'live' OS from an external USB drive, and then you can experiment and get used to it without messing anything up on your internal laptop SSD(?). There are ways of making external OS's become 'persistent' so that they run the same as an installed OS. For a laptop with one internal drive it also offers a nice safety feature in case of drive failure. (I've just bought a 500GB Samsung T5 SSD to use as a multiboot W10/Linux/portable apps utilities 'rescue' drive).

[Redmires]

I've recently upgraded my laptops to Win 10 with the help of Macrium and the transition hasn't been as bad as I'd feared. I've been using Win 10 heavily for about 4 weeks now and there's nothing that I miss about Win 7.

There's a useful freeware program called Shutup10 which helps to keep tabs on Win 10's telemetry and privacy 'features'. It doesn't need installing as it can run as a portable app.

https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

And here's a very comprehensive freeware app to fine tune Win 10 (and WIn 7/8) to your preferred settings.

https://winaero.com/blog/the-list-of-wi ... -features/

[Nocton]

Whatever, new gadget you get it will always take a bit of getting used to. W10 is definitely better, faster and more secure than W7 and I think that after you have got rid of the stuff you don't want, you will soon find it is easy to use. Personally, when I switched from W7 to W10, quite some time ago now, I did not find them so different. The good news now is that W10 is supposed to be the last/final version of Windows so with the regular updates it should be future-proof and not change the user-experience. You are going to have to change to W10 sometime so I should persevere.
Of course if you decide to change to Linux, that is a whole different matter. But you will have a lot more changes to get used to than going from W7 to W10, so you have not solved your problem of getting used to a new interface. And it will take you more time than tweaking W10 to your preferences and getting rid of unwanted programs.

[GarraGee]

Many thanks for all the tips.

I will look again at all your tips.

I'm still going towards removing Windows completely and using Linux, but I ŵill take some time here's

GG

[kiloran]

I think the change from W7 to W10 is easier than W7 to Linux mint. I'd first persevere with getting W10 running the way you want before thinking about mint.
Having said that, mint is great. To set up mint in a dual boot with Windows, first make sure that you have a solid backup process to an external drive, and a recovery disk or USB, and you know how to use it.
Then check how much free space you have on your hard drive, and how much you want to allocate to mint. Then just install mint and follow the instructions. It will give you the opportunity to set the partition size for mint and create that partition. It's easy and you will finish up with a dual boot of your windows and mint.

Good luck with it.

--kiloran

[mrbrightside]

My wife has used Linux Mint for many years. However, she literally uses it for email (Thunderbird), Web browsing (Firefox) and documents (LibreOffice) so she is probably a rather atypical user.

I'd list all your essential applications on Windows and see if they exist on Linux or have equivalents. As Kiloran suggests, dual boot or evaluating Mint in a VM might help here.

For example, I use Arch Linux at work but still have to maintain a Windows 10 VM - purely because my colleagues insist on crafting Word documents and PowerPoint presentations that don't render properly in LibreOffice.

As Linux Mint is an Ubuntu (i.e. popular) based distro, there is tons of help and tips available and up-to-date packages for almost everything.