New to Linux

[Sherri is a Cat]

Hi everyone. I'm happy to be here.. Looking forward to becoming good at using Linux so I can one day finally put my copy of Windows where it belongs - in the trash.

I'm recent convert to Linux. I had to be willing to learn a few things, but it's definitely worth it. In my opinion, Linux Mint is the best one to use at first. It's similar enough to Windows that I didn't feel completely lost.

Linux is so much faster than a Windows that it blows my mind. The Promised Land is just ahead. Don't let any frustrations deter you. There are great people here who are more than eager to help us newbies!

My best piece of advice is to familiarize yourself with Linux terminology when you have questions. A lot of people here don't use Windows or haven't used it for a very long time. The very first time I tried Linux I used Windows terms to ask questions. For example, what we call the Command Window or Command Shell in Windows is called The Terminal in Linux.

I like to say I can "speak Windows". I'm learning to translate to "Linux".

Welcome to freedom!

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

Hi! & Welcome to Linux.org Freepoorman-

I encourage you to go to distrowatch and try a few Linux distro's in a virtual machine or a Live USB.
That way you can find out which Linux distro you like.

And, the best way to get good at using Linux is to install it or run it Live and start learning.

DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.

distrowatch.com

@Freepoorman

If your using Windows 8.1 Home Edition, I wouldn't bother trying to use a virtual machine. Microsoft has made it virtually impossible to install a virtual machine that will work in that particular OS. There are work-arounds, but they time consuming, VERY TIME CONSUMING.

I ended installing Linux Mint on a USB drive. Change the boot order or choose "Show Boot Order" on start up. Choose the USB drive then choose the Live version.

 

[Freepoorman]

@Freepoorman

If your using Windows 8.1 Home Edition, I wouldn't bother trying to use a virtual machine. Microsoft has made it virtually impossible to install a virtual machine that will work in that particular OS. There are work-arounds, but they time consuming, VERY TIME CONSUMING.

I ended installing Linux Mint on a USB drive. Change the boot order or choose "Show Boot Order" on start up. Choose the USB drive then choose the Live version.

I'm on Windows 11. Virtualbox 7.0.14 is working great so far.. The USB option looks interesting aswell

 

[CaffeineAddict]

If your using Windows 8.1 Home Edition, I wouldn't bother trying to use a virtual machine. Microsoft has made it virtually impossible to install a virtual machine that will work in that particular OS. There are work-arounds, but they time consuming, VERY TIME CONSUMING.

That's due to security enhancements which other non-MS virtual machines do not handle and require a user to disable built-in hypervisor.
The easiest thing to do is to take advantage of the feature and use Hyper-V, there's GUI as well.

Similar approach exists on Linux, instead of using virtual box or oracle's VM I prefer QEMU with GUI interface virt-manager.
if feels more integrated, low level and it's "free"

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

That's due to security enhancements which other non-MS virtual machines do not handle and require a user to disable built-in hypervisor.
The easiest thing to do is to take advantage of the feature and use Hyper-V, there's GUI as well.

Similar approach exists on Linux, instead of using virtual box or oracle's VM I prefer QEMU with GUI interface virt-manager.
if feels more integrated, low level and it's "free"

I'm pretty much done with Windows now.

Windows 8.1 Home Edition , ONLY Home Edition has a lot of barriers to using a vm. Other 8.1 editions, later versions, earlier versions can be tweeked very easily.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

ONLY Home Edition has a lot of barriers to using a vm

Ah indeed, home edition does not support hyper-v but I heard virtual box made some changes regarding hypervisor.

I'm pretty much done with Windows now.

Yep, me too

 

[bob466]

Welcome to the Forum.