To many decisions.

[Showlowzook]

Ok, here we go, been tired of MS for years now, but been to ignorant of computing to switch to Linux. I need something simple, easy to use. My wife is even more ignorant so it has to be very simple/ease of use and cant require to much input to maintain. Similarity to Vista and 7 would be a plus also. Also looking for programs that compatible with Office. All help & input would be appreciated.

 

[ryanvade]

Vista/7 interface tells me KDE. Office similarity...maybe Libre Office or Kingsoft office when it is finished. I have to recommend Oz Unity. This distro is based on Ubuntu, but with user-friendliness additions.
http://www.linux.org/resources/oz-unity.37/
If you go to the home page, you will see that a KDE release is out. KDE will give you a Windows 7 feel. Task bar, notification area, a "Start" menu.

 

[Showlowzook]

Forgive my ignorance, KDE?

 

[arochester]

Linux can have various "covers", Desktop Environments, like Gnome. Unity, KDE, XFCE4, LDXE, or Razor-QT. There are also Windows Manager which are like lighter "covers" like Enlightenment, Fluxbox or JWM. For info look at http://xwinman.org/

Linux most like Windows? Look at ZorinOS - http://zorin-os.com/

 

[ryanvade]

Forgive my ignorance, KDE?

http://www.linux.org/resources/kde.22/
Here is a bare KDE setup:

Here is my KDE setup:

Essentially KDE is a Desktop Environment that acts similar to MS Windows interface, but with many improvements.

 

[DevynCJohnson]

Welcome to the site! You can gain a wealth of information here. Ryanvade, DevynCJohnson, Rob, and Jarret W. Buse are excellent users here on this site. flunwyc is also another user that is becoming a major contributor to this site. Feel free to ask questions and learn. The main page offers the latest articles that may help you learn more about Linux. Some articles here are basic and others are advanced.

 

[Showlowzook]

Ok, so now I'm thinking this is way above my pay grade, don't know if I can get this done, I read that you cankeep wiWindows if you

 

[flunwyc]

Ok, here we go, been tired of MS for years now, but been to ignorant of computing to switch to Linux. I need something simple, easy to use. My wife is even more ignorant so it has to be very simple/ease of use and cant require to much input to maintain. Similarity to Vista and 7 would be a plus also. Also looking for programs that compatible with Office. All help & input would be appreciated.

I would suggest sticking with windows because you seem to want:

- Simple and easy to use - as a windows user, "simple and easy to use" for you = "like windows"

- Similarity to windows - windows certainly fits the bill

- Compatibility with MS Office - windows again...

I don't consider KDE to be windows like, there is a bar at the bottom of the screen and the root menu button happens to be on the bottom left, that's about were the similarity ends. It's probably close to windows UI than gnome-shell, but so is Xfce, icewm, etc.

 

[arochester]

At the end of the day Linux is not Windows... http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Linux can be made to LOOK like Windows or Mac, but under the hood it is still Linux.

How do I change the look of Zorin OS?
If you want to change the look of Zorin OS to look like either Windows 7 (default), Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Linux (GNOME 2.x) or Mac OS X, please use the Zorin Look Changer.

http://zorin-os.com/faq.html

Pear OS 8 Linux Distribution Will Be Inspired by iOS 7

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Pear-OS-8-Linux-Distribution-Will-Be-Inspired-by-iOS-7-384595.shtml

Whether you accept it, or no, you have spent time "learning" Windows. Linux is 25 years old. If you had spent as much time "learning" Linux as you have "learning" Windows you would have no problem.

There are literally hundreds of Distros of Linux. As I have said before, and I will say again, the "best" Distro for you is the one you like, and which suits your computer. The problem is to find that. The corollary, perhaps, is if you can't find a Distro you like than you don't like Linux.

Look at http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2012/09/5-ways-to-try-linux-without-messing-up.html . With the comments you will realise there are 6. Perhaps you need to have a Virtual Machine in Windows and try a few variations of Linux to find out if you like any. There is a list of many Live CDs here: http://livecdlist.com/operating-system/linux

You can make nearly any distro LOOK like Windows. Linux Mint is popular with newbies. E.g. "How to make Linux Mint 14/ 13 Cinnamon/ Mate look like Windows 7 "
http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1173 "
How to make Linux Mint/ Ubuntu (Cinnamon) look like Windows8" http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1400

...BUT, at the end of the day, Windows is not Linux and Linux is not Windows...

Look at something like http://www.techradar.com/news/softw...inner-s-guide-to-linux-where-to-start-1066778

 

[flunwyc]

Yes no matter how you dress it up or how much make up you apply, a *nix system is not windows. If you want to switch to a new OS you have to learn how to use it and migrate to the alternative apps which are available. Anyone telling you otherwise is merely deluding themselves and more importantly misleading you in the process.

Yes you can dual boot with windows, but then what exactly is the point? I can kind of understand dual booting windows for games, but not much else.

If you dual boot, windows will remain the workhorse and GNU/Linux will just be a toy... whenever you want to do something, you'll end up doing it in windows and rebooting will eventually become a chore. Yes it's a start but if you're really sick of windows and want to throw off the shackles, then you need to find alternatives to windows apps and migrate away from it completely. The only way to get into GNU/Linux is to use it as your main OS, that's the only way to learn and the only way to break the windows dependency.

Using VMs is similar, in fact it will make you even more lazy and you will find yourself in the VM most of the time.

 

[SLW210]

I disagree, to a point, on Linux is not like Windows.

For many, of your everyday computer user, that just want to create Office files, Print, Browse the Internet and read Email, they are no longer very much different at all, pretty much ready to go out of the box, for the most popular distros. The only real exception is drivers for some hardware and WiFi, but that also can happen on Windows.

I was given a fairly new laptop that the hard drive had failed (already replaced two under warranty) and Battery was at 1 hr max. For the price of a good hard drive and battery (under $90 USD) and (free) Ubuntu 13.04, I had a working laptop, that I gave to my Windows XP using wife, she has had very little problem using it with little to no input from me.

With the slightest bit of learning some terminal commands, you can kick Windows to the curb easily. Even that may not be necessary, there are just certain things I like to do with terminal, for all I know, it may be easily done through the GUI.

A little more info on the purpose and you and your wife's computing needs and computer specifications, we can probably narrow down the list of distros you might want to try.

I would say start with latest Ubuntu relatives, (you will most likely want the LTS of any distro, if available), in no particular order...

Zorin OS
Ubuntu
Ultimate Edition
OZ Unity
Xubuntu
Kubuntu
Linux Mint

 

[ryanvade]

Perhaps the point is not "Widows like" but "Easy to use and able to do what I need". If you work with office files, LibreOffice will do. If you play music, edit music, play videos, edit videos, view pictures and edit pictures, then you can use Linux alternatives. (Gimp,AfterShot Pro,Cinelarra,OpenShot, Audacity,Ardour,Shotwell,clementine,VLC, XBMC)

 

[flunwyc]

I disagree, to a point, on Linux is not like Windows.

You are certainly free to disagree, but that will not make what is in fact a free and open source UNIX implementation based on a monolithic kernel, similar to a closed proprietary OS built on a hybrid microkernel, which is not a UNIX by any definition of the word.

For many, of your everyday computer user, that just want to create Office files, Print, Browse the Internet and read Email, they are no longer very much different at all, pretty much ready to go out of the box, for the most popular distros.

An OS is similar to another OS in that respect, but that's where the similarity ends (thankfully).

The only real exception is drivers for some hardware and WiFi, but that also can happen on Windows.

Windows uses a completely different kernel and driver model (NDIS), so this is far from an exception. The whole process of installing, enabling and using drivers in Linux is completely different to windows. There is no similarity whatsoever. This confuses the uninitiated who are used to plugging in hardware throwing a disk in the drive and trying to install a driver.

With the slightest bit of learning some terminal commands, you can kick Windows to the curb easily. Even that may not be necessary, there are just certain things I like to do with terminal, for all I know, it may be easily done through the GUI.

Windows was built from the ground up (since the first windows NT releases) to be a completely GUI based OS. *nix systems are not built in this way and almost certainly never will be - simply because it is poor design.

If a command line tool exists and it works well, there is no sense in creating a GUI tool (based on e.g. gtk+ or Qt) to do the same job, unless there is a real demand for it. Often there is, on many occasions there isn't and often the GUI tool just adds complexity and layers of obfuscation and doesn't help the end user to learn about their system. The GUI tool is more often than not just a front end to the CLI tool - and that's exactly how it should be in fact. If one day the GUI tool doesn't work, because the user broke something or an update included a bug, the user has to resort to the CLI "back end" to the GUI tool.

//edit:

Perhaps the point is not "Widows like" but "Easy to use and able to do what I need". If you work with office files, LibreOffice will do. If you play music, edit music, play videos, edit videos, view pictures and edit pictures, then you can use Linux alternatives. (Gimp,AfterShot Pro,Cinelarra,OpenShot, Audacity,Ardour,Shotwell,clementine,VLC, XBMC)

This makes more sense, but then there is no need for a comparison with windows in the first place... It should suffice to say that e.g. "GNU/Linux is a usable OS and alternative to proprietary operating systems".

For the question: "can this replace windows", the answer should be no. One OS is not a simple drop in replacement for another, there are always going to caveats and exceptions and for some people, not being able to do one simple thing can be the deal breaker..

 

[SLW210]

What has any of that gibberish have to do with the original question?

The problem with Linux is people like you.

 

[ryanvade]

....This makes more sense, but then there is no need for a comparison with windows in the first place... It should suffice to say that e.g. "GNU/Linux is a usable OS and alternative to proprietary operating systems".

For the question: "can this replace windows", the answer should be no. One OS is not a simple drop in replacement for another, there are always going to caveats and exceptions and for some people, not being able to do one simple thing can be the deal breaker..

If Linux is able to do what the user needs it to, like office work and picture/music/video editing , then why is it not a replacement for Windows? Just because the way Linux accomplishes the task? If the end result is the same, I think Linux can replace Windows no matter how Linux does things.

If the user wants to do thing A, and Linux is unable to do thing A then Linux is not a replacement for Windows. But generally Linux can do thing A better than Windows can do thing A. However, the way Linux users do thing A is different than how Windows users do thing A.

 

[DevynCJohnson]

I would suggest sticking with windows because ....

Someone recommending Windows on a Linux forum!?

Who are you and what have you done to flunwyc?

 

[flunwyc]

What has any of that gibberish have to do with the original question?

The problem with Linux is people like you.

Nice... please show me where I insulted you exactly, to warrant such a response...?

@Devyn, I know you're jesting there, but in order to explain myself more clearly, I am opposed to the overzealous and over exuberant just pushing people into GNU/Linux even when it clearly does not meet their needs and are not ready for such a change.

@ Ryan, absolutely, I couldn't agree more, but if you read my post more carefully you will see what I'm getting it. It can serve as a replacement, but not always as a "drop in replacement" - it depends on the individual. My main point is that new users should know what they're letting themselves in for - i.e. a learning curve and having to leave some of their old habits and favourite apps/practices behind.

 

[DevynCJohnson]

@Devyn, I know you're jesting there, but in order to explain myself more clearly, I am opposed to the overzealous and over exuberant just pushing people into GNU/Linux even when it clearly does not meet their needs and are not ready for such a change.

Sorry. My sense of humor is odd.

I deleted the last post of mine.

 

[flunwyc]

No need to apologise or delete posts and I was responding to post no. 16 anyway.

 

[Showlowzook]

I thank you all for your input, Ease of use is the primary thing I'm looking for, my wife has a short attention/patience span. I on the other hand have patience, I make my living fixing helicopters, I will sit for a while and try to figure out how to fix/improve somethings to make my life easier. Adobe Photoshop is one app that my wife would like to use, and if I can find apps that are compatible with Word, Excel & Adobe it would make transitioning easier. Oh I forgot my kids love MINECRAFT but I think they have a linux version.