For a while, posts with links in them are blocked until they're approved by a mod.
If an hour is more than you can bear, you might want to follow through with your 'bye' remark and seek assistance elsewhere.
You will also be civil while you're here. We work hard to ensure civility is maintained. There's a reason why we're the #1 result when you search for 'Linux'.
Whilst totally agreeing with @KGIII - civility maketh the man, and politeness costs nothing - I'm also curious. Are you
finding fault with the forum?
finding fault with the membership?
finding fault with Linux in general?
Or are you really looking for a distro that looks and behaves exactly like Windows, and lets you run ALL your Windows software?
You won't find it. What YOU want is called "Windows", and is created & distributed by Microsoft.....who are based at One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington.
As others here have already noted, you're making a rod for your own back.....mainly through insisting on sticking with paid-for, proprietary software, written by people who have only ever coded for Windows, and have no intention of changing their business model for anyone. But that's YOUR choice, and it's not our place to castigate you for doing that.
Linux is as hard - or as easy! - as you choose to make it. If you're prepared to dive-in & "get your hands dirty".....and above all, think OUTSIDE "the box".....you'd be amazed at what you can do with it. I haven't used Whinedoze for over a decade, and I certainly don't miss it. I code, re-package software, script & create utilities for myself AND the 'Puppy' Linux community, along with having a lifelong passion for graphic design....creating all my own desktops (including background wallpapers) from scratch.
I moderate on the Puppy forum, help out with the noobs, and dispense advice as & where I can.
I don't have time to "whine". I'm too busy having more fun than I've had for better than the last three decades.
I just don't think Linux is for you, however. Not everyone CAN persevere and make the switch; at that, you're in good company. I reckon you'd be far happier staying right where you are.
Sorry an' all that, but I'm a blunt-spoken Yorkshireman. I don't believe in mincing my words. I tell it like it is.....and if that offends you, tough.
You'll come to realise that nobody who posts on any Linux forum, criticising the system AND the people, is welcomed with "open arms". It's not a good way to endear yourself to ANY community.
"Finding fault with the forum?"
hard to use for a newbe, when some posts get posted, others don't, and must be modified. Then other posters respond with nonsense. I understand the need for moderation, and the fact-of-the-matter it may take a while.
"Finding fault with the menbership?"
only the narcissists who like to see their name posts, and offer nothing but bashing people for using the OS that came with the computer and supports its non-standard(?) hardware.
"Finding Fault with Linux in general?"
works great for my paid server. Cant get it to work with my laptop and have a basic simple desktop to edit a text file. Yet the "linux ads" say what a great alternative it is for these old laptops. I think Linux in general is great, it's seems its the Graphical Interface that fails for me. Am I supposed to use the command line to fire up a word-processor? Don't those apps typically need the desktop environment to work in the first place?
"Or are you really looking for a distro that looks and behaves exactly like Windows, and lets you run ALL your Windows software?"
No, I'm looking for a Linux distro that has a desktop interface. I run my Windows software on Windows. I want to run Linux software on Linux. I see lots of promising packages that look interesting. Do YOU know where I can find one, or do you just want to complain that I'm telling the world Linux fails for me on my system, doesn't work as promised or promoted?
Or did you just come to bash me for using Windows, also?
There are ways to complain and there are ways to do so in a civil manner. Perhaps you are just young?
Also, if you're using unsupported software (especially an operating system) while connected to the public internet, folks are right to point that out. You're a risk to others, not just yourself. Your unsupported OS can easily be compromised and used to cause harm to other systems and people. Such a computer is potentially (and far more likely) to be a part of a botnet, used for a DDoS attack, used as a spam relay, and all sorts of other things.
One might liken it to driving on bald tires and a generally rundown automobile. Doing so risks other people, not just the driver of said vehicle.
It's now 11pm on Christmas night where I am, so in the spirit of good will I will just make a couple of comments,
HP's often throw up a wobbly, due to the choice of components they use,
I have an HP desktop [not quite as old] to adjust the resolution, I had to install xrandr sound would not work on any distribution so I used an external audio card/dongle, for about a year, then one day on an update it magically started to work
now down to your 2011 machine, I do not usually recommend updating the bios but i make an exception with HP, so check you have the latest update.
HP laptops are finicky and prone to overheating, keep the vents airways and fan clean [I noted you have recently had it servised]
As for distribution, I do not recommend I only suggest, and in that vein I have had my best success with HP by installing either Debian stable with driver pack or Mint LMDE6
Aloha!
I tried Ubuntu with Gnome on my old HP Pavilion. It sucked. I whined about it in another thread, but again:
#1 problem: the video manager simply failed. Seems like an "X-Windows" problem, but may be the Firefox implementation. Its been a couple years now, and I can't remember for sure if it was not system-wide, only limited to Firefox drivers. Complex websites with "parts" that normally should overlap other "parts" (pop-ups, etc) looked like they were cut randomly into pieces, and then these pieces were randomly arranged on the screen, some overlapping others. An unreadable mess.
#2 problem: the code-editor I use, Komodo Edit, took a full 30 seconds to start-up, as opposed to 5 secs on Windows 7. The computer is locked up at that time, no idea if anything is actually happening or starting.....
#3 problem: Komodo Edit, at seemingly random times, had the same problem as Firefox, with it's display window all cut up and jumbled. Komodo Edit says it uses the Firefox engine for display, but imports it's own stable, unchanging version. Again, a Firefox issue, or the X-Windows system in Linux? Komodo Edit 10 works flawlessly on Window 7, but is now at version 12, which does not support Windows 7. That was a main reason I wanted to move to Linux.
#4 problem: Firefox kept warning me an update was available, and I kept telling it no. Eventually, it decided (I think it was 15 days?) it wouldn't wait anymore, and updated. It warned me that it would, for the previous 15 days. Then it worked less reliably. I couldn't find any option to control updates for Firefox.
#5 problem: the entire OS took unreasonably long to boot-up.
#6 problem: I write software for websites. I installed Apache, which came packaged with Ubuntu, for local development purposes. Then because Ubuntu thinks that my personal laptop is a top-secret government computer used in the President's office, I have to use the terminal, and type in my password FOR EVERY SINGLE FILE I want to move into the .htdocs folder so they can be served locally. EVERY TIME I make an update, which can be, oh, every 20 seconds or so at times. I can not simply edit the file using my editor to save it in the proper place. Eventually, I learned how to --- pipe ? --- is that the right term? --- files from another folder into the server's folder. This time I will set up an entire drive partition only for Apache on Windows (using the XAMPP package) and pipe the files from there. That way Linus does not have to mess with the Windows 7 partition. The Linux Kernel seems fine with file systems, (only desktop graphical user interfaces seem to give problems from what I've seen), but I would rather not risk Linux messing with Windows.
#7 problem: same really as #6: security levels are way to extreme. It's just my personal laptop. Not a multi-user mainframe server. I don't leave it sitting on my desk in a busy office, turned on while I use the toilet, allowing nefarious people from a competing department to download nefarious software on it. It is password protected when turned on. Good enough.
#8 problem: first time I used the word processor (was it Open Office or Libra Office, I forget; whatever came in the package) I wrote a page or two and then the whole computer crashed, OS and all (haven't seen that since the days of Windows ME!). Lost hours of work. You would think that the "auto-save" feature would be turned on by default. Took me a while later to even find that option.
#9 problem: there was some other option in the OS that was "hidden" from me (I forget now) that was very frustrating. About the time I gave up on Ubuntu altogether was the time I found that option. Something about folders............
That's what I remember, anyways....
So now I wiped that drive clean, re-installed my OEM Windows 7 fresh, and am ready for another try at a dual-boot machine with another flavor of Linux.
On Windows, I used Steinberg's Wavelab LE for audio editing, and I loved it. I also used Roxio's products, but they are limited and buggy in-use, and annoying in how they lock-up my computer's entire file-sytem for 45 seconds anytime I insert a new CD. However, Steinberg uses some proprietary licensing manager that is a real PITA to use. My old license is not working, despite their assurances it would for LIFE. I tried to log in to their Account Manager, and it rejects my password. I tried to reset my password, and it says I can not reuse the old password. I tried the old password again, and it says wrong password "too many times" and blocked me. But that's another problem; it's just pushing me back to Linux.
I tried to ask this similar question before, and got a bunch of useless advertising from proponents of various flavors, none of which actually addressed the problems or requirements I was asking for, or flubbered while trying to do so without actually solving those problems or explaining why they occur.
Now I can't even find a website or page that actually compares distros side by side. Though I saw that before.
One (or more?) of those folks before mentioned Mint Linux. It stuck in my head 'cause I like mints. I went to their website, and it says "OOOHHH! AAAHHHH NICE!" but says absolutely nothing about what comes in the package.
On previous posts, I was asking if the KDE desktop might have better "X-Windows" support (vs. the Gnome desktop with Ubuntu). Nothing but folks who like to see their post-count numbers grow responded.
Now I can't even find a place that tells me which distros use KDE vs. Gnome. Even Mint's site says nothing about it. Some other site said there are two versions, one with KDE, one with Gnome, yet Mint's site says ........nothing.......
And maybe a distro made for personal computers (my laptop), not one with maximum security where I have to have a prybar and carbide-tipped drill to get to my files. Even it I only had to type my password once to access a folder, would be OK. But not for every file every time. That is so ridiculous.
But I would also like a distro that comes with a server and basic audio-editing software in the package, similar to Wavelab LE or Roxio Sound-Editor.
So.... a distro with KDE and audio-editing software? Open Office or Libra Office would be nice, too. And Firefox.
Any hints?
Forward: I will be mentioning things as they pertain to your questions. They will be explained below so assume there's an asterisk next to each term. Also, you may want to consider addressing problems one at a time. And obviously it helps to be civil, provide info, etc. It's all here: https://linux-tips.us/how-to-ask-a-good-support-question/
Problem 1: Could be a number of things, but sounds like a graphics driver issue, most likely video-acceleration. We'd need a separate thread to disect that.
Problem 2: Do you need Komodo Edit? I briefed over it and VS Code has the same basic features and UI, including boilerplate code plugins. Best part is no accounts/licenses/BS... If you must, then here's the official instructions: https://docs.activestate.com/komodo/12/get/linux/ they are very dated. I would recommend that if all else fails, use the Windows version under WINE.
Problem 3: Well, let's get Firefox working... In the meantime you can install the Windows version of Firefox in WINE, too.
Problem 4: Should not be an issue in Linux. Distro has the final say, not the upstream developer. Especially in Debian. Heck they swapped Google for DuckDuckGo as the default search engine.
Problem 5: That's dependent on distro, configs, drivers, etc. As a rule, Linux boots fasters on a cold boot. My boot time has often beaten the gold mark (which is 5 secs) using very lightweight setups. I doubt this will happen without cause. Sometimes a driver will misbehave, for example. We find the issue, we fix it (in its own thread).
Problem 6: Afraid I can't help you much there. Apache is not my area of anytise (that portmanteau of "expertise" and "any" is now an official word; I said so).
Problem 7: Okay, since it extends beyond Apache, I need you to elaborate here. Exactly what are your issues? If it's just about permissions, you can change those, you can use groups, you can tweak the sudoers file... there are many approaches to security so your use-case.
Problem 8: LibreOffice is set to auto-save by default. As long as you saved the file at least once, you'll be able to simply open that file and get a document recovery option. Otherwise, if it was a new file, just open LibreOffice and it should prompt you... You would likely have been on LibreOffice if you were using Ubuntu.
Problem 9: Well, err that's very specific. I know you don't remember, I was being hyperbolic as a form of catharses because of how many people come here just to complain about Linux and come to other hobby forums of mine to complain about said hobby. Anyway, do you at least vaguely remember what this option related to? Nothing is hidden in Open Source Software. That's literally why it's called "Open".
Okay, so now let's get into it. Firstly, you have plenty of horsepower to run a Windows 7 VM. Secondly, your apps are all old stuff (as you've implied) meaning they likely run on WINE. By the sounds of it, you're not stupid, so you'll pick it up quick. Soooo let me explain these two concepts:
WINE: Recursive acronym "Wine Is Not An Emulator". WINE, AKA Wine, provides a translation layer between Windows applications and Linux/BSD/etc. by mimicking the Windows API (it's deeper but the gist will do) and then telling the BSD/Linux/Etc. API to do the equivalent. Windows 7 stuff is very, very, very compatible is Wine as I said. Wine provides the option of using multiple "Prefixes" (think of them as containers -- I suppose, arguably, they are). They're optional. You can just ignore everything, install Wine, and run an EXE/MSI installer and be guided through the Wine default prefix setup, and then the installer setup as if on Windows. Bang, up and running. Anything the goes wrong or you need help getting started, start a new thread here (or with a Wine forum).
VM: Acronym "Virtual Machine"... I'm pretty sure you know what that is. So your other option is setting up a VM running Win7 (you paid for the OEM license, so feel free to use any means necessary -- we don't discuss the P-word here...ever.) This'll only present an issue with audio latency for your highly sensitive tasks. For us regular folk, we wouldn't notice. Heck I used to game in a VM until I discovered mednafen was an all-in-one emulation solution (except for MSX systems, sadly). Anyway, a VM may be worth it for now as you work things out because it sounds like you're in a pickle on Windows as well.
So moving onto Distros. The first mistake new users make is conflating Distro and DE (Desktop Endvironment, the desktop GUI, not the apps' GUIs). The underlying distro is the functionality and features. Based on your use-case and that you are not a fan of bleeding-edge software, I'm going to suggest Debian. Specifically the 'stable' branch:
Debian branches:
stable - a "snapshot" of a software repository at a state that all packages work and don't conflict at all.
testing - newer software, generally pretty stable, but also slower to get updates, completely rolling release so no versions, just updates (this can be tedious)
unstable - newest software, thing break sometimes, but they are fixed quicker than testing
Comparisons Between Distros (that are relevant to you):
Debian:
The father/grandfather/great-grandfather of a large part of the linux ecosystem. Ubuntu is based on Debian (unstable IIRC). Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is based on Debian.
Debian's stable branch is the most stable and unbreakable Linux if you follow the rules (i.e. no rando installs). Debian's software repository had > 52k packages, and I believe it is now up to ~64k.
Debian is scalable in that it's easy to install a minimal base system and build your way up, or simply get a prefab OOTB system. Despite my mention of "older" software, when it comes to security, updates are fast. Debian also has stricter guidelines about freedom and privacy than many others. One example is all defaults in Firefox are to respect privacy (including swapping Google for DuckDuckGo).
It's an easy system to maintain. Package Management is simple. You are in control of just how strictly "free" you want your system. Debian is often seen as a more "technical" OS. Not true. It's actually simpler than most if you spend 10 minutes learning how packages work.
Ubuntu:
TBH, it used to be great. But then again so did Disney films, anime, games, and music... well everything. Things change.
Ubuntu does bring a bigger feature set when it comes to third-party software and it is commercially-supported. For all intents it is an enterprise OS, but I don't actually think it's an every-man OS. For one, it has the PPAs system...ugh... and Snap...ugh... and lots of third-party dealings, and even though this is many moons back, they did collude with Amazon to spam you on your own PC. But I'm not just here to slam it. Ubuntu works well OOTB. It's an OS that's designed for server and workstation. It's a full-on OS, meaning that it has a specific set of tools expected to be the defaults in their respective categories. Most of all, it probably has the most user support.
Linux Mint:
The Mint team did a great job. They actually developed Cinnamon DE (the default for Mint) and some other tools. Cinnamon is a great DE being fairly conservative on resources while being very pretty. Not my cuppa tea, but 1 billion times better than Gnome3. Mint can be Debian-based, but the main attraction is standard Mint, which is Ubuntu-based. What the Mint team have done is make Ubuntu work the way it should and used to. Packages are easy to manage, and the system is hard to break. Very strong community of users and developers. I really like Mint, it's not ever going to be my daily driver over Debian, but it was my OS of choice for restoring/refurbishing laptops back in the day.
Fedora:
RHEL's testing ground. Despite being a rolling release, I consider Fedora quite stable. IMO, it's the most stable rolling release out there. Fedora embraces new technologies. You could say that's one of its features.
Privacy and Security. Well it's Redhat so need I say more.
Like most of the above, Fedora has plenty default DEs to choose from. It features "Spins" which are geared towards specific user needs.
It's not my choice for a daily driver, though, because it's the innovator's OS and very fast-moving -- too much so for a guy who spent years still using alsmixer after Pulse became de facto. Basically they'll drop things when they go stale which can cause people who aren't willing to keep up to start crying (me, cough). I hear they've dropped Python 2 support now (it was about last month I think, 41 IIRC). They're also behind systemd (well they were first to adopt systemd and one of the developers of systemd worked for RHEL at the time -- if you want to split hairs) -- and love it or hate it, systemd was one hell of an undertaking (personally, I'm not a fan, but I don't hate it enough to jump ship to Devuan yet).
Not going to bother with other distros (like Arch family or non-mainstream stuff) because of OP's use case (familiarity with Linux, experiences, needs, and specs) simply does not justify much else. If I missed something that belongs, obv call it out.
So, there's my (slightly biased) breakdown.
Next steps:
1. Install a distro in a VM with multiple DEs (I use XFCE as it is very functional and lightweight, you may prefer KDE, nobody will prefer Gnome3, and I think most people here prefer Cinnamon). Test the DEs, look at the ease-of-use and features. This should take an hour or two.
2. Test drive some distros using the same DE. This you really spend time on. Invest at least a month.
3. Once you're settled, install.
4. Now address each problem, one at a time, with specificity as it comes up.
5. Enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Timeline:
Month 1-2: Discovery
Month 2-3: Implementing / Learning
Month 3-6: Ironing out the creases and bemoaning having to have made some changes
Month 6-12: Discovery II -- learning a bunch of cool stuff you couldn't do with Windows.
Month 12...: Wondering more and more, each day, why you didn't make this transition sooner