Hi I am thinking of doing that so i want to make it easier for me by getting some info from someone who knows a bit about it. Spotify, can i block ads and updates of it on Linux like on Windows? Backup and restoring, what is the fastest, simplest and most reliable way of doing it on LInux? Which is the fastest, simplest and most reliable Linux version? I am only doing simple basic stuff like streaming and browsing. Some tips, tricks and good things to know would also be interesting. Links appreciated!
Backup: Simplest solution is Timeshift. Most reliable IMHO is to put Macrium Reflect on a flash drive and boot into it. Do that before you nuke your Windows installation. You can try to struggle with CloneZilla, which is kinda the Macrium Reflect equivalent, but you will anyways need to boot into a flash drive in order to use it in the standard ways, so you gain nothing. Simplest Linux distro for Windows expatriates is Linux Mint, with the default Cinnamon desktop. It is not the fastest, but is quite reliable. Updating your third-party software such as Spotify: They cannot force updates on you, if you don't want them.
Ok, good. I`ve got a M.R license so thats fine. I have heard good things about Linux mint 20, is that a correct statement from these people. I want it to be small also, besides fast! On Windows Spotify still is forcing updates last time i reinstalled my Os, 6 months ago. Does it exist cleaning programs for Linux which can clean and reduce the newly installed size of the Os, like Dism++ etc can do. I guess an antivirus is unnecessary but a scanner can be good? Which? Do you use Linux yourself?
Are you the kind of Windows migrant who prefers your Linux system to look pretty much the same? Undoubtedly this helps with navigation but alternatively you might prefer something completely different. Anyway, assuming the first preference there are distros that have been constructed for this very purpose. Here’s two examples (first does have English language option). https://www.linuxfx.org/ https://fossbytes.com/linuxfx-10-review/ https://www.makululinux.com/wp/lindoz/ There are also excellent reviews for both distros on Linuxinsider.com but as of posting this their site is returning an error. As with most Linux distros you can try both the above using a live session before committing to a full install but don't expect the same level of performance. My vote for backups goes to Clonezilla. Edit: The LinuxInsider site is back up now albeit slow but here are their review links to the two distros above. https://linuxinsider.com/story/linuxfx-10-a-smart-easy-way-to-transition-from-windows-86694.html https://linuxinsider.com/story/maku...e-but-its-all-linux-under-the-hood-86498.html
People not familiar with this website should be aware that while it does contain useful information the list it publishes reflects only the number of mouse clicks each distro’s link gets. This is NOT any sort of quality rating as many visitors appear to think. Also, some of the data is plain wrong and some of it outdated by as much as 10 years. Many of the better options are towards the bottom of this list or not even featured at all.
1 I liked Mint 20 when used it, although I used the Xfce desktop environment, which I prefer to Cinnamon. I think that Mint 20 is a good choice, although it is not the leanest or fastest of distros. If lean and fast is your priority, you will need a different distro that might have a tougher learning curve. In that case, I would recommend MX Linux 19. If you have very new hardware, use the AHS version. MX is a really good distro with great support from the forum but it is not noob-oriented. Mint has a forum that is quite supportive to Linux beginners. Most other linux forums are not as tolerant of noob questions. That's one of the reasons why I think Mint Cinnamon is a good place to start a Linux journey, although you don't have to stay with it for the rest of your life. There are lots of people who are not married to their distro. 2 Cleaning programs: you can remove (uninstall) programs you don't want or use. Linux distros don't usually have much bloat, so cleaning is not a big issue. 3 Security: If you install software only from the official repository, you don't need to worry about malware. If you install from 3rd party sources, you need to exercise good judgment. The whole field of antivirus and scanners is underdeveloped on Linux. They ain't so great on linux, and that's because you don't really need them. People who run Linux servers do need to worry about malware! But home users are not much of a target. Just be careful where you get your 3rd party software from. 4 I use Kubuntu 20.04 and Windows. I have a dual-boot system and I switch back and forth.
I dont care how it looks like if it only is fast, small and reliable. Windows is not so reliable with all its buggy updates. My Pc and Os is pretty fast and is about 7 to 9 Gb depending on time. Slimmed down with NTLite and other cleaning programs. Fast and reliable would be the main features i am looking for in a Linux dist. Why Clonezilla? Windows also contains so much that i do not need besides the "bloat", just take a look at the controlpanel, so i want to try another Os to see if it is more basic. As i mentioned before, ability to stop Spotify updates is necessary.
1. What distro do you recommend for a lean och fast distro? I am prepared to learn myself, as with Windows. This is mostly a learning project out of curiosity 2. After Windows is installed there are lots of different cache that is unnecessary if one do frequent backups so one can reduce its size by several Gb`s. Do you mean that Linux is that basic after install that it is hardly nothing to clean? 3. Yes i know. But a scanner could be good to have, or? If so - what? Regarding software i do not think i need anything else than Spotify, a browser and something equivalent to the music player MPC-BE. 4. I am considering that myself. At least as a test.
Take MX Linux 19 for lean and fast. There are even leaner distros, but MX has such great tools, it's not worth it to give all that up, just to save a few MBs on your hard disk. If you have very new hardware, such as Intel processor 9th or 10th gen, use the AHS version. With linux it makes sense to clean cache after you have installed programs and packages and updates etc. MX has tools for that. You can use Clam as a scanner. There are lots and lots of music players, I don't know which is best. There are lots of lean, leaner and leanest distros. I haven't tried very many of them, but I know that MX is good. AntiX is a super lean and fast distro, but by default it doesn't have a full-fledged desktop environment. AntiX is a daddy of MX, thus the "X" in MX.
The truth is there are so many distros and desktop environments to choose from, and so many endless and inconclusive discussions on the topic, that you just need to make the plunge and try it out. Your final decision will most likely be influenced by what works best with your hardware and software and user habits and mindset. There is no one-size-fits-all, and that is the beauty of linux. About desktop environments: KDE is crying out to be customized, and so is Xfce to a lesser extent, so don't judge them by out-of-the-box.
Ok, thanks for all the info! I have a AMD Ryzen 3 2200U, fairly fast and modern. 2 years old. These tools you are talking about are they easy to find, are they within Linux in a sort of "Store" or 3 party findings on the net? What about browser, best, fastest?
Follow the man, https://www.wilderssecurity.com/members/mrkvonic.32900/, and go with Kubuntu, https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/kubuntu-focal.html.
I don't know much about AMD processors. You can ask on the MX forum about yours in particular, but it is probably supported by the regular version of MX 19 if it is 2 years old. MX linux is based on Debian, and Debian leans toward stability, and away from bleeding edge. If you want bleeding edge, go Manjaro. Ubuntu is in the middle. The MX tools are a special feature of MX linux. You don't have them in other distros. At the end of the day, you can probably do all the same things, but it's harder and more tedious. With the exception of the addition of this "tool box", MX follows a minimalist philosophy. Your browser experience on Linux will be pretty similar to Windows. You can pretty much use the browser of your choice. Most distros choose Firefox as the default browser, and it is pre-installed. There are some small-time, Linux-specific browsers, but I wouldn't use them, out of security concerns. Not enough development. KDE, otherwise known as Plasma, is a popular and highly customizable desktop environment that is reminiscent of Windows but more elegant. The default looks will differ from distro to distro. (MX linux just put out a beta KDE version, by the way.) KDE is the desktop used on Kubuntu (Kubuntu = Ubuntu with KDE). It has very low RAM usage. And you can disable certain effects if you want very minimal CPU usage, but you won't feel the CPU usage anyways on modern hardware. If you do notice a certain delay, it is by design, and the delay can be disabled or modified. by the way, the term "desktop environment" means more than just how your desktop looks. It affects what programs are supported and/or pre-installed, and it affects the GUI of system management, and much more. I am sure others can give you a better definition of it.
If speed is an issue then you’re into the realms of stuff that is not so easy to manage as Mint or Kubuntu. For KDE, Calculate or Sabayon being Gentoo based will be faster as will something running the Openbox desktop such as BunsenLabs. The learning curve for this kind of distro though is pretty steep especially regarding package management. I install different distros all the time either for my own testing or for clients. This usually includes customizing the base install to a set of criteria requested by them. Many of these are Windows migrants and usually the first thing that happens is they break the system by playing around in unfamiliar territory. Que my 1TB extension drive containing all the Clonezilla backups I make at install and 10 minutes later it’s all back again apart from what they might have added themselves since delivery. Overall though as shmu26 says there is far too much of everything in the Linux world including distros and desktops. How far you delve into this depends on what time you have and ideally if you have a spare machine for testing. I’d also favor to look at MX especially since they now have an official KDE in beta which is my preferred DE. Their community produced MX-15 KDE-added release was IMO one of the best KDE4 distros ever produced and I was sad this was not carried forward to the later editions. Now it has been so we’ll see what the result is. One other consideration if you prefer a base system you can add to rather than something ‘complete’ with stuff you don’t need is Q4OS. This has the Trinity desktop option (ex KDE3) as well as Plasma5 so something else to play around with. And it's fast.
Solus is one of the best distributions, fast, clean, stable and rolling release. 4 main DE: Budgie, Mate, Gnome and KDE & more. What I like is that it's a separate distribution, with its own really nice community forum, its reddit, everything is grouped together, no scattering. Dev are awesome and support very well users. 1 update every friday. I've run Ubuntu ( & xu, lu) , Mint, Manjaro, MX, antix, etc, the best for me is Solus. But, it's better to install ONLY Solus on a PC, no dual boot etc. https://getsol.us/home/
When someone has no experience of Linux and specifically mentions Spotify I don’t think Solus is the best option to consider. IMO too many potential issues and too much consequential trolling through the Solus forum to fix them for a new Windows migrant.
I think it's worth it to install an easy distro and play around with it for a couple days, and then nuke it if you don't like it.
When someone has no experience of Linux, he has no experience of Linux, whatever the distro. That's all. He will learn the language of its choosen distro. I don't know what your talking about spotify & solus, since solus support flathub, snap and some 3rd party apps. Solus, too many potential issues? LOL
I read his articel about his jump to Linux long time ago, and he was really enthusiastic. Thanks for the reminder and the link. It will be interesting reading.
Speed and something fairly up to date that will be updated regularly in the future. Right now the MX KDE Beta seems interesting, maybe even Kubuntu. Thanks for the input!
