I may go on a Linux quest again... but in a different way.

[cpd2009]

Lately, I have been noticing that I don't really use many of the features that Windows 10 comes with. I recently switched from Microsoft Edge to Firefox Quantum for my web browsing, and the difference is night and day. I'm also not too thrilled that many new Windows Store apps are going to be "PWA", or Progressive Web Apps. Essentially, they are going to be web pages running in it's own little window like an app. A perfect example is the upcoming Twitter app for the upcoming Windows 10 Spring update. It's a very lazy way of making so-called "apps", and if that is going to be the development method going forward, why don't I just use a web browser?

I could move down to Windows 8 like I always say, but what if Linux works out this time? I have tried it many times before, and always found some sort of issue that booted me back over to Windows, but it is showing great improvement every time I do try it. I can also use Firefox too.


Here is my idea. To test Linux, I will use the latest release of Linux Mint, and install it on Greta. I will then downgrade Pearl to Windows 8.1 as I have no more need for Windows 10 features that I never use anymore. By testing Linux on Greta, I can keep track of Windows app compatibility and try out various open source replacements for my proprietary programs.

If Linux Mint or some other distro meets my needs perfectly, then I may end up replacing Win8.1 with Linux, though that idea remains to be seen.

May as well start making preparations. I will use this thread to keep track of issues or successes I come across.

[huckleberrypie]

And then there's these privacy concerns over what the likes of Microsoft and Facebook scrape from unsuspecting users.

I do want to switch over to Linux, but the problem is that of application compatibility. Sure, there is Wine and ReactOS, but given the scope of Win32 and the Modern API I doubt it would achieve 100% any time soon. Hence why I opted to run Linux on a VM and Windows as my primary OS.

[cpd2009]

Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon is now installed, and I also got all the updates and proprietary drivers.

Nvidia Optimus support has come a long way in a few short years. The latest drivers now let you run the entire desktop through the Nvidia GPU or the Intel graphics. You simply choose either one, log out and log in. I haven't discovered if you can just run single games or programs on the GPU while retaining the battery saving Intel graphics.

I have yet to gauge performance, but Firefox runs well. Once I get a good suite of multimedia apps installed, I can gauge performance.

[huckleberrypie]

Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon is now installed, and I also got all the updates and proprietary drivers.

Nvidia Optimus support has come a long way in a few short years. The latest drivers now let you run the entire desktop through the Nvidia GPU or the Intel graphics. You simply choose either one, log out and log in. I haven't discovered if you can just run single games or programs on the GPU while retaining the battery saving Intel graphics.

I have yet to gauge performance, but Firefox runs well. Once I get a good suite of multimedia apps installed, I can gauge performance.

That is 'swell. I may have to invest in a quad-core AMD myself as I needed one for building recovery images. Not for now though.