Sometimes less is a whole lot more. Just keeps the aggravation levels down too.

He's back! My neighbor called. Said he was tired of wading through everything Windows 10 throws at him. According to him it's "way too much" trying to jump through all the hoops Microsoft insists on. He's seen my Linux Mint desktops in action a number of times, and wants to cut the MS cord and make the move himself.

So he's bringing his laptop by this evening. We'll install Mint 18.2 on it replacing Windows entirely. Told him he needs to walk through the procedure with me so he knows what's going on. He agrees, and that's a huge step for him.

More to come!..

About 6 years ago a friend bought an Acer Netbook. When she complained about a slug Windows was, I offered to install Linux, with a temporary installation of both Ubuntu and Mint. She preferred Mint, so I set it up for her. This was someone who was not terribly knowledgeable about tech things. I helped her solve several Mac issues.

In three years, she never asked for help with Mint, and usually when I visited her house, I would check to see if she was keeping Mint up to date. She was.

I haven't done a Linux install on a Windows machine in a long time, but if your friend has the disk space, why not set it to dual boot? Default can be set to Linux, but if for some reason he really needs Windows, it's still there. Or, has Microsoft made this next to impossible with newer releases?

George - Glad you're helping this individual out. A little of that goes a long way.

As for Window 10, I'd find out what applications he's using that are Windows specific. All of the common tasks on Windows PCs have equal or better versions under Linux. A good browser comes to mind with FF and Chrome running fine under Linux. Don't need Windows for that. VLC player has a Linux version, bit torrent too. Sadly a program like Media Monkey isn't available on Linux. The old Garmin MapSource, Photoshop, Illustrator apps are Windows programs. But Oracle's VB solves that problem.

I've got a GPS (for the car) which has lifetime free map updates. I doubt this will work under Linux. Or the Windows XP I have running in VB. Need to get on my neighbor's Windows system for that. Can't have everything.

Let us know how this goes and what he's running specifically.

I've helped quite a few here in my area make the move to Linux Mint, and have yet to hear even one complaint. They're still running Mint, enjoying it, keeping it updated, and doing their computing chores with it.


I told him we could set up a dual boot system, Win 10 and Linux Mint. He wasn't interested. Said Windows 10 was "pretty" but it "sucked" user wise in comparison to Windows 7. As a long time Windows user he clearly knew what he was talking about so we didn't pursue that any further.

What he wanted was a setup like I run, with Wine for compatible Windows apps and a minimal Win 7 in a Virtualbox for other apps he wants to run. That's what we did..

Walking someone through the transition from Windows to Linux is by far the best way to make a long term convert. That's what I've done up here on the mountain. Once they 'see' for themselves how well Mint handles their computing chores, how easy it is to set it up and configure it to their liking, and how rock solid it is technically, they just never look back!..

My neighbor was here last evening and we installed Linux Mint 18.2 Mate' in place of Windows 10. Walked him though each step, did the necessary updates, then showed him how to configure the system to his liking -- which in his case was much the same as the Mint setup I run, including Wine and Virtualbox.

I walked him through the installation of a minimal version of Windows 7 in Virtualbox, and showed him how to use it. He didn't bring his Windows programs with him. Said he'd try them in Wine on his Mint desktop, and those that didn't work in Wine he'd run with Win 7 in VB. He was familiar with the programs I run in VB and shouldn't have any problem running his. If he needs further help he knows where I live!..

George - That's great you got everything up and running. For his sake, nice to have consulting in the area.

When working with someone who's not only interested but willing to pay attention, the ease with which they transition from Windows to Linux Mint is fascinating to watch. Right out of the box Linux Mint makes that transition easy enough that anyone who wants to can do it, and having a chance to walk someone like that through the necessary steps and get them rolling with Mint is fun!..

Having a PC background helps a lot. I have a few customers that don't have such a background but need to rely on PCs. Just means more up front time spent climbing the learning curve.