Um, what’s the difference between this and Zorin OS?
It’s Linux with Wine, that has a theme that looks like Windows. I’ll be honest, I’m running Mint with Cinnamon, and since I was already heavily in the FOSS world for gaming, etc., when people see my current PC at a glance, they can’t tell the difference between it and my Win10 PC (except for the LM logo on the start menu). I have Wine and DOSBox-X installed too, so I don’t need VMWare or another VM set up.
Some people absolutely do want this. Some people even want it in a ‘push-the-button’ style solution. We call those people ‘users’.
I’ve never understood this. You go through all the trouble of switching OSes, presumably because you don’t like something about it, and then proceed to make it look exactly like what you had?
I personally don’t care what my desktop looks like, I hide as much of the desktop stuff so there’s more space on screen for what I actually care about. I used GNOME for a year or so because he had a better Wayland implementation, and now I’m on KDE because I wanted to try out Plasma 6 (spoiler, it fixed my Wayland problems) and as long as I can use a key combo to type an app name to launch, I don’t have a strong preference between them. I really don’t care much between the two, I don’t see much of the desktop anyway. I used to use a tiling WM, but I got tired of random apps messing stuff up and then Wayland scrambled the entire ecosystem up, so I bailed.
I admit I did install a “Windows XP” theme when I first switched to Linux, and again when the “aero” theme came out, but I only left it on for a couple days, and mostly to troll friends.
I’m glad the choice exists, I guess I just don’t understand it.
I’ve never understood this. You go through all the trouble of switching OSes, presumably because you don’t like something about it, and then proceed to make it look exactly like what you had?
What’s hard to understand about familiarity?
You can have familiarity without direct replication. KDE Plasma uses a lot of the same design metaphors as Windows, yet it’s distinct, both visually and functionally.
Linux will never work exactly like Windows, and I think it’s important to highlight that with the design. For example, instead of replicating the Microsoft Store and Windows Update split, it combines them in the Discover app, because system and user software is combined in Linux. It’s pretty intuitive, but different.
Familiarity is fine, but the more you try to make one thing look like another, the more jarring the differences become.
Sometimes the impetus to change OS is not UX related.
In my current case, it’s got nothing whatsoever to do with liking or not liking Windows. I actually like Windows 9x, XP, 7, and 10. I bought a computer and wanted to install a clean OS on it (it came with Ubuntu, which I loathe visually and general UX-wise, because it feels like a Mac and seems like no matter what I do, something breaks). I had a choice: go through the effort on my other machine of pirating Win10, or just install Linux. I decided to go with Mint, because it supports the software I want and there’s a feeling of familiarity, so muscle memory still works. I had to learn things like using Alt+F2 rather than Win+R, but I feel like I’m in a safer environment to learn than just “here’s a new OS, good luck”, because I can access those things in the GUI until I learn to do otherwise. Having Wine and DOSBox-X are because I have software that’s for Windows or DOS that I like. I still haven’t found a solid replacement for Notepad++, for example; and that’s not including games.
There’s also the “use Linux to make old machines work better and safer” use-case, especially for older people. My mom, for instance, is almost 80. She knew DOS, and she’s been acclimated to Windows over 30-odd years. If I want to make her older machine safer and more efficient, I’d install Mint on it compared to something else (I actually can’t, because her tax software is Windows-only and does not work correctly in Wine), because again, she’ll feel that she’s in a safer environment. She already uses OpenOffice (specifically not LibreOffice, because of the print layout differences - seemingly small things like kerning and the like can have a significant effect), and Firefox. She was using Thunderbird for a while but switched to webmail, just for simplicity. I’d have to walk her through PySol, AisleRiot, or another solitaire program, but I’m pretty confident that I could do that. So it should work like Windows for her, except for all the things she won’t use.
I bought a computer and wanted to install a clean OS on it (it came with Ubuntu, which I loathe visually and general UX-wise…). I had a choice: go through the effort on my other machine of pirating Win10, or just install Linux
Yeah, I dislike Ubuntu as well, which is why I recommend Mint. Most of the community support for Ubuntu is directly relevant, but you don’t have to deal with any of the nonsense that comes by default (UI/UX, snaps, etc).
That said, you can also just install Windows, no need to pirate it. Yeah, you’ll get the watermark and can’t switch the desktop background as easily, but other than that, it’s perfectly functional. That’s what I use for my dual-boot because I use Windows maybe once/year, if that.
My point here is that Linux and Windows are fundamentally different. If you want Windows, but want to avoid something specific about it (cost, ads, etc), Linux isn’t going to be a great transition an comes with a bunch of caveats, and no amount of lipstick is going to hide that. If you’re switching away from Windows, surely you’re also okay with it looking a bit different too, no?
Alt+F2 rather than Win+R
Key bindings can be changed.
Notepad++
Recommendations:
- Visual Studio Code - closer to an IDE than a simple text editor, but it’s pretty good in general
- Kate - esp if you’re using KDE (Alt+F2 is the key combo there, but maybe it’s the same on Cinnamon and other default Mint DEs)
Some things don’t have a direct replacement, but generally speaking, there’s usually a few analogues for anything you’d use on Windows. For example, for games, you have:
- Steam - most games w/o anti-cheat work, and some with anti-cheat work, if the devs enable it
- Heroic - for GOG, EGS, and Prime games
- a bunch of FOSS games - 0 AD and Battle for Wesnoth are my favorites
her tax software is Windows-only and does not work correctly in Wine
Consider teaching her to use one of the online tax software solutions (e.g. in the US, FreeTaxUSA is free and easy). Yes, it’s different, but it’s also pretty easy, even for someone who is older. I use FreeTaxUSA (assuming you’re in the US; if not, look for an alternative), and it feels just like TurboTax, but without all of the upcharge nonsense. If that’s truly the only roadblock and she ends up liking the online version, then you’re golden (I recommend helping her create an account, but let her do everything else)!
Best case scenario, she saves a few bucks and is that much closer to switching to Linux. Worst case scenario, she goes back to what she’s used to, no harm done.
