I thought I wanted to upgrade to Windows 11, but I have subsequently decided to ride out Windows 10 to the bitter end and when it finally goes EOL I will switch to a new OS, probably some flavour of Linux. I’ve stuck with Windows mostly because I knew how it worked (or so I thought) and it felt comfortable. My experiments with Windows 11 don’t feel comfortable (at least not more comfortable than 10 and no more comfortable than a number of Linux distros I have used.) I really had hoped that Windows 10 was the last version of Windows (back when that was a popularly held myth), but since it’s not, I’ve decided to get off the Windows treadmill at the next stop.
4 Likes
Since you are wanting to switch your OS, you should consider MacOS. The performance you get from the M1 is insane. I can’t wait to see what kind of performance the new M1X will offer this coming week. A Mac mini is an affordable way to switch to MacOS if you already have a good monitor, speakers, etc.
If you’re anti-Apple, then Linux is certainly a good alternative to Windows too. Linux Mint is always a good choice for first time Linux users. I know that Leo uses the Gnome Edition of Manjaro. There are certainly plenty of distress to choose from 
I have a 2014 Mac Mini, and I hated it. I originally got it to use XCode to make iOS apps, before I concluded that I couldn’t be happy living in the Apple cage. It’s sat unused (not even powered on) since 2015. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, but for some reason Apple rubs me personally in all the wrong ways.
I used to use RHEL (Redhat Enterprise Linux) at work and it was fine, if boringly basic. That got me started on Fedora at home, but Fedora today is not what Fedora was back then (around the low version numbers, like 4.) I’ll probably end up on something like Unraid or QubesOS so I can run whatever I want in virtualization.
1 Like
I switched to Linux a month back. Very happy so far - although I have always had Linux boxes kicking around, since 2001. I used it as my main desktop between 2003 and 2007, before switching to OS X, then back to Windows as my main desktop.
I am an amateur photographer, which is the one area where Linux really lags behind, so I am seriously thinking of giving macOS another try. I’m waiting to see what next week brings. But the Linux box would be more than enough for the next few years (Ryzen 1700, 32GB RAM, 3 SSDs, nViidia GTX1050ti), but it uses too much power, a Mac mini using a fraction of the power of the Ryzen 1700 for near the same performance is very tempting, considering the electricity prices have gone up around 30% in the last 2 months.
big_D I have to agree with you about the power consumption. That’s another reason I bought an M1 iMac. I get amazing performance with a lot less power consumption, and my electricity prices have gone up a lot here too.
Regarding the photo editing apps, if you need Photoshop, looks like there is a way to get it working in Linux: How To Install PhotoShop CC on Linux - YouTube
1 Like
I use Serif Affinity Photo and Capture One.
1 Like
Yeah if you’re a serious photographer and are considering switching, you should consider getting an M1 Mac mini right now. It’s a cheap way to get back into MacOS. There are actually some really good deals on Amazon right now on the 8GB models. I think $600 for the 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD and $750 for 8GB / 512GB. If you’re not using Photoshop at all, then you could get away with just 8GB of RAM as I saw the requirements for Affinity Photo were only 2GB, but if you are a power user or see yourself wanting to use Photoshop in the future, you’ll definitely want to get 16GB of RAM because the minimum requirement for Photoshop is 8GB of RAM.
At one point I really wanted to make the switch to Linux, for privacy reasons. However; I felt that there were so many areas where I felt like I would be making sacrifices in regards to apps. Sure there is always a free open source alternative, but I felt like the open source alternatives were just not up to par. Photo editors are a great example of this, GIMP just isn’t nearly as good as Photoshop. I know it has a lot of the same functionality, but the UI looks like it was developed in 1995; how does that inspire creativity? Same thing with the publishing software Scribus, I know that I can create something more professional looking in InDesign or Pages. Now I’m not knocking open source software, there is a lot of great open source software out there. I just feel that when it comes to certain software, you are going to get more from paid software.
One thing I really dislike though is that so many iOS applications are charging a monthly fee now. Deliveries, a package tracking app used to cost a couple of dollars and then you owned the app. Now it’s “free” but you have to pay a couple of dollars a month to unlock the features that make the app useful.
2 Likes
Affinity photo for me also
With you on this one. I’m almost always an early adopter but the more we learn about Win11 the more it seems half-baked. What amounts to basic UI changes seems to have caused some serious problems with the underlying OS. And those UI changes aren’t even pervasive through the OS.
I’ll probably end up on Win11 at some point but it’ll be a while. Maybe if Valve opens up their Proton gaming compatibility software to other dists I could switch to Linux.
I made the jump from my 2011 Mac Mini to having it running Zorin OS. I’m loving it. Won’t be going back to Windows or macOS.
1 Like
The Explaining Computers guy recent showed off Zorin OS
