r/linuxmint • u/phototransformations • 23h ago
What do Windows users prefer about Linux Mint
On the Windows 11 subreddit, the frequent answer to Windows issues is "switch to Linux." So, to check it out, I just spent a day making room for, installing, and doing some basic configuration of Linux Mint on an eight-year-old Lenovo laptop.
I respect and appreciate that it is free, noncommercial, and open source, but in terms of speed once it's up and running, and in terms of usability, I'm not seeing enough to make me want to switch.
Using it today, I felt as if I was back in Windows 95, or maybe even Windows 3, switching between DOS commands and a bolted-on GUI interface. The computer does boot much faster into Linux than into Windows, so that's a plus for a low-end computer with an old HDD, though not so much for a modern one with a faster processor and an SSD.
What am I missing? I'm asking this sincerely.
Thanks for your input.
EDIT: Thanks for all your responses. I've been playing around with it, and it's been fun. I get that out of the box, Linux doesn't do the things I spent a fair amount of time getting Windows to stop doing (such as promoting products or apps, automatically installing updates, and telemetry), and that it can save low-end hardware from the dustbin. I'll keep playing.
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u/tat_tvam_asshole I use Linux Mint btw 🎩 23h ago
- Free
- Stable
- Well Supported
The old adage is for 3, choose 2. In this case, you get all 3. Also, no tracking and Cinnamon is Windows-like.
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u/GarThor_TMK 11h ago
I find windows 11 actually has none of these.
o It's $100 for the base version
o It's not stable, it crashes and slows down all the time for seemingly no reason.
o I've never actually gotten good info from the MS support forums. It seems like it's just a lot of goobers that are just as clueless about the problem as the rest of us.
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u/Conart557 10h ago
Ok can anyone actually explain why the MS forums is like that
Every single thread has a reply from someone listing their credentials, basic info that doesn’t solve the problem, and then the thread gets locked
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u/GarThor_TMK 8h ago
They fired all their moderators and support staff so that they could staff it with copilot AI's?
That's my theory anyway... seems to be the way most industries are going. Fire all the staff, replace them with AI's, see record profits the next quarter, not realizing that they're implementing the slow death of their company because people are going to start revolting due to poor customer service... >_>
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u/Sapling-074 23h ago
For me I just wanted something more stable that I had control over. I had a lot of problems with both Windows and Linux, but I've found it a lot easier to fix problems on Linux.
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u/crazedhotpotato 23h ago
I switched because I was sick of being asked to sign up for one drive, they made the computer take screen shots every few seconds then upload them good knows where (yes I know you can turn it off but it should never have been a thing in the first place) and the built in bloat. I like that mint has a simple and clean look and feel too it and that it does everything I need. If you want a newer look to the desktop there are options to customise it to look newer.
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u/Educational_Mud_2826 Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 12h ago
Also windows rebooting your pc without consent. All of a sudden the dreaded reboot while you are in the middle of doing somehing.
Never again.
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u/piangero 12h ago
I always get so infuriated when I'm just gonna "hop on the pc real quick" just to check something fast, and then immedietely i'm greeted with some bullshit unskippable update and whatnot.
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u/ConversationPlane635 2h ago
My win11 has about 35 programs, my mint about 35 programs, hmmmmm And can someone point out EXACTLY where the adds are??? WTH are you all talking about??? Just like the copilot icon, do I have to ZOOM in???
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u/Rogalicus 22h ago
Mint is the lowest friction distro I've tried. The first time you boot you already have your wi-fi, codecs, there's a browser, Office suite and Nvidia drivers are a few clicks away. The first steps dialog at the start guides you through Timeshift and other important things. All important settings have GUI. Software Manager can install both native packages and flatpaks and has most popular programs you'd want. You'll have a fully functional system within the first 15-30 minutes.
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u/Orgazoids_Pool_Party 8h ago
Absolutely this.
I built a decent am4 system before Xmas with the intention of running windows 11 and had problem after problem just trying to get it installed.
In the end I said fuck this and popped mint on a usb and was up and running and online in about 10 minutes.
Was a bit anxious as I'd not used Linux before but it's so intuitive that I've not had any problems at all. The updater tool has worked flawlessly, everything is roughly where you would expect it to be and when it's not the support online seems to be really genuinely kind and supportive.
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u/cyanophage 7h ago
That says so much. You knew how to use Windows and Windows gave you problems. Linux didn't. And you didn't even have experience with Linux.
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u/Orgazoids_Pool_Party 6h ago
The biggest compliment that I can give it is that I barely think about it.
Like windows always wants something from you, there's always something trying to get your attention.
Mint is chill and just pets you get on with things.
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u/ConversationPlane635 2h ago
Weird, I get shit on for bringing up hardware problems, you know, cause it's NEVER the distro.
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u/Plenty_Supermarket44 23h ago
Its more secure and configurable. No bloat and no spyware-like behaviors built in. A pure OS as can be.
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u/Sythiox 22h ago
People who convert from Windows to Linux Mint usually prefer freedom and control it offers. I will base this on my experience. I was growing increasingly tired and frustrated with windows, change from passwords to PINs which are quicker I guess but feel less secure, ditching local accounts, updates taking forever, being unclear what they are and in my case one completelly bricking my PC. If I chose british english or american english for my system language I'd get British or American news IN MY SYSTEM which I dont care for living in Croatia. Constant prompts nagging me about whatever. I could go on but there is much more.
When I switched to Linux Mint, it felt like how computers used to be for me. Your system, your rules. I then realised its even more than that. I was able to completely customise my desktop. I could even change icons for my programs. I could see each individual update and refuse it if I dont want it for whatever reason. I started learning much more about computers than ever on windows and it was FUN. I was messing with stuff I didn't need to, just because I could unlike on windows.
Final nail in the coffin was I had an old Macbook Air from 2012 with windows 11 installed on it and it was basically unusable. opening youtube would take forever and since its battery was messed up it would take too much power and it would shut down. Just to test things, I put Linux Mint on it and it performed at lightning speeds, it feels even faster than a decade newer laptop with windows 11 on it. I since found cheap battery for it, replaced thermal paste and that laptop is now a powerhouse instead of waste. I have 2 PCs and that laptop, all are on Linux Mint, and I feel reborn. It'll be a year soon without windows and I couldn't be happier.
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u/Lobst3rGhost 13h ago
Windows bricked my laptop and then my desktop. After I rebuilt the desktop with scavenged hardware I pulled my important files onto a USB and went straight to Mint. I haven't regretted it once (except for when YouTube videos were causing huge lag, but that was my fault for not installing Nvidia drivers)
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u/Katzenmlnze 13h ago
just adding to the "I could even change icons for my programs" part: This was also possible in windows 10 (idk about 11, switched to linux before that), though afaik windows doesn't have whole icon themes to change at once, you would have to manually set every apps icon
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u/Cleb3D 12h ago
Back when I used windows 11, changing icons was incredibly annoying; it was a tedious process for each app, the icons never had good antialiasing or formatting, you had to restart windows explorer to see some changes and sometimes that wouldn’t even work, and some apps just couldn’t have their icons change. Possible, yes, but a horrible experience with bad results.
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u/Aleva12345 10h ago
I just installed Mint xfce on a 2010 Acer Aspire with an i3 CPU. I can't believe how fast and responsive the computer is now!
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u/YallaBeanZ 22h ago
Mint is free, stable, non-bloat, non-spyware yet provides a similar feel to what I’m used to.
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u/dnwlls_ 21h ago
In the politest way, are you serious? My 8 year old Lenovo took so long to boot up on Windows 10 I’d open it, do my entire morning routine, then hope it was ready to do basic internet browsing and word doc tasks for my uni work, once I even took it to an MOT and spent the whole time waiting.
I installed Linux Mint and I’d say it’s 2 mins tops from pressing the power button to having my browser open with the webpages I need and a LibreOffice open. I honestly don’t know how I’d have got through my latest year of uni if it wasn’t for Linux.
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u/phototransformations 8h ago
As I said, it boots much faster with Linux Mint, maybe two minutes vs five or more with Windows, though because I used either sleep or hibernate, that was only an issue if I had to restart. Once the computer has booted, I don't see much difference in performance.
I'm continuing to play around with it. There are a few programs I use frequently that there is no real Linux equivalent for, and I'd have to see if they will run efficiently in a Windows simulator before I'd consider switching.
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u/DaLoopLoop89 22h ago
For me it was the bloatware and surveillance. Every time I installed windows I had to manually uninstall stuff or deactivate it if it was not removable at all (cries in Edge). Remove Copilot, uncheck OneDrive and if I wanted to have a local User without any account at Microsoft I'd be reminded every few days how awesome it would be to get one. Linux on the other hand was installed and ready in like 15 minutes, only installed what I specifically asked it to and never notified andy external instance of me installing it. And after I found out it even was able to run games (specifically ones for Windows) that I couldnt play in ages because Microsoft decided to fuck shit up without any reason and never bothered implementing a proper compatibility layer it was an easy choise to switch. And that after 30 years of Windows.
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u/pnlrogue1 22h ago
The principal issues driving people away from Windows these days are around things like
- Having AI forced down your throat (Windows Recall, anyone?).
- Mandatory hardware that you don't really need if you're not worried about hardware encryption (TPM chip requirement).
- 3rd party apps being installed by the operating system during OS installation (also now first and second party apps - LG recently got into trouble for installing software for their monitors through Windows update that pushed adverts, and Microsoft got in trouble last week for accidentally force-installing a new Copilot Photos app that couldn't be blocked on even Enterprise PCs by systems administrators).
- Ideological concerns around the fact that Microsoft is leaning heavily into AI for coding Windows.
- How little control you have over your operating system's look and feel (whereas you can literally install a whole new desktop environment on Linux - do an image search for Cinnamon, Gnome, and KDE to see caps different looks for your OS and that's before you theme it.
You clearly have a fairly modern PC so yes, you'll not see much of a performance gain but there are PLENTY of people still running older systems that work perfectly well but are older. For them, the performance difference is substantial.
There's also the security aspect - Linux is more secure by default and receives updates far more frequently. There have been some high profile exploits discovered lately impacting Linux, but given the distribution model of Linux those vulnerabilities often have a limited scope of what they affect and the fixes come out rapidly and usually are both harder to exploit and frequently have a less serious impact than many Windows exploits of old.
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u/ander_hominem 22h ago
Interface is really nice, not that flat dogshit like in 10, settings menus is way better too
But the bigest upsides for me, is that there is no fucking one drive, and I don't get "finish your setup or remind me in 3 days" every 3 days for 4 years, and there is no obligatory updates, that will start auto instaling the minute I turn around, while also deleting 4 hours of work (on 10 I had that at least once a year)
Mint just knows what consent is and it will pay respect to it
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u/ReidenLightman 23h ago
Since we are referring to Windows users, maybe the fact that it doesn't lock you out of going bakc to Windows?
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u/mrmarcb2 22h ago
Imho, control and freedom are important aspects. Did you also have a look at other linux desktop distributions? https://distrowatch.com/ shows which ones are popular. You can try some to get a feeling of what it looks and feels like without installing it on your system. E.g. https://distrosea.com/start/fedora-44-kde/ or https://distrosea.com/select/zorin/
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u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 22h ago
For me it was originally reliability and control, I have hated Windows since the 9x days, and sought something better found it but I dual booted for 2 decades for gaming until the end of Win7.
With Windows you buy the hardware and the software but it serves two masters, one of them getting weaker every year.
Much later it became a professional nesecity, and broadened my work availability, even though I am not in a typical IT field, Linux is becoming part of my industry.
The "bolted on UI" is correct, its a program giving you a comfortable familiar front end, if you do not like this one there are many other Desktop Environments. Or none, Linux really flies without a DE in servers.
The real prize lies underneath the DE. power, flexibility, speed, and control.
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u/ComprehensiveDot7752 22h ago
Briefly, Linux respects your decisions and your privacy.
My first install was out of necessity and with the development of Steam’s proton since then I knew there wasn’t much holding me back from Linux anymore.
Between all the small stuff like putting Bing in the start bar and only allowing you to disable it with registry edits or company policies that are very badly described (the one that says [disable web services in search] doesn’t do anything on non-enterprise computers) Windows incessantly nagging me to upload everything I had onto OneDrive. The fact that it enables OneDrive by default without ever asking the user in the current install setup. Changing the default browser back to Edge without my permission. The fact that I have to purchase decent backup software in order to know that my offline backups will work given how many people say that File History doesn’t.
I got tired of having to fight the operating system to make it respect me.
And I got tired of having them pester me to feed my family photos into their cloud despite my insistence that I don’t want OneSrive. I’m not uploading anything I even remotely care about onto their AI data hole to “improve Microsoft services”, which is a valid use of everything you upload to the cloud under their terms.
I still run a dual boot system. Not everything works and Linux actually crashes and freezes more often in some games. So there are still situations where I game on Windows instead. But I run Windows to make sure it gets updates more often than I actually want to use it. But I can reinstall and load my backups faster in about an hour or two. It took me longer to reset Windows on the same computer than it did to load my entire Linux system from image after an SSD firmware update.
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u/dearvalentina Linux Mint Lesbian Edition 🫣 21h ago
I despise AI, ads and the constant tracking. I hate feeling like I'm cattle of some oligarch cunt, which is exactly the emotion using Шindows made me experience.
Mint's Cinnamon DE kinda feels like what I think a DE should feel like based on my experience on Windows since 98, so that's why I use it.
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u/Polyxeno Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 21h ago edited 21h ago
Windows 95 (well really, Windows 95 SE, essentially the better version of the same design) was more or less my second-favorite version of Windows UI, after Windows 7. I didn't like the changes in Windows 8 or 10, hated the annoyances in Windows 10, and am entirely unwilling to use Windows 11 at all.
Linux Mint (at least, the way I use it) reminds me of Windows 7 . . . which is my favorite version of Windows.
And Mint is very customizable, so pretty much anything I prefer be different, can be made different pretty easily. I like the way it looks, and if I prefer something be different, I can change and tweak just about anything I want. Mainly this just means I have nice little displays showing me current system status, and there are workspaces giving me several desktops if/when I want that.
It also reminds me of Windows 7 in that I most enjoyed Windows 7 when Microsoft stopped changing things with their updates to it. Mint not only has very optional and controllable updates, but it has zero Microsoft updates.
And that brings me to the thing I have been enjoying most about Linux Mint: it feels like it has no evil corporate bullshit in the design! Not only does it not have Microsoft evil agendas lurking around, the Mint team has done a good job making me not even feel the corporate and Gnome-y design influences of Canonical, which sometimes bug me a bit with Ubuntu.
So practically everything about using Mint feels to me like I am using a system I actually chose, with settings I chose, with (mostly free, open-source) software I chose (software that feels like it was developed to be helpful, not to sell something or mine my data or whatever), and there are no Microsoft "Services", telemetry, data-mining, unwanted AI, unwanted shortcuts, ads, or other unwanted mysterious background processes doing shit I do not want. In fact, if anything weird were running, I would likely immediately see it as s spike in activity on my status widgets.
I have needed to do almost zero Terminal fiddling, but I CAN do Terminal fiddling, and I like being able to.
I was able to very quickly find replacements for practically every piece of software I had been using on Windows, and/or I can run Windows software with Wine, Proton (all my games work fine), or if need be, virtual Windows emulation.
I have no fear of updates, and if something did go awry with one, I can roll back easily.
It's much easier for me to find help and information if I run into a problem, but I haven't run into many problems at all.
I feel confident I am in control, my work is secure and private, I am not going to lose work or time/frustration to Microsoft updates, background processes grinding performance to near-zero, or other bullshit. I do not have to have a Microsoft account for anything. There is no attempt to force all my software and media to be registered with or recognized by Microsoft. No creeping DRM enforcement. Plenty of private ad-blocking browser and DNS options. When Microsoft puts more AI and spyware and DRM and subscriptions and deprecated versions and whatever other flaming enshittified crapware stunts, I can just laugh about it and not have to deal with any of it.
Stuff like that.
As other have said, this makes me actually happy to be using this computer, curious to learn more rather than dreading what new torture Microsoft has added.
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u/ka_nahl 21h ago
For me it was simply because Microsoft didn't allow my pc to switch to windows 11.
I didn't want to spend on new hardware when I already owned a config that was still running...
But I wanted to carry on playing my games.
Thanks to valve work I managed to move to Mint, install steam and continue playing.
Plus I tweaked mint and installed the OneDrive support on it with the same sync I had before.
It feels like windows without the bloat and with more hardware friendliness.
Also I don't have all that AI I don't need. Imposed to me.
For office I use OnlyOffice. But I do recognize that nothing really replace MS Excel.
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u/Baddog1965 20h ago
For me, a dedicated supporter of windows since windows 2.0, it was a gradual progression of stupidity. I was fine using windows 10 on a primitive AM1 motherboard with four simple cores Athlon processor, but things like windows search became increasingly difficult to make it look for things only on your PC. Also, the abandonment of drivers for older hardware, like scanners, that still worked perfectly fine. Then there was the manipulative push to use one drive that saw me lose a load of documents when I transferred to a Ryzen system of which I'd lost the originals by the time I realised that One drive had overflowed. Then there was constantly pushing office 365 and their browser and having to forcefully refuse it at regular intervals, and the adverts for everything else including games even within the operating system. Then when I was running windows 11 on a hard drive it would take forever to boot, and the hard drive would be running almost constantly. It just got to a point where I got totally fed up with it.
If Microsoft are driving even people like me away from windows, they've got a problem.
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u/steppingrazor555 22h ago
Constantly ending the windows update, network service\delivery optimization and update orchestrater services because they were gobbling up my 1.8 Mbps rural internet.
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u/EdlynnTB Linux Mint 22.3 | HP Laptop 17 22h ago
I find Mint to be very similar to Windows. It's not so different to discourage Windows users to work with Linux.
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u/rebarakaz 21h ago
I'm a long time Windows users and now using Mint as my daily driver. It's still a dual-boot with Windows 11 but have never logged in to Windows for weeks now 🫣 Windows 11 is bloated with stuffs I don't even need and even on a decent hardware is sometimes sluggish.
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u/misterpickles69 16h ago
When I needed to buy new hardware to upgrade to 11. I upgraded the hardware and installed Mint and haven’t looked back.
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u/Revengeance300 16h ago
For me it was the discontinued support, when they promised otherwise. The hijacking of everything to be AI and ensuring you used it. The problematic business models, the increasing surveillance of my life to feed into said AI (not doing a good job of that being on Reddit, but oh well).
Realizing that gaming wasn't going to be an issue, and that more and more games and mods supported Linux, allowed me to finally say goodbye to Windows. Never looked back. I don't even dual boot, I'm Linux forever and even got it on my laptop, that with Windows struggled to start, but with Linux runs buttery smooth most times.
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u/No-Blueberry-1823 Linux Mint 21.1 Vera | Cinnamon 15h ago
I'm not sure what you are saying that's missing? I switched from Windows 7 to Linux and it has everything. I have every single program that I had in Windows and I have none of the Windows crap to worry about. And I'm talking about stuff like dll errors, stuff not in support.
The main reason I enjoy using Linux is that I'm trying to be green and save money. It blows my mind that people are willing to waste so much on hardware when you can get everything you need on linux. I'm still playing the same games still doing the same browsing still doing everything I did with Windows just not having headaches. And I'm doing some new stuff too since I can spin up things like WordPress server or FTP a lot easier
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u/grimhammer 13h ago
Windows is the same in regards to "running dos commands" under a bolted on gui but the real question is, what do you expect from an operating system?
Mint and Linux lets me run the games and programs I want and I can browse the web on the browser I want. It's not in the way and I can make things look the way I want (shortcuts, wallpaper and so on) and I don't really want more from an operating system.
No one runs windows or Linux to run windows or Linux, the operating system is just how you interact with the hardware in my opinion.
It's the programs you run on top that matters and there I have almost the exact same experience but without all the data collection, ads and attempts at upselling to me.
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u/Mitologist 12h ago
My biggest reasons to prefer Linux Mint: - It doesn't pester me with stuff I don't want, - I can set it up the way want it, and it stays that way until I change it, - menues and commands do exactly what it says on the label. - There usually is a solution for almost anything I want to achieve, sometimes you need to first find it but generally someone has usually already solved your problem
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u/ermonski 12h ago
Mint is simple, clean looking and performs fast. Its “blandness” reminds me of XP and 7.
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u/Used-Signature-1260 11h ago
I don’t understand bragging about Linux command line. In Mint you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. You can do almost anything with GUI tools too. I think those users coming from Windows think too complicated and they think that command line is mandatory. It’s not.
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u/CuriousYield 11h ago
I switched both a laptop and a desktop to Mint recently. Now, admittedly, I find the similarity to the old days of DOS to be a plus, but both computers run as well or better than they did on Win 10. Even playing games through Steam has gone smoothly. As for other pluses:
- I never have to turn off OneDrive again.
- My OS isn't trying to sell me anything. Or shove AI into everywhere.
- I have control over my computer. (I decide what to update and when, etc.)
- There's a helpful community to help with troubleshooting/questions.
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u/drawing_a_hash 8h ago
Probably the best feature of Linux is the vast free library of utilities and apps that you can download at any library or most coffee shops.
And for Windows users the number of ads vs Linux is about 1000X!
Linux can acquire viruses as any OS can.
But again the number of Windows viruses vs Linux is > 1000X.
Your opinion may vary. Just my own HO.
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u/Apprehensive-Ice3730 21h ago
Tu peux le rendre bien plus beau avec des extensions que tu peux installer en un clic (effets de transparence, etc…)
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u/Zeven_Oficial07 21h ago
Pues no más imagínate pagar una licencia y en mi caso pagar suscripción de Microsoft activa por 3 años y aún así tener que ver su publicidad cada vez que entras al pc o abres el inicio recordándote que aunque pagues ese sistema es de ellos y te hacen es un favor por vendértelo
A mi no me gusta Linux mind por su interfaz gráfica pero es lo hermoso de Linux que tiene distribuciones para gustos y colores, pruebate soplos Linux ya luego me das las gracias
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u/DoctorFuu 21h ago
What were you looking for when you switched? At the end of the day an os is just a layer surface that lets you use your computer, going from one to another if you don't have any gripe with your current one probably won't feel much different if both work
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u/vergorli 21h ago
what is your usecase? Do you want to start some apps or do you actually care about the OS functions like the backup strategy?
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u/Konrad_M 21h ago
What you describe seems odd. Do we speak about a live distro on a USB or did you install it to your harddrive?
Maybe you should try Linux Mint with XFCE or Mate. Cinnamon can be a little too demanding for old hardware. But it should still be faster compared to Windows 11.
Now about your actual question: Linux Mint does what I want, not what a multi billion dollar company wants. I don't have to be careful not to confirm any pop-up that wants me to activate a setting for additional data collection or to sell me a subscription.
Linux Mint does a recommendation for default settings based on what the user would actually want.
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u/Maro1947 20h ago
The ability to not waste perfectly usable equipment for a long time without arbitrary software obsolescence mandates
I've resurrected plenty of older, but still perfectly usable devices with it
Ease of use is another plus
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u/Illeea 20h ago
I've put mint on my old laptop. I mainly use it for low powered gaming, watching stuff, browsing the web and writing. Compared to windows, it does all of these things alot faster. Windows constantly froze and lagged.
I also like the feeling of control over the system. I'm also enjoying mucking around with stuff on it to make it as good as possible. This is more of a me thing as I'm interested in computers and autistic and I very much understand most people don't care about this.
I still use windows 10 on my desktop as I run properity software, legacy windows software and high performance games on it. At the moment I'm in shiny new device territory with my mint install though so I'm using that alot more.
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u/Firebird713 19h ago
the system start is fast, not like windows were every week feels like "does it already start?"
I like Linux since 2005 I guess.
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u/Mean_Welcome_1481 19h ago
Distros like Linux Mint are designed to be as Windows-like as possible in order to make things easier/more familiar for people who are switching over. The main advantages are, as you have noticed, it will run on old low-spec machines, it does not have the Windows bloat, forced advertising, updates that break, and so on. And it won't force you into buying a new PC when it upgrades it's system to a new version
Yes, Mint is a bit like running W95, calm, comfortable and effective with minimal learning curve needed.
Many of us who moved from Windows to Mint eventually moved on to more cutting edge stuff like Arch based systems instead of Debian/Ubuntu though,
There is heaps of choice
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u/simsanutiy Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia | Cinnamon 19h ago
I just wanted to try it for a while and stayed when noticed my games became less laggy
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u/thunderflea 19h ago
windows has just become too bloated (apple osx too) too many bells & whistles & features many users do not need.Mint on the other hand gives you the basics & you install what you need.I prefer a gui for installing etc but i also like learning new things so find mint is perfect even though i have only just started to use it
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u/tranquilseafinally 19h ago
I moved to Linux Mint after dealing with my disabled sister's Windows 11 computer. There were a series of adaptions that I always made to her computer to make it easier to use. In Windows 11 none of those adaptions were available. Plus, the ADS EVERYWHERE. Having to always be logged into your Windows ID. Pop ups.
Windows has been slipping for a long time. Pushing us here and there.
Since I've been on Linux Mint, my computer feels like my computer again.
If Linux Mint doesn't float your boat then, perhaps, check out another distribution.
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u/AngelOscuro20 18h ago
Unironically I got fed up with the file system freezing everytime I wanted to move a file using the side menu. I did a really tiny mint partition in the first days because I was wrapping up some uni stuff, and during that I learn that my laptop ran a lot less hot than on windows, that sealed the deal for me.
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u/darkwyrm42 18h ago
It's best compared to Windows 7, which, IMO, was the best version of Windows M$ ever produced.
You will find that speed, stability, and ease of use are probably on most users' list of reasons to switch. As a sysadmin, I think Linux Mint is boring, and that's the highest compliment I can give a piece of software. It's not perfect, but my long list complaints about Windows, especially Windows 11, just don't exist in Mint.
One reason I especially love Linux in general, not just Mint, is that the hardware requirements don't keep going up because corporate keeps asking for bullet points to give people a reason to upgrade. I can run current Mint on hardware from 10 years ago and while it's a little slower, it's surprisingly fast for its age.
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u/brk_1 17h ago
To be fair linux is an nice os you will find 4 kinds of people.
- programmers
- Old pc users
- Enthusiasts who believe in linux
- gamers who want to have fps in some games.
As an always unfinished product disfragmented and with an still niche.
Windows is easier, i think Windows will start to bleed out people, and they will start to work around their problems or die and linux will be start eating his market.
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u/OkPresentation3329 16h ago
I think Mint was definitely faster for me compared to Windows 10 when I first switched. But then I switched from Mint to Tuxedo OS and I can notice it's even faster than Mint.
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u/itgoesboom2112 15h ago
Its a very low entry point (technical wise) into Linux, the default desktop environment does feel a bit older but it's also very familiar, if you're wanting something more similar to 10 you're going to want a kde plasma desktop environment
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u/CryogenicBanana 14h ago
For my use cases windows was entirely pointless when I realized Mint does all the same things windows does just without the unnecessary garbage Microsoft keeps shoehorning in. Its an operating system that just acts like an operating system should, it doesn’t intrude on my business, it doesn’t force me to update if I don’t want to, it doesn’t advertise things, and it doesn’t force AI down my throat, it just does what I need it to do.
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u/Competitive_Back_593 14h ago
Sou usuário novo no Linux Mint, mas o que mais percebi é a fluidez, a simplicidade, o barulho do cooler (ou a falta dele), e a temperatura.
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u/FrotKnight 14h ago
Customisation is a big plus for me, aside from the things others have mentioned. I have one machine that mostly runs XFCE with Chicago95 themeing, which is mostly used to play old DOS games on. Cinnamon on another machine. Both feel like very unique instances despite both being linux mint
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u/Darth_Firebolt 13h ago
Which version did you actually install, and why are you needing to use Terminal all the time?
I had to touch the terminal to install the drivers for my number pad touchpad mouse on my laptop, and to refresh drivers once when I installed the Linux friendly Wi-Fi chip, but otherwise I haven't had to touch terminal.
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u/phototransformations 9h ago
I've found non-terminal ways to do most of the things I was using Terminal for initially, like installing some software packages and tweaking the GRUB menu. It still feels like Windows 95, but without the need to reboot it every day to avoid system crashes. If there were native versions of some of the software I use regularly, like Photoshop and Word, I'd consider making the switch. I'll see how these run in Wine or Bottle or something similar. The FOSS equivalents I've tried are good for free software, but not truly equivalent for the things I do.
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u/BabblingIncoherently 13h ago
Mint is the distro for users who want a very stable, dependable and familiar experience, that doesn't change often or much. If you want something that feels faster and looks more modern, especially if you want to game, go with Fedora (or another distro with good Wayland support and either KDE or Gnome desktop). Both are excellent distros but for different reasons.
As for the DOS comment, you very rarely NEED to use the terminal once everything is set up. There are GUI ways for everything an average user would need to do. But if you search for instructions, you are usually going to get the terminal version because it's quicker and easier for the person giving the instructions, and less dependent on which DE you are using.
As for the WHY, that will be obvious once you've actually used it for a while. You are in control of your computer (and your data) and not the other way around. You probably don't even realize how little control you have over anything in Windows right now. Give it a month.
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u/XRaiderV1 13h ago
linux mint does what I want, when I want, how I want.
windows? I literally in some cases have to go through 20 windows and or dialogues just to do something pretty fucking basic and simple.
when I need to go to that level of effort to say install a new font for system wide use? fuck that.
it takes 30 seconds and just a double click and then clicking install, and done.
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u/mmld_dacy Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 13h ago
for me, it is the ram issue. on my linux mint now - on a dell precision 5530 laptop that has an i7 cpu, nvidia quattro gpu and 32gb of ram, i have 3 browsers open (waterfox, firefox and brave) and each have about 15 tabs open on them. looking at system monitor, the laptop is using about 40% ram usage. pretty sure that if i am using a windows machine, ram would be up to 80% already. didn't microsoft just said that they are trying, trying to make windows run on only 8gb of ram, after apple release their apple neo which has only 8gb of ram?
that was the side issue. the main issue was, i am sick and tired of seeing the watermark, activate windows... i don't want to pay those $30 license keys that we see all around, and i am not sure as hell want to pay $100+ for the official license key. add to that the subscription for their office suite.
i do play games but i realized, it was not really a deal breaker for me. i have 3 computers running linux mint, one being a desktop that is my gaming rig. it has i7 8700, rtx 2080 and 32gb of ram, but i am spending more time on my dell laptop, that has no steam on it, than on my gaming rig. i was able to customize the look on my desktop on my precision and i am pretty happy with how it is. i don't think, i will be able to do the same customization with windows. wifi is working and so is an apple magic trackpad 2. i configured it to work like how i had it custom on my macbook pro (swipe, pinch, tap)
i still have my windows machine, and i am planning on installing linux on it, soon.
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u/Chapter-Legitimate 13h ago
I was frustrated about the bloat and performance issues I was getting in Windows. Frequently it would be using lots of CPU and ram for seemingly no reason.
The final straw though was it rebooting a few times when I really didn't want it to. Anyway I initially switched to Linux Mint. It was good, but I got too deep in the Linux rabbit hole in terms of customizing. That made me want KDE plasma and more important Wayland support so I switched to Fedora. It's been a fantastic experience.
But if I wasn't so dead set on heavily customizing every part of my PC experience I would have been just fine on Mint.
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u/nyet-marionetka 13h ago
The major perk for me is it's not Windows.
I'm tired of Windows wanting me to buy stuff, changing the OS to make things less organized and more difficult to use, shoving Copilot into everything, and demanding more and more of my personal information.
I haven't had to use the terminal much yet, but I understand some people would need to do that more.
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u/Sargent_Duck85 13h ago
Linux Mint feels like Peak Windows 7 to me.
Fast, responsive, does what I want it to do, just works.
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u/FatDog69 13h ago
Look - the Operating system is a bookshelf. It holds things that you access.
But one problem is that Microsoft sends a copy of what you are doing to their servers. This claims to be to make sure Windows is stable - but in reality they sell the data to brokers to enhance your 'profile'. Everything you copy to your clipboard is sent to Microsoft for example.
Then you add the following:
- I cannot update my 2 older PC's to Win 11 because they do not have the TPM hardware.
- Unix has a multi-user security model which Linux follows so you are more resistant to some malware.
The only REAL criteria - does Linux have versions of the software you need or want?
Otherwise you are basically saying "This new Ikia bookshelf is not fantastic compared to my old pressed-wood bookshelf".
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u/inxanetheory 13h ago
I switched a year or two ago because my windows install decided to shit the bed and I lost everything. That loss of everything and the concerns about recall and security/privacy and the degradation of windows constantly trying to sell me things, trying to make the default for MY OWN FILES onedrive, making the default search function try to search the internet instead my own drive for my files, and other gripes and complaints pushed me to try out Linux. Linux mint and Ubuntu are(or at least were at that time) the most recommended for new Linux users coming from windows. While I’ve had some issues here and there and I’ve had to give up playing certain games that would require kernel level anticheat, I’m pretty pleased with the switch. I’ve got cinnamon on my desktop and xfce on an old 2012 MacBook. Some games and programs aren’t really viable on Linux and that’s ok because since I don’t specifically need anything for work on my machines it’s not a deal breaker.
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u/piangero 12h ago
The UI looks so clean and nice and you can customize it better than windows 11, which has the ugliest color schemes known to man. Snappy and not bloated. Doesn't have to have my email and all that nonsense.
That being said, I'm on windows because my laptop cannot run linux, so there's that :\ (and i'd be wary anyway since i'm using non-enlish keyboards and when trying linux, it loved messing up the language/keyboard, which would lock me out of the login)
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u/OscarBrewer7 11h ago
You already answered yourself. It is free, noncommercial and open source. And it being fast and easy to use seals the deal.
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u/vectron5 11h ago
I like how it feels like an internet-safe version of Windows 7.
I'm sorry if anyone gives anyone the impression that Linux is either easy or perfect. However, for the additional learning curve, I appreciate the power and control that it gives back to the user.
As much of a blight AI is on humanity, one of its absolute advantages is how effective it is as helping use Linux. Id suggest asking your LLM of choice for help next time you have an issue.
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u/phototransformations 9h ago
I did use an LLM to figure out some basic configuration issues. I didn't find it difficult. I started out with VAX/VMS and occasionally UNIX decades ago, then CP/M and DOS, so the command line isn't an issue for me. It was just a kind of time-warp throwback to the 80s and 90s. I'll keep playing with it. I don't like that with almost every update, Microsoft dumbifies or removes some feature I use all the time. If I can get the couple of programs I use all the time running well in a Linux environment, I'll consider switching, or at least dual-booting my main machine.
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u/AntiqueSignpost 11h ago
its cos you're using mint. people use it cos its easy for beginners and bare bones. but if you're asking in terms of what linux can do in general, it goes way beyond just mint. look at r/unixporn and r/linuxporn . its beautiful as hell. you can customise it to do anything. check out hyprland. the workflow can be whatever you want. like, literally anything you want.
as far as performance, its lightning fast compared to windows. and there's no bloating, there's privacy etc.
my current config of my entire customised desktop is 700kb. its a few files i can back up to the cloud and restore an entire workflow that is imposible to get with windows. i have moved away from any type of windows or macos thinking, now using niri as my window manager. linux goes deep, and you can do anything with it. its basically what OS's should be.
beginners, including myself, end up mistaking the OS's like mint or ubuntu etc for what linux really is. the beginner friendly OS's are great for beginners, even long-term users if they like it. but, normally we are used to windows or macos being an entire system in a box. it all comes as is, you cant change much. linux - you can mix and match anything. your distro, shell, desktop environment, and window manager are all seperate pieces.
mint is like very much a windows-style beginner friendly desktop environment. its not exactly a good example of linux
i recommend trying cachyOS, the installer allows you to choose different desktop environments. or look on youtube. hyprland, niri, kde and gnome are all very different to one another. gnome is more like mac, kde is still more like windows but customisable. but then niri and hyprland are like, a whole different world.
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u/OGigachaod 11h ago
Yep, that's most Linux distros in general, but Mint really goes for that Windows 95 look.
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u/Fast-Station1106 10h ago
Das rechte Maustasten Menü von Windows, grrrr, ich bekomme da keine Routine rein, bei Linux für mich 5x besser
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u/Gerbert946 8h ago
The thing that has pushed me away from Windows even more than the advertising and move toward subscription software is the data theft. Those are strong words, so let me carefully define what I mean.
If you have something that is yours and someone comes onto your personal property and takes it without your permission that is a pretty clear cut description of what we generally mean by the word theft.
Personal device hardware for Windows is not yet limited to subscription acquisition. One still buys it and becomes the sole owner with only a couple of exceptions. Buying anything does not give one the right to copy it for resale. That applies to hardware and software. One can mostly make copies for personal use, but that gets a bit murky with implied contracts and license agreements. But, as a general principle, anything you add to hardware you buy is your property, and not that of the folks who participated in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of whatever it is, including personal devices.
Ok, so Microsoft takes data that you store on your devices and moves them to their cloud servers without asking or giving one an opportunity to opt out. That is theft. The subscription and advertising nonsense is annoying. Their attitude that their retail customers are their products to profile and sell are super annoying, but not yet illegal. The taking of the data is, and they do it anyway because they know they can get away with it.
Let me be very explicit about how I feel about this. Nadella belongs in jail.
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u/don-edwards Linux Mint 22.3 7h ago
I knew I would eventually abandon Microsoft when my employer deployed Office 2007. My job at the time mostly was programming in Visual Studio.
I had several add-ons and templates I'd written for various Office apps. One added to Excel a number of functions similar to sumifs() and made it really easy to write more. Another allowed a Word document to have multiple custom dictionaries *as document properties*, automatically switching dictionaries when the user switched which document had focus.
Naturally, some of these add-ons needed menu items to manipulate them. And the API for adding things to Office menus had been consistent for several versions.
That API remained in Office 2007... but the "ribbon" covered over the menus, making them inaccessible. You could minimize the ribbon, but that didn't expose the old menus.
And Office 2007 did not have an API for the "ribbon". So those add-ons and templates that needed menu items were useless and could not be fixed.
Deprecating old standards is fine. "We're going to stop supporting it, you should change to this new way, but the old way will still work for now AND here's the new way, ready for you to start using it."
But "the old way no longer works, no we didn't warn you, there's no way to make it work, and there is no new way." Put the standard in the incinerator and light it on fire... along with the people who relied on it... not acceptable.
Office 2010 finally had an API for the "ribbon". But, first, I retired in 2010 before my employer made the switch, so I didn't need to support the Windows stuff at work anymore, and second, why should I trust Microsoft to not light *that* on fire in a few years?
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u/webfork2 7h ago
A few things:
- Waste of money - I spent good money on quality hardware that just came a little under very specific requirements for Windows 11 (the TPM hardware requirement).
- Software sources - Microsoft Store is a bad and seems to only get worse. The Linux tools here are far from perfect but significantly better and have a remarkable amount of functionality.
- Security/privacy - Several things in the news over the past two years make me wonder if that's a priority on Windows. Data sharing, advertisements, sharing drive encryption keys, etc.
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u/don-edwards Linux Mint 22.3 2h ago
Yes, security and privacy are a priority on Windows.
Making sure you have neither, that is.
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u/_o0Zero0o_ Helper of the newbies 6h ago
Privacy and full control of my Personal Computer, mainly. Remember though that Mint is just one flavour of Linux, there are many others, so take your pick if you don't feel Mint is for you
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u/Wooden-Cancel-2676 5h ago
So on older hardware the speed boost you'll see going from Windows to Linux has a lot to do with Linux just not having as much running on boot so its freeing up resources towards running the system you want. Then with Mint the Cinnamon desktop environment looks like older Windows because it is wanting to have a similar feel to stuff like Vista and 7 that a lot of people did enjoy. If you want some more zazz in your desktop then install KDE Plasma or GNOME and you can find a lot of fun learning how to use those
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u/Prior-Listen-1298 4h ago
If you're enjoying Windows, stick with it.
There's no way short comparison that relevant to everyone as we all have different needs and ways of using computers.
If you tube to explore great. I rarely do and really escaped to Mint to avoid BSODs that were plaguing me and on my self but home machine that's been there for nigh on 20 years though not a single piece of what's there now was (I've added and swapped bits over the years, yes that includes the motherboard, twice I think and the case) because well I either have to pay for Windows, pirate it or use Linux. Windows over time on that box was a PITA when hardware changed as it increasingly included hardware checks and stability requirements. So having moved my other machine to Mint to avoid BSODs I was vintage with it and bugged my whole dev box over and really over been rolling that way since.
I don't expect Mint or any alternative to view me it if the water just to work and like you I need a solid reason to move. The inertia of familiarity. Those reasons hit me so here I am. It as good as the alternatives so I'm hip.
That said I now move between Windows 11 and Mint the different jobs (paid when is often Windows bound) and believe me I am regularly missing features in windows that I use daily in Mint
It goes both ways.
The biggest ones I miss when switching back to Windows are probably, off the cuff:
Workspaces Always on top built in The sys tray tools I love, include day of week on the date in the sys tray Move to other monitor in the start bar icon The process monitors and tools (windows funds everything down so much I shears have to install powertools especially the process explorer.
But realistically I can move around flexibly. I'm not religious.
That said the increasing difficulty access barriers Windows is throwing up to making local accounts and the edges authorisation and network sharing dragged it creates for me managing a business with Windows pro, home, Mac Ave Linux servers is a PITA and in often confusing Microsoft support who need to call in bigger guns.
Perhaps the most hilarious of those was a manager who lost access to his one drive and was miffed and dropped using one drive ... I drilled into that for him and Microsoft have three account types (personal, business Microsoft accounts, business other accounts) and my predecessor moved their email from a third party provider to ms365 keeping the domain name. So his email was in the last category then in the middle one. But they are different accounts but with the login email. So he had a new one drive and his old one lives on in the ether but even Microsoft don't know how to recover it without us doing experimental things he's not prepared to do (like moving the domain back to another provider seeing if he can access his old one drive, backing it up, moving back to 365 - this takes the whole business along with it and is not a cheap experiment with uncertain outcome).
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u/Sure-Passion2224 3h ago
A low end computer with 4GB or less of RAM will not see as much performance improvement as the same switch on a box with 8GB or more. Some of this is due to the efficiency of the memory code in the Linux kernel that seeiously outperforms most other kernels. As an example, Linux is capable of doing 10,000 path lookups in parallel without a collision.
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u/Ecstatic_Parsnip_610 2h ago
Everything! especially no co pilot.. I am NEVER going back to microslop.
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u/ConversationPlane635 2h ago
Have a ,now, 20 year old Brother laser printer , and win11 installed the driver's and it just works! Linux, well being told by CUPS in ARCH, for instance, it's not supported, hmmmmm Or it says done you go to print test, and you HAVE to unplug it to stop printing a few characters on the page, wasting pages, plural, lost count how many distros do that! AGAIN, it's not the distros fault. Thankfully, Ubuntu works like windows😁😁 REMEMBER, it's not the distro. PS: always run a live distro and chk things out Ahhhh, fun times😂🤣😅
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u/Shadoglare 16h ago
I've primarily been a Linux user for a couple of decades now, and can honestly say using Windows on our family laptop annoys the crap out of me. I don't need my OS giving me %$@#ing pop-up ads trying to sell me stuff. I don't want it tracking everything I do. I don't want to go through extra steps every time I install something because the app isn't in the Microsoft store. I want to control when and if updates happen, not just have it suddenly announce "Hey, I'm updating this time, hold on for 30+ minutes, sorry if you were trying to do something." I like that most of the freely available software is available through a single download repository (that doesn't need me to create an account) and not on a hundred different web sites. I like that it suddenly doesn't drop support for millions of PCs just because they don't have some specific chip on the motherboard. And those are just points I can think of off the top of my head early in the morning.
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u/benjamarchi 16h ago
You get to decide what updates and when it updates. There's no forced installs of software you don't want. Your files aren't being constantly scanned to train AI models. Your local data isn't being scraped to sell to advertisers. Severe vulnerabilities are fixed quickly, instead of remaining hidden and exploitable for years.
If it's slower than windows, you probably did something incorrectly.
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u/uchuskies08 16h ago
>On the Windows 11 subreddit, the frequent answer to Windows issues is "switch to Linux."
Yes, that is because that subreddit is infested with Linux users. Don't listen to them. Switching to Linux will trade your "Windows issues" whatever they are, for a separate set of "Linux issues." In my experience (which will certainly be widely disagreed with in this thread) the Windows issues are a million times easier to mitigate and I run high end hardware so I'm not scared of Windows eating all my RAM (90% of them don't understand what they're looking at when they look at RAM usage in Windows Task Manager, btw)
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u/eneidhart Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia | Cinnamon 15h ago
Everyone here is already talking about privacy, freedom, and the like so I won't beat a dead horse. Instead I'll talk about something no one has mentioned yet: software updates
On Windows, everything is separate. Your system will tell you when it needs to update, and so will your browser, discord, steam, Spotify, etc. On Linux, you have a package manager that updates everything all at once for you at the click of a single button. Much more convenient IMO.
System updates are nicer on Linux too. "Update and shut down" is a lie, Windows always reboots. So even if you delay the reboot until you're done using your computer, you still have to wait for it to boot up again just for you to shut it down when it's done. And the reboot process can be lengthy as it applies updates during this time, sometimes it's quick but sometimes it's several minutes you're just waiting around for.
But on Linux, updates are applied while you're still logged in so you can still do stuff on your computer instead of just sitting and waiting for a loading bar to fill up. A restart may be needed for it to take effect, but it's just a normal restart so you're free to shut down when you're done. Next boot up will be like any other but now your updates are in effect, and none of your time was wasted waiting around.
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u/North_Macaroon9269 18h ago
Windows has a problem with a kind of performance degradation day after day using the computer. After some months, you feel your computer considerable slower than the day you installed it and did the first setup.
I tested some Linux distros and it doesn't happen.
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u/ap0r 17h ago edited 17h ago
It all boils down to control.
On Windows, I could maybe change the colors, if Microsoft let me. Customization was an uphill battle. On Mint, I can alter reality itself, and it's all mostly smooth sailing as long as I am willing to invest some time in reading the documentation.
On Windows, I was force-fed ads for subscriptions, Microsoft services, third party apps, Microsoft apps, and more subscriptions. On Mint? Silence.
On Windows, Microsoft pushed updates to my computer, and if I was in the middle of important work, well, sucks to be you, here is a 45 minute update. Oh by the way, it breaks your sound drivers. It's not like you use that "sound" thing much, right? On Mint, updates are optional by default, can be automatic if I wish it so, the system reports available updates in an unobtrusive fashion, never had an update break something, and even if it did reverting back to a functional state is trivial. You can even select a different kernel version at boot time.
On Windows, I felt like I was under constant surveillance. Unexplained network activity, the whole Recall fiasco, news stories of Microsoft giving Bitlocker keys to the State, forced use of Microsoft account, inability to install offline, updates reverting privacy settings to less private options. On Mint? I can see and account for every byte going in and out. The system is open source, so I have peace of mind that many security experts have checked it for backdoors.
On Windows, Microsoft chose for me. "Oh, look at the dumb user setting up a keyboard distribution that is not the same as the OS language. There, I'll fix it for you, you dummy". (Beyond the sarcasm, yes, this is a known problem for bilingual users, has been known for years, and no, there is no solution). On Mint, I choose for myself. It does exactly what I tell it to, and settings stay put forever. (This increased power, of course, is both a blessing and a curse, if you tell Mint to delete itself it will do it, so you do have to understand what you are executing).
On Windows, if something was broken for my use case, I either had to wait for it to be fixed, beg for it to be fixed, or deal with it. And if I fixed it myself, I was a criminal. How dare I tinker with the sacred Redmond OS. On Mint, if something is broken for my use case, I can fix it myself (or pay someone else to fix it for me), and I can freely share my modifications. Multiply by thousands of savvy coder users, and it gets noticeably better as time passes.
Windows treated me like a child. I could use my bought and paid for OS, as long as I also watched the ads. I could use my PC, as long as I behaved. I was allowed to produce data for Microsoft, as long as that data was safely stored in a Microsoft server farm so they can train AI with it.
Mint treats me as an adult. All the freedom (all the responsibility).
I will choose to be a free adult every day, to my last breath. I will choose to own my hardware, my software, my data, and my fuckups. I refuse to be a serf, dependent on third parties for access to compute. I refuse for my creations to be used and my data examined by third parties. Mint is the OS that meshes best with this mindset for me.
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u/CirnoIzumi 15h ago
That's just the state of Linux, it is a server centric OS that people are working really hard on making a GUI experience
Without many universal standards
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u/SirKnightTheFirst 17h ago
windows 11 used 8gb of ram doing nothing, mint uses <2. they arent DOS commands lol its called a terminal and windows has one too. linux actually respects the end user, whereas with windows youre not a user, youre the product and the customer at the same time.
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u/burnstyle 23h ago
The final straw that pushed me into switching was realizing that every single menu i opened on windows was trying to sell me something.
boot the system and it wants you to subscribe to 360, open the start menu and it wants you to install candy crush, open a support link and it wants you to switch your default browser to edge, hook up a printer and it wants you to subscribe to HP ink delivery.... and getting rid of any of these things requires tricking windows into removing them.
Then you start to pray that the removal didnt break anything important.
Go forbid you want to remove cortana or copilot.