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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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It depends on how far down the rabbithole you go.
I switched to Linux 27 years ago. My wife asks me to help her with her Windows computer every now and then, and I can't really do it for more than a few minutes before my blood pressure is in the risk zone.
similar here. im still 'new' to linux but have to use windows for my apprentice. also my father uses windows. so often i have to click a button multiple times, ads, or window not responding, ads, sometimes its slow af. did I already mention ads?
I switched 4 years ago and I experience the same. But to be fair, I also use an atypical setup designed for efficiency, so basically the opposite of windows in every aspect.
You can install Linux on a flash drive to test it out. Or spend $50 on a SSD and just have both
It’s not the fanciest solution, but if you’re really not sure what you’re doing, not wiping out your Windows in the first place could be the best option.
You dont even install. You download, write to usb and try linux.
Give it a good hour or more, trying to do a couple basic things like browsing the web, using some apps.
If you find yourself liking the experience, hit install and go dual boot. You can then decide on every boot if you need windows or linux today.
In case you feel like getting rid of windows, you can just disable the item in the boot menu (tutorials online) i guess.
So as you see, there are many failsafes which you can use to not get stuck without a computer that you understand.
Have a good one.
@[email protected] fyi, when you run Linux off of a USB drive (aka live USB), it's likely going to run a lot slower than when installed on an SSD. Just take that into account when you're testing it if you go that route. I wouldn't want you to think Linux is slow as frozen molasses and forgo the full experience because of a misunderstanding.
I would agree way this, with one caveat: Does OP plan to game on Linux?
Gaming on Linux has come very far, but it’s not perfect and not something you can really get a feel for in a USB live environment. At that point rather to dual boot and try sticking with Linux for a while.
Install Linux in a VirtualBox virtual machine to try it out. No change to your existing Windows system is needed.
Better: install it in a virtual machine on a second hard drive: if you like it and you're ready to switch, switch to booting the real Linux hard-drive and turn the Windows hard drive into the virtual machine, to use within Linux when you need it.
If you switch to Linux, this will happen:
It's gonna be tough: it's a different system, you're not used to it. Like everything else, it's hard to change and get used to new things. So realistically expect some learning curve and some pain. It's normal.
If you give it an honest shot but you decide Linux is not for you, you'll switch back to Windows. You'll be back to your old normal, but you'll start to notice how infuriating and spirit-crushing it is a lot more, having been exposed to a non-insane, user-centric OS for a while. And then you'll be that much sadder in Windows and you'll wish you had the best of both OSes - which you can't.
Just be aware than exposure to a non-Windows OS will probably make you hate Windows more and make your life in Windows ever slightly more miserable, even if you don't stick to the non-Windows OS.
The easiest way to preserve an existing Windows installation is to take out the drive it's on and put in a new drive for Linux. That way if you want to go back, you can just swap in the old drive again. Installing M.2 or SATA drives is very easy and 100% doable even if you're not an expert.
Install: easy.
Seeing how much more annoying it is after using Linux: hard.
Since you're not computer savvy, I really think you should watch some YouTube videos on how to dual boot linux with windows. That way you can keep windows without having to reinstall it if you ever wanna go back.
Yes, you should look for hand-holding tutorials. I don't mean that to slight you. The first time I installed Linux was way before the internet was fast or full of easy to access info and way before most had access to a secondary device (like a phone) when hitting a roadblock.
It booted to a text prompt. I had no idea how to login (probably root / root or root / password or root / [blank], but htf would I know that?) so I erased and reverted back.
The point is, if you have very little experience, there're tons of resources to help you out. Search them out. Lean on folks here for help when needed. You'll be ok.
Get a second SSD, install there
Yeah but make sure you disconnect your Windows SSD before doing anything.
There's no turning back...
Objection. I ran Ubuntu for 6 years but returned to Windows because too many things were just a little bit too odd, too off, too hands-on-config-files.
To be fair, the newer versions of Windows suck hard. 10 was really bad, 11 is horrific. I dream of going to Debian some day.
Ok, so I'm assuming you have never installed Windows before. It's not that complicated (especially nowadays that Windows finally learned how to automatically search for drivers, that used to be the most annoying part). First of all make a note of your current Windows CD Key, you will need it to reinstall and not every computer can retrieve it if you uninstall windows.
After that, you need a windows USB drive, just like the Linux one you'll use to install Linux. You can get it from Microsoft website, but again I advise you to get it while on Windows (Microsoft hides the way to download the iso on Linux).
Finally I strongly recommend you DON'T uninstall windows, instead keep it and install Linus side by side. This is called dual booting, every time you turn on your computer it will ask you where to boot.
I know it's not what you're asking but switching back is truly horrible, I have to use w11 at work and I hate every second of it. One drive shoven down your throat, Xbox stuff wants to install something everytime I update, installing stuff from random exes found on websites (I know the store exists but it sucks if your needs are not "I want to install candy crush"), changed something in your path variable? Reboot! Wtf? I really hope microsoft abandons windows in favour of its cloud apps for people who need it and lets Linux distros rule the desktop world
I'm only commenting this because you said you're stuck on Win11 and not defending it, but..
Using winget and Chocolately will make your app installation much better.
Also, to reload your path variable in a PowerShell prompt you can run the following:
$env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")
Again, your gripes are all legitimate, but these might help ease your pain.
It isn’t all that difficult to install a dual-boot setup, so you can choose at startup which OS to use.
Easy in terms of installing windows? No harder than a normal install in any situation. Easy in terms of usability? Can't even imagine ever trying. Have a hard enough time using my windows cloud r at work.
You can keep windows and install Linux next to it.
The best way would be to add a new ssd or m.2 card to your pc and install Linux on that. Make that the main boot device and Linux normally will detect Windows and give you a boot menu where you can chose between Linux and Windows each time you boot.
Alternatively you can resize the windows partition and install Linux onto free space on your main drive. This is more fiddly and things can go wrong with this if you don't know what you're doing.
You can also boot Linux on an external USB drive but this will be slower and may guge you a false impression of Linux. You can also try Linux in a virtual machine like Virtualbox but again this will be slower and will give you a false impression of Linux as a daily driver OS.
I personally run a dual boot system - I have two m.2 nvme drives, one with windows and one with Linux. I barely use the windows partition now but I keep it around for rare work stuff or the rare occasion I have a game I can't get to run in Linux. And I mean rare - booted Windows maybe 3 times in last 6 months.
Technically it's easy. You just leave your Windows install where it is (assuming you have enough disk space) and it'll be waiting there ready to embrace you again when you decide to give up on freedom and come crawling back. Psychologically it could be a challenge.
Just because no one else is mentioning it, there's a free tool in github to activate any copy of Windows, that could be on a new machine, a VM, Windows To Go, etc. You don't need a product key.
Link for those that want to check it out for research purposes.
Edit: It works with Office too
Something I only saw mentioned in a somewhat snarky comment in this thread (apologies if I missed it elsewhere) is that Windows has the option to do a full system image backup.
If you have an external hdd or a nas, from the Windows Backup applet in control panel (not settings) you can create a system image that will contain a full backup of your C: drive and, optionally other drives in your system. You can then restore that backup from the recovery options in your windows install media.
For the windows install media, I’d recommend using the windows media creation tool to create a usb installer on a separate usb key from your Linux installer and then setting it aside just in case. Trying to create windows install media from within Linux is, while not impossible, difficult.
Obviously, you should do all of this before committing to installing Linux to disk. Most Linux install media also functions as a live Linux environment from which you can try things out and see if things will work for you.
Υou can download the Windows iso, burn it in a usb stick before you nuke it to install linux, and find free legal serial numbers online (there are various serials for all versions of win10/11, all legal -- it's considered semi-activated with these).
You can just install Windows without a product key.
massgrave.dev
There's a very good chance the key is stored in the EFI, making this the absolute easiest part. I'd just make sure to get the Windows installer on a USB stick before installing Linux, if there aren't any other Windows machines around. And also make sure I have a wifi/ethernet driver available before reinstalling Windows, if it comes to that. It can be tricky to install Windows without network, these days, and even if you get past that (which I'd recommend, to bypass a Microsoft account), you still need it once you're in the installed OS.
burn it in a usb stick before you nuke it to install linux
This is very very important unless you have another windows computer around. Took me a whole day to figure out how to properly burn a windows install USB from linux. It isn't straightforward.
Other answers got you covered, but please back up your personal data before doing anything big, even if you are feeling confident
If your PC already has Windows, you can create an installation USB key.
There's no need for a Windows key because your system is already registered with Microsoft. It creates a unique ID from your computer's peripherals.
So just pop in the USB key, boot from the usb key and follow the instructions. To boot from the USB key you might need to go configure the boot order in your BIOS.
If you're nervous about the switch consider dual-booting. Then you're not fully committed to the switch & you can have your old Windows system back whenever you want it.
Main steps are:
Some useful links:
I would argue that it is better to have two separate drives for the installation. It simplifies things for non tech savvy people, and I believe Windows has less of an opportunity to mess with your linux install, such as messing with the efi partition.
Dual booting is more complex and should be avoided if possible. If someone doesn't like Linux they can just go back to Windows. I dual booted for years and I can say it was totally useless.
You got a lot of responses, here’s some good ones:
@[email protected] wrote a good post that explains how to make an install usb from your existing windows
@[email protected] made a post about the wipe and reinstall method using a third party source and activation method
If you choose either of those ways, make a backup using the windows backup wizard. No matter how you choose to reinstall windows, having that backup lets you save your files and settings. Always have a backup!
I’m not gonna link them, but you got a lot of posts about using a second drive to install windows so that its update process doesn’t remove your ability to boot into Linux. Many people do that and there’s nothing wrong with it.
I think it’s better to let windows update mess up your bootloader and learn how to fix it (it’s always incredibly easy but the process varies slightly depending on your distribution). There’s no guarantee that windows update won’t mess up bootloaders on drives it isn’t installed on.
If I were you, and I could look into the future of what’s gonna work, speaking from a couple decades of experience, I’d make a windows install media or two, make a backup or two and pick a distribution to try off a live usb first then if I liked it, I’d install it dual boot so I could switch back to windows just by picking it when the computer starts up.
If you're comfortable with swapping out components in your PC, just buy a second SSD. Remove the Windows drive, put Linux on the new drive. If Linux doesn't work out for you, just swap them back.
You could also run a live Linux distribution from a USB stick, or potentially install Linux onto a USB stick or SD.
Windows, in the past has been known to sometimes overwrite the Linux boot loader after a windows update, so be careful with that, since windows assumes no other os exists in the universe. Depending on your windows version, it might not be a bad idea to backup the license key. Recent versions store your computer's information in the cloud, so unless you change a lot of components, it should reinstall without much hassle. But it doesn't hurt to extract the key just in case. Microsoft gonna Microsoft. There are tools for this. E.g. jellybean key finder (or something like that).
Depending on the distro, it might help to disable secure boot in the uefi bios.
That being said, take it one step at a time. Don't try to recreate everything you were doing in windows right off the bat. Get comfortable with the desktop first. Try different apps for certain tasks. If you have an Nvidia GPU, the experience can vary greatly between different distros. As others have mentioned, most distros have a "live environment" on the installation cd, which you can test to see if your hardware is recognised straight away. That being said, don't feel like you're married to a specific distro. Most Linux users will distro hop quite a bit, before they settle on one that just feels right. And even then they might change again after a while, if they get bored.
Windows, in the past has been known to sometimes overwrite the Linux boot loader after a windows update.
Linux (ubuntu) do that pretty often too, people just don't notice it because they're unlikely to be running any other bootloader if they have Linux'.
Unless you want to feel like Cypher from Matrix, there is no turning back. Jokes aside, if your computer is pre-built or a laptop, it probably already has Windows key saved in BIOS. Though you must install the same version of Windows when you got it the first time. However, there is another way. With a program called Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder, you can extract your installation's keys (yes, not just the Windows key), and you can use those keys to install Windows later. It's better anyway because sometimes they don't give you a key.
You can debloat your PC after the installation with certain tools.
You can always reinstall Windows and the license is registered to the motherboard so it'll be fine.
You could alternatively buy a hard drive and keep your entire windows system for later just in case. :)
Recent iterations of Windows have been easy to install, esp. when using an entire drive. I (almost) never had issues.
Just run Linux straight off the installation media in what's usually called something similar to a "live environment" until you're sure it works.
Otherwise, installing Windows is somewhat more difficult than installing an "easy" Linux distro (e.g. Mint) because you'll have to deal with "activation" bullshit and updated/manufacturer-provided drivers. Unless your computer comes with a computer-specific recovery disk or recovery partition (that you didn't delete when installing Linux), in which case it's easier.
I dual boot my windows and linux so I can switch between them whatever I want. Depending how you install linux, you can open or check window files on linux. But windows can't check linux files. I kept my windows because adobe products doesn't support linux.
If you feel comfortable swapping out the drives on your computer that would be the easiest way. You can buy a cheap ssd to install linux on it. If you really hate it you can just switch back to the windows drive. This also helps you avoid dual booting.
recently I have encountered a problem with this, it is indeed not so straightforward to create a bootable windows 10 USB instillation media under linux.
The media created by fedora media writer is not bootable and the media created by ventoy lacks drivers. I was then able to create a media quite easily with the last windows machine in my household. I don't know if it is a temporary bug or fundamental incompatibility.
So I would suggest you to keep a windows installation media at hand in case you need to switch back, or make sure at least one of your friend has a windows machine you can borrow.
Use this tool to debloat your windows: https://github.com/builtbybel/privatezilla , also, I heard that setting your region as English (International) during installation comes with less bloat-ware installed?
Also, lookup tutorials on how to Dual Boot.