Which Operating System do you use an why

[Mac-7]

Linux Mint It probably the most Windows like in appearance (in my humble opinion) and is a solid OS that typically requires very little to no tweaking to get things to work and has a massive support community to help out. That's also a bit of a drawback because of the number of people offering different solutions to the same problem and can be confusing to a new Linux user. The other drawback is a steep learning curve with some aspects of Linux like installing programs (packages) that are not in the Software Manager. It's a different file system, there is no .exe to set up new applications.

My opinion is that I like the Linux interface and it loads faster

And since I dont like Win 10 Linux Mint looked like a good alternative

But if fell short for me due to less software availability

So decided to switch to Win Xp but discovered that the hard drive was now in the wrong format for windows and I am stuck with Linux on that drive

Reformat that drive.

I tried

but linux does not have a command to format the drive to windows standards

Have you tried Gparted? It's in the Repository, it may already be installed on your system.

Its been a couple of months and I may have tried it but have sinse forgotten

In any case I stuck the Linux computer in a corner and used the desk space for a Commodore 64

but sooner or later I will try again

I use thumb drives to save OS images and thought I could easily change Linux if I wanted

but it was not so easy this time

You need Windows Media Tool on a thumb drive but that will only give you Win 10 (based on my experience). You have to download and install the Media Tool via a Windows computer, use Rufus or whomever you choose to put it on the thumb drive. Toss that thumb drive in your Linux machine, go to bios so it boots off of the stick. Pretty sure you know how to do that but just in case I added it........

I dont have a problem changing from one windows os to another

and back again

there are a couple of applications that I need win 10 for but otherwise I dont use it at all

I like win xp and mac os for other jobs

M y hope was that linux could replace all of them but it didnt turn out that way

Just out of curiosity what version Linux Mint do you have and what specific software were you needing that doesn't work on Linux? Also how old is the computer the Linux is on?

19.2 I think

the linux machine is a celeron with 3 mb ram

as you can imagine win 10 was slow but I have a newer quad core machine with 16mb for win 10

and an older imac that I use because my hand held devices are apple too

the mac is old and no longer gets updates

but I hate planned obsolescence and a long as it serves my needs I’m going to kveep using it

linux and windows xp run just fine on 3mb

Okay.
Oh and Planned Obsolescence in the computer world is a myth. Consumer demand, technical improvements and computer security drive the market. You have to realize personal computers are relatively very new products and we've been making huge technical leaps just in the last 10 years alone, cell phones and tablets are newer still. When I was a kid computers resided in warehouses and had less computing power than a digital watch, now expand exponentially on that concept through to today, that alone disproves the idea of planned obsolescence.

I cant see much real improvement for mac during the past ten years

they still do pretty cuch the same thing but in slightly different ways

I guess in many ways I’m a curmudgeon who is not wowed by the lastest specs or new features of win 10

and Zi probably wont be impressed by windows 11 either

 

[Ringel05]

Linux Mint It probably the most Windows like in appearance (in my humble opinion) and is a solid OS that typically requires very little to no tweaking to get things to work and has a massive support community to help out. That's also a bit of a drawback because of the number of people offering different solutions to the same problem and can be confusing to a new Linux user. The other drawback is a steep learning curve with some aspects of Linux like installing programs (packages) that are not in the Software Manager. It's a different file system, there is no .exe to set up new applications.

My opinion is that I like the Linux interface and it loads faster

And since I dont like Win 10 Linux Mint looked like a good alternative

But if fell short for me due to less software availability

So decided to switch to Win Xp but discovered that the hard drive was now in the wrong format for windows and I am stuck with Linux on that drive

Reformat that drive.

I tried

but linux does not have a command to format the drive to windows standards

Have you tried Gparted? It's in the Repository, it may already be installed on your system.

Its been a couple of months and I may have tried it but have sinse forgotten

In any case I stuck the Linux computer in a corner and used the desk space for a Commodore 64

but sooner or later I will try again

I use thumb drives to save OS images and thought I could easily change Linux if I wanted

but it was not so easy this time

You need Windows Media Tool on a thumb drive but that will only give you Win 10 (based on my experience). You have to download and install the Media Tool via a Windows computer, use Rufus or whomever you choose to put it on the thumb drive. Toss that thumb drive in your Linux machine, go to bios so it boots off of the stick. Pretty sure you know how to do that but just in case I added it........

I dont have a problem changing from one windows os to another

and back again

there are a couple of applications that I need win 10 for but otherwise I dont use it at all

I like win xp and mac os for other jobs

M y hope was that linux could replace all of them but it didnt turn out that way

Just out of curiosity what version Linux Mint do you have and what specific software were you needing that doesn't work on Linux? Also how old is the computer the Linux is on?

19.2 I think

the linux machine is a celeron with 3 mb ram

as you can imagine win 10 was slow but I have a newer quad core machine with 16mb for win 10

and an older imac that I use because my hand held devices are apple too

the mac is old and no longer gets updates

but I hate planned obsolescence and a long as it serves my needs I’m going to kveep using it

linux and windows xp run just fine on 3mb

Okay.
Oh and Planned Obsolescence in the computer world is a myth. Consumer demand, technical improvements and computer security drive the market. You have to realize personal computers are relatively very new products and we've been making huge technical leaps just in the last 10 years alone, cell phones and tablets are newer still. When I was a kid computers resided in warehouses and had less computing power than a digital watch, now expand exponentially on that concept through to today, that alone disproves the idea of planned obsolescence.

I cant see much real improvement for mac during the past ten years

they still do pretty cuch the same thing but in slightly different ways

I guess in many ways I’m a curmudgeon who is not wowed by the lastest specs or new features of win 10

and Zi probably wont be impressed by windows 11 either

According to Microsoft Win 10 is the last of their operating systems, it will simply be continuously updated and upgraded. It was Vista that drove me to Linux, Win 7 brought me back to Microsoft, Win 8 I hated with a passion as well as Win 10 initially. But now my Win 10 is primarily for gaming machine that I have configured to look and feel like Win 7, I even have the old Win 7 games on it. My Linux machine is my daily workhorse and I'm in the process of building (or attempting to build) a Hackentosh out of my old DDR3 gamer. The wife uses Windows 10 on her laptop and I have a Lenovo Yoga 2 in the kitchen with Win 10 on it.
StartisBack will cost you $4 to get your old Start Menu back, Winearo Tweaker will give you a huge amount of control over Win 10 (it's free) and Windows 7 Games for Win 8 & 10 (also Winaero) is free.
I log into my Win 10 with a Local Account so I never have to log into Microsoft unless I choose too.

 

[Mac-7]

I suppose if I had remained a Windows user all these years Win10 would not seem so alien to me today

But I think they often make superficial changes just to give the whiz kids they hire something to do

Instead of fixing mistakes they made in the previous version they released

 

[fncceo]

Raspian Buster ...

 

[Marion Morrison]

Linux Mint It probably the most Windows like in appearance (in my humble opinion) and is a solid OS that typically requires very little to no tweaking to get things to work and has a massive support community to help out. That's also a bit of a drawback because of the number of people offering different solutions to the same problem and can be confusing to a new Linux user. The other drawback is a steep learning curve with some aspects of Linux like installing programs (packages) that are not in the Software Manager. It's a different file system, there is no .exe to set up new applications.

My opinion is that I like the Linux interface and it loads faster

And since I dont like Win 10 Linux Mint looked like a good alternative

But if fell short for me due to less software availability

So decided to switch to Win Xp but discovered that the hard drive was now in the wrong format for windows and I am stuck with Linux on that drive

Reformat that drive.

Secure erase that drive.

I just borked the other drive I use for here. Gonna have to either secure-erase and Clone this one or start fresh..yikes.
I swear I have an updated one someplace that I hate the desktop on but it works.
Keyword: Someplace

 

[Blues Man]

I use Windows 10 because it was on the computer when I bought it

 

[Marion Morrison]

I use Windows 10 because it was on the computer when I bought it

I haven't had something like that since Windows 3.1 and I put '95 on it.

 

[Likkmee]

I use Windows 10 because it was on the computer when I bought it

Great excuse. You probably eat rotten eggs because "thats what they delivered"

 

[Blues Man]

I use Windows 10 because it was on the computer when I bought it

Great excuse. You probably eat rotten eggs because "thats what they delivered"

I don't eat eggs.

But I have no reason to install a new OS

I don't use the computer for much more than paying bills, wasting time here and music

 

[Marion Morrison]

I use Windows 10 because it was on the computer when I bought it

Great excuse. You probably eat rotten eggs because "thats what they delivered"

I don't eat eggs.

But I have no reason to install a new OS

I don't use the computer for much more than paying bills, wasting time here and music

Sounds like Linux would be good for that. If you're not trying to run Crysis, Linux would do better.

Probably Lubuntu or something.

Only reason I sometimes have problems is cuz I like to dabble in that bleeding edge stuff occasionally.
Stuff the vendors never have and never will make drivers for that OS.

 

[Dajjal]

I have always used Microsoft operating systems. Originally I used Dos. I seem to recall using dos 5 and 6 and before that it was probably dos three. Then I got windows 3.1 and windows 95 and I still have a computer that runs windows 98. I have a lot of software that runs on win 98 and not on later windows versions. I also still have a computer running windows 7. But my main computer runs windows 10

 

[Likkmee]

My main user is Sparky Linux Openbox Noir
Other partitions and drives include:
antiX
MX
LMDE
Mabox
Sid LXQt

 

[White 6]

My main user is Sparky Linux Openbox Noir
Other partitions and drives include:
antiX
MX
LMDE
Mabox
Sid LXQt

Wow dude! What the heck is it, you do? I think of Linux as a pain in the ass where you have to basically set up everything your self (and I just don't want to if I don't have to), though I am sure it is easier than when it started, but had and probably still has the advantage of being more secure, as everybody took and still takes shots in, around and through Microsoft. With the blend of systems you are using or trying to use, I would think you chose because each is supposed to have an advantage in something you do for a living.

 

[Montrovant]

Wow dude! What the heck is it, you do? I think of Linux as a pain in the ass where you have to basically set up everything your self (and I just don't want to if I don't have to), though I am sure it is easier than when it started, but had and probably still has the advantage of being more secure, as everybody took and still takes shots in, around and through Microsoft. With the blend of systems you are using or trying to use, I would think you chose because each is supposed to have an advantage in something you do for a living.

For some reason this made me think of a joke I saw just recently:

 

[fncceo]

Gaming PC -- Windows -- no choice, they don't make many games for Linux
Desktop -- Ubuntu -- much easier to customize
Laptops -- Windows -- pre-installed
Smart phone -- Android -- pre-installed
Raspberry Pi's -- Debian -- best OS for the PI (using other OS images for task specific applications)