Welcome to the penguin club,
If there is some hardware compatibility issue it may be because the drivers are not included int stock installation.
(This is done since the kernel includes all the drivers imaginable (from wifi drivers to printers to everything) to reduce the size some of these are included as separate packages just search the online and install the drivers from software manger or the terminal (don't just blindly copy and execute the given command first understand what it does or you may end up like ...... 🤬)
I would recommend knowing the basic file structure (very very different from windows) and installing and configuring "Timeshift" (basically a backup tool)
Definitely learn how to use WINE (Wine is not an emulator) or its pretty front end "Bottles" these acts as translators allowing for use of windows apps on native linux without virtualization (it can't some software like ms office or autocad but many basic software and many games run smoothly) using these it may be possibly to completely remove windows and **** microsoft.
If there is some hardware compatibility issue it may be because the drivers are not included int stock installation.
(This is done since the kernel includes all the drivers imaginable (from wifi drivers to printers to everything) to reduce the size some of these are included as separate packages just search the online and install the drivers from software manger or the terminal (don't just blindly copy and execute the given command first understand what it does or you may end up like ...... 🤬)
I would recommend knowing the basic file structure (very very different from windows) and installing and configuring "Timeshift" (basically a backup tool)
Definitely learn how to use WINE (Wine is not an emulator) or its pretty front end "Bottles" these acts as translators allowing for use of windows apps on native linux without virtualization (it can't some software like ms office or autocad but many basic software and many games run smoothly) using these it may be possibly to completely remove windows and **** microsoft.
Back around early 2000 I found that mp3s played without skipping on the Linux install while the Win98 might skip while browsing web sites. My desktop has run Linux since about then. I mostly need to play music and run REW and Hornresp as far as actual apps.
Compatibility is the biggest annoyance for me, but it is improving. I nearly flunked a job application because an MS-office application form rendered incompletely in LibreOffice, without that being apparent. But now (if there is a need) one can use MS-office online, and/or modern hardware can run windows as a virtual machine in linux fairly well, though a little bit clunky in some ways compared to direct installation.
There are still cases where firmware or bios/uefi can 'only' be installed/updated through windows. But some of the better motherboards now offer methods of updating even without an operating system of any kind. For updating firmware of my peripherals (DACs etc) I have managed to pass-through the USB to a virtual windows machine, but the ability to do that depends heavily on the hardware; also, firmware updates can be risky, so added complication isn't welcome. In general it is IMO still easier (annoyingly) to keep an older unimportant windows laptop for such tasks. Or to dual-boot.
Dual booting is a good option, with a few caveats. Make sure that you turn off window's fast-boot to ensure it properly closes things when you leave it. Windows updates can ocasionally mess up the grub bootloader which is frustrating but recoverable; it rarely affects the actual linux installation itself. Though windows can suggest the user may want to reformat this unknown, unimportant (i.e. the linux) partition/filesystem. If you dual boot with a shared data partition, linux is better at using NTFS than windows is at using linux filesystems, but neither is perfectly compatible; they allow/disallow slightly different filenames, permissions etc. so there can be issues with one's precious data. A less complicated filesystem can be used, like fat32 and exFAT, but of course they are a bit more limited; file-size, data integrety etc. I suppose a NAS would be a solution, but my life became easier in this respect once I fully transitioned to linux.
Ironically, I've recently been trying windows 11. It seems somewhat soulless but I actually don't hate it at all yet (the pro version anyway) once the annoyances are turned off. I'm not at all interested in getting locked back into it though, who knows what the future holds for windows users; from what I can forecast, it won't be for me. It has been nice to revisit some old favourite windows-only applications, but I'm surprised to find that is now 'far' outweighed by missing the Linux applications that I like and prefer. It was a somewhat failed venture anyway though; I had an expectation that native windows apps gave a better experience with modern media streaming services; they may do for video/movies and things like DRM etc but for the audio services that I personally use I'm finding the windows apps to be little or no better than the web-browser alternatives, which will work with any OS.
There are still cases where firmware or bios/uefi can 'only' be installed/updated through windows. But some of the better motherboards now offer methods of updating even without an operating system of any kind. For updating firmware of my peripherals (DACs etc) I have managed to pass-through the USB to a virtual windows machine, but the ability to do that depends heavily on the hardware; also, firmware updates can be risky, so added complication isn't welcome. In general it is IMO still easier (annoyingly) to keep an older unimportant windows laptop for such tasks. Or to dual-boot.
Dual booting is a good option, with a few caveats. Make sure that you turn off window's fast-boot to ensure it properly closes things when you leave it. Windows updates can ocasionally mess up the grub bootloader which is frustrating but recoverable; it rarely affects the actual linux installation itself. Though windows can suggest the user may want to reformat this unknown, unimportant (i.e. the linux) partition/filesystem. If you dual boot with a shared data partition, linux is better at using NTFS than windows is at using linux filesystems, but neither is perfectly compatible; they allow/disallow slightly different filenames, permissions etc. so there can be issues with one's precious data. A less complicated filesystem can be used, like fat32 and exFAT, but of course they are a bit more limited; file-size, data integrety etc. I suppose a NAS would be a solution, but my life became easier in this respect once I fully transitioned to linux.
Ironically, I've recently been trying windows 11. It seems somewhat soulless but I actually don't hate it at all yet (the pro version anyway) once the annoyances are turned off. I'm not at all interested in getting locked back into it though, who knows what the future holds for windows users; from what I can forecast, it won't be for me. It has been nice to revisit some old favourite windows-only applications, but I'm surprised to find that is now 'far' outweighed by missing the Linux applications that I like and prefer. It was a somewhat failed venture anyway though; I had an expectation that native windows apps gave a better experience with modern media streaming services; they may do for video/movies and things like DRM etc but for the audio services that I personally use I'm finding the windows apps to be little or no better than the web-browser alternatives, which will work with any OS.
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in win10, when some file is downloaded, i assume win10 auto scans it, but i always run a manual scan anyway..........but what happens in linux mint for example?
I would assume you would scan it. Or your browser has an add-in for that.
One thing I loved about OS/2 and Linux is that you know exactly what was done, and that it was done. Windows is sloppy, storing files everywhere. Even on the boot disc, which I explicitly avoid storing junk on - but there it is!
One thing I loved about OS/2 and Linux is that you know exactly what was done, and that it was done. Windows is sloppy, storing files everywhere. Even on the boot disc, which I explicitly avoid storing junk on - but there it is!
You can create a virtual machine without a network card. Or simply disable network access in the VM setup. With vmWare you can also choose whether you want the VM to connect through a network bridge, through NAT, etc.
I made a similar move back in 2007-8, except I moved to OSX (now: MacOS). I bought one of the earlier Intel Mac mini and only then realized how pleasant a computer experience can be. Until then I'd used some CP/M, DOS, OS/2, some linux, and Windoze (3.1 and up). My experience has been overwhelmingly good. There are some drawbacks of running non-Windoze, especially in the engineering world but they're becoming fewer and more manageable.
I'm not here to start a Mac vs linux/Windoze debate. Those debates go nowhere. But since MacOS is basically linux/unix with a pretty window manager I figured I'd share my experience.
Since Day One, I've run Windoze in a virtual machine. I use vmWare, but there's also Parallels, VirtualBox, and others. This allows me to run Windoze as a standalone application on my non-Windoze host OS. The clipboard works so I can cut-n-paste from one OS to the other. You could, of course, just install your Windoze applications in the virtual machine, but that would defeat the point. I use it for the couple of applications that require Windoze. Thankfully those are few, now. In fact, I can't remember last I booted that VM.
The drawback of running Windoze in a VM is that the VM replicates a pretty basic PC. That means that if you're trying to do something that requires a device driver or direct access to a USB port, you're usually out of luck. Fundamental things like mouse, keyboard, sound card, camera (probably) all work in the VM, but something like, say, the control software for my audio analyzer which has its own driver, doesn't. So I maintain a Windoze PC for that.
Wine and WineSkin are worth looking at as well. I was able to get Tina-TI to work on my Mac. I'd imagine the process is similar on linux. I write about it here: https://neurochrome.com/pages/running-windows-programs-on-mac-for-free
I've tried dual boot systems in the past. For a while I was using linux and Windoze in a dual-boot scenario. I hated it. It obviously worked, but I hated having to shut down one OS to use an application in the other OS. And, of course, forget about cut-n-paste from one to the other.
I did cave and got a subscription to Office 365. I use Excel a lot and also PowerPoint on occasion. It is handy to be able to share documents with the rest of the world. Microsoft makes a desktop version available for Mac, which is handy.
Sadly, some programs are still Windoze-only. QSpice, for example. So I maintain a VM for that. That's basically the price you pay for having a system that's a joy to use 99% of the time. Thankfully there are Mac and linux versions available of most software, including KiCAD for example.
Tom
Your VM can have a network card and no internet access. One way is to give it a static IP on the same local network as your other hosts and just not give it a gateway or any routes. Also no DNS allows you to access a host on your local network but it will not be able to resolve names.
They changed the name from Fusion 360 to plain Fusion and a few features may now require more wallet lettuce, but they were smart enough not to play Tetris with the UI. With the forced online connection and updates every 14 days (else it locks the user out) it is impossible to be certain what can or will change.
That seems like a reasonable idea, but has not worked for me. I had better success with a hard switch. Stick to Linux only for two months, don't touch the other world during that time. Then decide if you're okay with Linux or not.
Disable the virtual NIC for that VM. Could also add a firewall rule on your router to block outbound access. Add these options to those suggested by @daqvin_carter
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You mean for viruses, malware, etc?
You can install ClamAV and scan stuff manually. It is possible to set up ClamAV to automatically scan any new files as they are added to a directory (for example, your “Downloads” folder).
Having said that, viruses and malware are less of an issue on Linux than on Windows. Exponentially. https://www.statista.com/statistics/680943/malware-os-distribution/
Linux and MacOS are included in the “other” category. Still wise to scan downloads, but basically just enjoy the fact that your OS is not under constant attack. As long as you are running a good Linux distro and getting timely updates, relax and enjoy.
That was basically my approach. I moved as much as possible to non-Windoze and retained the two(I think) applications in Windoze that I could not find substitutes for.
Oh, I suppose.
I have a Windoze PC that can't be fully updated because that will break the software that lives on that PC. As result, that PC has its own VLAN with access only to my local NTP server so it can figure out what time it is and that's it. So there are ways.
Tom
It looks like what I'd really like to do has a name "P2V". This place (https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-v2v-converter) even has a free converter, but alas no option to convert to a container for Virtualbox. I've seen other examples of doing this, (https://www.baeldung.com/linux/virtualbox-create-vm-from-physical) but - alas - that's written for setting up a linux system inside the Virtualbox, not a W10 system.
Perhaps someone here has followed one of these recipes through and got an existing "P" W10 install on a drive into a container and had it work - with all their installed software, all their files, just as if it was natively booted up on the PC hardware.
I suppose it's as much of an intellectual pursuit at this point as a practical one, as upon success, I'd of course want to reclaim all the "P" SSD space W10 took and it's the first few partitions...which I suppose I'd wipe and combine, format into a new partition Linux would mount as, say, a "data" drive. Maybe there's a way to just graft all that free space onto the existing Linux part, I dunno - one would think the SSD memory wouldnt care. I have the original W10 drive in my desk drawer.
Perhaps someone here has followed one of these recipes through and got an existing "P" W10 install on a drive into a container and had it work - with all their installed software, all their files, just as if it was natively booted up on the PC hardware.
I suppose it's as much of an intellectual pursuit at this point as a practical one, as upon success, I'd of course want to reclaim all the "P" SSD space W10 took and it's the first few partitions...which I suppose I'd wipe and combine, format into a new partition Linux would mount as, say, a "data" drive. Maybe there's a way to just graft all that free space onto the existing Linux part, I dunno - one would think the SSD memory wouldnt care. I have the original W10 drive in my desk drawer.
Viruses are probably less of a concern on non-Windoze. Not thereby said they're not a concern. But if this is a big concern for you, I would also consider adding an internet packet filter to your protections. I run pfSense with Suricata. All incoming traffic is filtered and suspect traffic is blocked.
pfSense can run on an old PC as long as it has two network cards. My first setup was an old "cheese grater" Mac Pro that I bought for $50 from a local eWaste recycler.
Tom
Having a separate /home partition probably makes less sense with a personal setup and might even be an inconvenience for little benefit. I did used to do this for the ability to reinstall while retaining data, but these days a large external HDD is such a readily available option.
I try other Linux Distros but always come back to Xubuntu. It has XFCE for screens which is better than Ubuntu Gnome.
I only run Windows at tax time -- been a long-time TurboTax user, and they don't support linux. I have thought about a VM but when I need to do taxes I just perform a "brain transplant" on my laptop -- I swap in the original W10 HD......and bob's yer uncle.
Welcome to Linux!
Some food for thought:
Do you have Linux and Windows on their own ssds/drives? That works the best in my experience. (More than once a Windows update overwrite my boot partition when I had them installed on the same drive. But, that was a couple of decades ago, and perhaps Windows has stopped doing that. I don't know.)
Linux Mint is a great distribution. It is very stable, and updates rarely cause problems, unlike some rolling release distribtions I have used. I have used many, many different distributions over the years, and currently Linux Mint is my daily driver.
Linux works differently than Windows. Just keep that in mind. Eventually you probably will end up needing to do something in the terminal. With some practice it becomes comfortable and, for some things, even preferable.
Desktop environment aside, Linux applications sometimes don't have the polish and functionality of equivalent Windows applications, but generally they will do what you need. And, they are free.
On a rare occasion there may not be an application in Linux that is equivalent to something you use in Windows, that you need. Keep Windows around until you are sure that you have all applications you need in Linux. In a pinch you may be able to run a Windows application in Linux using Wine, but oftentimes there are quirks with doing so.
Linux users often proffer that Linux is more stable than Windows. That certainly is true if you use Linux from the terminal without a desktop environment. But, I have had my share of system freezes, etc. over the years when using a Linux desktop environment. I have found Linux Mint to be one of the more stable Linux distributions, though.