Linux migration

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Summary

Linux used to be considered as difficult and only suitable for geeks, but modern flavours are very easy to use, following traditional Windows or Mac paradigms, and installation is usually trouble-free.

Choice of Distro

Most Linux distributions will run on relatively old hardware, though many require graphics hardware supporting direct rendering (direct drawing, in Windows terms). Lack of support may simply cause the desktop to crash rather than giving a useful error message. For older hardware, look for a distro which uses the Xfce window manager, natively, or as an option, as this should run much better.

Next, it's good to consider what sort of "flavour" you want. Linux Mint will be very easy to use for anyone familiar with classic Windows (pre-Windows 8). Ubuntu is popular but has an interface designed to be equally applicable to mobile and touch-screen devices in the same way as Windows 8, and so may take more getting used to.

If you want the lightest and least resource-hungry system to make your older hardware really fly again, Lubuntu is a very small and effective option. Puppy Linux is still lighter-weight and suitable even for a laptop dating from the '90s. However, it does have a slight quirk in that you single-click on things to launch them where you would double-click in Windows, and hence you can very easily find yourself with two browser windows where you only wanted one!

Most Linux distributions are designed to run directly from a CD or USB stick as a "live installation". This enables you to try out the operating system before you commit to installing it. Typically, the live desktop contains an icon you can double-click in order to install to your hard disk. This might take only 10 minutes, but after connecting the new installation to the Internet, updating to the latest update state may take much longer.

If you have sufficient disk space you may be able to install Linux alongside your existing operating system and boot into whichever you want while you get used to things and copy across your data. Alternatively, if you have an external USB hard disk or an old hard disk which you can put in a USB caddy (from around £10 only on eBay) then you can install Linux on that, and maybe swap it for your internal hard drive when you're ready to leave your old operating system behind.

Supported applications

Different distros come with different sets of applications but the basics are pretty much always included or easily installed from a repository. Specifically:

• OpenOffice or LibreOffice (an offshoot of OpenOffice) provide word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software broadly compatible with Microsoft Office but with an interface modelled on Office2003, i.e. no ribbon. Compatibility with Microsoft Office is good for simple documents but more complex features including advanced formatting, diagrams and pictures may cause problems.
• Firefox is normally the default web browser, but Chrome is also available, and the open source version Chromium, which lacks Flash Player. BBC iPlayer works fine within the browser.
• Thunderbird is provided as the email client which can store email locally using POP3 or provide a more consistent interface to server-based email than webmail.
• Lightning provides calendar functionality as an add-on to Thunderbird.
• One of several media players is normally included but you're not limited to the one you're given.
• Powerful graphics editing to rival Photoshop is offered by The Gimp, but it can take a fair bit of getting used to. Gimpshop is based on Gimp but tries to offer a more Photoshop-like interface.
• Skype is available.
• An expanding range of games is available, both native Linux and running under the Steam platform.

Unsupported applications

The following may not be available:

• Calendar sync options are more limited than with Outlook, which will sync with virtually anything.
• Not all manufacturers provide Linux support for printers, scanners and other peripherals. For a given device, check the manufacturer's website for a linux driver, or if you're looking for a compatible device, check the distro's website for a hardware compatibility list.
• iTunes is not available.
• If you use the programs that come with cameras, satnavs, feature phones etc, these may not be available in Linux variants.
• The range of games available is considerably more limited.

Some simple Windows applications may run successfully under the Wine Windows emulator, but this is by no means guaranteed.