Considering a switch to Linux? we can help!

Over the years we have seen customers growing more and more upset with Microsoft Windows and how it runs on our customers devices and particularly since the switch to Windows 11, many of our customers have noticed that their hardware is no longer capable of running the latest version of Windows due to Microsoft’s stringent hardware requirements.

There have also been more and more issues of privacy raised with Windows and in particular, Windows 11, with Microsoft using telemetry to have your computer send various information about your computer back to Microsoft. Microsoft have even floated the idea of a feature called ‘Recall’, which takes screenshots of whatever you are doing on your PC at regular intervals with the idea being that you can then search for tasks you were previously working on, whilst it may sound handy in practice, it also raises serious privacy concerns.

Much of Microsoft Windows future appears to be headed in the direction of AI in the form of Microsoft co-pilot, something many of our customers are sceptical of and which may aim to change the way we use our computers altogether.

So… What do we as a business do?

To put it simply, we give our users more choice! If you are happy with Windows and the way it works, or need to stay with Windows for any application specific needs, that is absolutely fine, we still do and will continue to support Windows machines for as long as Microsoft Windows is around.

That being said, we do want to give our customers options that may work better for them, with this in mind, in addition to also supporting Apple Mac’s we have decided to offer the option of Linux installations on our sales repairs and upgrades. Our default and primary Linux distribution of choice will be Linux Mint Cinnamon, primarily for it’s interface being familiar to most Windows users, meaning that the transition to Linux should be somewhat easier, however, if you do have a distribution that you would prefer to use, please don’t hesitate to enquire

So what are some of the benefits and drawbacks to switching to a Linux distribution? Below I will list some of the main benefits and drawbacks as they exist today.

Benefits
-Linux inherently cannot suffer from the same viruses that are built for Windows as the system is entirely different.
-Some of the most commonly used applications are now fully supported under Linux and where there are gaps in support for certain applications, there are often freely available alternatives.
-Linux installs apps from an app store similar to how your smartphone installs applications so no more searching websites for a specific piece of software that may or may not come with adware or other headaches
-Linux respects your privacy to a higher degree than Windows and in most cases any inbuilt telemetry can be turned off entirely in Linux distributions.

-Better utilization of your hardware – most Linux distributions will use less of your hardware than Windows does itself, there are even lightweight distributions that allow older machines to run a modern system that can help your older hardware feel quicker and more snappy than under Windows

Drawbacks
-The learning curve, whilst many Linux distributions are simple and straightforward to use, they are by design different to Windows, this means that you may need to learn some new things along the way

-The software library isn’t as robust as Windows, whilst many of the most popular applications now have a Linux version available, some still do not, this includes the likes of Adobe products and Microsoft Office. There are freely available equivalent software for most of these applications, though they are not direct clones and as such may require learning new methods of doing tasks in different applications.
-Hardware compatibility whilst much better than it once was can still be a bug bear for some, this can mean that certain devices you already own may not work with Linux such as certain printers for example. It is always worth checking that all your hardware is supported under Linux before making the switch
-Gaming on Linux has come a long way in recent years thanks in large part to Valve, the company behind Steam. Whilst Linux can now make for a really great gaming experience, some games simply cannot run under Linux at present. In many cases, this comes down to the video game studios using kernel level anti cheat software which currently can only work under Linux. If you are a gamer, it is worth checking to see if your favourite games are supported before making the switch.

With all these things in mind, it might be worth considering the switch to Linux. If you would like to know more, I encourage you to get in touch with us here at Taplin Computers S6, we will answer any questions you may have to the best of our ability and will be happy to help should you wish to make the switch to Linux.