Linux distro for my dad?

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by mattylondon

Well this is an interesting article, the second paragraph reckons that upgraded Win 10 users will be able to do a clean reinstall of Win 10 from ISO. That will be great if true.

So far only my work PC (win7pro) is showing the Get Win 10 icon, all our home PCs are 8.1 / 8.1pro.

http://arstechnica.com/information-t...ws-10-upgrade/

Interesting ...

Gabe does however state that:

once upgraded, Windows 10 users will be able to perform clean installs of the operating system at any time, even after the one-year free period has ended

Suggesting that the upgrade will still be necessary, initially at least. Which makes sense, since they somehow need to verify that you have an existing eligible version of Windows installed. I suspect what he's saying is, that once you've performed an upgrade, you'll be able to extract the licence key in order to perform subsequent clean installations.

So you'll still need to re-install Windows 7 first, if you decide to try 10 later, in which case make sure you make a note of the Windows 7 key.

[lebesset]

as someone who has grown old using windows [ anyone want to have 3.1 installed ? just drop in ] could it be that matty's dad would prefer the devil he knows and that he would be happier with 10 even if linux is faster ?

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by lebesset

anyone want to have 3.1 installed ? just drop in

Nah, 3.11 ('for Workgroups') is the one to have, with it's networking features

I actually managed to get 3.11 running in a VM not so long ago.

I've still got the installation discs somewhere, on 3.5" floppies.

[oldnick]

well , I 've clicked on the ...reserve a download of 10 ...box and got a response ..suitable system and reservation made ; so they clearly check if you have the appropriate windows installed

[johnny_quattro]

I use this for my main OS as I'm a UNIX/Linux sysadmin by trade. Having said that, I've persuaded some of the people who I've fixed laptops/PCs for in the past to have Linux installed as a backup in case it all goes mammaries. Two out of those five people now exclusively use Mint. It came in very handy when one person's PC wouldn't boot and their daughter had some important stuff to submit to school for homework. They were able to boot into Linux, mount the Windows partition (easy under the file manager application) and then open LibreOffice to edit/save the document.

You can also run Linux Mint as the main OS in the background and use VirtualBox to install whichever Windows client OS you want. Works extremely well. When run in 'seamless mode', it appears to be a Windows desktop and you can't tell the difference.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by johnny_quattro

I'm a UNIX/Linux sysadmin by trade.

That's worth knowing. Are you available for freelance work (paid, of course)?

My daily work is with Windows-based business networks and servers, though I'm an electronics design engineer and programmer by trade.

I dabble in Linux, but I know a lot less about it than I'd like, so I tend to avoid using it in mission critical environments. I do sometimes use it for some set-and-forget type of systems, like NVRs, but presently not for anything that requires me to support end-users.

[johnny_quattro]

Due to work commitments, I tend to be kept rather busy but I'm always open to questions. If you need to, send me a PM.