Definitely not, I’d say the thing you need the most is the will to learn - as there are differences of course, but being willing to learn new things will go a long way.
I would say for Linux Mint Cinnamon you really only need to be able to follow directions. Just make sure you have an external backup of all your files in case it turns out you can’t. You’ll have to type some stuff into a command-line interface (I think) but the Mint Cinnamon website has links to step by step guides. Also, you know, make sure you’re either committed to getting rid of Windows, or have the ability to re-install, in case you mess up.
I keep my OS on a separate partition from everything else, so all the files should be fine. Can MC read windows dism formats Luke NTFS? Or will I need to transfer my data to something more neutral?
No Mint pretty much just works.
Great thing about Mint (or most Linux distros) is that you can try it by booting from a usb stick - see if you like it that way.
You download the image (usually a .iso file) from the distro site then you have to get it onto the stick with a disk image writing program. And be sure when you figure it out that you are writing the image to the right disk!
Rufus was a good program I used, but search around. Windows may do it natively now.
The USB boot is actually just straight-up a part of the install process. You first boot from the USB, then click on the desktop icon that launches the installer. Of course, you can always just ignore that icon and play around on the USB boot. Based on the questions you’re asking here, you’ll be totally fine. I don’t know the majority of the words people are throwing around here, and I managed to install Linux Mint Cinnamon on a computer so old you’re not actually supposed to be able to do it. I just did some searching and followed forum tutorials. As long as your computer is less than ~12 years old, it won’t be any trouble at all.
The only thing that I think is a little complicated these days is make sure that you’re not reliant on a particular Windows-only app. For the vast majority of common apps, you’re going to be fine, and it’s sounding more and more like even gaming on Linux is not only fine, but getting to the point of being the best way to do it. If you do have a particular app you rely on, I’d look into the various ways that you can get Windows apps running on Linux (which can be a little tricky, but usually not too bad.) But even like 10 years ago, I built a machine for an elderly family member, put probably some flavor of ubuntu on it, and I never had to troubleshoot that machine.
Thanks! How are open office apps these days? Now that Word/Excel is dog shit and subscription based, that’s the only windows only app I think I’d need. Even my recording and video editing apps supposedly run on Linux.
Do I need to know Jack shit about programming to use it? Cause…I mean I really don’t know Jack shit about but I’m down to jump ship!
Definitely not, I’d say the thing you need the most is the will to learn - as there are differences of course, but being willing to learn new things will go a long way.
I would say for Linux Mint Cinnamon you really only need to be able to follow directions. Just make sure you have an external backup of all your files in case it turns out you can’t. You’ll have to type some stuff into a command-line interface (I think) but the Mint Cinnamon website has links to step by step guides. Also, you know, make sure you’re either committed to getting rid of Windows, or have the ability to re-install, in case you mess up.
But really, at this point, it’s pretty dang easy.
I keep my OS on a separate partition from everything else, so all the files should be fine. Can MC read windows dism formats Luke NTFS? Or will I need to transfer my data to something more neutral?
No Mint pretty much just works.
Great thing about Mint (or most Linux distros) is that you can try it by booting from a usb stick - see if you like it that way.
Oh wow really? That’s actually very helpful to know! Do I need to format the USB a certain way first or will the distro website go through it?
You download the image (usually a .iso file) from the distro site then you have to get it onto the stick with a disk image writing program. And be sure when you figure it out that you are writing the image to the right disk!
Rufus was a good program I used, but search around. Windows may do it natively now.
The USB boot is actually just straight-up a part of the install process. You first boot from the USB, then click on the desktop icon that launches the installer. Of course, you can always just ignore that icon and play around on the USB boot. Based on the questions you’re asking here, you’ll be totally fine. I don’t know the majority of the words people are throwing around here, and I managed to install Linux Mint Cinnamon on a computer so old you’re not actually supposed to be able to do it. I just did some searching and followed forum tutorials. As long as your computer is less than ~12 years old, it won’t be any trouble at all.
The only thing that I think is a little complicated these days is make sure that you’re not reliant on a particular Windows-only app. For the vast majority of common apps, you’re going to be fine, and it’s sounding more and more like even gaming on Linux is not only fine, but getting to the point of being the best way to do it. If you do have a particular app you rely on, I’d look into the various ways that you can get Windows apps running on Linux (which can be a little tricky, but usually not too bad.) But even like 10 years ago, I built a machine for an elderly family member, put probably some flavor of ubuntu on it, and I never had to troubleshoot that machine.
Thanks! How are open office apps these days? Now that Word/Excel is dog shit and subscription based, that’s the only windows only app I think I’d need. Even my recording and video editing apps supposedly run on Linux.