Subject: Re: Before Dimdows 10 Goes EOL, I'm Testing Linux To Save My Laptop From The Landfill
On Jun 25, 2025, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote
(in article <103i58h$3340l$
1@dont-email.me>):
Another daily-diary article, this time trying out a few Linux distros
that might offer a less painful transition for Windows users <https://www.tomshardware.com/news/live/before-windows-10-goes-eol-im-testing-
three-alternative-linux-distros-to-save-my-6-year-old-laptop-from-the-landfill
.
A lot of the time, it seems to me, the hardest step for a Windows user
is copying a bootable Linux image (either live OS or installer) onto a
USB stick. What would be a quick, easy job on Linux itself requires a
fair bit of faffing about with third-party tools on Windows.
1. You don’t have to junk Win 10 if you don’t want to. I have XP and 7 machines running, MS bailed on them a long time ago but they still work, I just have to be careful. As most modern web browsers no longer like XP and it would be a Very Bad Idea(™) to run IE at this late date, the XP machines
are locked away on a network which has no internet connectivity, and we take precautions when running them. Why run them at all? because they run $150,000 imagesetters, that’s why. The imagesetters are very picky about their drivers (not really drivers, long story, but the imagesetters won’t work without them) and still work, and management will NOT be replacing them as long as they work. So the XP machines live. I have a couple spare XP machines for when one of the units in use croaks, which will happen sooner or later. The Win 7 machines live on for similar, though less expensive, reasons. Now, if you want to go adventuring on ye internet, you might have problems, but
you can use Win 10 locally for decades or until the hardware dies, whichever comes along first.
2. I have built USB thumb drives on a number of distros, including Fedora, Ubuntu, assorted Mint, and (once only) Centos. Usually the tools provided
with the distro (if any...) work well enough, just make sure that the thumb drive is big enough, I usually use 16 or 32 GB drives. If the supplied tools don’t work, or if there aren’t any, Rufus has always worked for me.
3. the main problems that I’ve found with modern (a.k.a. less than a decade old) laptops is that a lot of them have Safe Boot in the BIOS/UEFI and
getting around it is a pain, and, worse, a lot of vendors (Lenovo, I’m looking at YOU, you bastards!) have BitLocker set up be default, making life interesting when booted from another device. Neither problem is a game-ender, but both are annoying.
4. the other problems are drivers. Some vendors (Lenovo again, you bastards!) have limited Linux driver support. Translation: the ‘business’ Lenovos often have ‘most’ hardware supported on Linux, if you dig hard enough,
the ‘home’ Lenovos don’t have a bloody thing supported, not even a camera. Guess how I know this. Check for driver support before you start.
5. Some distros work better than others on certain hardware. (Lenovo again!)
I found that Fedora and Ubuntu are better bets on certain hardware than other distros. Have a look at the ‘user community’ fora for your hardware and see what others have had problems with; the Lenovo fora are infested with people who have had problems with every distro but Fedora and it’s not necessarily smooth sailing with Fedora.
As always, YMMV. Good luck.
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