Keeping a lookout for possible future "emergency exits", I continue to watch out for any Linux distros previously unknown to me that might hold some extra promise. These can almost always be sampled via a "Live CD" version, avoiding having to actually install anything. In my opinion, they have long missed the boat, in that no one seems to have come up with a true looks-alike, works-alike, turn-the-key-and-just-drive-off one that could siphon away a vast horde of Windows users -- by avoiding most of the uber-geek config requirements and steep learning curve. Quite a missed opportunity there ! And I've looked at quite a few of these, over the last four years.
That said, I've just started to sample another candidate -- Zorin 9.1. Like a number of others, it is Ubuntu-based. This one may hold a bit more promise than most, in the direction I have indicated above. It has WINE built-in, for running Win apps, and a pretty decent complement of software, with links for bringing in a lot more. I did not seem to run into the usual major pain in trying to navigate it, although it is **still** rather annoying that these things always default to such a high res that you can't possibly read any of the microscopic text, until you've adjusted your display settings. (It has taken me as long as 40 minutes of exploring to figure out just where to do that, on some Linux distros.) Maybe some of our prior defectors to Linux will have something to say here . . . .
Anyway Kari, here's a notion for you. There has to be a (64-bit) VMWare or Virtualbox edition for Linux, right ? Provided you had the level of hardware and RAM that could compensate for the inevitable overhead, what about running a Win-7 guest OS under Linux ? This would obviate the UI design folly of 8.1, and the MS spymaster predations of 10. This could be a solution, so long as I don't lose the use of any critical apps that I can now run under Win-7. And in the meantime, if something like Zorin pans out, I could be getting more acclimated to that as another option. It's kind of like the way I have three browsers: sometime something does not display or print properly in one, but it will in another. Always good to have additional options.
Jordan
From: Kari Eveli
To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: Windows 10 is creeping into your system, it is time to make a decision!
Jordan,
Well, actually it is just a dream. It could be done, though. This is
what is being done with virtualized net servers, the next logical step
would be to bring this approach to the desktop. With the actual hardware
and software, I am running Win 7 and depending on Acronis to restore my
previous state if and when necessary. Using a light-weight virtualized
Linux browsing app you could get this kind of system up and running.
Best regards,
Kari Eveli
LEXITEC Book Publishing (Finland)
lexitec@xxxxxxxx
*** Lexitec Online ***
Lexitec in English:
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30.11.2015, 19:53, J R FOX wrote:
> Kari,
>
> I might need an in-depth tutorial on that process. Your brief summary
> of this may make it sound a lot easier than it really is ? Are you
> talking about running a Win 7 VM inside of a Win 7 host ? Wouldn't
> that degrade performance significantly -- at least on below i-5 systems ?
>
> As HDDs are not particularly expensive these days (I mostly use WD
> Black 1 Tb.s for boot drives, and 2Tb. ones for storage, per system),
> one other thing I do sometimes is make a clone of the boot drive, for
> a drop-in replacement that does not even require an Acronis restore.
> These also require being redone periodically of course, to keep them
> reasonably current.
>
>
> Jordan