I Want to Keep Windows 7 Forever

As for the learning curve, it depends on what you do. If all you want is to surf the web and use email, any LTS Linux such as mint will do nicely. Elementary OS has practically no learning curve at all (except it comes without an office suite, which you need to install, which is easy to do. also, the browser and email are not that great; once again though you can upgrade to Firefox and Thunderbird easily. With most linux systems you get all this out of the box).

As for needing windows for specific tasks, because software makers make them preferentially for windows, this is why you dual boot. You use windows for the photo-editing you do, but linux for everything else. Personally, I am continuing with W7 Pro for my music creation, keeping it offline by default. I use Linux for everything else, especially for anything security-sensitive. Currently, I am using Zorin Lite and LXLE, both light systems (my graphics card on my old Gateway desktop broke, so I'm back to on-board graphics - 10 years old - and need a very light system for them to work).

As for the command line (called the terminal in Linux), all you need to do is a search on whatever you are doing. And follow the steps. I usually just copy paste the commands due to my terrible typing. You do need to get it exact, or it won't work. I keep a list handy of the commands I use most. Eventually you get the hang of it. The terminal is extremely powerful, and very fast. It's a great way to install apps. For example, in many distros, all you do is "sudo apt-get update" then "sudo apt-get install firefox". As long as the commands are grammatically correct, the system will do all the work for you. "Sudo" refers to doing something as root, akin to administrator.

As for there being many distros, yes it's in the hundreds, but this is actually fun. It's easy to become addicted to "distro-hopping." That is, trying out new Linux systems. This also gives you the opportunity to learn as different distros do things differently in some case. Of course, if you just want an easy to use system that will be supported for the next 5 years, there are many to choose from. And you can try them out in most cases without installing them, which makes it quick, safe and easy to get a sense on which ones you might like.

michael diemer said:

...As for the command line (called the terminal in Linux), all you need to do is a search on whatever you are doing. And follow the steps. I usually just copy paste the commands due to my terrible typing. You do need to get it exact, or it won't work. I keep a list handy of the commands I use most. Eventually you get the hang of it. The terminal is extremely powerful, and very fast. It's a great way to install apps. For example, in many distros, all you do is "sudo apt-get update" then "sudo apt-get install firefox". As long as the commands are grammatically correct, the system will do all the work for you. "Sudo" refers to doing something as root, akin to administrator...

A lot of power-Linux users like to install apps by the terminal..But most of the easier to use Linux distros comes with an easy to use program to directly install software. In Linux Mint it's called the Software Manager and you just click on what you want an it's installed automatically. It's also completely safe and malware free as it comes from a vetted source as opposed to the usual Windows procedure of finding software on the net and hoping for the best.

michael diemer said:

And you can try them out in most cases without installing them, which makes it quick, safe and easy to get a sense on which ones you might like.

Yes, you can even run a Linux OS off a disc with your current system intact.

I have had ZorinOS as dual-boot on what is now the wife's machine for a few years now; but, since it now lives in her machine, I seldom mess with it --- actually there is a long story behind why it ended up like it is --- we have completely identical DELL mini-towers; the main HDD in hers got in bad shape and started doing weird things whenever it was called upon to do anything intensive; so, I just put a brand-new HDD in place of it that had the OS cloned from my machine, Linux dual-boot and all, and she seamlessly went on about her business because the only thing that lives on our OS HDDs are the OS themselves.

Until recently, I had Mint Cinnamon dual boot on my machine; then, someone here pointed me in the direction of a really good deal on a SSD and I cloned my system onto it --- however, I could not for the life of me figure out how I managed to clone BOTH, Windows and Linux the time before, and I ended up giving up for the time being and only have Windows on this SSD.
I know I can just create a new dual-boot install, but I had already jumped through a lot of complicated hoops getting my Mint Cinnamon installation to where it was that I hate to have to start all over.

I will say this, for myself and my way of doing things at least, dual-boot is a good way to play around with other systems and check them out, even triple-boot; dual-boot is also a good emergency measure; you can access and manipulate things in Windows via Linux that you couldn't access in Windows with an Administrator account; BUT, with all that being said, the ideal way to have Windows AND Linux are on completely different machines with the monitors and keyboards/mice just a chair's swivel away.

It is such an act of congress to quit what I am doing, back out of things and save and close programs, then reboot into the other system, do whatever I needed there, then close out and reboot back, only to have to reopen all those programs and figure out just where I was before the switch --- it is a real big hassle.

Barman58 said:

Machines are not the issue as you say, you can still install Vista and even XP and activate them, this is normal for Microsoft and applies the same for Win7 (cannot confirm as I switched to Win 10 before it was officially released).

There is an issue with New legit copies of the software for installation, as the End of Life approached the cost in the US and UK markets went through the roof, up to several hundred US dollars for a non transferable OEM copy and Retail copies are now extremely rare and priced accordingly - there are many special offers on eBay and other sources but all look to be counterfeit or otherwise not genuine (cracked, stolen keys etc ).

If the Australian market is not facing this issue then I would suggest you grab a few copies for future use (or sales overseas )

Thanks for that. Good advice, I think, so I've just purchased a legit copy of Win7 Pro in the Aus market for the same low price I paid for it on my backup machine two years ago.


I'll watch the G6 market here and "pounce" on a machine when ready. This should suffice for at least the next five years, I expect. I used Win2k for well over a decade till the hardware broke down and USB3 became generally available.

michael diemer said:

...As for there being many distros, yes it's in the hundreds, but this is actually fun. It's easy to become addicted to "distro-hopping." That is, trying out new Linux systems. This also gives you the opportunity to learn as different distros do things differently in some case. Of course, if you just want an easy to use system that will be supported for the next 5 years, there are many to choose from. And you can try them out in most cases without installing them, which makes it quick, safe and easy to get a sense on which ones you might like.

Hey I got 4 disros of linux on the same computer in addition to windows 7 I would have put more but my HDD would not let me make any more partions. So welcome to the house!

Barman58 said:

A major block to Linux getting a serious following in the OS market is that it is so fragmented - there are hundreds of different variations - the distros all have their good points and also their not so good points, which means that the learning curve is steep to get to a usable system for those not "computer People", (geeks). Without this general following the major software companies will not see a large enough market to invest their resources in - Apple MAC have around 10 times the market share of all the Linux Distros, but do get support from some Big companies, Adobe and Microsoft (Microsoft Office for MAC has always been near if not the top software on Apple MAC)

Of course it has it's place in the server market and turns up in the most unexpected places - Windows Subsystem for Linux - Wikipedia

Finally somebody says it. For most ordinary people who don't like or want W10 a Macintosh is a way better bet than learning Linux.

Of course, most people here are in way too deep to consider the Mac. But dual boot? Not for the average Joe.

Methinks most everyone here will be able to make their own decision about "stay with 7 or ...change". And my own advice should any e.g. friend or family member ask re: the "Windows 7 is Discontinued" headlines will be "don't worry about it until you have to".

maxseven said:

Finally somebody says it. For most ordinary people who don't like or want W10 a Macintosh is a way better bet than learning Linux.

Of course, most people here are in way too deep to consider the Mac. But dual boot? Not for the average Joe.

Methinks most everyone here will be able to make their own decision about "stay with 7 or ...change". And my own advice should any e.g. friend or family member ask re: the "Windows 7 is Discontinued" headlines will be "don't worry about it until you have to".

The sad thing is, I'm a little less hesitant on Apple products than I used to be, but there are still a couple of deal-breakers for me personally. Primarily I hate their hardware design principles which IMO tend to emphasize form over function to a fault. This extends to their software to some extent as well, particularly in iOS which I blame for popularizing a lot of the ugly over-minimalist visual design we have these days (though say what you will about their desktop OS, at least it isn't trying to present itself as a mobile OS like Win10 is).

I'll definitely agree with the point about it being the gateway drug for Linux, though.

And as far as "change" goes... the biggest problem there is that people (not saying you, just in general) tend to treat change as an all-or-nothing deal. Either you embrace whatever the new thing is even if it's objectively worse, or suddenly you're considered a luddite. You can't treat it so black-and-white like that. It's okay to turn a critical eye to something new and make an informed decision not to use it just because it's new. In fact, that kind of critical thinking should be encouraged, in all markets and not just tech, but I'm aware that's asking too much of most people.