From Windows to Linux

For a potential updated version: https://sujauddin.me/blogs/swtiching-from-windows-to-linux

What are the changes you notice immediately when switching from Windows to a Linux distro?

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

Let’s see what changes someone notices when switches to a Linux distro from Windows. In this article, Ubuntu is the chosen Linux distro. I will talk about the noticeable differences and what you have to do after you switch and what to do if you get stuck on the way. Ubuntu is a good OS. You have to learn how Linux based OS works to use it properly and efficiently. It helps you a lot in lot of cases. If you are a programmer and it is even better.

First Experience

When you switch to Linux you will notice some differences.

1. The first thing you will notice is that all exe file is not working :( Yeah. However you can have most of those software for Linux. If it is not available you will find some open source alternative.
2. Then you will notice that to do many things you have to use the terminal. Things like installing software, changing permission etc.
3. You fill find that the desktop icons are less and overall UI is different.
4. You will see that the system is using less resources like RAM and that’s great.
5. It is a very minimal system. And if you want more minimal go for Arch Linux or Debian.
6. You will not see Local Disk (c ), Local Disk (d) etc.
7. You may notice your PC is little bit faster.
8. Its search is very fast.
9. It has no refresh option when you right click on desktop :)
10. The dock is different.

Those are the most noticeable things you will see. Others are almost same.

Problems That You May Face

I personally did not face any major problems. But there are something to know about.

Terminal

You have to use the terminal a lot. This may be a problem for you if don’t know anything about terminal. But if you know even some of it, this is not a big deal.

Driver Issue

You WiFi, graphics card may not work properly or will not work at all if there is some problem with driver. If you face this issue just download the proper driver and install it. It will fix the issue. Easy.

New Environment

As Linux is new to you, you may feel a little uncomfortable. It has its own way doing things. It is really not a problem. But you have to learn a little. The different desktop environments are gnome, plasma, mate etc.

These are some problems. Remember if there is a problem, there should be a solution. Just ask it.

Things That You May Love

Simple yet powerful

Linux based OS is simple, easy to use and extremely powerful. You just have to learn how to use those power.

Secure

It is very secure and privacy focused system.

Terminal

You will know :) It is your friend.

Great for development

It is good for software, web etc development. Compiler like gcc, g++ and languages like python are already preinstalled in Ubuntu.

Things to do at first

You you first install a Linux based OS you will find many essential software are already preinstalled like LibreOffice (similar to Microsoft Office), media player, image viewer, browser etc. Still you want to install some additional software.

Install software

To install software, you have many option.

1. You can use apt install software: sudo apt install [package-name]
2. You can use software center.
3. You download .deb or .rpm package from software website. These are similar to .exe file for windows.
4. You can use flatpak or snap to install latest software.
5. You can use appimage to use softwares.

Now, if you are a Photoshop, Lightroom, MS Office user you can’t use these software in Linux because they didn’t make Linux version of it. So what can you do? Well don’t worry. Linux has awesome and powerful alternatives. I have listed some of the important ones and also some recommended ones.

1. Photoshop →Gimp
2. Lightroom →Darktable
3. MS Office →Libre Office, Open Office
4. Illustrator →Inkscape
5. Paint →Krita

These are some alternatives, if you need more just google what you want. However you really want use those software, you can do so via wine. Search about wine and you will learn more.

These are some recommendation.

1. VLC media player — Media player.
2. Brave — Browser.
3. OBS Studio — To record screen and to stream.

Customization

Next thing you will be wanting is to customize your PC. You can do so via the followings.

1. Download Gnome-Tweaks. With this you can customize your system very professionally.
2. Through settings you can do so many things like changing dock settings etc.
3. Installing extensions allow you to do many awesome things.
4. You can install custom themes.
5. 5. You can install custom icons.

Things You Have to Learn

There are some things you must learn to use Linux efficiently.

1| Linux filesystem.

2| Shell (Command Line Interface)

Some links are given below to learn.

i) Shell (BASH) — The Linux Command Line

ii) Filesystem — Linux Filesystem Hierarchy

Resources To Get Help

It is common to get stuck. These are some awesome website you can use to get help.

1. askubuntu.com
2. stackoverflow.com
3. itsfoss
4. Youtube
5. offline: click on activities on to left corner or press super key. Then type help. Open help. Here you will get an offline reference of you system. I highly recommend this to read.

And some googling give you more resources.

Conclusion

I hope now you have some idea what to do and how to get things done. Thank you very much for reading this. If you have any suggestions let me know.