The Official Windows 7 Discussion Thread
SaiyanGoku
kamehameha!!
I thought ZorinOS or Mint with XFCE would be better.
All of them are good in their own ways, but KDE explicitly attempts to be similar to windows so that those who are used to it will feel at home. XFCE's UI is pretty different compared to it but it's not bad in itself.
Cinnamon also does it though but I like KDE slightly more than Cinnamon.
Cinnamon also does it though but I like KDE slightly more than Cinnamon.
Zangetsu
I am the master of my Fate.
Check this out: r/unixporn - the home for *NIX customization!
Edit: There are many sites for UI themes, icons, cursors, etc depending upon the desktop environment you use:
KDE: Browse Plasma Themes Latest | *store.kde.org/browse/cat/104/
Gnome: Browse Latest | *www.gnome-look.org/
XFCE: Browse Latest | *www.xfce-look.org/
Cinnamon: Browse Latest | *www.cinnamon-look.org/
and more
Edit2: There is a theming engine for Linux called Kvantum (only for KDE I think) that has some seriously over the top modification potential: Kvantum | SparkyLinux
Edit3: I used to use this theme in Kubuntu: Sweet KDE
Note the hardware accelerated blur.
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It's Lxde + Ubuntu. Yeah, it's pretty light, but perhaps on par with Xubuntu.
Lots of good distros use lightdm, but can change it anytime if you want.
Nerevarine
Incarnate
This is fine for people like us but suggesting Linux just because someone doesnt want to switch from win 7 to 10 is a really bad idea for most people.
Most people expect Linux to function exactly like windows, and when it doesn't, they get a bad impression that it's too hard to learn, it's all cmd based, it doesn't have apps..
People need to know Linux is not windows, not even a bit, just having a theme and general UI like windows isn't going to make it any easy.
You have to get into Linux from a fresh mindset, otherwise you will see most people will just drop. The non availability of apps part is a completely valid thing, no matter how good GIMP is, it's not gonna be Photoshop.
But you can say, hey u can run windows app on Linux.. how bout that ?
Yes true, but it's never going to be as stable as running natively, and all those slowdowns, crash, hitches etc etc contribute to people not liking Linux and giving an early judgement that it's not as good as win or mac
Watch Linux Experiment video where guy switches to elementary from Mac for his work.
You will get a fair idea what I'm talking about.
Article clearly doesn't understand this. But good article nonetheless.
PS I use kubuntu too with official dock, although it's mostly a hobby usage.
Windows for gaming, Mac for work, kubuntu if I wanna tinker with open source and OMV for nas
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meetdilip
Computer Addict
To ? GnomeDM ?
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@Nerevarine What you said is true. mod edit
While we can say that apps won't work, most of the work is command-line based etc, there is a part that most malware skips Linux. Especially when you use something like Manjaro. Virus-free is a great selling point for most people.
Also, it is not command line based anymore. There is an Ubuntu Software store just like App Store or Play Store.
Almost 70 - 80 % of Windows users use it for browsing, watching movies, listening to music and MS Office.
There is
1. Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, Maxthon
2. VLC Player, Kodi
3. More than one reliable music player
4. Libre Office
While some may say Libre Office is inferior, if you get used to it, it is as good as MS Office for a normal user.
Android Studio, Plex, VS Code, Atom Editor, Adobe Brackets etc are available natively on Linux.
I have been using GIMP and Inkscape for years now. And believe me, when you know how to use it, you will never have to use those cracked PS or Illustrator for your needs. A common man cannot afford 10 k + for Windows, then more money for MS Office, Photoshop and so on. They take refuge in pirated OS, software etc. It is much safer to use a mediocre Linux than being a bot yourself.
I am no advocate of Linux. But Linux has evolved a lot since the early days of this decade. If you can put some effort, it is an effective replacement for something which you will be spending 20 -30 K.
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Nerevarine
Incarnate
I am not disagreeing dilip, people have got used to premium software without paying the high price. It's just too normalized and I'm not here to discuss ethics here.
My point was the article just tried to do a theme and offer a "replacement" for win7 which is just clickbait. Lol
My point was the article just tried to do a theme and offer a "replacement" for win7 which is just clickbait. Lol
meetdilip
Computer Addict
Agree. I have no interest in policing. People can do whatever they want as long as it does not hurt others. But people have no idea the PC they use their credit/debit cards on has a backdoor and probably a keylogger. If they know, will they still try to use them ?
People still tell their otp & install apps instructed over phone.No OS can make up for common precautions irrespective of which os one use.A person following basic guidelines using windows is safer than a person not following any guidelines while using linux. As for malware,wait until linux becomes mainstream because no serious malware author actually create malware for linux because it is simply not worth it.
SaiyanGoku
kamehameha!!
Any "install and forget" distro for an 8 year old Dell N5110 (2350m, 4GB ram)? My father is using Win 7 Home on it (basic office tasks) and he won't be needing the 525m. Might need to install HP AIO printer.
Also, since the laptop and by extension its hdd are too old, would it be better to just get a new laptop or replace hdd with cheap 250GB ssd?
I tried linux mint 19.3 xfce yesterday on a guest vm with 2 cores/4 threads, 25GB disk and 4 GB ram and it was surprisingly good. Ran into issues while trying to install KDE Plasma on it. I'd test the distro suggestions (including ZorinOS and PopOs) this weekend.
Also, since the laptop and by extension its hdd are too old, would it be better to just get a new laptop or replace hdd with cheap 250GB ssd?
I tried linux mint 19.3 xfce yesterday on a guest vm with 2 cores/4 threads, 25GB disk and 4 GB ram and it was surprisingly good. Ran into issues while trying to install KDE Plasma on it. I'd test the distro suggestions (including ZorinOS and PopOs) this weekend.
I didn't imply that it will be completely identical to Windows. But the learning curve is not very steep either if the UI is somewhat similar to Windows. As for the command based thing, a lot of the common activities can be done using UI based tools and utilities. Most distros these days come with a software center, so you don't even have to deal with package managers directly.
This is okay for someone who uses photoshop on a daily basis, but for someone who doesn't, it's a moot point. Let's say an average person who only uses computers for browsing the web and watching videos doesn't need anything more than Linux.
But that really is problem with how the applications are built. Either they are tightly coupled with Windows API or use some non-standard DRM system. But still a good percentage of applications run on Wine perfectly as well. Hell, look at all the windows games that run perfectly on Steam Proton at protondb.com.
I'll check it out later.
It's actually KDE asking for the community to brainstorm ideas to help people looking to move away from Windows 7 to move to Linux.
I use Manjaro + KDE as my daily driver for the last few months, I have distro hopped a few times but ever since it was possible to play most of the Windows games on Linux steam, I have not booted into Windows in a long time. I only rarely do when I feel like playing something like PUBG, otherwise there is no reason to do so.
Plasma has actually become much more efficient these days. But for sake of ease of use, I suggest getting an ISO that has a desktop environment pre-installed so that you don't have to tinker around too much. Pretty much any light distro can extend the lifespan of your old laptops so to say. These days KDE and XFCE both use ~500MB of RAM only.
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