I am using Microsoft OS since 2009, recently i have upgraded my computer to Intel Core i3 4th Gen with 8 GB Ram and 1TB hard disk. I want to know should I change my Operating system to Ubuntu. I heard that Ubuntu is free to run. Honestly i want some change in operating system but i am not sure how easy or difficult it could be. Please give your advice and suggestions.
Any change of an OS requires the willingness to learn about a new system. This is an excellent forum that you can always turn to if you need any help with pre-installation preparations (testing your hardware, preparing the USB drive, etc.) installation, configuring your system or installing software. Do you need MS Windows for work? If yes, you can choose to dual boot Windows and Ubuntu MATE on the same machine. On this forum there is plenty of information on how to do that. The easiest for beginners, however, is to run Ubuntu MATE as the only operating system. Dual booting is more complicated and makes the transition to a new operating system more difficult.
In any case, first download Ubuntu MATE from this website (the 64bit version) and create a bootable USB drive and test if your current hardware configurations are suitable for running it smoothly. Make sure to test whether sound and Wifi are working. Among the Ubuntu flavours (which are derivatives of the “classical” Ubuntu) I found Ubuntu MATE to be the easiest and most beginner-friendly distribution to use, especially due to its Software Boutique and the Welcome application. Ubuntu MATE is designed to work out of the box and it is much easier to get used to than the “classical” Ubuntu, especially if you are coming from a Windows environment. The “classical” Ubuntu comes with the Unity desktop environment which some have found less intuitive to use.
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In addition the the good advice provided by @maro I suggest that switching from Windows OS to Linux OS is a bit more involved for the end user with regards to personal work habits.
More than likely you’re familar with OutLook or Outlook Express, MS Office suite, Internet Explorer for your daily computing needs. If so I suggest trying out the following applications which can be installed on your Windows environment.
Firefox to replace Internet Explorer
Thunderbird to replace OutLook or Outlook express
Libre Office to replace MS Office
The above 3 applications are free and available for for Windows. I’m suggesting this strategy because it mimics my switch to Linux from Windows 7. I haven’t 100% moved away from Windows, and probably will not because:
Tax preparation
Photo editing
iTunes sync of iPhones
There are alternatives for the first 2, but I’m not willing to adopt them for my work flow.
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Thanks maro for participating on my thread, Yes indeed I am willing to learn about new system. I need to learn every thing from the installation process to working on Ubuntu interface. No I am using this system for my Home. Yes I can use dual boot if i need.
Could you please share me where do i get the 64 BIT version of Ubuntu. I don’t know much about ubuntu version but i go with the easiest version.
You may use either of these links [choose the second if you’re familar with torrents]
1- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/16.04/release/ubuntu-mate-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso
2 - http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/16.04/release/ubuntu-mate-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent
You can choose the download links provided by @pfeiffep or read through the download section of this website.
There are basically two ways to download the .iso images:
- Direct download
- Torrent download
If you are not familiar with a torrent download, you can simply go ahead and download it directly but make sure to verify your downloaded files.
After downloading and verifying the .iso images you have to create a bootable USB drive (or CD). If you need further help in how to do that or how to change your BIOS settings so as to boot from USB, just let us know here.
You may use either of these links [choose the second if you’re familar with torrents
1- http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/16.04/release/ubuntu-mate-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso
2 - http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/16.04/release/ubuntu-mate-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent
Sure I am familiar with the torrent.
Thanks for participation Pfeiffep, maro give me a good suggestion. Yeah I stwitch from MS to Linux
My daily computing needs are just connect to internet working in MS office which i replaced with Libre office and little bit Image editing which i guess paint or Gimp application help to do tasks
maro23m steve234
You can choose the download links provided by @pfeiffep or read through the download section of this website.
There are basically two ways to download the .iso images:
Direct download
Torrent download
If you are not familiar with a torrent download, you can simply go ahead and download it directly but make sure to verify your downloaded files.
After downloading and verifying the .iso images you have to create a bootable USB drive (or CD). If you need further help in how to do that or how to change your BIOS settings so as to boot from USB, just let us know here.
Thanks brother for support, i am familiar with Torrent, after downloading the ISO file I will creat a BOOTABLE USB for it.
Has this (from the tutorial section) been mention?
Hello @steve234. Welcome to community 
I think as someone who switched from Windows over a year ago, after 15 years of using it, I can tell you that things can be hard in beginning depending on how well you know Windows, for me it was more about unlearn Windows way then learn Ubuntu MATE and Linux way that’s why first few weeks were harder, but then it got easier 
My mum for example has not much interest or knowledge how system works and was scared to try it at first, even if she only use Firefox, but she picked it up very quickly and can now even update system without my help and watch stuff she wants, even trough she could have used Windows, but she found that Ubuntu MATE is faster and I no longer have to listen to her complains that her pc is slow, so it’s WIN-WIN for both 
You can also try and test new OS in VirtualBox environment as there you can make more mistakes as you learn while still running your main system/Windows.
Read the link @anon42388993 have posted, there are many links to things you need to know/how to use and that might save you some time in the process of learning your new OS.
Once you get .iso on usb you can test it in live session and use Welcome that opens up once you get to desktop, you have a lot of info and stuff you can change from there already and once installed on system programs to install from one place! Also every program updates trough system, you don’t have to go at each individual one to update like in Windows.
Happy exploring and enjoy Ubuntu MATE and it’s great community 
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@Steve234 Welcome to the forum, There’s a lot to be said about making the switch from Windows to Linux, as many others have stated it’s a learning curve but a good one
With a community like this you should not have a problem learning it, it does requires a lot of reading and plenty of patience’s. Ubuntu has gotten much easier to use right out of the box heck I’m a full time Linux use for sometime now and run Linux it on five of my machines which only one has Windows as a dual boot.
You can give Ubuntu mate a try with out even installing it right from a USB or DVD, just choose try Ubuntu and you will get the feel of what you will get on a full installation
What ever you choose it’s great to have yet another Linux user among us welcome aboard Steve234 and best of luck to ya
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Well done guys! It’s lovely to see how welcoming and helpful you are to prospective Ubuntu MATE users ️
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Hallo
One thing that holds a lot of people back from making the change is not knowing what software (programs) they can use on a linux computer to do all the things they want or need to do. Below is a list of replacement programs that I use/have used. This is my current list - it has changed and will probably continue to change in the future. Everyone has their own prefered programs. This list is just to let you see that alternatives are available. Here we go:
Adobe Acrobat >>> Atril / Okular / Xournal / pdfsam
Adobe Acrobat Pro >>> Master PDF Editor (proprietary software, free of charge for private use)
PDF Studio (proprietary software, maybe the best pdf-software for linux)
Adobe Ilustrator / Photoshop >>> Scribus / GIMP / Inkscape
Anti-virus >>> ClamTk / ESET (proprietary)
(business cards) >>> glabels
CCleaner >>> BleachBit
E-Books >>> Calibre
Editor >>> Kate
(genealogy) >>> Gramps
Internet Explorer / Edge >>> Firefox / Chromium
Microsoft Outlook >>> Thunderbird
Microsoft Office >>> LibreOffice
Microsoft Project >>> ProjectLibre
Music >>> VLC media player / Audacity / EasyTAG / K3b / Asunder / Sound Juicer
Photos >>> Shotwell Photo Manager / GIMP
Podcasts >>> gpodder
Radio >>> Radio Tray
Scanning >>> XSane / SimpleScan /gscan2pdf / tesseract / gImageReader / OCRfeeder
Screencasting >>> Kazam Screencaster / SimpleScreenRecorder
Screenshots >>> Shutter
Thesaurus (English) >>> Artha
(touch-type, learn) >>> klavero
Video >>> VLC media player / Kdenlive / OpenShot / Handbrake / Transmagaddon / MakeMKV
For private use I’ve been using linux exclusively for almost three years. It can be done. It IS different, but not that different. Enjoy the difference
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Oops,
it should be “klavaro” and not “klavero”.
and Pinta
and BitDefender, DrWeb , Comodo
Opera, Tor Browser too
and Evolution
and WPS for Linux (modern interface)
Music Player >>> Audacious, Clementine, QMMP, Rhythmbox, VLC, SMPlayer,
Video Player >>> VLC, SMPlayer, Kodi, Kaffeine (and lots of others)
Music edition and creation >>> Ubuntu Studio (ask stevecook), MuseScore, Audacity, TuxGuitar
Video Edition >>> LightWorks, Kdenlive, Pitivi, Handbrake, Openshot
Dictionary >>> GoldenDic
File Sharing >>> amule (which doesn’t work), Trasmission, Dropbox, Mega, YandexDisk
Calendar >>> Rainlendar, Lightning (add-on for Thunderbird), Borg
Password Manager >>> LOTS but Keepassx and EnPass the best