I knew Linux from 2000, i had the mandrake distro sharing the hard drive with windows 98 or millenium.
The problem when you have a Linux distro sharing with Windows is at the beginning it’s fun but after few weeks you get back to windows, and i should say that it was a bit unstable, so after few month i have removed Mandrake and get back to full Windows with its continuous problem of formating the HD almost every years if not more often.
In 2011 my big laptop crash after 4 years on XP then vista without a problem (though i formated after 1 year, but never got a problem later)
I got really upset and bought an iMac (with OS X 10.6 snow leopard on it) to do a complet switch, as i was fedup with windows.
it took a while to re-learn an operating system, but after few month on Mac, i decided to ban Windows and all derivative Microsoft from my house (my wife have an old mac book pro she bought in 2010 and still doing good job on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion).
So at home we became “Mac”, but i was always from 2000 listening the open source (photography and office’ s software like GIMP, OOo etc) .
So when at my work (8 months ago) we open a new department with 3 new computers, there were noway to buy Apple (too expensive for our need) i decided to install Linux on the new PCs after knowing they came from quite far to a better ergonomic.
i tried few main distros (debian, open suze, ubuntu, etc…) in a matter of a day i was quite happy with Ubuntu but…
and it’s the but which made me search for something debian/Ubuntu alike with a better sauce, so i discovered the Ubuntu flavors pages and i tried Lubuntu, Xubuntu, etc…
Deep in me i knew i was near the “Perfect OS” to understand fast and easy to configure with different users.
Then i tried Ubuntu-MATE 16.04 LTS and … The Welcome screen appear, clear like crystal water, not overwhelming by useless info, straight forward in the explanation and the direct button to configure different things!
… and put Cupertino desktop (don’t forget i am 6 years on Mac) which in my opinion is even more beautiful than the Mac
I didn’t uncheck the box (don’t show at start) of the welcome screen for at least one month to be sure i will have all my shortcut and explanation i needed when it comes to the OS.
few month ago i bought a PC for my kids (no fancy things they are young), when at the shop they ask me to put windows (and pay for it) i proudly said quite loud in the shop : Windows is forbidden in my house, I’ll install Linux Ubuntu-MATE myself!
then 1 month ago my iMac do not want to start any more, it lights up start loading and freeze.
S i bought the same PCs than my kids (a cheap one) and Ubuntu-MATE is on it too,
then now my wife want Ubuntu-MATE on her laptop…
Overall i just felt in love with this distribution and it’s HUGE abilities to personalize the desktop and the look and feel, superb stability, never crash until now!
One more things i don’t miss any Mac softwares as Ubuntu has it all and even more, my kids enjoy Gcompris, childplay and so on
I am against wine or any VMware to make a Windows or a Mac software working, as we do not need it at all (use a search engine for what you want with the word “Ubuntu” or “Linux” in the keywords and you will find what you need).
I don’t miss my Mac (maybe the hot corner) and Microsoft Windows is banned for life in my house.
And all came from the MATE Welcome screen
Hope i was not too long
Have a nice day