Unfortunately the friend is virtual, and I feel like we’re not nearly close enough for me to ask them (an IT professional) to remote into my pc. Not that I’m concerned, but I don’t like asking people to work on their off hours.

Take a backup? That involves a state of mind where needing a backup is a possibility.

3hrs later–Google search: how to back up Zorin, putting toothpaste in tubes. I mean they’ve done it once, how hard could it possibly be to do twice.

I did, to my minimal credit, do the modern nvidia drivers install, but the performance was pretty bad so I manually installed another driver, which looks to be the correct and latest, but now I can’t install alternative nvidia drivers - attempting to do so gets an error message about being unable to delete a file that is already in the repository or some such. I’ll c and v if I can’t stumble through it in the hopes I don’t have to reinstall, but honestly I don’t have a lot of stuff to replace so few tears will be shed. Just got to figure out how to reinstall should it got that route.

Going to see if I have secure boot on, maybe that’s the issue.

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah, I think I’d also like the greater customization of some of the “purer” distros, but I’m in no rush. Slow progress is progress.

Haven’t tried wine yet, but the world-buildy type games I’ve tried on linux get about 1/4 the frame-rate for similar graphical settings. The internet doesn’t seem to expect that kind of drop, so I think it’s largely resolvable, just need to get the time and mental energy to tackle it.

No fear of the command line, maybe I’ll do irreparable damage, but I’m not super concerned about it. As far as I can tell you just type sudo apt install x, then google “linux command line task description” when that fails. Maybe I’ll work out the logic behind hyphens and underscores and whether a program is available through apt install of if I need snap, but it still feels easier than windows. I really hate looking for tiles/ figuring out which hyperlink to click, typing commands is a dream come true.

Love the man command, but it’s a challenge for me to get and retain pertinent information when there’s so much to know.

Thanks for the kindness and advice, much appreciated.

Zorin was actually recommended by a programmer friend who works mostly with linux systems. I don’t think it’s their distro of choice, but it was their top recommendation for my use case. I tried a bunch of recommendations in live environment, Zorin and Mint were the most accessible. Installed both (dual boots on different devices) and Zorin just worked out the box, so I took the path of least resistance. 0

I like it; I don’t know what I’m missing from other distros, and my demands are as low as my skill. I like the UI better than windows.

Still dual boot, and probably will be for a while on the gaming pc. I’d probably be okay formatting windows off the laptop, but I’m not in a rush. Ultimately I’d like to eliminate windows from my personal life, the office is another challenge.

Update on my update re: Sony wh1000mx3 headphones and Linux Bluetooth failure to connect: got it working, didn’t need any extra software either. The Sony’s will prompt themselves into pairing mode if another device tries to connect and they aren’t paired with another device, so I’ve never activated pairing mode on them before. The Linux (zorin) bluetooth software won’t try to pair with a device not in pairing mode, so they were like shy kids who want to dance with each other but won’t ask. In short, like the overwhelming majority of my problems: user error.

Hope my verbose incompetence saves some future googler a few minutes of frustration.

Update on my linux journey:

Tried ubuntu, mint, and zorin in a live environment, they all had features that I really liked, and perhaps more importantly lacked features that I really hate. Can’t remember the last time I set up a bloatless device! I could see myself using any of them, but zorin had two advantages, the lowest learning curve and it worked with more of my peripherals and apps than the other two.

I have it dual booting on my desktop, but I have audio issues there (desktop is really my tv/gaming/media center) as it’s hooked up to a big cheap tv and soundbar, and I suspect that it doesn’t recognize them as hdmi enabled audio devices. I tired some commonly recommended fixes but no avail yet, might have to wire audio a different way. I didn’t have trouble getting games running in zorin but the performance was half that of windows. Tried updating the video driver (only a week out of date) and I need to research how to install drivers that aren’t listed. Seems like it might be a set of terminal commands. But I’m saving that for later and focusing on the laptop instead, where I have lower demands and can get more day to day use in.

Every app I use on the laptop is functional with live environment zorin, but I am again having an audio problem. No issue with the integrated speaker, but bluetooth would not connect (device not set up) which I resolved with bluetooth adapter - and now I according to the pc I am connecting and pairing, but no device will pair.

Overall I’d say it’s not a bad start considering my lack of pedigree, but I’ve got a long way to go.

Dual booting as we speak!

Thanks again, another great post that really helped me make informed decisions.

Just wanted to thank you for the informative and accessible content. The links really helped my understanding of the subject.

Is there a difference between making a partition and dual booting? Like could you install for dual boot without creating a partition in the process?

Thank you! I really enjoy the way you present information, and I like the progression prescribed.

I’ve caught a lot of second hand tech talk, living in society as I do, so I have enough casual exposure to feel like I know what things are without actually knowing what they are. None of the terminology is new to me, and it feels silly to ask questions like “what’s a virtual machine?” when the answer is both common knowledge and self-evident, but the truth is I don’t really know.

I mean, I do, I just read that virtual machines are computers inside your computer comprised of software (code) rather than physical components, which have their own operating system that can function entirely differently from the physical computers OS, and are insulated from access to your actual computers software. But what does that mean?

Lets say I run Linux Mint for in a virtual machine. How would programs that were installed via windows interact with virtual linux - could they? Would I have to install a virtual program? If the preexisting programs are operable, would they be operating in linux, or in windows at the command of linux (I’m aware that command has another meaning in tech speak, but so do the applicable synonyms, this is the least confusing I could come up with). Would I need new (virtual?) drivers for my wireless peripherals to use them in virtual linux? Is the operation of a program (or app, the terms are interchangeable at my knowledge level) in a virtual box a fair test of the operation of the program in the actual linux OS?

What about all of that stuff in a live environment? What’s the difference between linux in a virtual box and linux in a live environment? I would expect that live environments don’t insulate your computer from risk the way that virtual boxes do, but beyond that I can’t even guess. Do virtual boxes insulate innately by virtue of not being computers, or does it need to be designed to be insulating?

What are the disadvantages of dual booting? Linux seems to have a small footprint, and space is fairly cheap. Why do people make games work in linux when they could dual boot? Does booting a different OS take significantly more time than rebooting? Do things ever get funky when you have two OS sharing a machine?

Thanks Pango, I’ll be installing Ubuntu this weekend on an old desktop to check it out risk free and avoid downtime on the primary desktop. I’ll be back with updates and pleas for help.

Thanks for the heads up and the breakdown. I’d like to think I’m clever enough to avoid inputting what is a obviously nefarious command, but I don’t think I’ve fully plumbed the depths of my foolishness.

That’s heartening. Got a project for the weekend!

Just checked it out, It’s an I5 6500, a little older than I thought, but ubuntu recommended specs are pretty low: CPU: 1 gigahertz or better RAM: 1 gigabyte or more Disk: a minimum of 2.5 gigabytes

no uefi so I’m good to go. probably

I think it depends on what your goals are.

My main goal is getting off windows, not because it doesn’t do what I need (my needs are basic) but because they put ads in my OS. Also, every iteration seems to make a bigger mess of the settings/control panel, and open shell isn’t enough for me anymore, although I often think fondly of the IT guy who turned me on to that years back. And the uninstallable (or difficult to uninstall) bloat. And it may just be me, but it seems like there are performance issues - I’ve a new desktop at work with better specs than the laptop I’ve kept on 10, and it seems to be panting under some pretty light loads.

I have a perception, which may be inaccurate, of linux as being for programmers who need to customize to suit their projects and thus rather fiddly, so I wonder if going to linux to get away from windows commercialism and constricting UI is just trading one set of problems for a harder set.

WSL sounds like a great option, and from what I just read the install is stupid easy, but I’m unclear if it’s a simulation of linux inside of windows or just the implementation of a feature of linux. I imagine the command line is like the windows terminal: a method of more directly calling for your computer to do stuff. So if WSL is just the command line, then it won’t simulate how the stuff I want to do interacts with ubuntu, but let me tell my computer what to do like I would in ubuntu?

How important is command line in Linux? Will a casual user need to access it frequently? Will my modest needs be better met by learning it?

That’s two votes for ubuntu. I like the idea of a virtual machine protecting me from myself. I’ve got desktop and a laptop, but need them both active. I’ve also got an old desktop in a closet somewhere, wonder if the hardware would still be functional enough to learn on. CPU is probably a 7th gen I5, to give you an idea of the datedness.