Part 1: Why change?
Windows 7 is coming to the end of its full support and is entering security only support. What does that mean for you? It is a good time to consider how to move forward with updated software.
Recently, we posted about Windows 10, the deal Microsoft is offering and why you might want to wait before upgrading to it. Since that post, we have found some disturbing privacy and control issues with the Windows 10 released version. For more information, you may want to Google to find out about the difficulty of obtaining local accounts rather than having your entire login reside with Microsoft and its account.
You can also find many Windows 10 articles describing the lack of options and features to control how updates are done. You cannot prevent security patches, software changes, functionality changes or upgrades to the entire operating system. The plan from Microsoft seems to be: turn your computer into your cellphone – a system where Microsoft decides what you can install: from where and when any updates happen. There are many reasons why such a policy can be extremely problematic. For example, if they force the loading of a buggy patch to the operating system, your computer might be turned into a very expensive brick.
First, what if you don’t want software that came with your PC? (Although Windows 10’s “reload” function can be used to eliminate most third-party “bloatware”.) Second, what if you don’t want to reboot your computer, potentially into a whole new operating system at a time when you are using it. Third, what if you are on limited bandwidth like Satellite, and don’t want to use your entire month’s allotment to get Microsoft’s latest update to Candy Crush? (Although they claim that if you configure your network connection as “Metered”, the network usage will be minimized.) If you go to a home version of Windows 10 – the answer appears to be “too bad.” Even the Pro version is limited in how long you can defer a feature update you might not want (think Metro in Windows 8 for instance.)
So, that leaves you with a final question. What operating systems are still available which put you in charge? That seems to most likely be versions of Linux, of which there are many choices, but I (James Pulver) picked Scientific Linux 7 for the following reasons:
1) It is what we use at the lab and I already have familiarity with it, although not on my desktop.
2) It is free and based on a major Linux vendor’s platform, so whatever commercial software there is, usually is available for it.
3) It supports new hardware as well as a new software platform, Docker, which enables it to run even more software from just about any Linux distribution.
4) It is expected to be supported for the long term and it is likely to get updates for the next 7 years or so. Unlike many “consumer” products, like Windows 10, Mac OSX, Android, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc., you don’t need to install a major version update once or twice a year. While the security patches and most new software will be available if you want to upgrade, you can stay with the versions of Linux software you have become used to.
For the past several years, both at home and at work, I’ve been getting rid of proprietary software, and getting used to open source alternatives for much of it. In other cases, the software I’ve used is sufficiently generic and I can use an equivalent software on Linux.
I’ve also started using Steam and a console (PS3 and now PS4) for gaming, so I’ll have access to many games after the switch. The new Steam gaming platform is itself based on Linux. Finally, I’ve looked into compatibility methods when I have no other choice. In the next few posts in this series, I’ll go over what software I use at work, and at home, and what I’ve done to move over to Linux and how it goes.
I’ll say that in one day at work, I’ve gotten probably 70% of my tasks able to be done on Scientific Linux 7 and I’m a Windows Sys Admin, not a Linux guru!