I'm sorry, but your users will hate you if you dump a Linux system on them after years of working with XP. Nevertheless, I see a lot of pitches for Linux - Zorin, Ubuntu, Mint - as the better path for those leaving Windows XP. And you get a ton of really cool security enhancements and feature upgrades.

Aside from the small visual adjustment of a Start orb instead of a Start button, the UI transition is practically invsible. Even Microsoft seems to have realized the switch to the Metro UI was too fast (and we should see a better endeavor with Windows 9).īut there is no legitimate reason to avoid Windows 7. Personally, I understand not wanting to move yourself or your users to Windows 8. No doubt many of you are as well.īut all the angst around the end of support from Microsoft for Windows XP has resurrected the question of whether Linux is a viable desktop option for those who simply don't want to go from Windows XP to Windows 7 or 8. For better or for worse, I'm a Windows guy. I've also played with Google's Chrome OS on a Chromebook, and I like it - but not so much that I would switch. I repeated this exploration every few years to confirm that Windows still rules the desktop world. I installed it, played around a bit, downloaded some applications to try and mimic my Windows OS, get bored, and moved back to Windows. Red Hat was my first choice, but I moved on to Caldera, then Ubuntu. Years back, I was very interested in Linux as a desktop OS.

How to install linux mint on windows xp