I’m off on a tangent again.
I have an HP Pavillion laptop that must be around 12 years old now and I still use it for work. Inevitably, over time, they slow down, get bloated with new software and eventually come to the end of their working life but if you know me I don’t like to throw stuff away. I like to repair and get the most out of tech so a few years ago I gave it a bit of a boost with some extra RAM and an SSD drive which, with a reinstall of Windows, sharpened it back up.
Fast forward to now and it’s begun to slow down again. I think it probably needs a new SSD drive but Windows had just begun to kill it again so I started thinking about asking work for a new one but then I decided to look at an alternative Operating System (OS), just for fun of course. Windows is renowned for being full of useless apps (bloatware) that take up resources so my thinking was to try ChromeOS Flex or Linux which are a lot cleaner and less resource heavy.
ChromeOS Flex
This is Google’s OS based on Android and their Chromebook products. It’s designed to be installed on older hardware. It’s quite lightweight and easy to install. Google have a certified list of older hardware they guarantee it can run on but you can try anything and obviously they don’t guarantee it will work on those. What I did like was you can create a bootable USB stick and boot the laptop off that to give it a go first without wiping anything. It’s a bit slow but will work if your hardware is suitable. Sadly, I got the USB stick to work and boot but ultimately I couldn’t get it to the desktop so had to give up. ChromeOS Flex was off the menu for me but definitely worth considering if you want to breathe a bit of extra life into some old hardware and you like the Google ecosystem. Think of it as an extension to an Android phone. Power users like Gamers and Designers, this isn’t for you. Just buy a new Windows or Mac laptop.
Linux
My other option was Linux. Now Linux is a fickle world with a range of core distributions and even more ‘flavour’s and desktops that sit on top which everyone seems to have an opinion on. Linux has been around a long time and for a long time it has been used by developers and sys admins and was synonymous with a command line interface (CLI). The nice windows/mac-esque desktop look and feel came later but it is something that is now quite a strong feature, whichever flavour you opt for.
I don’t know Linux at all, certainly not any CLI stuff so I just researched what was the best version for a Windows user to migrate too and there were a few popping up but Linux Mint (v.22 Cinnamon edition) stood out so I opted for that. Installation was easy again. I built a bootable USB which allowed me to boot the laptop and this time it worked so I took the plunge and installed it fully.
First up it’s a really nice looking desktop. It’s pretty solid and stable. I’ve had no issues so far and it does everything I need it to do. I’m not a power user, I just need web access, videos, office, emails, teams etc when I’m away. Office 365 doesn’t install directly as there is no Linux version so I either run the apps in the browser on tabs or I can use the Office-compatible freebie that comes pre installed: LibreOffice. One really cool feature I like is I can take, say, Outlook.com on a tab and create a web app that sits on the desktop like a proper app icon and I run it so it looks like a standalone app. It stops my browser getting too cluttered and retains the traditional standalone app feel I’m used to with Office.
The desktop, the panel (task bar) etc are far more configurable than Windows. It has speeded the laptop up a little and it’s just clean, simple and functional. Just what I need. For ex-Windows users it retains quite a lot of familarity and intuitivity that makes using it and finding things quite simple. Notwithstanding there is a huge, dedicated Linux community you can tap into to ask any question if you’re unsure.
A lot of windows and mac users are scared of Linux because they think it will be too hard to learn. This version is really simple. Yes, some Windows apps you can’t install directly but I almost guarantee their will a linux-compatible alternative available which may be free and even better or worse-case you can actually run your windows apps on Linux using a layer called WINE that sits between the windows app and the Linux OS. You have to weigh up your needs. If you’re a Windows power user, it’s probably not for you but for every day standard web, office, video, email etc, it’s fine and dandy.
If you have an old laptop or PC, give it a go, you might be surprised at the power it unlocks. Mine is definitely staying installed for now so the new laptop can wait. Reach out if you need any help. Happy to share my experience.
Adios