@phlegmaticvolk Linux is a good suggestion, I like the system, ideally for a serve type machine. I have installed it in personal systems here at home but never committed and stuck with it as a migration requires. I find it hard to be a noobie in a new O.S, after so many years of working productively in Windows platform.

Although I preferred the Server versions, they were stable and fast, I stripped them down to a Workstation configuration and they were rock solid. Still have fond memories of them. 😺

I was thinking earlier today of using a spare laptop and set up a version of Linux, for testing some software I am interested in. Which version do you use, like and recommend?

@design_RG Basically all the distributions are the same... BUT in case you want to get something stable, easy to learn, go for Linux Mint/Ubuntu (for older machines xubuntu is preferable).
Personally, I use Manjaro right now, this is a rolling distro based on Arch - can be painful is you get a package conflict or don't upgrade it regularly, can be broken fairly quick.
To be a bit more protected, install Timeshift on your distro, this is a really neat backup and restore tool. Rsync is more of a traditional method, universal for all kinds of filesystems, for a rolling release like Manjaro, I suggest snapshot function with btrfs filesystem.
I am not an expert, but let me know if you need help.

@phlegmaticvolk Thank you, that was excellent. Will do. Have a great day!

@design_RG Same for you too. 🙂

@design_RG@qoto.org @phlegmaticvolk@kafuka.me Recently installed Ubuntu 20.04 and really like it. At the same time, had to install Windows 10 on another PC and it took forever. Have to say Ubuntu will grow on you.

@peter @design_RG And if you install it on btrfs filesystem, it takes up less then 8 GB of space! 😁

@phlegmaticvolk@kafuka.me @design_RG@qoto.org I'm not too familiar with filesystem and only use whatever the default is. Thanks for the info!

@gioypi Thanks for the reply!

I created that whole blog post out of trying to help people stuck with the older versions, once I discovered that this *undisclosed* program is still alive. Years after it was supposedly finished for good.

Running Windows 7 after the end of support date is a bit risky - unless it is a non-networked at all machine, so you can avoid exposure to attackers seeking un-patched new vulnerabilities.

Windows 7 was never too interesting for me, as I mentioned in another reply here I liked and used the Server versions (Server 2003, configured as a Workstation), they are made for stable and fast performance. I disliked intensely the eye candy in Win7, which I thought was to immitate the Mac OSX versions. Thankfully they dropped that and went light into the next versions.

Windows 10, I have been running since the Beta programme time, I have tow Pro licenses I won for running the systems during that period. So, I have seen it and really like it.

For me, it performs well, is stable and fast. I just made the update to the newest version, on this, my main work laptop, and was a bit tense; as it has a LOT of personal documents, projects, images, text files for many projects.

A full backup for peace of mind. Resized the system partition, taking more from spare, unused space on the SSD drive. All went well, and it is surprisingly snappy. I am quite happy. 😃

@design_RG True, it is risky to run 7 after the end of support. Still, I believe that advanced users that remain careful can avoid most dangers.
I am surprised you liked 10 since the Beta testing, it was quite unreliable at first. The first updates could introduce all kinds of problems. Of course, they've come a long way, so if they suit you, why not?! IMO privacy concerns beat the performance gain, but I do recognize there is one.

@gioypi
> IMO privacy concerns beat the performance gain, but I do recognize there is one.

Yes, that is something to watch for -- I keep everything turned off, as much as possible. I am pleasantly surprised how well it supports a huge variety of machines, made over a bi time spread. And they run well with it. For me, it's quite a pleasant op system.

I still have one odd little netbook that has win7 on it. It's due to a display driver issue. An Intel chipset, but they contracted some company to write the drivers - which are only available for 32 bit windows 7, while the system has a 64 bit processor. No other OS supported, not even Windows 8 likes it. So it's been left behind, and sits on a shelf, mostly unused.

@design_RG That's a shame. Driver problems with laptops can be frustrating.