Are there any good tools for listing your current programs, maybe exporting settings etc. Listing hidden settings and save locations would be great too.
I’m about 90% ready to switch to Linux full time, and I want to make sure that I’ve got everything. I’ve got a horrible feeling that I’m missing something, but I can’t think what it might be.
EDIT: Ironically, I forgot to mention my ADHD / memory issues. I could do with a tool like this because I forget about anything that I’m not currently using, or actively thinking about using soon >.<
Dual-boot, and if anything is missing, boot back into Windows to do that while you work on figuring out how to do it on Linux. There might be something to do what you’re asking, but I find it unlikely because Windows and Linux are very different internally.
That’s what I’m doing at the moment, but I find myself staying on the OS I’m using until I’m forced to reboot to the other for whatever reason. e.g. If I boot to Windows for Photoshop, I tend to start browsing and checking my emails, and the next thing I know, it’s three weeks later and I’ve forgotten to switch back >.<
Setup a Windows virtual machine inside your Linux environment. Now you’re not leaving Linux to get into your Windows environment.
Does Photoshop run properly in a VM? That’s the most resource intensive program I use regularly
What do you mean, what do you think is so special about Photoshop? I play Starfield on Ultra on Windows inside Qemu/KVM virtual machine on Linux.
It tends to be one of the most regularly mentioned reasons for staying on Windows. It can’t run natively, and whenever I’ve read about Photoshop in a VM, it’s been from someone saying that the performance is awful.
Don’t misunderstand me, this is one case where I’d love to be wrong. Photoshop is probably 99% of what’s keeping me on the dark side. Being able to use it in Linux without a major performance penalty would be fantastic :)
Yes, if you run a non optimized VM everything will be slow. It took me few weeks at start to discover all optimisation options for qemu/kvm and then years of perfecting it to make it run very close to bare metal
Edit: the key is to pass through one of your graphic cards
Does that mean I need more than one graphics card? I’ve just got the one.
I haven’t found a program that gives me problems when I run it in a VM, but I haven’t run Photoshop in it, and I only spool up my Windows VM a couple times a year.
Last time was to run some janky-ass software to program an oddball Chinese UHF radio that was unsupported by Chirp.
Set Linux to be the top of the boot order, then :)
That would assume that I reboot occasionally ;)
Weeeeell
Incremental approach when the task seems too big to grasp. I agree!
My 2¢: Pick a free time, make a small list of tasks that you do in Windows and spend time diving into what options exist for doing that in Linux (usually there will be multiple). The aim should not be to remember how to do it (less memory used 😁) but on figuring out menu structures, terminologies, etc. While going through your lists, you’ll end up familiarising yourself with (hopefully) gimp, the terminal, libreoffice, etc. You’ll hopefully also develop some tricks for searching for information on stackoverflow, GitHub, or in the various forums. That should help resist the urge to just switch over to Windows, and find a solution quickly.
It will take time. Sometimes, things will just not make sense - but finding solutions to problems is (probably) what is making you interested to begin with. Don’t look at it as a decision, more as a journey to start.
Honestly, it might be just me, but at this point it’s a matter of “just do it”. Commit to and own your decision. 🤷 You can’t prepare for everything.
I too was planning the switch for a while and I was like my next machine will be a Linux PC from the beginning (in 2-3 months)
but then, few days ago I was like fuck it, then installed Debian and KDE, without any serious preparations.
I like it 😊
Tho, it’s not ‘final’, most of my data partitions aren’t mounted the way I’d like and most of my user folders are on an ntfs disk right now, but before the new PC, I can consider it as a test run, then if everything is still nice, then I’ll reformat some of my drives for better integration with Linux.
At the moment I can’t just do it, because I need Photoshop and some scanning, and the Linux equivalents aren’t there yet. I’m trying to make sure that when I’m finished with these, everything else will be either ready, or as close as I can get.
I think I’ve got most things, but I also know how forgetful I am, so know that I’ve missed something 🙈
Note down every tool you use in windows and use alternativeto.net to find linux alternatives for them. Thats what I did, saved me what you are going through. Everytime I tried to switch usinf a sifferent method I just ended up using Windows to not deal with the “pain point” of switching
I’m about to update my post. Ironically, I forgot to mention my ADHD / memory issues.
I find that I focus on one ‘task’ for a while, like photo editing or programming, and forget about the other software I use. I might be on a streak with something today, and completely forget about what I was doing last week.
Here’s what I would do as a fellow ADHD’er:
- back up everything
- create a windows VM of my current windows state and delete the dual boot (only boot into linux)
- write out complete list of all windows apps you’ve used, as well as any CLI apps, extensions, packages (e.g. chocolatey).
- 1-by-1 (!!!) find an alternative, install it, copy all it’s config (text or screenshots) across.
I would also delete or disable the app in Windows if I find the alternative to be sufficient… You don’t want to be using both apps on both OS’s at the same time. The Windows VM is just for apps that have no sufficient linux alternative.
I would also delete or disable the app in Windows if I find the alternative to be sufficient
That’s a good idea. It would force me to switch back to Linux from the Windows installation.
Photoshop and scanning are probably the two things keeping me on Windows the most. GIMP just isn’t as good, no matter how some people say it is, and while scanning is close, at the moment I just can’t get the same quality under Linux.
On the bright side, I’ve only got a few hundred photos to scan, and that should be finished, so at least it’s not a permanent problem :)
You don’t need to immediately delete your Windows installation, you can just dual boot and keep your Windows install around. Then, you can just start using Linux, and see over time if you missed anything. If you notice that you haven’t needed to boot into the Windows partition for some time, and you feel comfortable with getting rid of it, you can just delete it afterwards.
This is a what I’m trying to do at the moment, but I forget to switch back if I’ve been forced to boot into Windows.
It doesn’t help that I’ve got ADHD, so I’m convinced that I’ve forgotten something and just can’t remember what >.<
Fellow ADHD guy here, back when I switched to Linux from macOS I encountered the same issue, maybe you can try to move all of the important stuff to Linux first, so when you use Windows for the things that you haven’t moved over yet you are forced to reboot into Linux to do other stuff
That’s a good idea, I might try it that way, thanks :)
Hope that works for you. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to DM me, I’d be happy to help you out!
Thank you :)
Also can try setting Linux as the default boot option
That would involve rebooting ;)
If you log out of websites & delete your cookies on Windows, random browsing may be more inconvenient there.
Another benefit to dual-booting is that you can still read your Windows files from Linux, so whenever you realize something you’re forgetting, you can just dip in and grab it.
A windows to flathub to could be nice!
Its certainly possible.
- List all windows apps
- Make a folder and export their settings to zips in this folder
- Make a linux script listing all apps
- On linux run the script, it installs the apps, runs them, closes them again and copies the contents to the correct folders
I would totally do this but I dont want to deal with Windows coding and these cringe file paths and slashes. Maybe ChatGPT can help?
All those points assume that you would have compatible apps for both platforms. For some small subset of applications might work… Like VLC player, Firefox, Chromium browsers, … You could try to run Windows apps with Wine, but that can be done on app basis and will not be generic
Yes for sure. But apps that really need an alternative will not be possible to backup. But
- Firefox
- Thunderbird
- Libreoffice
Are the most common ones where you really want to keep your profile, settings, dictionaries etc depending on what you used.
I think when you need it, you can download it.
Get an external disk and maybe dump your home folder and appdata there. One of the best features of Linux is the available free software. Although daunting, I would recommend having an open mind with regards to what tools and procedures you need in order to accomplish different tasks. Your preferences should change a little (I think, did for me atleast) and if you need some of your old stuff you have your config files and such on the external partition.
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Not that I read the whole thing, bit it’s extensive and, most importantly, it’s in a Linux com, so it should be good advice 👍.
What I did when I switched was to create an image of my existing install with clonezilla then used it in a vm. This way I didn’t have to worry about a dual boot configuration.
Been a while since I did this but it should still work
That’s a great idea, thanks :)
I’ve got a copy of Macrium Reflect that does the same thing, but mostly automatically, and I’m pretty sure that it runs on Linux too. I’m going to check now :)
