Saturday, April 30, 2016

Possible Windows 10 Alternative Install?

I’m not sure anyone really knows what Microsoft will do once the “free upgrade” period to Windows 10 expires.

Will folks who haven’t upgraded their systems get a second chance from Microsoft and still be able to attempt a free upgrade after that point?

Will Microsoft remove the “free” offer and require purchase of future Windows 10 upgrades for supported OS’s?

If so, will Microsoft uninstall/strip out all their “Get Windows 10” software dumped on Windows 7/8/8.1 systems and their browsers?

I guess we will find out in a few months.

So I was wondering if there could be a backup plan to get Windows 10 safely and stably installed on our seemingly incompatible laptops before that time limted offer expires – just in case.

My thought was to take a backup of our Windows systems (see previous post), then wipe out Windows entirely and reload a clean build of a Linux OS version.

All of these come in (or support) the Cinnamon desktop theme that I like best.

I’ve already been able to run all of them on my laptops via Easy2Boot to confirm they all work just fine (actually stupid-fast and stable unlike Windows 10) on our laptop hardware and WiFi network.

Once I have Linux running, I can then either install VMware Workstation Player or Oracle VM VirtualBox.

Next I should then be able to create a VM and just do a clean install of Windows 10 into it and activate it. I’ve been running the free Windows 10 VM’s offered by Microsoft for some time in both just fine.

I guess the only serious drawback is figuring out how to “secure” the Linux OS – or if I really need to!  I’m so conditioned to have so many firewalls, anti-exploit, anti-malware, and anti-crypto-locker layers running on my Windows systems I’m honestly not sure what to do. It’s one thing for a Windows guy or gal to play with and use various Linux distros in a “LiveCD” type of manner, it’s another thing to load them on your hardware and depend on them as your daily driver OS.

There really just aren’t the same number of Linux AV/AM products out there – because they really aren’t needed? To a Windows sysadmin running an OS without that protection in place just seems like going out in public naked!

Does anyone have any thoughts, links, or software recommendations regarding setting up a layered security approach on a home-user’s Linux OS system? Or it is really just not needed?

Cinnamon Extras:

Easy2Boot Extras:

Cheers,

--Claus Valca

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

> Does anyone have any thoughts, links, or software recommendations regarding setting up a layered security approach on a home-user’s Linux OS system?

I have been running Linux Mint as the main OS with a Windblows VM for years without any problems. I do use the Comodo AV for Linux as a safety precaution, but like I tell anyone who asks - "the attack vector is the browser, usually." Using things like adblockers and javascript control in the browser adds another layer of comfort and makes common sense. Unless you have a business-critical application that must have Windblows and you must run that application natively and not in a VM, there is no reason left for having Windows as the native OS. Am I giving up MS totally? No, because it is a Windblows world (unfortunately) and some MS applications actually do a better job at specific tasks than their open-source counterparts.

Go ahead, Claus, take the plunge. You will be fine.

Claus said...

@ Anonymous - Thank you for the security app tip and the encouragement!

Your experience seems to be a common one of "techie" types shifting away from Windows as their host system with the grinder of Windows 10.

I'm glad to hear that my assessment doesn't seem too crazy.

I've been very, very pleased with my (albeit limited) use of Apricity, Mint, and even Ubuntu running on my "older" but still powerful laptops. They are all super-fast, super-stable, and super refreshing to use.

I did a quick Google on Comodo's product and I'm dropping some linkage below for quick reference.

Comodo Antivirus for Linux | Free Linux Antivirus for Virus Protection

Install Comodo - free antivirus for Linux Mint - MintGuide.org

Cheers!

--Claus V.