Ten Tips for Windows users making the switch to Linux

Here are ten tips for Windows users who are considering making the switch to Linux. Details on each point and helpful links after the jump. If I can make the switch from Windows to GNU/Linux, anyone can. I’m not a programmer, not an expert, nor do I have time to endlessly futz with my system. Based on my experience over the past year, these tips will smooth your transition from Win to Lin.

http://www.thegsblog.com/?p=251

01. KEEP YOUR OLD WINDOWS MACHINE/PARTITION INTACT
You may want some training wheels at first.

02. EXPECT A LEARNING CURVE AT FIRST
If I can make the switch, anyone can! Immersion is your best friend.

03. DON’T EXPECT LINUX TO BE JUST LIKE WINDOWS
It’s better, and you’ll soon see why.

04. WHETHER YOU USE UBUNTU OR NOT, PERUSE THEIR FORUMS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE
Some Ubuntu forum members have written great tutorials on the intricacies of fstab, grub, virtualization, customization, etc.

05. DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT
It’s harder than you think to take down a Linux machine.

06. HELP IS AS NEAR AS YOUR KEYBOARD
There are forums. There are Usenet groups. There’s Google, of course. Better is Google/Linux. In the end, it’s a community relationship, not a customer relationship. (A lot like DC!)

07. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CROSS-PLATFORM SOFTWARE
You know more than you think you do, since you may already be using Firefox/Opera/Chrome or OpenOffice or 7-Zip/RAR or GIMP or MySQL or Beyond Compare or XnView/Picasa or Kompozer or FileZilla… I could do this all day.

08. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CLOUD
Don’t laugh. Linux is built for cloud computing, mobile computing, thick computing, Hadron colliders, and even phones!

09. LET OTHERS KNOW YOU’VE SWITCHED TO LINUX, BUT DON’T BE A JERK ABOUT IT
Don’t be "that guy." Mac users have been this way and the whole routine gets old by the second sentence. Enjoy Linux for what it is — great code, stable OS, fast platform — not for what it’s not (Windows).

10. THE COMMAND LINE AND SHELL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND
A little command line knowledge goes a long way, but you will likely use it far less than you expect to. Its power is irresistible because it’s so efficient.

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