/members-area/personalblogs/b/blog/posts/the-switch-from-windows-to-linuxI am writing this on April 11 2017. I&#39;ve only ever had experience using windows as my operating system. I didn&#39;t even hear of linux until a month ago and recently decided to use the OS just to try it out getting different distributions (distros). I&#39;ven-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/blog/posts/the-switch-from-windows-to-linuxWed, 12 Apr 2017 12:37:10 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:b695acb2-5314-4761-91d5-7b11d2bc951ajlangbridge1<p>Always nice to hear about a switch. I made the initial switch a long, long time ago, back in the days of Windows 95. Kind of ironic that I&#39;m back on Windows right now, but things have changed for me. I&#39;m no longer a student, I&#39;m the one infront of the class telling them what to do, and how things work. Don&#39;t get me wrong, I still miss Linux (my personal favorite was Arch Linux), but too many clients use Office, so I do to, and Windows just goes with it. I write my books in a mixture of Word and LaTeX, and while LaTeX does work very well, LibreOffice just doesn&#39;t get the job done. Plus I&#39;m also heavily addicted to OneNote now. Still, there are a lot of things that you can get done nice and quickly on Linux, especially if you are a student. It wasn&#39;t quite the case back in the old days, but now manufacturers are making more and more software available for Linux (example: Eagle). Have fun, and let us know how it goes! I&#39;m jealous, and still wondering if I won&#39;t switch back...</p><img src="https://community.element14.com/aggbug?PostID=2864&AppID=293&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/blog/posts/the-switch-from-windows-to-linuxWed, 12 Apr 2017 02:39:33 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:b695acb2-5314-4761-91d5-7b11d2bc951auscdadnyc1<p>To JS: You mentioned your OS experience but did not elaborate on your Professional/Amateur Goals in this Wild World of Computing. If one goal is to do Computing System/Cloud Administration, then pursue Linux via PC&#39;s. If it is Coding OR using-Apps, then Windows is still the 500 lb. gorilla in the Room. If you like PC Hardware then go RaspPi/Linux-Debian OS. In previous Live(s), I was a EE, then a Unix Administrator... I have moved on, but if I was still a Back-Office Guy, I am pretty sure I would be heavy into Unix/Linux. Presently, I am more into Model-Based Design/Evaluation of H/W &amp; S/W (think Mathworks&#39; MatLab). I know MatLab also runs under Linux (as well as Windows). But my PC&#39;s were already Windows. And you don&#39;t change Horses in Mid-Stream. Then there is the 600 lb. gorilla in the room. MONEY. What can you afford? Is it cost-effective? You have to do a Cost-Benefits Analysis. With H/W &amp; S/W Costs being pretty Low (here in 2017), you will have to more heavily-weigh the Benefits. So it comes back to what you want to do Professionally/Amateur(ly). Will concentrating on Linux help you towards your Goals?</p><p>USCDADNYC (NY NY USA)</p><img src="https://community.element14.com/aggbug?PostID=2864&AppID=293&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">