towforce wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 1:11 pmI'm going to start a wish list for an OS to replace Windows with on an old PC:
Linux Mint Cinnamon qualifies an nearly all items.
easy to install
Just use the provided ISO files, boot from USB, install Mint. Best thing: it's a live image, i.e. you can boot into Mint without installing it to see whether your hardware is supported and whether you like Mint.
manages its own updates and security patches
The Update Manager can be configured to fully automated updates. If something should go seriously wrong, there's Timeshift that makes system snapshots, and if all else fails, you can boot from the USB ISO and restore an earlier snapshot. Never had such a problem, though.
Distro updates always need manual action: the minor point releases are graphically from within the Update Manager, and major releases as per the upgrade instructions on the Mint website, every two years. One nice thing here is that Mint doesn't follow a strict release schedule and instead follows the "release when it's ready" approach.
can run Windows applications
There's Wine for that, but better use native applications. The OS that is best at running Windows software is, unsurprisingly, Windows. Part of the OS migration is finding alternative software, or to find out to be locked into Windows anyway, mostly with expensive professional software such as Photoshop.
However, Steam does work under Mint, including support for Playstation controllers. Windows-titles (i.e. no Linux version of the game) that run here are e.g. Witcher 2 and 3, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Stray, Red Dead Redemption 2.
can run Android applications (to do this on Windows, you have to use a phone emulator like BlueStacks)
Might be possible under Mint, I don't know - but just use Android for that.
can run the Chrome browser
Possible, but Firefox is a better option.
decent help with finding things (something like the Windows search bar)
Nemo (the file manager) has search for files and content, and the start menu also has a search. Though the start menu is better than under Windows because it is sorted by logical categories.
easy to open common document types (like PDF)
Xreader for reading PDFs.
easy to use for somebody who is used to Windows
Cinnamon is a classic desktop much like Windows 7, arguably the best Windows version ever. Sure, it is not exactly like Windows, but that's the same with every new Windows version as well. I've put a number of non-IT end users on Mint Cinnamon after support for Win 7 ran out.