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Note: This is the first of a series of articles intended solely for individuals who, while having no experience in using Linux, are interested in the operating system and, more particularly, are looking to Linux as an alternative when Windows 10 reaches end of life in 2025.
Windows 10 will reach end of life (EOL) on October 14, 2025. Many existing users of Windows 10 will know that there is no upgrade path to Windows 11 for their specific computer due to some stringent hardware requirements that are being imposed by Microsoft. For example, some reputable sources suggest that machines must be less than four years old in order to be upgraded! For most machines, an Intel 8th-generation Core, an AMD Ryzen 2000 series, or better chip, is required as the central processing unit (CPU). Additionally, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) must be installed and enabled. If you are not sure if your computer can run Windows 11, use Microsoft’s PC Health Check (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-use-the-pc-health-check-app-9c8abd9b-03ba-4e67-81ef-36f37caa7844) software to determine your machine’s current status.
So, now you should know if your specific computer can or cannot run Windows 11. At the time of writing, there is no indication that Microsoft is going to relax the hardware requirements noted above. So, if your computer will not run Windows 11, the question becomes what are you going to do as of October 14th next year?
Firstly, do not panic. You have almost a whole year to get ready for the end-of-life of Windows 10. You can continue to use Windows 10 for the remaining months as you have in the past. Your computer will run as normal. System patches will continue to be supplied and installed through Windows Update over the entire time.
However, what you do need to do is think ahead. When Windows 10 reaches EOL, there will be no further security patches and machines still running this operating system may be vulnerable to attack, particularly if they remain connected to the Internet.
So, what are the options? Clearly, continuing to run Windows 10, with no further security patches, is highly undesirable since most of us rely heavily on having stable and secure Internet access on a daily basis. A second option may be to purchase extended support for Windows 10 from Microsoft. It’s believed that the cost for this is going to be $30.00 for a single computer but this will be for only a one year period. This option is therefore of limited value as the purchaser will be back to an EOL situation in October, 2026. A more expensive, but more permanent solution, would be to purchase a new computer that will have Windows 11 installed. However, the most attractive option may well be to switch to using Linux as the main operating system, perhaps retaining the use of Windows in off-line mode in order to run specific applications that either won’t run under Linux or for which there is no satisfactory native Linux equivalent.
The latter option might well be attractive to many users who are (a) reluctant to abandon perfectly good hardware, or (b) unwilling or unable to bear the expense or purchasing a new computer. However, many users are hesitant to consider this option because they have heard that Linux is “hard” or “only for geeks”. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the good news is that, if you are willing to at least give the option a try, you have an entire year to check things out. So, this is the premise of this first article in a planned series that will act as a simple guide to the use of the Linux operating system.
Specifically, we will initially download the Cinnamon edition of Linux Mint Version 22 (Wilma) and create a bootable USB drive that will enable us to run Linux without affecting Windows on our computer in any way. We’ll find that the Cinnamon desktop is very similar to that used by Windows 10, and that many useful applications are bundled with the Linux software.
This will give us the confidence to eventually install Linux side-by-side with Windows 10, giving us dual-boot capability where we can decide to use either Linux or Windows, with each operating system working completely independently of the other. There, we will have the best of both worlds. We can try out all the features and possibilities of Linux while retaining the option to return to Windows by simply rebooting if and when necessary.
We will go through the process of thoroughly trying out Linux in manageable steps. After all, we have a whole year to see if Linux can be a viable replacement, or at least a useful partner, for our Windows 10 system. So, let’s get started.
Firstly, we need a USB drive, with a capacity of 4 GB or more, which we can use to create a bootable disk. The disk should be empty, or at least not contain any files that are needed, since the process of creating the boot drive will overwrite any existing files. Now, go to the Linux Mint 22 “Wilma” page (https://linuxmint.com/download.php). Click on the Download button for the Cinnamon Edition and select the link to the Manitoba Unix User Group. This will download the file linuxmint-22-cinnamon-64bit.iso (2.91 GB) which we will use to create the bootable USB drive.
We can use Balena Etcher as a really simple way to create the bootable disk (see Etching a Bootable USB Drive: https://opcug.ca/Reviews/BalenaEtcher.pdf). Download the Windows version of Balena Etcher from https://etcher.balena.io by scrolling down the page and clicking the Download link for ETCHER FOR WINDOWS (X86|X64) (INSTALLER).
The downloaded file, balenaEtcher-1.19.21.Setup.exe, is a portable version of the software, so simply double-clicking on this exe file runs the program. Click on the Flash from file button in the main program window and select linuxmint-22-cinnamon-64bit.iso as the source file. Now, plug in the 4 GB (or bigger) USB drive and choose this drive using the Select target button. Finally, press the Flash button and wait for Etcher to complete the writing process.
We can now reboot the computer from the just-created bootable USB drive. The process required varies by computer. If you don’t already know how to boot your specific machine from a USB drive, enter a query in Google or check the manufacturer’s web site. For my Dell laptop, I simply have to press F12 as the machine is rebooting and a one-time boot menu pops up that allows me to select the USB drive.
A boot menu (GNU GRUB version 2.12) will be displayed. The first menu item, ‘*Start Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon 64-bit (compatibility mode)’ is set as the default selection – as indicated by the asterisk. Press the Enter key to boot into Linux Mint.
Be patient as the boot process may take a little time. Note that we are booting directly from the USB drive which is relatively slow. The process will involve black screens and the occasional green-and-white Linux Mint (lm) logo, but the Linux desktop will eventually load - in all its splendour! (as shown in Figure 1)
A notification window popped up briefly as the desktop loaded. If you missed it, the text indicated that “Wi-Fi networks are available”. As a first step in making use of our Linux desktop, we can make the Wi-Fi connection and try out the Firefox web browser that is bundled with Linux Mint.
The lower portion of the Linux desktop is called the panel, and is equivalent to the Windows’ taskbar. At the right end of the panel there is a group of icons of which the fourth icon from the right (Figure 2) is for networking. Left-click on this icon to bring up a list of available network connections. Select the name of your home Wi-Fi network.
In the subsequent pop-up dialogue box, enter the password for your Wi-Fi system and press Connect. Now click on the orange Firefox icon in the group of icons at the left end of the panel (Figure 3). When Firefox loads, type opcug.ca in the address bar. You are now browsing the Internet using Linux!
Feel free to try any of the other applications that are available on your Linux desktop. (Hint – the Start menu is the lm icon in the lower-left corner of the desktop.) However, we will be exploring Linux in detail in upcoming articles in this series so you can also stay tuned for much more information on how to configure and use Linux.
Bottom Line
• Linux Mint (Open source) • Version 22 (Wilma) • Clément Lefèbvre • https://linuxmint.com