To Win 7 Users: Install Linux Mint

[D. Flame]

First off it sucks what Steam is doing to you. Not making this post to shame you, but just to try to help.

Mint actually feels a lot like Windows 7 or Windows XP, but it is more up to date. It has a software store so installing stuff like Steam is super easy.

I have also installed it for non-tech savvy 60 and 70 year olds, and even they can use it without problems.

As for games, I wanted to test it with an lower end machine, so I took a Dell Optiplex 3040 as a base and worked from there. I got a refreshed Intel Core i5-6500 on Amazon for like $50, and I got a new RX 6400 for like $150 and put them in the Dell.

To install Windows games in Linux you just need to do a few extra clicks. On the page with the install button for your game -> click the gear icon near the right side of the screen -> click properties -> the properties box will open -> click the compatibility tab -> put a check mark in that box, and leave it set to "Proton Experimental" and close the popup. Then just click install like normal.

As for how well the game will work when installing this way. It should work just as well as the Steam Deck does, since the deck is also using Linux. As for that Dell machine that I tried, I was even able to run newer games like Resident Evil 4 remake and Armored Core 6 on it. I was playing them at lower settings and 1080p, but they were running on Linux. Older games like DOOM (2016) were running at a full 60 FPS on higher settings.

You can even put Linux Mint on a USB drive or burn it to a DVD and boot it from that to try the it out before committing to the change.

[Master.Constructor]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Dura_Ace:

Expecting steam to support a really old OS that is now usupported even by Microsoft, is a but much to ask...

The last Steam client update for Windows 7 was:
Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1730853000
Steam Client Build Date: Thu, Nov 7

The last Windows 7 security update was:
UpdatePack 7 2024.10.10

[Dura_Ace]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Master.Constructor:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Dura_Ace:

Expecting steam to support a really old OS that is now usupported even by Microsoft, is a but much to ask...

The last Steam client update for Windows 7 was:
Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1730853000
Steam Client Build Date: Thu, Nov 7

The last Windows 7 security update was:
UpdatePack 7 2024.10.10

If so, then id say they are both being very nice. I cant either confirm nor deny this and it is out of the ordinary for either of them to do this considering that windows 7 is dead.

If you rely on the continued delivery of patches for a dead OS then one day you will be disappointed.

Drivers works like this. Not all drivers are meant for your hardware but you are still able to download them. The last driver that was gtx 1060 specific was the 472. But you can still download the newest one from nvdia thinking that because you can and because they say it is for your system then it should work.

I think the windows updates that are being pushed are to that affect. I seriously doubt they are still pushing updates for a dead OS they said themselves will receive no support anymore. It is far mroe likely that you are receiving updates as part of a larger ecosystem the way drivers are issued.

You may think they are for you, but they are not.

Also, dont rely on the good will of gabe either. They have stated that support is goign to end so move on.

[RedLightning]

I have begun to loathe windows so much that I do not care anymore what runs and what doesn't moving to linux. From now on i will just buy linux-centric, and not worry about it.

Besides, why would I want to be giving money to companies that give linux the middle finger, in my opinion, at Microsoft behest... nah. They are just like each other in that case.

[Dura_Ace]

Diposting pertama kali oleh RedLightning:

I have begun to loathe windows so much that I do not care anymore what runs and what doesn't moving to linux. From now on i will just buy linux-centric, and not worry about it.

Besides, why would I want to be giving money to companies that give linux the middle finger, in my opinion, at Microsoft behest... nah. They are just like each other in that case.

I am in the same boat. I am tired of constantly fighting Microsoft with the choices i make.

Yes, i really chose that setting. No, i dont need to be reminded of what that entails.
Yes, i did choose Firefox over your "baked in we will get your data one way or another" Edge browser.
Yes, Firefox is my default browser. Did you not see me just click the box?

On installing windows on a new system now, i did it this week before i got pissed off and stopped the installation process and over wrote it with Zorin OS, you are presented with approx. 20 questions that all have to do with the level of spying you are either denying them or allowing them.

From "personalized ads" To what telemetry you want to allow/deny.

Is Microsoft in the Ad serving business now? It seems so. They are not even being covert with their spying now. Its out in the open and you are being asked this on OS install. The cheek they have.

No more is windows an OS. It is a platform to spy on you and gather data with. The fact that it plays games is coincidental.

I bought a second hand business class last gen PC this week. I installed a bunch of distro's and settled on a few. Regata OS and Nobara. Both play games out of the box with minimal fuss.

My 2nd M2 slot is getting linux. Oct 2025 when 10 dies it gets removed. I am done with windows. I dont care that i might lose some games.

[RedLightning]

Personally I think windows 11 is more of a storefront than an OS. I will not install it.

I know when I was trying out linux distros .. I must have installed at least 9 of em.. breeze..

my buddy was setting up his newly purchased laptop with win 11 preinstalled.. and it took him 20 min. The entire time he was being pitched to.

You're right. Dura_Ace... I got sick of windows turning things on after I turn them off too.. Unless you do some hack which could be reversed by ms in a nanosecond.

But I guess if you have enough power/money to get your logo on a 'standard' keyboard, you can do much. Most people think Windows *is* their computer.

[Start_Running]

Nah. I'll just install windows 10. You know what6 they say. Linux is free...only if you don;t value your time.

I have to many work apps that I'd need to run as well. They're run in W10 they won't run in linux.

[Dura_Ace]

Diposting pertama kali oleh RedLightning:

Personally I think windows 11 is more of a storefront than an OS. I will not install it.

I know when I was trying out linux distros .. I must have installed at least 9 of em.. breeze..

my buddy was setting up his newly purchased laptop with win 11 preinstalled.. and it took him 20 min. The entire time he was being pitched to.

You're right. Dura_Ace... I got sick of windows turning things on after I turn them off too.. Unless you do some hack which could be reversed by ms in a nanosecond.

But I guess if you have enough power/money to get your logo on a 'standard' keyboard, you can do much. Most people think Windows *is* their computer.

Ive used windows since the DOS days when they were on floppy disks.

Ive bought and used nearly all versions. I tried but skipped a few. NT, ME, 2000 and 8 were skipped. I was on XP that whole time. I used 7 till its life ended and i moved to 10 which was ripe enough to use safely once people tested it for a few years.

My IT certifications are on the windows platform. But i dont care anymore. I am sick of their BS and moving now. I dont work in the industry and only certified to help myself administer my systems/hardware/software.

I am a total noob again in the PC world but i will study to take a comptia test so i can have a better understanding of it.

2025 will be the year linux goes mainstream, i think. Linux, brought to you by Microsoft.

[RedLightning]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Dura_Ace:

Diposting pertama kali oleh RedLightning:

Personally I think windows 11 is more of a storefront than an OS. I will not install it.

I know when I was trying out linux distros .. I must have installed at least 9 of em.. breeze..

my buddy was setting up his newly purchased laptop with win 11 preinstalled.. and it took him 20 min. The entire time he was being pitched to.

You're right. Dura_Ace... I got sick of windows turning things on after I turn them off too.. Unless you do some hack which could be reversed by ms in a nanosecond.

But I guess if you have enough power/money to get your logo on a 'standard' keyboard, you can do much. Most people think Windows *is* their computer.

Ive used windows since the DOS days when they were on floppy disks.

Ive bought and used nearly all versions. I tried but skipped a few. NT, ME, 2000 and 8 were skipped. I was on XP that whole time. I used 7 till its life ended and i moved to 10 which was ripe enough to use safely once people tested it for a few years.

My IT certifications are on the windows platform. But i dont care anymore. I am sick of their BS and moving now. I dont work in the industry and only certified to help myself administer my systems/hardware/software.

I am a total noob again in the PC world but i will study to take a comptia test so i can have a better understanding of it.

2025 will be the year linux goes mainstream, i think. Linux, brought to you by Microsoft.

Yea. I've been using Ubuntu 24.04 for a few months now and I couldn't be happier... and free'r *
.

I think that with Microsoft... it is no longer a product.. they made *us* the product.

[D. Flame]

Diposting pertama kali oleh RedLightning:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Dura_Ace:

Ive used windows since the DOS days when they were on floppy disks.

Ive bought and used nearly all versions. I tried but skipped a few. NT, ME, 2000 and 8 were skipped. I was on XP that whole time. I used 7 till its life ended and i moved to 10 which was ripe enough to use safely once people tested it for a few years.

My IT certifications are on the windows platform. But i dont care anymore. I am sick of their BS and moving now. I dont work in the industry and only certified to help myself administer my systems/hardware/software.

I am a total noob again in the PC world but i will study to take a comptia test so i can have a better understanding of it.

2025 will be the year linux goes mainstream, i think. Linux, brought to you by Microsoft.

Yea. I've been using Ubuntu 24.04 for a few months now and I couldn't be happier... and free'r *
.

I think that with Microsoft... it is no longer a product.. they made *us* the product.

Sadly, Ubuntu is not much better in that regard.

That is why people started moving to Mint in mass, and Mint often gets called "Ubuntu but done right."

[RedLightning]

Honestly.. I'm looking for an all around Gnome interface as I cannot stand the windows-esque start menu styling of KDE and Mint...

I wish mint made a Gnome interface. :( I know I can install Gnome. That is one of the reasons I stayed with this one was Gnome, but time is whats needed to install things in that capacity. Might just find the time to make one the way I want it.

[D. Flame]

Diposting pertama kali oleh RedLightning:

Honestly.. I'm looking for an all around Gnome interface as I cannot stand the windows-esque start menu styling of KDE and Mint...

I wish mint made a Gnome interface. :( I know I can install Gnome. That is one of the reasons I stayed with this one was Gnome, but time is whats needed to install things in that capacity. Might just find the time to make one the way I want it.

Gnome is making their own operating system too. I think it is still in beta at the moment though.

[EMO GANGSTER]

I use mint it works great

[EMO GANGSTER]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Start_Running:

Nah. I'll just install windows 10. You know what6 they say. Linux is free...only if you don;t value your time.

I have to many work apps that I'd need to run as well. They're run in W10 they won't run in linux.

no mint in a lot ways easier to use then windows most of the time crunch that people speak of is from version like Arch it fine if scared to try something new and it your choice but in the end mint is great and easy to use OS

[Master.Constructor]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Dura_Ace:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Master.Constructor:

The last Steam client update for Windows 7 was:
Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1730853000
Steam Client Build Date: Thu, Nov 7

The last Windows 7 security update was:
UpdatePack 7 2024.10.10

If so, then id say they are both being very nice. I cant either confirm nor deny this and it is out of the ordinary for either of them to do this considering that windows 7 is dead.

If you rely on the continued delivery of patches for a dead OS then one day you will be disappointed.

Drivers works like this. Not all drivers are meant for your hardware but you are still able to download them. The last driver that was gtx 1060 specific was the 472. But you can still download the newest one from nvdia thinking that because you can and because they say it is for your system then it should work.

I think the windows updates that are being pushed are to that affect. I seriously doubt they are still pushing updates for a dead OS they said themselves will receive no support anymore. It is far mroe likely that you are receiving updates as part of a larger ecosystem the way drivers are issued.

You may think they are for you, but they are not.

Also, dont rely on the good will of gabe either. They have stated that support is goign to end so move on.

The Windows security updates included in UpdatePack7 are from Microsoft and are for Windows 6.1.7601 which covers all Windows 7 SP1 editions and Server 2008 R2. UpdatePack7 does much more than just install the updates but what's important to me is the removal of telemetry. This makes Windows 7 the cleanest Windows OS that's still very functional.

My thoughts are not as important as my actions. I use Windows 7 exclusively every day, online, on multiple PCs. Sometimes I get the pleasure of using a Win10 PC at work but all my stations are Win7. If Windows 7 was a dead OS then I could not do this.

Until I can find a good upgrade for Windows 7 that allows for a minimum of grief and frustration, I'll stay on Win7 as it does what I need every day.

Linux is a potential option and seems to be gaining favour. It's been several years since I evaluated it last.

[Dura_Ace]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Master.Constructor:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Dura_Ace:

If so, then id say they are both being very nice. I cant either confirm nor deny this and it is out of the ordinary for either of them to do this considering that windows 7 is dead.

If you rely on the continued delivery of patches for a dead OS then one day you will be disappointed.

Drivers works like this. Not all drivers are meant for your hardware but you are still able to download them. The last driver that was gtx 1060 specific was the 472. But you can still download the newest one from nvdia thinking that because you can and because they say it is for your system then it should work.

I think the windows updates that are being pushed are to that affect. I seriously doubt they are still pushing updates for a dead OS they said themselves will receive no support anymore. It is far mroe likely that you are receiving updates as part of a larger ecosystem the way drivers are issued.

You may think they are for you, but they are not.

Also, dont rely on the good will of gabe either. They have stated that support is goign to end so move on.

The Windows security updates included in UpdatePack7 are from Microsoft and are for Windows 6.1.7601 which covers all Windows 7 SP1 editions and Server 2008 R2. UpdatePack7 does much more than just install the updates but what's important to me is the removal of telemetry. This makes Windows 7 the cleanest Windows OS that's still very functional.

My thoughts are not as important as my actions. I use Windows 7 exclusively every day, online, on multiple PCs. Sometimes I get the pleasure of using a Win10 PC at work but all my stations are Win7. If Windows 7 was a dead OS then I could not do this.

Until I can find a good upgrade for Windows 7 that allows for a minimum of grief and frustration, I'll stay on Win7 as it does what I need every day.

Linux is a potential option and seems to be gaining favour. It's been several years since I evaluated it last.

I did some research.

Vulnerabilities found wont be patched. You are stuck with them to be exploited. I knew this already. And there are people that search and find these exploits/vulnerabilities for fun knowing that people are dumb enough to still keep using older, unsupported, software. These exploits are also sold on the dark web for crypto.

Also, just like i suspected, these "updates" that you are receiving, are malware signatures and
signatures for the MRT, which can be run from the cmd. These are not made for windows 7 specifically, as once gain - it is not supported anymore, but are pushed out to you as part of the windows eco system.

If you can provide evidense to contradict that statement then i am willing to look at it. But i need more than: "I am receiving updates so therefor my OS is still being supported"

You are not getting software updates for parts of windows. That was clear to me. They are not updating, aka adding features or modifying code, in windows 7/.They stopped working on it years ago.

If you are worried about telemetry then just remove it from 10 and have an OS that is not a vulnerability.

You seem to be under the misguided thought that redmont is till working on windows 7. They are not. You are on your own.

I liked 7 as well as will go on record as say that 7, apart from XP, was the best they came up with. But it is unsupported and therefore a risk to use, so i wont.

Windows 7 users have not received code modifying existing binaries inside windows 7 for nearly 10 years now. This is 10 years of people searching for ways to get into an OS that effectively started standign still and doing nothing any more. Windows 7 is now a snaphot of time. Immutable. It wont be changed anymore. This is a perfect environment for malicious people who want to find a way in.

I dont know about you, but i like my computer being secure and looked after. You dont get that if yo are still using 7.

Now, all you save windows 7 people need to move on with the times. Either stop using redmont products or move over to linux.