I think Windows partitioner is capable enough to shrink a partition. In the installer you can then just ask the Linux installer to use the free space, no need for manual partitioning and all that fun stuff.
I recommend at least 150 GB of memory for a combined root and home partition, but if you do have the space and want to just try it, it would be even easier to just buy a 250 GB SATA drive for $15. That isn’t much of a commitment, and while not quite as nice as m.2, is good enough to show what Linux is capable of. Most of the Linux core system functionality runs in a dedicated RAM disk these days so speed of disk is less important.
Is that some free thing they have now? It’s been a long time since I’ve tried partitioning from WIndows (because why would I) and IIRC it was hard to find anything decent that’ll do much with partitions for free, it was all 3rd party stuff. (There’s also the issue of needing to be booted to the Windows install… which would be using the partition being modified. Maybe it can get around that somehow with a clunky rebooting process but I’m not a fan of such solutions.)
If $15 is too much to invest to get away from malware and improve your privacy (not to mention get away from an openly abusive corporation), it’s hard to be optimistic because you will need to invest time and effort in switching. That said, you can definitely do it for free if you’ve got the spare disk space and the time to figure it out.
I believe Windows 7 is when they added the partition shrink capability into the built in partition manager, which can modify the partition even while it’s in use by the OS.
Tangent:
I just bought a fairly expensive MESA FPGA IO card to hopefully make EMC2 Linux as fast at IO output as Windows XP is using just a built in IEEE1284 port.
It’s surprising that Windows can get several times better I/O jitter performance than Linux on the same hardware, even with Linux running RTAI kernel extension; I suppose it goes to show how efficient Windows XP is.
If a modernized version of XP was made I wouldn’t hesitate using it. Maybe someday Microsoft will open source XP like they did with MS-DOS… although that would probably cannibalize their OS market share.
Buying a $15 SSD drive is hardly spending money on Linux - rather, see it as investing in a lab drive so you can safely experiment with a cut down Windows, ReactOS, or whatever else without actually having to worry your daily driver is at risk.
Or, partition your existing drives for a more complex and more fragile setup.
Or, do neither, but if you do not change anything, nothing will change for you, either. I have given you the tools, up to you what you should do with it. Does not really bother me either way.
You should be able to, just be careful about your partitions. You can probably setup the partition in windows or using gparted or a other tool suggested. In the past, people have complained windows overwriting linux partitions, though it may have changed.
Alternatively, have you considered trying linux on a live cd on a usb thumbdrive? It won’t be as fast as a ssd, but is pretty useable. When I was first trying linux I booted off of a usb because my sata connector was broken.
I’d say linux mint is the closest to xp, tho steam OS’s desktop is pretty close to windows 7.
If you are on windows 10, you could try wsl to dip your toe.
Cli can be a bit overwhelming, but with the rise of AI such as chatgpt or open assistant, you can ask a chatbot the cli for doing X.
I remember when I started out on linux, I’d have to copy paste cli errors and crawl the web to find solutions.
If you need help, you can always start a thread or post your issue to this thread
If people can help, they will reply. For individual threads, it’s good ettiquite to show what solutions/commands you have tried or your thought process, as people are be more willing to help.
I have indeed tried a live USB, at least for mint. I have also heard of Pop! OS and they say it’s better for games? And I’m interested in that distro as I am primarily a gamer.
Pop is great for gamers as everything comes out of the box. It just needs a tweak to be able to dual boot it.
How to Dual Boot Pop OS 22.04 LTS and Windows 11 2023 (EASIEST WAY) - YouTube this guide should answer your questions and hold you through the whole operation of making space on your drive from windows, installation and said tweak. Feel free to ask anyone if you’re unsure or have questions when you do tackle this challenge. ^^
Pop works fine, it’s a fork of ubuntu (fork being a mod with customizations applied). I’ve been gaming on my steam deck so, I have been using steam os (a fork of arch linux).
There’s a lot of guides on youtube for getting gaming on linux setup
ROFL the look on Wendell’s face omg. right now I’m uploading a first episode of Duckstation emulated Chrono-cross, one of my favorite PSX games. Will look at it later.
I game on Mint quite a bit, probably one of the best distros for a new user. The Mint installer is very reliable about detecting an installed Windows partition and adding a dual boot entry for it automatically.
PopOS has a more “polished” look (more “mac-like”?), supported by a good company. I’ve never installed PopOS since it comes preinstalled on System76 laptops, but it seems like a good one to start with too.
I’ve been wishing for a modern XP in my head for two decades, but don’t be so vauge. Modernizing something is like telling “them” to add more resource sharing and spyware. I’d use simplifying instead.
My XP ran with 20 processes in the task manager. Windows 11 is on average, what… 160? Safe mode brings that down to maybe 45? Read the services and ask yourself “could this be used maliciously?” and you start to realize what those Windows services are.
Ok, so I bit the bullet and formatted my D: drive to install a clean Pop OS! install. I hate it. I installed steam on the pop OS store, thinking that would be a one click solution, cause I wanted to play Star Wars: Empire at War, Thrawn’s revenge mod, just to get a feel if the experience was better, and nope, I can log into steam, but I can’t download the base game, much less a mod. frustrated
Might be worth starting a thread or posting in the small linux problems thread.
I haven’t really gamed on linux outside of steam os, but here are some guides I found searching star wars empire at war linux on youtube.
The linux mint guide is probably closer to pop_os as it is a fork of ubuntu which is a fork of debian
Gaming on linux is a bit of an adjustment, but it’s a lot better than in the past. I wouldn’t expect windows levels of plug and play, but over time you get used to it’s quirks and learn the linux way of setting things up
yeah I switched pretty much immediately away from POP OS, it was pretty terrible, IMO, started again with Mint, and the only real problems I’ve had are resolution, and a weird effect within the mod, where the animated background of Thrawn’s revenge didn’t play, and had a blue screen instead, and it’s REEEEEEEALLLY slow, which I assume it Proton itself. NM the mod is crashing immediately after starting a new game. F. Will watch the guide you posted.
in 