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A Journey from Windows to Linux

Advantages

  1. Kubuntu boots and works much quicker than Windows 11.
  2. Kubuntu has an app store which makes software easy to find online and install, and much of it is free.
  3. Linux computers are subject to fewer malicious attacks than Windows ones.
  4. Updates are relatively painless.
  5. There are emulation programs for running Windows programs on a Linux machine, which work well once you get used to how they work.
  6. I chose to set up a computer with the option of using Windows or Kubuntu as you boot it up. It works, but in practice I haven't bothered with Windows since then.

Limitations

I have had much success with Kubuntu, apart from the fact that my 2-core 1GHz computer proved insufficiently powerful for a Zoom video call. However, I remain frustrated by these limitations of Linux in general and Kubuntu in particular:

  1. There is much to learn (such as the names of the programs) but the online instructions are often incomplete or unclear.
  2. The relationship between Kubuntu and a user password set in BIOS is precarious. I changed a user password and found I was locked out of my home directory, and could not regain control. I ended up having to reinstall everything from scratch. So the lessons are, (a) choose your password setup first, and don't change it, and (b) set up a backup process early on.
  3. Despite the graphical interface, you have to type mysterious commands into Konsole in order to do anything complicated.
  4. Theoretically Kubuntu can open USB sticks and the like which have been formatted in Windows, including those that are Bitlocked. In practice, Kubuntu may suggest you re-format a device made in Windows, and vice versa.
  5. The names of storage devices and partitions are unhelpful, but cannot be changed. An online adviser suggests that if you cannot determine where your USB stick appears in the "My computer" list, you unplug it, run LSUSB (list usb) in the Konsole, plug it in again, and run LSUSB again to see what changes.
  6. Most apps don't know the location of the computer, so they cannot automatically show the correct local weather forecast and map position. Google Chrome is an exception, and can show the weather forecast where you are.
  7. I can't unlock my computer using the fingerprint sensor.

© David Billin 2026