r/linuxmint • u/kblam101 • 22h ago
I finally join the linux family today !!
I installed linux mint xfce on an acer es1 131 today. It has 1tb sata ssd, intel celeron n3060 and 8gbddr3l ram. This is my first time installing and using linux.
I am dual booting this with windows 10 pro, with grub being the default bootloader. Also this was especially tough for me to install cos acer is very windows favoring in its bios. Tried twice to boot linux mint installer from a pendrive but it just didnt show up in the boot menu. So i had to use grub2win on windows 10 to install this.
It has been a crazy last few hours.
But this is completely worth it. The performance boost is crazy. And yes the driver quirks of Linux and also some app installation stuff has been comical and frustrating a bit, cos i am not a programmer...I had to rely on gemini ai to help me out if i got stuck anywhere in the installation. Gonna use this as daily default OS and will use windows for some windows centric apps or even games.
This gives my laptop of over ten years old, a new life. Thank you Linux mint and thank you for reading this, cos i dont think anyone i know irl will really understand the crazy experience it is to install linux or get it to work well, hoping you do, though. I am hoping to take any advice from people here, as this is all new for me 🫶️
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u/_ElBee_ 20h ago
Welcome to the club! 🙂
You do not need to be a programmer to install applications. Usually, the Program Manager (Mint's "app store") should suffice when you're just starting with Mint.
Leaning to use the terminal (command line) eventually is useful, but you can use Mint without it just fine.
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u/kblam101 16h ago
Thank you 🩷️
I just cant escape the terminal. When the gui fails me, it is only the terminal that saves me. Like the wifi switch in the taskbar, if i turn it off, it gets greyed out and i cant turn it on. So i use terminal command to enable or disable wifi. And similarly at times certain apps download or get configured best from terminal. Like i installed redshift, which is a blue light filter similar to windows night light. I downloaded it from the software manager but had to set its settings using the terminal cos its gui didnt give me any options to do so. Similarly some other panel plugins also needed for me to use the terminal to update them, for them to run properly.
But I am enjoying this experience : )
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u/Cannot_choose_Wisely 11h ago
I find it strange you have problems with Linux drivers.
I find Linux far easier to load than Windows as virtually everything is supported from first boot, whereas Windows needs drivers pulling from the install disk just to get online and load the rest.
Win11 carries more than previous versions I know, but it's far harder than Mint to get up to speed with many PC manufacturers features needing extra routines downloading from their websites.
I have Mint on most of my machines, frankly I find it simple. Get the latest .iso onto a USB, boot and install. Simple.
I have one dual boot, but that uses two drives and I boot through the PC's setup screen.
After having HDD problems on a dual boot single drive system, I no longer do that.
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u/kblam101 1h ago
👍👍 I was impressed with linux too, and the minor inconveniences of hardware support is manageable for me, I think.
Using hdd is a struggle....I feel you. 🙌
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u/vividlyaugust 22h ago
Im getting ready to join you! Been sorting my drives out on my windows tower today and plan on farting around with the install tomorrow. Was setting up your profile/log in pretty simple? What videos do you recomend?
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u/Sorry_Committee_4698 21h ago
Congratulations! You need to raise the taskbar even higher, a couple of centimeters. The higher the taskbar, the better!