Windows 11, Part 5: Are There Better Options?
I felt bad after I had written my review of Windows 11. So much so, that I refused to publish it until I would have found at least one tenable alternative for the precious reader to try.
It’s not that I had demanded anything unreasonable, or made fun of its users, but my review was (to some degree) biased, and I didn’t want to be “that guy”. You know, those annoying characters who enjoy themselves giving out about a product, leaving their agitated audience without a proper counter concept or, at least, a spark of hope.
So, I kept my words to myself and did a bit of “window shopping”, instead. It took a while, though — mainly because I assumed the role of the “average user” (as best I could).
It was not all smooth sailing, though, I might even have uttered a swear word or two. Yet at long last, I am able to report success. Here’s what I found …
I did already know that of all available desktop environments (I have ever tested), KDE Plasma 5 is the one that might “look and feel” most familiar to users of Windows 10 or 11. That is, the average Windows user is most likely to quickly (get that feeling that they might) find their way around.
Why would that be relevant? Well, mostly because the vast majority of Windows users I have met thus far do not realise that what they see on their screens is not the operating system itself, but merely a Graphical User Interface (GUI) — or Desktop Environment (DE) — Microsoft had decided for their customers to use. They call it “Windows Shell”, by the way, and why it is the only one they offer is for them to know and everyone else to guess.
As you can (probably) sense, I did not properly research the matter, but mainly relied on personal experience and observation (all the “average user”).
A few Words About Desktop Environments
Anyway, KDE Plasma 5 may look familiar, but, precious reader, be warned: It is not the least demanding desktop environment there is in the Linux world. You will probably be amazed at the abundance of unexpected opportunities suddenly unfolding before your eyes, but prepare for moments when you will have to keep yourself from hysterically yelling at your screen. KDE Plasma 5 is what the Windows Shell wants to become, once it’s eventually done growing up.
Long story short, I would recommend to start out with GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) — or, perhaps even XFCE.
As luck would have it, the operating system that, I think, behaves most similar to Windows (at the time of writing) happens to ship with the GNOME shell (no worries, you may switch to KDE or any of a plethora of other DEs, whenever you please and feel confident enough — of course, you may also switch back at the next boot) — GNOME 42, to be precise.
Image Size and Installation
So, “Fedora 36 Workstation” I downloaded, and thus came the first pleasant surprise. Fedora makes do with an ISO (officially, “Optical Disc Image” or “ISO image”, after ISO 9660, the file system standard for optical disc media) of a mere 1.9 GB (available from the Fedora Project website) — and some do even call that “quite large”.
Microsoft is considerably more generous when it comes to the ISO from which to install their operating system — 5.2 GB of data, as I mentioned earlier.
If you start out from a Windows or Mac machine, the recommended way to create a bootable medium is to use the “Fedora Media Writer”. This software is also available from their site (see link above). There are several other ways to accomplish this task, but let’s not get carried away just now.
Seven minutes later (no typo, but the second pleasant surprise), I logged into the new system for the first time. The installation should not be too much of a hassle for anyone having passed grade six.
Taking up only 13.48 GB of my hard drive (as opposed to 27 GB Microsoft affords a “naked” Windows 11), Fedora had installed:
- Files (a straightforward application to navigate the instantly comprehensible file system)
- Libre Office Writer, Calc, and Impress (the equivalents of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
- Document Viewer (a PDF reader)
- Text Editor
- Firefox
- Geary (an email client)
- Document Scanner
- Terminal (a popular command line interface)
- Boxes (a virtual machine)
- and a wide range of other applications individual users might find quite useful
As you can see, it was not even necessary to describe the use of all applications to you; their names are (usually) rather descriptive.
While looking for an appropriate operating system, I happened to find an email client to replace Geary (try hard I did, but I just cannot seem to get used to it). “Mailspring” looks and feels pretty much the way Outlook does (in my humble opinion). That should also help the new user settle in.
If you don’t like this one (or any of the other default applications), fret not. One of the reasons I chose to mention Fedora is that it employs one of the most widely used packing managers (.rpm), which vastly increases your odds of finding readily usable downloads (from its own repository, but also elsewhere) of whatever application you fancy or need to accomplish the tasks you are facing.
Peripheral Devices
The graphic tablet worked instantly, and so did the scanner (which is funny, because getting the scanner to work properly is usually the most painful part of the show). The printer did require the installation of a bit of software (the manufacturer provides), but then worked without further ado.
Famous Last Words
I earlier said that Fedora “behaves most similar to Windows” (in my opinion). Now, that statement should be taken with a pinch of salt. It is quite possible that my tests coincided with a number of critical system updates (which are important and usually require reboots, regardless of the operating system in question). Two reboots (which were by no means random, but perfectly scheduled) in the first two days after a fresh install are not completely unheard of, especially in a kitchen where the stove is kept in good condition. Otherwise, updates are worked off in the background, without getting in the user’s way.