We’ve all gotten used to my linux system- as it is very similar to windows really- we just like the linux better than windows really because windows you always had to be on your toes to try to avoid viruses- websites were always redirecting you to virus infected sites that tried to auto download viruses onto your computer- it was tirign keeping up with everythign to try to keep it safe-
We still hae to take precautions with linux- but not nearly as much- most viruses are written for windows- it’s just a lot better peace of mind using linux- and less work
Updates are super easy and quick too compared to windows updates AND we get to control our updates like we used to be able to in windows 7- but now windows 10 controls updates- what you get, when you get it etc- they’ve taken that control away from the user- not cool- -
linux mint is a very nice operating system- well all like it a lot now- (EXCEPT when something goes wrong- which i might add very rarely ever does- in several years, I’ve only had one single driver issue i had to fix- instructions weren’t easy- and in an earlier version of linux mint- ran into a boot issue that messed everything up big time- had to start all over from scratch- the ‘fixes’ were just way over my head-)
Realy though for many folks who don’t mess abotu with computers much- linux mint is just a ‘set it and forget it’ operating system- and there will be little to no problems for many many years- does nearly everything i need it to- and does it well- and it’s very safe- a big plus-
This is your best reply here Ben... And Bob has played with the newest versions a lot as I have. Mint Cinnamon 18.3 will indeed be your best first time Linux experience. Stick to the older 18.3 version and update the kernel to what it suggests, the newer versions are having a few hardware driver issues, and 18.3 has worked everything like clockwork on everything both new and old I have installed it on. They even have this same version available for much older 32 bit machines too and it will take a 32 bit dinosaur brick and bring it up to current modern standards and capabilities.