*ix

[#1]

@corringham  Yeah, But...... running Linux on a WINDOWS laptop.... seems a bit of a waste. especially when you will need a new laptop to be able to run windows 12  and future versions.

The idea of running Linux is so that you do not have to keep buying a new laptop/desktop/tower machine every time Microsoft says so....!

With Linux as your MAIN operating system...you can run "any old" windows versio in a virtual box as a "back up" or "just because you actually NEED windows for a specific program/sofware... like I did with MS PUB98 , ...all my other windows programs/softares run in WINE ... ON the LINUX o.s.  with no virtual box for them ....!

AND... as a PLUS to that... if you have a laptop with a removable HDD/SSD.. you can buy a new laptop WITHOUT WINDOWS ( save a few quid ) . and put your existing HDD/SSD into that machine, and run it...n (Or...you could just "clone the hdd" to a usb, or direct to the new laptop/machine of choice !)

Can`t do that with Windows,... it is tied to the machine it is installed on.... Hmm ..now there`s a thought !  😀

[#2]

I agree Native Linux is better - if you know what you want. I was really suggesting WSL as a way to try distributions out without committing to one without using it for a while first.

I still use a 10 year old laptop running Linux Mint, and it is quite usable (for most things). I don't use it much though as I have several high end desktops running Ubuntu that I use most of the time.

As far as Windows goes, unless you have a dodgy HP (or other vendor specific) Windows licence, you can actually move your Windows to a new machine - I do it quite often.  You can buy legitimate generic Windows keys quite cheaply from resellers such as UnitySoft - you can download the ISOs direct from Microsoft.   

[#3]

I will say "thank you" to all replies (there may be more?). These are opinions/observations which are important and appreciated. I will read, consider and digest. But if there are more?

For the sake of history, I've used Ultrix, AIX, BSD, SunOS (with shells) in the dim and distant past. But someone influenced the path of the preferred 'OS' for a whole multinational and I got stuck in the Microsoft groove.

My brain can't disassociate Linus Torvalds from Torvilll and Dean (Bolero) and thus Ravel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r30D3SW4OVw. The human mind works in very peculiar manners. And history is even weirder. Who remembers that Windows after '98 was in effect a borged VMS (what was DEC's operating system)? I remember the code comment "The starlet has twinkled". and core security executables were CIA.EXE and FBI.EXE. The UK influence was the concept of the microfortnight. Which was an actual parameter.

[#4]

I've used several of flavours of Unix as well as lots of other OSs - I helped develop several. I used to have a microVAX at home in the 1990s which ran VMS - although I did most of my development work on an accelerated Amiga 3000 in those days. That could run AmigaOS or Unix System V R5. That was handy when I was working on System V for Siemens BS2000 mainframes.

Ahh, nostalgia isn't what it used to be! 

[#5]

I used to have a microVAX at home in the 1990s which ran VMS

We still use VMS on microVAXs for development, although these days they're not real ones, they're virtualised on Linux or Windows Intel x64 hosts

[#6]

Joke based on my typo accepted and appreciated

[#7]

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@grumble wrote:

I'm interested in opinions/data/whatever of peoples' experiences of migraing to a *ix-based desktop.

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I guess NixOS counts, even if it's Linux.

There is a general perception that GNU/Linux has the broadest hardware support of open source operating systems; something to bear in mind if you're using a laptop.

I had a desktop machine running FreeBSD/KDE 4.x for a time (it was the only BSD that had Nvidia proprietary drivers at the time) and it did everything I needed it to do.  A vanilla FreeBSD install will boot you a command line; you will need to manually layer everything else on top.

If BSD is more your thing, perhaps GhostBSD,  NomadBSD or MidnightBSD are the best place to start.

More niche, but still worth a look if you have any interest in / experience of Solaris, is OpenIndiana.

If you're not set on open source, splash some cash on an Apple Mac: if memory serves, Mac OS X (and newer) is a certified UNIX.

[#8]

@corringham  @MisterW  I've still got the Microvax pocket manuals from the boxes I worked on in the 80's

Microvms v4.4 1986

[#9]

I threw out my 'VMS internals' manual (a small doorstop of a book) about harrumph years ago.

Dang. Looks like I could have made some money off it if I hadn't done that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VAX-VMS-Internals-Data-Structures/dp/1555580599

[#10]

@grumble  Not sure how much the manuals cost but they did come in a package including a large suitcase style metal box on wheels. Seriously the Company had a dozen sites scattered around the Country and each received a MicroVAX. The boxes were connected to each other using BT Kilostream lines, this was the start of a very steep networking learning curve.