So I am sure many of my readers can identify with this…chatting with a dear family member and they mention their old Toshiba laptop is now basically a brick due to years of malware downloads and failed Windows updates.
“Hey, back up whatever you might want off that thing and bring it over the house,” I reply. “In fact, you picked a perfect time, we have about a month or so under the Windows 10 is free plan from the ever so generous Microsoft Corporation.”
When did things start to go horribly wrong? When my stepfather walked in and I opened the Toshiba (a real monster in size) and I saw a little sticker on the keyboard…Windows Vista. Uh oh. Windows 10 ain’t a free upgrade from that. I guess the rational there is, if you stuck with the crappy OS for this long, you deserve the brick!
“Sorry Dad, no free upgrade for you. Windows 10 is around $100 bucks, but this old laptop is just not worth that investment. We can go grab you a new one for about $250. That would be money better spent…”
Just then, it hit me…”hey, what are you using this for???” The answer – like so many these days – one thing…INTERNET.
Hello Ubuntu!!!! It is so wonderful to have choices. A quick download of the 32-bit ISO, a quick burn to DVD, a quick boot to DVD, and an efficient scorched Earth install of his new OS. Needless to say, he was stunned to see performance of his desktop like he could never remember.
As my readers know – I am a huge fan of almost all things Microsoft. With that said, it is so important for us to have choices today. And today I certainly found that important.
Great job, I think I’m going to try an install of the Ubuntu and check out the new interface since I last used Linux almost 10 years ago lol
Spin up a Virtual Machine! 🙂
Awesome Story Anthony .. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My pleasure! Thank you for reading and commenting!!!!
Nice safe Anthony! Linux Mint is also great for rescuing really old machines, is very light and the desktop environment is very windows-like so the transition is much smoother i think, thanks for sharing the story, keep up the good work we really appreciate it!! 😀
Good afternoon Mr. Sequeira,
First off, I am one of your students on CBT Nuggets. Thank you for taking the time to teach and create those videos. Between you and Mr. Barker, my knowledge and career have exponentially grown.
I do have a question if you could shine some light on, I am a network engineer and I recently have been interviewed by perspective employers, and the question comes, “How well is your Linux?” (Not, “Do you know Linux?”) and I follow up with, “well, what are we trying to accomplish?”
I hold multiple certs in Cyber Security and Networking, but I do not have one in just Linux. (CompTIA Linux+)
When they ask this question, are they talking about installing Linux and using the GUI? Navigating Linux machines and manipulating permissions and access control through the terminal? Ex: Network administrator? Or, are they asking can I write in bash and automate tasks?
I am not cocky, I am modest. What have you experienced or what would be the best response you would say?
I think the answer would be – IT DEPENDS! It is going to depend on their server OS of choice and what the job you are applying for entails. If you are Linux+ certified (which I think you are) then you are going to be covered for what most would be asking about here. They just want to make sure you can survive without a GUI and do not go screaming for your Windows!!!! 🙂