I'm thinking about going back down the Kubuntu rabbit hole, but dual-booting my older laptop this time. From the quick search I've done I can't really see any compelling reason to use one over the other. Apparently, LTS has more compatible programs, but for my needs, that won't be a factor. No gaming, just browsing, watching YouTube videos and basic email support is all I need. It has been suggested that Kubuntu 23.10 would be a smaller jump to the newest LTS version if I decided to upgrade to that, though I don't know if that is a major concern or not. Regular upgrades don't bother me, I've been using Win10 since the day it was released, and it used to get upgrades twice a year. I've got both ISOs on UFDs and I tried 23.10 on this machine, which I've had internet connectivity issues with in the past. This time it seemed to run OK in my short test, but I just can't bring myself to reinstall it on here for now. Anyone have an opinion either way? I'd be glad to hear it. Thanks.
My first experience with Linux was on Zorin OS. I had a pretty decent time with it, until I learned one day that they were about to stop providing patches and updates for the version I'd been happily using... some nine months after they'd initially released it! It being my first exposure to Linux, it was also my first exposure to the concept of these short-term distro versions. After that, I searched for distros that had a decent support length, and eventually landed on an LTS version of Kubuntu (which had and continues to have a beautiful desktop). I'm currently on Kubuntu 22.04 LTS.
There has always been the distinction between long-term support and interim versions for Ubuntu (and, hence, probably also for Zorin as it is Ubuntu-based) with the interim versions having only 9 months support. The releases overview is here. Using the LTS versions is recommended. If you really think that you want to use an interim version you have to perform a release-upgrade after 9 monts at the longest.
Yep. I didn't know that at the time, as it was the first Linux distribution I'd ever used for more than a couple of hours on a live DVD. Ironically, I was driven to start trying out Linux back when, by the introduction of Windows 10's hectic "upgrade" tempo: I wanted to use something more stable where I wouldn't be pestered to install new versions every other day (poetic license there). That's when I learned that there were short-term and longer-term versions of Linux distros, when Zorin OS 5 (or was it 6) stopped getting updates just a few months after I'd installed it.
The funny thing is I'm already on KDE 5.27 LTS having updated it through third party ppas in Jammy Jellyfish LTS. The next LTS version, Noble Numbat is too late to ship the new KDE 6.0 so it will remain on 5.2.7 LTS.
Well, that wasn't much fun! I installed Kubuntu 23.10 along side Win10. The problem is though, that it would not boot to grub, just went straight to Kubuntu. Windows wasn't deleted, I just couldn't choose it when booting / restarting. Thank heavens for Macrium Reflect. Back to Win10 solo boot... for now. The machine is going on 14 years old and has a legacy BIOS. When Win10 goes EOL I might install Kubuntu solo, but for the time being, dual-booting was my hope. I haven't completely given up on it yet, but I'd rather not have to repair the machine after a fresh install of Kubuntu. Any ideas?
I'm no expert at these things, but hopefully one of the links below will provide enough information to solve the problem: https://www.makeuseof.com/fix-grub-not-showing-in-dual-boot-setup/ https://itsfoss.com/no-grub-windows-linux/ https://www.partitionwizard.com/news/grub-not-showing-in-dual-boot-setup.html https://askubuntu.com/questions/1425871/ubuntu-22-04-windows-10-dual-boot-grub-not-showing-and-not (and possibly the link in the reply to the question) Good luck!
Hi JEAM, Unfortunately, the first three seem to address machines that boot to Windows without getting the option to boot to Linux. All seem to address machines with UEFI, not legacy BIOS. Thanks, Dave
Sorry to hear that. Unfortunatelly dual booting always came with a set of issues, especially when no UEFI is available. It was always prone to platform quirks that made automation hard. Widespread usage of UEFI started late 2012 with release of Windows 8. 11 year old computers and newer are having UEFI. I think dual booting on 14 yo hardware may require more and more manual GRUB configuration, because there is less and less interest for testing that configuration. Last 4th link is referring to general GRUB configuration. I don't know if that particular config change will resolve problem. I only know that the fix will be similar in nature: config change and a few commands to install/provision GRUB according to config
First, I might try LTS to see what happens. ... I guess I could dual-boot Mint + Kubuntu. That machine is Win8.1 era, so has UEFI. But, it's super low spec.
Personally I had used low-spec laptop for 10 years. It has UEFI, because it is manufacturing date was: 2012/11/06 (November 6th in European notation). If it were manufactured Just few weeks earlier I would get older BIOS-only revision of same laptop model. I'm sure I could get it to work, but I would have to spend some additional 15-30 minutes of manual configuration per install or so. Linux doesn't like proprietary drivers and firmware blobs. As long as it is low-spec with good open-source drivers your laptop should work correctly.
