What are my options once Windows XP is kaput?

So, Microsoft is ending support for Windows XP in April, and that means any holes that get poked in its security after that date are going to go unpatched.
So, what are your options if you're still using an old machine with XP?

1. Keep using XP and hope for the best.


2. Take out a loan to buy a Mac.


3. Buy a copy of Windows 8; attempt to install Windows 8 on your old PC; find out your old PC can't handle Windows 8; Buy a new PC with Windows 8 pre-installed; find out you can't handle Windows 8; take out a loan to buy a Mac. 


4. Have a crack at running one of the hundreds of free and open-source *nix variations (most of which are flavours of Linux). (... and then maybe take out a loan to buy a Mac.)

If by chance you decide on option 4, here's a few tips to get you going:

Is a *nix system right for me?

The first thing to do is work out if a *nix system is going to meet your needs. If you're a hardcore gamer, you can probably stop reading right now. Likewise if you have certain applications that you absolutely can't live without, like Microsoft Office, iTunes, or Photoshop. On the other hand, if your needs are a little more generic and you don't care what programs you're using, so long as you can write documents, manage your music and edit photos, then the *nix world might be for you. Many of the programs that are front and centre in the open-source desktop ecosystem are also available for Windows, so you can give them a try before committing to anything. Example are:

• The Firefox, Chrome & Opera web-browsers: With any luck, you might already be using one of these.


• Thunderbird: A stand-alone email application. If you're still into that sort of thing.


• Open Office: More or less, a replacement for Microsoft Office. There's also a fork of the project called Libre Office. Try them both and decide which one you like best.


• VLC: Probably one of the best media-players going. Should handle virtually any unencrypted/DRM-free music or video file you throw at it, as well as commercial CDs and DVDs.


• Gimp: A poor-man's Photoshop. Having said that, it can probably still do most things that most people want from a photo-editor. (Actually, what most people want from a photo-editor can probably be handled by one of the photo management apps, like ShotWell or digiKam, but they're not available for Windows. (Technically digiKam can run on Windows, just not very well.))


• Inkscape: A poor man's Illustrator. Having said that, check out the previous entry on Gimp. Same applies here. It's what I used to do my avatar.


• MyPaint: A simple, but very nice, sketching and painting application.


• Pidgin: A chat client. There's also Jitsi and Skype.


• Evince: A PDF reader. (Never used this one on Windows, so can't vouch for it myself. Works great on Linux & BSD)  


• GnuCash: Simple accounting software.


• Scribus: Desktop publishing. 


• Calibre: Ebook management. 


• Blender: Video, animation, and post-production suite. Powerful, but hard to learn.

... and since we're starting to get a bit obscure, we might finish up there. Of course, there's many fine *nix programs which aren't available to try on Windows -- like music and photo managers, CD/DVD authoring & ripping tools, video/audio/image production suites, printing & scanning software, and various downloaders and bittorrent clients (if that's more your cup of tea). However, there should be enough crap on the list to give you a taste of what you'll be getting.

Okay, so which one do I get?

If you decide you'd like to go a step further and try a complete new operating system, Distrowatch is a website where you can browse through the most popular options available and click through to each project's website. There are literally hundreds to choose from, and for some people, the task of finding a decent distro that meets all their needs can be a bit daunting.

For people who've never stepped outside the Windows world, I tend to recommend Linux Mint as an entry point. I find it to be a distro that produces fewer than average headaches, both for the person trying it and for the person answering the whingey calls/emails when something goes awry (usually me).

Since your Windows XP machine has probably got a few years under its belt, I would suggest going with the 32bit XFCE spin.

At this point, I should talk a bit about release cycles. Every flavour of *nix handles updates and new releases in its own way. Each version of Mint has a lifespan of 9 months, with a new version released every 6 months (giving everyone a 3 month overlap in which to upgrade). Releases usually happen in May and November. The up side to doing things like this is that you get a fresh system with updated applications twice every year. The down side is that you get a fresh system with updated applications, twice, every year. If it doesn't sound worth the effort, fret not, as every fourth edition is a special "long-term-support" release, which gets security patches (and some application updates) for 5 full years.

Looking at the release notes, I see the current release of Mint has a problem with DVD playback and the coming May edition is scheduled to be a long-term release. So, if getting an LTS sounds like a good thing to you, you might want to download the current edition to play with, and then, depending on how you like it, download the next release in 2 months for the full install. 

What do I do with the file I downloaded?

Okay, so once you've downloaded the .iso file, you have to transfer it to either a DVD or a USB stick. If you know how to burn an ISO to a DVD and you've got a blank DVD and a program to burn it with (Usually Nero, or whatever came with your drive), then you're good to go. If you don't know how to burn an ISO to a DVD or you want to put it on a USB stick, you might want to look at UNetbootin. It'll handle both types of media and the instructions on the website are pretty straight forward.

Once Nero or UNetbootin or whatever you use has done its thing, leave your disc/USB inserted and restart the computer. Most desktop computers will boot of the CD drive automatically, but if your computer bypasses this and simply boots back into Windows, you're probably going to have to change your bios settings.

Usually, when your computer first boots up, you'll see a screen for a second with a picture or some shit and a few short instructions like "Press F12 for options". If it has something as straight-forward as "Press F11 for boot menu", press F11 and then select your device from the menu (CD or USB). If not, you're going to have to press the key for the options menu (F12 in this example) and then hunt around for something that says something like "Boot order" or "First boot device". Instructions for how to navigate the menus should be printed at the bottom of the screen.

Once all that's done, you should be able to boot Linux Mint off your live media. Have a play with it and see what you think. Work out if you could use it on a day-to-day basis. For most things, it should work just as well as if it was installed; only it'll be a bit slower and, if you're using a DVD, you won't be able to use the CD drive for anything else. There's an install icon on the desktop that you can use if you decide you want to keep it permanently. It'll even have a go at installing itself "beside" Windows, so you can choose which one to run each time you start your computer. Just be sure to back all your files up before you do any of this. (You should have them backed up anyway!)

That's it. Have fun. Let me know if you need any help. I might consider adding some screenshots if you think it'd help.