Week 23: Switching from Windows to Linux

I got my first laptop in early 2023 for my second semester of Computer Science. As most new laptops do, this one had Windows installed. It had been a long time since I had used Windows daily. With that in mind, I gave it a try for a few months, just to see what it was like. Then I found out about the weirdly named Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), installed that, and never looked back.

My friend Alejandro predicted the Windows installation wouldn’t last longer than 3 months.

It lasted 3 years.

The virtual disk image grew to just short of 120 GB, with no easy way to shrink other than wslcompact, and I grew tired of having tools such as LaTeX, Neovim, and others on both operating systems. Just too messy. Could I have just reset the Windows installation? Probably, but I wanted to try Linux for once. (I had already used macOS on an old iMac.)

Putting up the takeout was a time-consuming task. It involved:

• Exporting Firefox add-on settings
• Handpicking settings and config files
• Writing down which apps I use
• Logging out of important accounts

Most of the time went towards the second task. There are just too many places on Windows in which programs decide to store their settings.

So far I’m doing good.

I installed Ubuntu 26.04, as I already saw EMB’s first-hand experience with Linux Mint, and I’ve been smoothing some rough edges.