Windows look-alike

[Qqmike]

I have no clue about this yet, it just popped into my email Inbox from a Windows guru:

A genuine Windows 10 alternative that won't disappoint. Do you want to shift from Windows 10? In this video, you will see a Windows 10 Alternative that looks exactly like Windows 10 but is a Linux-based operating system. Yes, we are talking about LinuxFX. It is also called WindowsFX because of its looks like Windows operating system. The video shows you how to download and install LinuxFX on your PC. You will also see some features of WindowsFX in this video. At the end of the video, we have also mentioned some other Windows 10 operating system alternatives. ... The video contains the following points- Intro LinuxFX Installation LinuxFX Features Overview Other Windows 10 Alternatives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iez2WXI3Ofw

[claydoh]

Distrowatch:

Linuxfx is a Brazilian Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. It ships with an intuitive Cinnamon desktop user interface designed to facilitate migration of users from Windows. It includes a video management system called Sentinela, a computer vision software with video analytics and software for access control (facial recognition and automatic number plate recognition), object detection, gender, age and mood detection. Other features of the distribution include a new personal assistant, a WX theme for desktop and system applications, and compatibility with software written for Windows (.exe and .msi) through a Wine port. Following the release of Linuxfx 10.6 the distribution became a commercial offering.

I wonder if the free edition has fewer features?
Seems like a strong theming plus normal Linux software.

Soooooo .... Lindows 2.0, I mean 3.0?

Coming soon to a VM near you. Or me.

[claydoh]

Ok, so this is Kubuntu 20.04 with a bunch of PPAs added, and fairly well done theming scheme, and a ton of addons/widgets
Did not install, so didn't play with the Spy Device , I mean the voice assistant.

[TWPonKubuntu]

I've heard about Linux distros which try to emulate the look-and-feel of Windows. The XFCE desktop has been said to do this, but I don't know from personal experience. Even Kubuntu/KDE has 'some' of the same features as the Windows desktop. Remember that they are still Linux under the skin.

Personally, I find Windows and Microsoft to be (very) offensive, based on my past experience with how they view their users. That's why I switched to Linux. That said, potential Linux users may be wooed over to the Light Side of the OS universe by making it easier for them to learn the Linux paradigm... There is a learning curve, as most of you know.

I've been using Linux for so long that I no longer try to make the comparison between Linux and Windows. I KNOW which is better from having used both AND from watching Microsoft maneuver against Linux. We (Linux users) are winning BUT must remain vigilant. Complacency leads to losing... Don't polish the shoes of Microsoft. Don't kiss the ring of the Windows priest.

I've also got people in our household who can't/won't make the change to Linux, even when Windows keeps failing on them and biting them in the wallet. I no longer do OS maintenance on their systems to avoid butting heads. Someday, hopefully, they will 'see the light' and ask me to help them make the switch, but it is up to them to decide.

There is another problem approaching us as Microsoft has begun to infiltrate (invade) the Linux code base. All I can say is: beware, here lie Dragons. Raise your mental and digital firewalls. Beware of poisoned code flowing from Microsoft... Don't drink the Koolaid. Get me?

For those who must still work in the Windows/Microsoft universe, I do understand the need to maintain an income. If you are not at a point in your career when you can leave your present employer/customers, at least have plans for doing that in the future. Our world economy is on Very shaky grounds right now, which is reason enough to start making plans and training to take an alternate route. Don't get stuck in a rut.

Good luck, and remember that there IS an alternative, several flavors of them.

Finally: WAKE UP, BUT DON'T GO 'WOKE' ON US!

[sermon done]

[claydoh]

The XFCE desktop has been said to do this,

Whoever said that is blind. Plasma is closer to Windows, historically.

[TWPonKubuntu]

@claydoh, by 'closer' do you mean in terms of 'look and feel' or something else?

[claydoh]

Layout and look n feel. And general appearance. Going back at least to KDE3
Look for Lindows/Linspire and Redmondlinux as examples of previous Win like distros, at least on the surface.
In the same sort of vein that Gnome (2) is a bit similar to Mac OS
Xfce is sort of like KDE in layout, but with the Gnome 2 look and feel, so other than the start menu, it really has not been anything like Windows.

[TWPonKubuntu]

...'loon n feel'... Sounds right!

[MoonRise]

Brazillian based I think. Interesting to what lengths they went to mirror Windows 10. Honestly, I'm not a fan of that interface anyway. Use only because I have to. At least at work. Here, Linux all the way.

Might download it to just confuse some co-workers! Ha!

[GreyGeek]

Before I found RH5.0 in April of 1998 I was a staunch Windows fan. I even have a Microsoft Explorer T-shirt handed out free to the first 10,000 who asked for it. On Dec 27, 1997 I bought a new Sony VAIO desktop for Xmas. It featured Win95. I had been using Win3.11FWG inside the OS/2 DOS box to do my software writing. Win95 crashed so often that it was losing income. I had to save my work at least once each minute to avoid losing code. By May 1, 1998 I had reinstalled Win95 FIVE times in a vain effort to reach stability. That's when I went to Barns & Nobel to buy the latest OS/2 in order to run Win95 in its DOS box. While rummaging the rack I noticed a paperback titled "Learn Linux in 24 Hours" by Bill Brush, for $25, and it included a CD of RH5.0 glued to the back cover. When I installed it my Sony became rock sold stable. It never crashed once and when SuSE announced version 5.3 featuring KDE 1.0 Apha I bought it so that I could configure it to look and run like Win95 should have run.

I run a stock Kubuntu out of the box, but when people unfamiliar with Linux see my display their first comment is "you running Windows, eh?" Thus begins the lesson!

LinuxFX is just as Claydoh says, a stock Linux distro heavy with Windows "branding" and look-a-like settings. Another OS that attempts to emulate Windows is ReactOS. It began life in 1998 and is now up to Alpha 0.4.something. It's goal is to achieve Win 2003 compatibility. To run com and exe apps it uses WINE's wrappings of WIndows ABI, or so I've read. I've never installed it and don't plan to. One feature it has that I like is making BTRFS available as the file system. However, one feature it has down pat in aces and spades is crashing or features failing to work. So, by that measure it is doing a good job mimicking Windows. But, even by 2121 it will never get to Win10 compatibility.

[verndog]

Whoever said that is blind. Plasma is closer to Windows, historically.

I feel the same way. Look at Plasma clock-just like Window. time on top date below. The taskbar location and menus are very similar. Also Windows has a ton of options; switches, knobs, dials, levers; just like Plasma.