My (almost) 1st time installing Linux

[hello_hello]

Things didn't go too badly. Keeping in mind in the past, especially back in the Win95 and 98 days, it wasn't uncommon for me to install Windows, reformat, install again, run Windows Update, reformat, install again, Windows Update..... until finally it booted with all the software installed and working and without any blue screens, and this is only my second attempt at installing Linux ever. I was expecting a bit more resistance. I tried once before about 10 years ago and the PC refused to boot and I didn't have a spare "mess around with Linux" PC at the time, and I never got around to trying again.

At 10:50pm I stuck the Linux Mint (KDE) installation DVD in a drive.

By 10:55pm I'd managed to get the draw open and put the DVD in the only drive the PC was apparently prepared to boot from. The computer started to boot from the disc then appeared to freeze.

For the moment I decided to make it a bit simpler (not sure if it was the reason for the problem) and converted the RAID volume back to two single hard drives, then rebooted.

At 11:00pm I had some form of Linux running and a desktop link asking me if I wanted to install it on a hard drive. I said okay.

The installation proceeded much like a Windows installation. I was prompted to answer a few questions along the way and by 12.45pm the PC was running Linux. It no doubt would have been faster if it didn't stop to download some language packs (and possibly other things.... I wasn't paying attention) and my internet connection wasn't slow and running flat out already.

12:50pm and the update manager (I think) was asking me if it could update itself.

Now to become a Linux expert. I have a bit of free time tomorrow.

Seriously though, that at least, was monumentally easy. I've still got a long way to go but I'm on the way. Other distros to try, software to test, Windows alternatives to play with. I wouldn't mind the RAID-0 volume back. I'm not sure if there's Linux drivers for the TV tuner/capture card in that PC. I might have to put it in this one. Not that I use it much anyway. I haven't checked the rest of the hardware yet. Lots of exploring to do, and...... kind of unfortunately...... it's the kind of exploring I thought was behind me. Thanks to Win10 though, apparently it's not.

I'll confess initially I'm starting to feel a little impressed. Nothing's been too hard, and yet so far I haven't felt like the OS thinks I'm an idiot. I hit the Print Screen key on the keyboard to take my first Linux screen shot and a proper screen capture utility popped up. I stuck a USB stick in a USB port and had no trouble transferring the screenshot I'd saved. In fact I get the impression moving files around is going to be more fun than doing it with Windows. The USB stick happened to have an MKV on it. While I was there, I double clicked on it. It opened in something and played. Next step..... reconnect the TV to see how long it takes me to get it running as a second monitor, then see if the PC will play nice on the home network (ie talking to the other PCs and transferring files etc).

[ackboo]

Everything has changed in KDE since last time. You might want to take a look at http://ubuntustudio.org/tour/ if only to have a list of known good multimedia software. Also if the OS didn't ask you and you have an nvidia or ati card you will have to install the proprietary driver.
The second monitor should be easy, however be aware that it is not always plug and play. If you have a laptop and use an external monitor as your main screen, disconnecting the monitor leaves you with a blank screen on the laptop.

[hello_hello]

Thanks for the info.

I don't know about "KDE since last time" as this is my first time.

I had an issue connecting the TV but I doubt it was the OS fault. It just had to happen right at this particular moment. I unplugged the HDMI cable from the TV yesterday to plug it into another monitor, then left it unplugged until after installing Linux. When I plugged it back in, the TV wouldn't achnolwedge the PC was there. It turned out to be..... something unrelated to Linux.... as I discovered even the BIOS messages weren't displaying on the TV. I had to shut down the PC, unplug and re-connect the HDMI cable each end, and then it worked. Meanwhile..... I'd made a bit of mess of things in the OS. Computers.....

I got dual monitors working though, once the TV decided to talk to the PC. I have an old Nvidia card but haven't installed any proprietary drivers yet. I'll check that out though to see if it changes things. My TV has a "PC" HDMI input. When a PC is connected at 1080p and 60Hz it automatically puts itself into "PC mode" which disables a lot of the image processing. At the moment, that HDMI input seems to be enforcing TV mode. I can't change to a different refresh rate and go back to normal HDMI mode. That may be a driver thing.....

I'll definitely check out the list of multimedia software, although if nothing else, I'd really like to get foobar2000 working. I'm not familiar with WINE or how to go about it.... it's on the list of things to learn. If anyone has foobar2000 running in Linux, or knows I shouldn't bother trying..... please let me know. Everything from here is a first time for me.
foobar2000 is the softrware I'd most prefer to keep followed by MPC-HC, although I assume MPC-HC isn't an option. Everything else, I'm happy to try alternatives. Oh and I currently run a Winamp compressor plugin courtesy of ffdshow's audio decoder so I don't keep the household awake at night when watching video. Somehow continuing using that would be great (the Winamp plugin, not ffdshow).

I'm already happily browsing with Firefox. Is it possible/easy/hard to copy my current Firefox profile folder over so I can just use it, or do I need to re-install extensions from scratch? There's another question...... do they all still work when running Linux or doesn't it matter? I hadn't thought about that until now.

Cheers.

[ackboo]

Depending on how old your nvidia card is you might need the legacy driver, that comes with some shortcomings (sometimes). There is an integrated app (somewhere in the control panel) that should let you download ubuntu packaged nvidia drivers. Use that if you can, otherwise kernel updates might pose problems. It is best to avoid installing anything outside of your current software repository. (except for wined programs of course).

Linux documentation is often outdated, so don't be afraid to try to wine the programs you need. It might just work now.

edit: found this, never tried myself
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_from_Windows_to_Linux

edit2: at some point you will install stuff using the terminal, usually "sudo apt-get install xxxx", I'd recommend using "sudo aptitude install xxxx" instead. Aptitude is more capable and can often solve dependencies problems.

[hello_hello]

Awesome! Thanks.

[sophisticles]

I'm assuming you downloaded Mint 17.3, that's what I'm using at the moment though I'm using Cinnamon desktop instead. Some things you will want to do is configure your firewall, how aggressively Mint uses the swap file (I assume you set up Mint with a swap partition), you will want to check to see if the 3d drivers are being used for your video card and you may want to upgrade the kernel to the latest version supported.

For future reference Live DVD/CD tend to be a bit on the slow side, you are better off creating a Live-USB, which runs pretty fast assuming your monitor supports booting from a thumb drive.

Under Menu->Administration->Update Manager->View->Linux Kernels it will show you which kernel is currently being used (it will be 3.19 by default) and the latest available (it should be 4.2.0-23).

Under Menu->Administration->Driver Manager it will list what drivers are available for your video card, if you're using an NVIDIA card it's generally recommended that you use the proprietary driver, if you're using an ATI/AMD card it's recommended to use the open source driver BUT if you're using an older NVIDIA card I recommend the open source nouveau driver coupled with the latest kernel that's available, the open source driver has improved significantly to the point I have even used it with 100% stability and solid performance with my GTX960.

Under Menu->Administration->Software Manager and search for GUFW which is the graphical front-end for UFW (firewall) and of course after you install it go to Menu->Preferences->Firewall Configuration and enable it.

Menu->Accessories->Terminal and follow the directions for the Mint "swappiness":

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/mint-mate-first#TOC-Decrease-the-sw...use-important-

Lastly, Ubuntu (the base most Mint's use) is due for a new release in April 2016 and Linux Mint will be going to version 18, the developers have said they will be shooting for an easy upgrade path for current users so hopefully no need for a re-install when the new version comes out.

If you need any other help just ask.

[Hoser Rob]

I use Mint 17 as well, but XFCE on my laptop and Mate on my netbook. Actually I installed the LXDE desktop on the netbook, which runs better in 1Gb RAM than any Mint DE versions.

I used to have ubuntu installed but it's Mint at the moment, though on the netbook that may change. Yes, Mint is ubuntu based, and while I like Mint these days, you just cannot beat Ubuntu tech support for user base and expertise. Well, that's true at least for distros that are suitable for beginners.

So when I look for support stuff, I actually search ubuntuforums and askubuntu first. Askubuntu is particularly good because answers are user ranked. Just remember to go for info that's for the correct Ubuntu release. For Mint 17 it's ubuntu 14.04.

To actually see what video adapter you have and the driver in use, I use these terminal commands (linux at the terminal level is case sensitive, remember):

sudo lshw -C video

and

glxinfo | grep OpenGL

The last command will say if you actually have 3D hardware accelerated video. For nvidia binary drivers see:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia

And I'd never install the drivers from a manufacturer's site. Nvidia legacy support for linux is actually very good, better than AMD or even Intel.

That link re swappiness is good .. though you should not assume that it'll always speed things up. Why do these guys think they know more than the linux developers? I consider that blog OK but nothing special. AT least he generally tells you how to revert changes if they don't work.

To see about the capture card (assuming it isn't USB) try:

lspci

and

arecord -l

[hello_hello]

Thanks for the extra info guys. I'll come back to it later tonight or tomorrow.

I'm just plodding along slowly at the moment, playing around with software here and there as I can, even if it's just a single program per day. Video, audio and USB works, although I've still not looked at drivers, and I was happy to discover Mint will read an NTFS formatted drive.

So far the built in software manager has made life very easy. It's a bit like downloading and installing software from Google Play, for want of a better comparison. I'm installing software without yet having the slightest clue how to install software. 1st on the list was a Linux replacement for ClipX, next was SMPlayer (it's not MPC-HC but it'll do) and then foobar2000. I installed Wine, then installed PlayOnLinux (GUI for Wine), and it asked for some dependencies the software manager found and installed for me. PlayOnLinux had a preconfigured list of Windows software. foobar2000 was on it, so I downloaded the foobar2000 installer and PlayOnLinux installed it for me. I copied over my music files, replaced the foobar configuration files with the ones from this PC, and not long after foobar2000 was playing my music, looking exactly as it did on Windows. All the command line Windows converters still work from the foobar2000 installation folder. qaac.exe, ffmpeg.exe, flac.exe, lame.exe etc. I hadn't been brave enough to hope for that. So far, the only thing I haven't got it to do is see my CD/DVD drives. I might have to rip CDs with something else.

At the moment, I think I'm going to slowly test all my regular Windows software and if it'll run on Wine, I'll install it and use it, and maybe look for Linux alternatives later on. So far, and yes I know it's very early days..... but so far I'm quite impressed.

[ackboo]

I hadn't been brave enough to hope for that. So far, the only thing I haven't got it to do is see my CD/DVD drives. I might have to rip CDs with something else.

In the olden days I used "winecfg" in a terminal to configure stuff. It allowed to assign drive letters to HDDs or CDroms drives, there is certainly an equivalent in playonlinux. Don't use winecfg unless you have no choice, it might overwrite the config.

edit: VLC has been more reliable than smplayer in my experience

edit2:yep winecfg from within playonlinux, go to configuration, select the virtual drive with foobar installed, click on the wine panel, click on configure wine. In winecfg select the drive panel and check if there is a drive letter assigned to your dvd drive.

[Hoser Rob]

The software manager may seem easier at first but I definitely recommend Synaptic Package Manager to install. It has a little bit of a learning curve but not that much. I always install with Synaptic or the terminal. Haven't used software manager or the Ubuntu equivalent in years. I don't think software manager updates the sources list and that's an issue. You should always update it (which does not in itself install anything) first. In terminal first do

sudo apt-get update

Or hit the refresh button in synaptic.

It's normal for the system to say it wants to install dependencies. What you need to look for is when it says it wants to REMOVE something. I cancel at that point generally. This shouldn't happen often, esp. if you stick to the repos.

In fact I don't install anything that's not from the repos unless I really need it. If you want h.265 playback you'll have to enable a ppa source and install the libraries. Haven't done that myself yet but I may in the future.

I don't use foobar2000 ... I never really liked it in WIndoze either ... but I've seen posts by knowledgeable linux geeks who run it with Wine with no problems. For anything like that check the WIne app database. Unfortunately many windows programs do not run properly in wine, and you'd need to run Windows in a VM for them. I don't actually have any WIndows partitions anymore but for that reason I don't recommend most new linux users competely dump WIndows.

SMplayer is my default video pllayer, and in my experience it's not only more reliable than VLC but it performs better as well.

BTW all linux distros can read nrfs drives.

[ackboo]

SMplayer is my default video pllayer, and in my experience it's not only more reliable than VLC but it performs better as well.

Your mileage may vary. One of the little quirks of linux is that software may behave differently from distro to distro. Or maybe smplayer just got better.

Yep, synaptic is helpful to fix eventual problems and for an in depth view of what is installed. Little tip, each time you update a kernel the previous version stays unused on your hard drive. It is a good idea to have a couple previous kernels installed in case an update breaks something, but after a few years that is a lot of wasted diskspace. With synaptic you can filter for linux kernels and easily remove the unused ones. There is a meta package named linux-generic that should stay, this is how the system stays up to date.

If you want to make sure that everything is up to date you can also do this using the terminal
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade

If you start using the terminal and copy paste commands from random websites make sure that the text you pasted is identical to the text you copied. What you see is not always what you get.

Fun fact, middle click copy paste, select text somewhere, place the cursor on a text box or terminal, middle click, the selected text is copied. Practice first, sometimes an improper selection can start a command without you pressing enter.

edit: always take a look at the release notes, it might prevent some hair pulling
http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_rosa_kde.php

[hello_hello]

I just popped back in to say thanks to everyone for the extra info, and I'll reply to it all a bit later, but at the moment I've been fiddling around a bit and just playing with software here and there as I get a chance. I'll probably have questions as I go. Often, it's turning out to be the little things, such as using the navigation bar in Firefox for searching. I'm used to clicking on it and the contents are highlighted so I can just type to replace what's there, and the automatic highlighting isn't happening. It's probably a setting.

Transferring my Firefox profile turned out not to be too hard. I'd forgotten about Firefox Sync. So I created an account using the XP PC and then synced the Linux PC. It did a fairly good job. I had to go through settings for add-ons and check them. Some add-on settings weren't transferred at all, and I had to do the non-Mozilla approved stuff manually. Allowing unsigned add-ons and then installing them manually etc. I'm using Linux and Firefox for surfing now. I'll give setting up Pale Moon a shot soon.

So far the KDE desktop (is that the correct term?) has me fairly impressed. If anything it's almost too configurable. Settings for days...... but it's great.

Have Linux Mint banned Google searching in Firefox? I can't find a way to add Google to the search engine list. Not that it matters. I used URL Suffix to set up a Google search. I added www.google.com/search?q= as a prefix, made sure there was no suffix, and now I can type something into the address bar and it'll open in a Google search when I use Shift+Enter.

It turns out so far the Windows utility I'm missing the most is First Cap. I've been using it since Win98, and without it i'M CONSTANTLY LOOKING UP FROM tYPING oNLY TO dISCOVER i'VE BEEN DOING THIS sORT OF THING. hAVING TO THINK ABOUT iT IS ACTUALLY GOING TO TAKE SOME GETTING USED TO. oR MAYBE THERE'S A lINUX ALTERNATIVE..... The Caps lock key will drive me nutty.

PS. If SMPlayer has the same features as the Windows version, it seems to have come a long way since I last a tried it (maybe a couple of years ago). It has more features now. Reminds me more of MPC-HC. Not that I've played with it extensively yet. I've always quite disliked VLC on Windows.
Speaking of which, I noticed one of the programs in the PlayOnLinux pre-configured list is.... and I was surprised..... Windows Media Player 10. I wonder if that means there's hope for getting MPC-HC to work?

[aedipuss]

you may have to re-install linux. the entire kernal is corrupt and all distros will be trying to fix the major flaw this week.

[ackboo]

Have Linux Mint banned Google searching in Firefox?

Unlikely, try this :
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=111471

I'm used to clicking on it and the contents are highlighted

Yep, a setting :
http://askubuntu.com/questions/51580/why-doesnt-chrome-or-firefox-auto-highlight-the-address-bar

If anything it's almost too configurable. Settings for days...... but it's great.

More like weeks, try this if you didn't already, but do not try to customize the default panel yet, it' easy to mess it up and it's a pain to restore. So create a top panel like on this video and practice first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=167R82AenBg

It turns out so far the Windows utility I'm missing the most is First Cap.

There is a notification system embedded in kde, try this :
https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/487043-caps-lock-state-notification-doesnt-work

edit: for mpc-hc, like I said the only way to know is to try. It has been done :
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=12915

[ackboo]

you may have to re-install linux. the entire kernal is corrupt and all distros will be trying to fix the major flaw this week.

I received the patch today, so it's fixed for me.
To know which kernel you are running type uname -a in a terminal.

[racer-x]

you may have to re-install linux. the entire kernal is corrupt and all distros will be trying to fix the major flaw this week.

I received the patch today, so it's fixed for me.
To know which kernel you are running type uname -a in a terminal.

I just updated to the latest kernal (4.2.0.25) today. Am I to assume this one is patched?

4.2.0-25-generic #30~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Mon Jan 18 16:25:56 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[hello_hello]

I still haven't read through the old posts properly . I will. I'm not ignoring people. I had a "no stuffing around with the computer" day today because the real world called. It might be a few days before I can resume my Linux adventure, but I'll go through the previous posts when I do.

Cheers.

[ackboo]

According to this article the vulnerability is listed as CVE-2016-0728
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3023870/security/linux-kernel-flaw-endangers-millions-o...d-devices.html

The notes for ubuntu kernel linux-image-4.2.0-25-generic say that a fix was applied :
* KEYS: Fix keyring ref leak in join_session_keyring()
- LP: #1534887
- CVE-2016-0728
http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/package/core/wily/main/updates/linux-image-4.2.0-25-generic

So yes if you have the newest kernel you are now safe. As I understand it the vulnerability was introduced in linux 3.8, so anything below that version number is safe and has always been safe.

[sophisticles]

you may have to re-install linux. the entire kernal is corrupt and all distros will be trying to fix the major flaw this week.

LOL!!! One of the dumbest things I have ever heard. The "entire kernel" is not "corrupt", there's an exploit that was discovered that affects the Linux kernel but it's for the most part only locally exploitable and a patch has been incorporated into main and most distros have already issued an update. Also Linux is not Windows, you don't have to re-install the whole damn thing, you can just update the kernel while the system is still running, especially with Linux Mint, I already outlined earlier how to update it from within the desktop while the system is running.

Please don't spread FUD.

[racer-x]

Yes, upgrading the Linux kernel is very easy and takes a couple of minutes. I was upgrading it while I was making my last post.

On a side note, I got Aviutl to run under wine, but it is very shaky. I think VM's are the best way to go if you want to run Windows programs in Linux. I prefer a dual-boot however.

[ackboo]

you may have to re-install linux

it's for the most part only locally exploitable

Yes and no, if you are running a desktop and only use software from known repositories with signed packages this vulnerability wasn't a problem (unless specially crafted for this vulnerability wined programs are safe). However if you are running an android device with kernel 3.8 and above and install random apps found on the web there is no way to know and without an update your device will stay vulnerable. If you are running a web server with bleeding edge kernel it's still a problem because an unprivileged user could have executed a payload through your web app (random dynamic website CMS ...) and gained root, there is no way to know. Anything not running applications should be safe however (routers ...). There is no point in trying to fix a rooted device.

[sophisticles]

If you are running a web server with bleeding edge kernel it's still a problem

I have never heard of any critical system, and web server would count, running a bleeding edge kernel, they value stability and uptime not support for the latest and greatest hardware.

[ackboo]

they value stability and uptime not support for the latest and greatest hardware.

Professionals do, there are many people who self host web servers or mail servers and who learn as they go. Anyone can buy a VPS and install whatever. I knew at least two people with self hosted servers at home, accessible from the internet, who got hacked. Two professional admins. Security is a process, you can't buy it, there is no magic bullet. Also, think of all the appliances (soho nas ...) with a linux based firmware that will never be upgraded, some people have that accessible from the internet, so they can retrieve files when they are not at home.

[TreeTops]

All the posts above have been a very interesting read for me. I use Windows 7 and have a Android 12 inch tablet. I have played around with a version of Linux 10 years ago. Don't recall the actual version but it seemed to work OK. But I didn't do anything with it and uninstalled it.

My take today is... . Linux is still not ready for the general public to use.

[racer-x]

My take today is... . Linux is still not ready for the general public to use.

Don't tell my wife that. She's been running it on her computer for over a year now and has never had any issues. She is also computer illiterate. I installed Linux on her PC because I got tired of fixing her Windows system every two month or so....

[october262]

is Linux any better than windows operating system or mac OS ??
i was told here a while back the Linux doesn't need any antivirus / malware software
and it was totally resistant against such attacks. is this true??
i was thinking about trying this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFeri7UiYNs
and see if it is worth my time.

[ackboo]

is Linux any better than windows operating system or mac OS ??

Yes and no, first you have to understand that linux is modular. All linux distributions share a common base, but the user interface can be changed at will. It is called a desktop environment. Some distributions like ubuntu or mint are flagships, you should try that first. Overall, desktop linux is flaky, it is usable and highly configurable but expect some rough edges.

i was told here a while back the Linux doesn't need any antivirus / malware software

It's true, sort of, but mainly because of the tiny market share of desktop linux and the fragmentation. There are so many different distributions. You are immune to windows and osx viruses but not to social engineering. As long as you don't install random software and stick to the official software repository you are safe. But that is true of all OS.

and see if it is worth my time.

Think of it as a versatile tool, it is very easy to try through a live usb.
https://unetbootin.github.io/

[hello_hello]

I'm replying to posts as I experiment, in no particular order.

Have Linux Mint banned Google searching in Firefox?

Unlikely, try this :
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=111471

There seems to bee some sort of Google/Firefox/Mint battle happening. The only way I found to add Google as a search engine was via an add-on, but then it works at it previously did.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-default/

I'm used to clicking on it and the contents are highlighted

Yep, a setting :
http://askubuntu.com/questions/51580/why-doesnt-chrome-or-firefox-auto-highlight-the-address-bar

Fixed. Thanks.

It turns out so far the Windows utility I'm missing the most is First Cap.

There is a notification system embedded in kde, try this :
https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/487043-caps-lock-state-notification-doesnt-work

I can't seem to work out how to duplicate the FirstCap functions I want. Maybe I'll need a macro program to modify key presses. Why Caps Lock doesn't work this way by default is beyond me.

- Disable Caps Lock when the Caps Lock key is pressed on it's own (no more accidental Caps Lock).
- Caps Lock works when pressed in combination with another key such as Shift+Caps Lock.
- Disable Caps Lock when the Shift key is pressed in combination with a letter key.... as you'd use normally Shift in combination with a letter key to capitalise it. This ensures Shift+LetterKey always results in a capital letter regardless of the Caps Lock state, and any letter keys following Shift+LetterKey are lower case. Is there a universe in which it's desirable to aCTIVATE tHE cAPS lOCK kEY aND fOR sHIFT+lETTERkEY tO pRODUCE a lOWER cASE lETTER?

I'm not worried about audio or visual notifications letting me know when Caps Lock is on because when it works the way I described above it makes sense. And I'm pretty used to it. If you have any suggestions....

Thanks

[sophisticles]

My take today is... . Linux is still not ready for the general public to use.

The public uses Linux based software all the time without realizing it, it's found in tablets, smart phones, cash registers, ATM's, routers, etc.

It also serves as the back end for numerous mission critical systems, have you tried Ubuntu, Suse or Redhat Enterprise? Have you tried Vector SOHO? Or moving into the true Unix territory, have you tried PC-BSD, Dragonfly BSD, Ghost BSD, or Solaris?

In what way is Windows "ready" for the general public? Because it allows MS and potentially government agencies the ability and the right to spy on you? Because it exposes your data to any Tom, Dick and Harry that wants it? Or because it makes sure that performance is degraded over time via "Windows rot"?

Little by little people will wake up.

[sophisticles]

is Linux any better than windows operating system or mac OS ??
i was told here a while back the Linux doesn't need any antivirus / malware software
and it was totally resistant against such attacks. is this true??
i was thinking about trying this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFeri7UiYNs
and see if it is worth my time.

Is Linux better than Windows? Yes, absolutely for a number of reasons:

No registry, thus performance doesn't degrade over time due to the "tree" growing and taking longer to transverse.

It makes much better use of your ram, not touching the swap file until you are using at least half of all your system ram and even then I have taken Linux Mint all the way to where all available ram and swap was being used and the system was still responsive.

It's modular and thus you can swap out parts at will, so long as you know what you're doing.

It also supports a much wider variety of file systems an it offers more robust encryption options.

It's easy to use a real-time kernel, which will spoil you once you try it. MS does offer a Windows variant with a real-time kernel but it's very expensive and only meant for certain market segments, like HPC.

As for being resistant to attacks, in the default configuration Ubuntu based distros and SE Linux compliant distros are pretty hardened against attack, but you can always make them safer. PC-BSD is "distro" in the sense that it uses open source software to create a custom offering but it uses FreeBSD as it's base, this is one I would really recommend if only just to see what a really really secure OS is like.

If you are a "hard core" gamer, nothing beats Windows, DX is a great gaming api and most major PC games are Windows only. There is also some video editing software that is either Windows only or Windows and Mac only.

But, there is some good video editing software for Linux, some good games and just from a security and privacy standpoint it blows Windows out of the water.