After several months with Ubuntu 26.04 and fighting through some odd issues with startup/shutdown and hesitation with that process (sometimes a few seconds, sometimes a minute), I decided to reset and go back to Linux Mint. I was getting tired if dealing with odd problems in Ubuntu, as I found out is a common problem outside of the Enterprise deployment that OS. Linux Mint is much more friendly with hardware and easier to get working smoother than Windows 11. I have yet to boot my Windows virtual machine.

A major test of Linux in general, at least for me, was having to write papers using Libre Office instead of Microsoft Office. No issue honestly and I’m embarrassed to admit I thought there might have been. I do think that Libre can improve their interface and create a more modern experience, it’s functional and no one can tell the difference from the documents perspective. The other test was using PyCharm IDE in one of my classes where the instructor explicitly said he only supports Windows and Mac. I even got a response from him that he couldn’t help me if I got into a jam on the weekly assignments. As with Libre, I worried for nothing as the application worked natively in Linux with python3 integrated into the operating system out of the box. I’ve submitted four assignments now with no issues.

There was a feeling I got while using Ubuntu. Almost as if something just wasn’t quite right or felt a little off about the platform as a whole. Not really ever being able to identify the cause, I felt it was a good time to revert back to a previous operating system after my disappointment with Zorin OS being built on the previous version of Ubuntu without native support for OAuth2.0. Although I’m off Windows, I still use OneDrive and have a family subscription to M365 that I share with five other people. It will take some time for me to work on them and either pay for it themselves or go to a free option.

My next endeavor will be to find a more modern feeling Office package that’s similar to MS Office without having to use MS Office. It’s odd to me that Microsoft hasn’t released a version of Office for Linux. It isn’t like they can’t charge people to use it regardless of the OS, however they seem to be migrating to a software-as-a-service model across the board and I think even Windows may be relegated to a subscription model in the near future. The idea that your OS is running in the cloud is a bit scary to me and is impossible to reach if there is no Internet connection. I may just play around with the Libre Office settings, something I have not done yet, to see if I can make it more Office-like.

I was a bit surprised at how easy it was to boot Ubuntu and install Mint with minimal pain or effort required. The longest part of the job was allowing InSync mirror my OneDrive files to the local machine for easier access. I’m slowly inching towards an online service that is Linux first and not OS agnostic so that it’s use is seamless to the end user. There are a few and I hope to try them out in the near future.