Incremental steps to migrate from Windows to Linux as your main OS (or to settle in between)

Operating systems (OS) which are based on Linux and its available software packages are currently mature enough to be used as your main OS. You can find that most cutting edge open-source libraries and software packages are developed natively for this platform Since 2018, linux runs on all of the top 500 supercomputers.

It is not compulsory to fully use Linux as your main OS. Those in senior years may find that it is counter-productive to invest a lot of time to convert your whole existing working environment. You may be comfortable to settle with running it within Windows as a Virtual Machine (VM), which may be enough to run Linux-only special applications. You may also use Windows Subsystem for Linux to install and run Linux applications.

For those who just started with computational mechanics and general software development, working your way up to fully using Linux as your main OS is highly recommended.

Step 1: Testing

Run Linux on Virtual Machine

Install Linux distribution (Ubuntu or Kubuntu are recommended) as a Virtual Machine (VM). This approach is generally safe, and will not interfere with your Windows installation.

Instead of rebooting, running a VM does not interfere with your Windows workflow, rather than appearing as another “application” in a window and using assigned CPU and memory resources. However, a low-end system (RAM less than 8GB) may not be able to run the VM smoothly.

Instructions to install and run Ubuntu on VirtualBox in Windows 10 can be found on itsfoss.com among numerous other resources.

Familiarise with Linux environment and applications

Try to familiarise with the environment (navigating file system, modify simple settings, install/manage applications). Check if commonly used software packages under Windows are available, or consult others (friends, online) of similar alternatives.

Step 2: Using

Use Linux-based applications exclusively

<todo>To elaborate here...</todo>

Step 3: Use Linux as main OS

Boot Linux from a portable device or dual boot

You can perform a fresh installation on a new disk/partition.

You may want to retain your setting and installed applications on an existing VM installation. For this, instructions to convert Ubuntu VM installation into physical installation can be found here.1) Hazmil: Not tested yet whether this is working for current software versions. Will do if requested.

Windows as Virtual Machine

Please note that there are still many powerful software packages for CAE (mostly are proprietary) are exclusively developed for Windows. For these, applications with no alternatives. Therefore, at the moment running Windows as VM will still be required.

The above instruction is far from complete, but may do for starter. Feel free to ask questions, discuss, point out obstacles against the conversion, or request further instructions in the comment section.