Another migration post, this time from discontinued Windows (I cannot remember when I started using it) to Ubuntu, the new destination.

Context

When I first started using a personal computer, it was running Windows XP. For me, the computer and XP were synonymous - gaming, movies, FTP, LAN. Then came Windows 7, and I lost access to multiple games that were exclusive to XP. However, I started using another very important product - MS Office. Gradually, Windows 10 arrived, and almost every use case shifted to browser-based services. I believe that was the beginning of the end.

In 2021, Windows 11 was announced, and everything seemed fine. Then, I discovered that my laptop couldn’t support Windows 11, and I would need to upgrade my laptop.

No, thank you Microsoft. Instead, I would rather switch to the operating system I’ve long wanted to use and donate to: Ubuntu.

Install Ubuntu LTS over Windows 10

I didn’t have much knowledge about migrating to Ubuntu. All I knew was that I could prepare a USB drive to install the Ubuntu OS from there.

The installation process was straightforward and easy. I started from Windows 10 and followed the provided documentation. I chose the LTS version of Ubuntu so that I could use it for a long time without much hassle.

During the installation, I wiped out the entire hard drive because I really didn’t want any traces of Windows. This also ensured that no disk space was wasted once Ubuntu was set up.

After the setup was completed, Ubuntu prompted me to remove the USB drive and restart. I did so, but encountered an error: No bootable devices found. I had to access the BIOS settings and Enable UEFI Secure Boot to ensure that Ubuntu would start automatically.

The installation was completed without any hiccups or memorable events. Honestly, it was just mind-blowingly easy*.

*However, it’s important to note that the term “easy” is subjective. As someone from a computer science background, configuring the BIOS for a bootable OS is nothing new to me. For others, the BIOS part might be tricky if they are not familiar with the terminology or usage.

Getting familiar with the OS and Migrate using Sync

Ubuntu turned out to be much more user-friendly than I had anticipated. It has a Ubuntu Store, similar to the app stores on Android or iOS, making it very easy to install software.

Here are some notable differences I observed in Ubuntu:

  • I wasn’t fond of the fact that the navigation dock was located on the left side of the screen. However, I was able to change its position by going to Settings > Appearance > Dock > Position on screen, and I moved it to the bottom, just like in Windows or Mac.
  • Another difference I noticed was that the date and time were displayed in the middle of the screen.
  • Ubuntu doesn’t have a traditional start menu, but there is an Applications button located on the bottom right, which serves the same purpose.
  • The shortcut for going to the desktop also worked in Ubuntu.
  • Ubuntu has a Night Light mode, similar to the one in Windows, which automatically switches between light and dark mode themes.
  • There is an Activities button in the top-left corner, which functions like the Alt+Tab feature in Windows.

After that, I opened Firefox (which was also my default browser in Windows) and logged into my Mozilla account to sync everything. Almost all of my settings were synchronized without any errors. The only difference was that I had to manually install an extension.

Finally, I opened the Ubuntu Store and installed VSCode. Similar to Firefox, I logged into my GitHub account to sync my settings, and it worked without any surprises.

Once the software setup was complete, the tedious part began: I had to manually log into various websites (such as Google, Facebook, and Cloudflare) and make sure that the sessions from my previous operating system were deleted.

Extra setup required

Surprisingly, there wasn’t much additional setup required. The issues I encountered were related to fonts, and I was able to resolve them as follows:

  • Broken fonts for Bangla texts in the default font: This problem arose because of the default Ubuntu font in the English-US version. Even after adding the Bangla language according to the documentation, the issue persisted. However, I found a solution in a Stack Overflow post, and after following those instructions, everything started working properly.
  • Fira Code font installation: Fira Code is usually my preferred font in VSCode, but it was not included by default in Ubuntu (which is understandable). I installed it by following the instructions provided here.
  • Automatic switching of dark and light mode: I did not find any way to configure the automatic theme switch. Stackoverflow posts explained why this is complicated/not there yet. However, I used this script to auto switch.
  • Git client setup: For push/pull from github repositories, used this instruction to setup id_ed25519.pub file.
  • Python setup in-parallel to distro specific python: Followed this instruction and used deadsnakes-ppa. After the installation was over, added the local path to .bashrc file as per this instruction.

Final thoughts

Thanks Windows, had an amazing run. However, I have no intention of purchasing a new laptop just to utilize 0% of the new features.

I have always been a fan of Ubuntu for their mission to spread a free operating system worldwide. I hope to contribute to that mission in some way.

Acknowledgement

Thanks for the assist, ChatGPT! You’re a real lifesaver.