About the Windows 7 support expiration.
What is linux and how does it work and what purpose does it serve?
I guess I could have googled it, but I would prefer a quick no B.S. point of view..........
YIKES. I'm not sure there IS a simple answer. Linux is a Unix like OS, and is so far as I know, the ONLY OS that remains what is called "open source" meaning you, if you are a software geek, can screw with it and rewrite it pretty much as you want. You cannot do that with any Microsoft product or Apple so far as I know.
Android is related to Linux. The problem with a 'simple answer" is there are many--possibly hundreds--of different flavors of Linux. All I can do is point you to either Ubuntu or Mint, simply because they are two of the most popular, and in fact Mint is a Spin off of Ubuntu.
BOTH come with several choices of desktops. I use either Ubuntu or Mint with what is called "Mate" desktop, and it is nearly as simple as it gets. It resembles Windows 98/ XP in some ways..........the way the menu functions, etc.
To get an idea of what it is like, just google things like Ubuntu, or Ubuntu Mate. You can download it free, and with a little reading you can burn what is called the ISO to a DVD or USB stick and create what is called a 'live' version
What this does, either DVD or USB, is to boot the computer from a dead start into this OS-------without changing anything in your present computer. I runs more slowly off DVD, a little faster off USB, and either are slower than would be if installed on your machine. But this DOES give you an idea of what it is and how it works. It comes by default with Firefox browser.
