I have to, first of all, admit that I change my mind every so often. Fall last year, in the midst of my frustration with the slowness of my netbook, which had Windows 7 Starter edition pre-installed,  I decided to buy and extra memory bar. With that 1 GB added, it was still very slow. I eventually decided to install Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) hoping to gain the speed. After turning off most of the fancy graphic elements, including the cool animation, that came with Gnome 3, I finally got a system that was quite speedy and stable. But still, I had some reservations. There were moments when it took longer than it had to whenever I tried to log in to a new wifi environment.

With that, as soon as I saw an opportunity to install the then newly-released Windows 8, I decided to re-migrated to Windows. The re-migration happened on a cold Spring afternoon of 2013. I deleted the Linux partitions altogether. After that, I lived quite happily with my Windows 8–which was significantly faster than Windows 7 but still slower than Ubuntu 12.04–for some time. It was quite good, until I realized that the system downloaded updates every so often. Only during the first couple of minutes after I started the computer did the computer sometimes freeze for a couple of seconds. Fair enough, I thought. However, the moment the download kicked in, the computer became very slow. And that, like I said, was quite often.

Finally–I think I should consider stopping the use of this transitional adverb, since I don’t think I’ll ever reach a final destination in this OS odyssey–I decided last week that I had to return to a linux system that’s more tolerable towards computer units with limited resources. This time, however, I tried to be more open-minded, looking for some recommended distro. My google search for “the best linux distro in 2013” returned some interesting findings, including the news about Linux Mint’s popularity among computer units with limited resources. Every reviewer I read said that Linux Mint is the most stable system–even a little more stable than its derivational parent, Ubuntu–thanks to its consistent use of Gnome 2 in spite of people’s craze over the coolness that Gnome 3 has got to offer.

So, I then prepared to install Linux Mint to my system, but I didn’t want to repeat this migration and re-migration process again and again, only because I missed using certain programs that only Windows can host. Alright, I tried to open up to any possibilities. That’s when I found that Linux Mint has a special offer to install the system within Windows. That way, I don’t need to worry about deleting my Windows partition along with its tiny little programs. My expectation was quite low. I kind of expected that my experience with Linux Mint would not be as positive as what the reviewers said because I didn’t really do a fresh installation. Regardless, I went ahead and installed Linux Mint. Apparently, it turned out that my Linux Mint is as “normal” and fast and stable as what those reviewers said. I haven’t found any additional problems related to its cohabitation with Windows 8 in the same partition. It only adds 5-8 extra seconds during the booting, but of course I could use 5-8 extra seconds to prepare a glass of water–remember, drink 1 gallon of water each day!–before starting my netbookial activities.

Before I end this session, let me just make it clear that Linux Mint (my version is Linux Mint 15 Olivia) is a very stable system and very old-machine-friendly. In addition to that, I just realized that Linux now can fully benefit from the great service provided by the honorable Dropbox.com. So, I guess there’s no reason anymore, so far, to regret my decision to invite Olivia to move in with Windows 8 in the warmth and coziness of my netbook, the picture of which is embedded below.