Migrating between Operating Systems

Introduction

When switching between Linux Distributions, Windows or MacOS migrating your system to another can often be difficult, this guide aims to try tackle this problem when migrating to and from Arch, Debian, Fedora, Windows and MacOS. More distributions may be added to this guide at some point and if your disribution isn't listed you can reference the general information section applies to switching to almost any distribution from any operating system and the information for Arch, Debian and Fedora should apply to most deriative distributions.

General Information

Multi Booting

GRUB, with entries for Ubuntu and Windows Vista, an example of dual booting.

Multi Booting (Or often refered to as 'Dual Booting') is the process of installing multiple Operating Systems (OS) on your device. It is an especially useful tactic for distrohoppers, people new to Linux by allowing users to test or use an OS without completly removing their current one. Doing so requires a bootloader (Such as GRUB) setup and the user to parititon the storage medium on their device and then install the operating systems with a CD or USB Flash Drive.

When dualbooting Linux and Windows it is best to first install Windows as it will likely override the Linux bootloader when installing its own bootloader. It is also highly reccomended to backup any files on the OS that is already on the device (If changing a single boot machine to a multi-boot machine). For a more comprehensive guide on how to dual boot see the Multi Booting page.

Finding Alternatives or Workarounds for Apps

Often there is at least one application missing on Linux or an app that is missing some features or is buggy so you'll find yourself looking for alternative options. There also sometimes is the issue that your distribution doesn't have an app but another distribution does have it.

A good place to start when looking for alternatives is AlternativeTo which is a crowdsourced site useful to find alternatives for almost any app. Other useful sites include Privacy Tools and Awesome Privacy with a privacy focused list of apps.

When looking for workarounds for apps not supported for your distribution you should first check Flathub and Snapcraft (Note that Snaps are known to have performance issues) if your app is available there as they offer support for most distributions. If a steam game lacks native Linux support try checking ProtonDB if Valve's proton tool supports your game. Wine is also an option to run Windows apps on Linux.