by GB Jim » 06 Mar 2016, 02:31
I decided to take Win7 off of my laptop and go Windozeless as I never used Win7 and spent to much time updating it. I went to DistroWatch and look for operating systems that met my requirements. I decide to upgrade Point to 3.0 also. I decided on Debian and Ubuntu LTS distros that featured the Mate desktop or Gnome 2 (gnome classic) desktops. When you get down to it there are only few that met my requirements, Point being number. one. MInt, Ubuntu Mate, Black Lab, Ultimate Edition, and Sparky Linux where considered.
I didn't consider Rebellin, siduction, or Skolelinux, but they all could be possibilities too.
Utlimate was to heavy with more software than I wanted to remove. I had tried Sparky on a USB drive and was impressed but it seemed buggy on my install. I installed Point 3 on my laptop along with Black Lab and put Ubuntu Mate on my older Desktop along with Zorin 6. I had always like Zorin but didn't care for the way Zorin is headed and how locked down it is now.. Same with Mint, themes and menus have just never appealed to me.
Point 3 seems to render graphics better on my computers, but seems a bit slower and less responsive. It was also missing some software repositories I wanted, like Unetbootin. I downloaded and installed a few programs with gdebi. Otherwise I don't see a huge difference. I do need to find a good replacement for Quicken, as I have decide to not run WINE. Grisbi and Money Manager Ex seem the two best possibilities.
Black Lab and Ubuntu Mate both installed and worked fine. Black Lab does not have a forum of it's own though, which may be a drawback to some. I agree with rob630 that installing Debian is a pain and then you have to install mate separately. Although I love Debian based distros I find myself seeing Ubuntu as my path forward if Point fails. The availability of software, ability to use .deb and gdebi, and Ubuntu's PPA are all a plus for a novice like myself. Having Ubuntu based distros with Mate already installed as the DE is also a plus. If I draw any further conclusions after using the OS's for awhile I will update my opinions.