I use LinuxMint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit version as the only OS on my notebook. My notebook is an entry level HP notebook, the HP HP 15-AC040TU 15.6-inch Laptop (Pentium 3825U/4GB/500GB/FreeDOS/Intel HD Graphics), Sparkling Black.
I had bought this notebook for INR 19,699 from the Amazon India website. As you can see in the notebook description above, the processor, Intel® Pentium® Processor 3825U (2M Cache, 1.90 GHz) is a Broadwell microarchitecture CPU with Intel Gen8 graphics.
For more information on this microarchitecture refer the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadwell_(microarchitecture)
The notebook had two partitions and the FreeDOS OS installed. Before the delivery was made, I had researched a bit on the best Linux Distro around and settled on the LinuxMint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit version and had the install DVD ready.
The installation was a breeze and I required the Ethernet connection to install the proprietary device drivers for the WIFI to work. But the Bluetooth just wont work. I thought that maybe the Linux kernel 3.19 that is used in LinuxMint 17.3 was not capable of using the Bluetooth, so I tried using the latest kernels available through the system update utility. But, these did not solve the Bluetooth problem.
Then I searched for something that would help me. The websites that I looked at told me to first find out the make of the Bluetooth component. I did that and it was the Broadcom 43142. Now, many broadcom components are supported by the open source drivers, but this series was not and required the proprietary drivers from Broadcom to work.
After some extensive searching I found this web page: http://askubuntu.com/questions/632336/bluetooth-broadcom-43142-isnt-working-on-ubuntu. Jackpot. I found the way to enable the Bluetooth component. The instructions on the web page did the trick and now the Bluetooth component works.
After setting up the OS I started using the notebook. The notebook boots up pretty fast, the suspend and resume functions flawlessly, the system resource usage is quite low and the system is fast. After some weeks of use I had installed the required software, games, and had accumulated many files and folders on the notebook. I am a big fan of the classic RPG games, well not that classic, but these are the good ones. Like, King's Bounty the Legend, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dragon Age Origins. I have bought these from the GOG website. Dragon Age Origins is now on GOG, and I bought it maybe on the fist day of its availability on GOG. I also have many steam games, like Torchlight 2, Loren the Amazon Princess, Lords of Xulima, and many more. Basically, I got most of my steam games from the Humble Bundles but I have bought some on steam itself like Torchlight 2, Lords of Xulima, Titan Quest, and many more. Well Titan Quest is not yet available for Linux but there was some positive replies by one of its developers to bring this little gem on Linux, so I maybe bought it the second or third day of that developer's reply.
Most of these games are not natively supported on Linux, so I had to take help of the PlayOnLinux software. Installing games through PlayOnLinux is a breeze and not at all complicated, and the games work quite good without any major problems. Maybe I will talk about this in a different post.
So, I have my notebook set as per my requirements and once your system works the way you want it to, why to change. Well, for one, you will get a better graphics stack with the newer OS version. That is true, but by how much will the experience be enhanced. At this moment the LinuxMint 18 distro gives you Mesa 10.2 and the one that is already in use by LinuxMint 17.3 is Mesa 10.1.3. So, you are still stuck with the OpenGL 3.0 experience and not the full OpenGL 4.3 that is exposed by the Pentium 3825U processor. Therefore, It just wont make that much of an impact on the graphics performance. And all the games that I have installed still works good on my present setup.
But, the Mesa 12.1 release has changed this. The new release supports the OpenGL 4.5 version and exposes the full OpenGL 4.3 capability of my Pentium 3825U processor. This Mesa could be included in Ubuntu 16.10 release and therefore in the 16.04.2 release. Now, the 16.04.2 release will be used (In my opinion) for the LinuxMint 18.1 release. And this is when I would suggest the current gen users to make the jump. When will LinuxMint 18.1 be released? Well, it will be after 16.04.2 and this will be released at around Feb 2017. So, you are looking at around June-July 2017 for the LinuxMint 18.1 release. Yes, that sounds about the right time period.
Why only for the new gen users? Well, because Mesa 12.1 exposes the newer OpenGL only for Intel Gen8+ graphics. For older graphics, you will have to wait even more.
For older gen users, or for users that use the proprietary nvidia drivers, you can make the switch anytime you like.
For the current gen, Gen8+ users, I would suggest to wait it out if your systems are working as per your requirement and upgrade when LinuxMint 18.1 is released at around June-July 2017.
I had bought this notebook for INR 19,699 from the Amazon India website. As you can see in the notebook description above, the processor, Intel® Pentium® Processor 3825U (2M Cache, 1.90 GHz) is a Broadwell microarchitecture CPU with Intel Gen8 graphics.
For more information on this microarchitecture refer the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadwell_(microarchitecture)
The notebook had two partitions and the FreeDOS OS installed. Before the delivery was made, I had researched a bit on the best Linux Distro around and settled on the LinuxMint 17.3 Xfce 64-bit version and had the install DVD ready.
The installation was a breeze and I required the Ethernet connection to install the proprietary device drivers for the WIFI to work. But the Bluetooth just wont work. I thought that maybe the Linux kernel 3.19 that is used in LinuxMint 17.3 was not capable of using the Bluetooth, so I tried using the latest kernels available through the system update utility. But, these did not solve the Bluetooth problem.
Then I searched for something that would help me. The websites that I looked at told me to first find out the make of the Bluetooth component. I did that and it was the Broadcom 43142. Now, many broadcom components are supported by the open source drivers, but this series was not and required the proprietary drivers from Broadcom to work.
After some extensive searching I found this web page: http://askubuntu.com/questions/632336/bluetooth-broadcom-43142-isnt-working-on-ubuntu. Jackpot. I found the way to enable the Bluetooth component. The instructions on the web page did the trick and now the Bluetooth component works.
After setting up the OS I started using the notebook. The notebook boots up pretty fast, the suspend and resume functions flawlessly, the system resource usage is quite low and the system is fast. After some weeks of use I had installed the required software, games, and had accumulated many files and folders on the notebook. I am a big fan of the classic RPG games, well not that classic, but these are the good ones. Like, King's Bounty the Legend, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dragon Age Origins. I have bought these from the GOG website. Dragon Age Origins is now on GOG, and I bought it maybe on the fist day of its availability on GOG. I also have many steam games, like Torchlight 2, Loren the Amazon Princess, Lords of Xulima, and many more. Basically, I got most of my steam games from the Humble Bundles but I have bought some on steam itself like Torchlight 2, Lords of Xulima, Titan Quest, and many more. Well Titan Quest is not yet available for Linux but there was some positive replies by one of its developers to bring this little gem on Linux, so I maybe bought it the second or third day of that developer's reply.
Most of these games are not natively supported on Linux, so I had to take help of the PlayOnLinux software. Installing games through PlayOnLinux is a breeze and not at all complicated, and the games work quite good without any major problems. Maybe I will talk about this in a different post.
So, I have my notebook set as per my requirements and once your system works the way you want it to, why to change. Well, for one, you will get a better graphics stack with the newer OS version. That is true, but by how much will the experience be enhanced. At this moment the LinuxMint 18 distro gives you Mesa 10.2 and the one that is already in use by LinuxMint 17.3 is Mesa 10.1.3. So, you are still stuck with the OpenGL 3.0 experience and not the full OpenGL 4.3 that is exposed by the Pentium 3825U processor. Therefore, It just wont make that much of an impact on the graphics performance. And all the games that I have installed still works good on my present setup.
But, the Mesa 12.1 release has changed this. The new release supports the OpenGL 4.5 version and exposes the full OpenGL 4.3 capability of my Pentium 3825U processor. This Mesa could be included in Ubuntu 16.10 release and therefore in the 16.04.2 release. Now, the 16.04.2 release will be used (In my opinion) for the LinuxMint 18.1 release. And this is when I would suggest the current gen users to make the jump. When will LinuxMint 18.1 be released? Well, it will be after 16.04.2 and this will be released at around Feb 2017. So, you are looking at around June-July 2017 for the LinuxMint 18.1 release. Yes, that sounds about the right time period.
Why only for the new gen users? Well, because Mesa 12.1 exposes the newer OpenGL only for Intel Gen8+ graphics. For older graphics, you will have to wait even more.
For older gen users, or for users that use the proprietary nvidia drivers, you can make the switch anytime you like.
For the current gen, Gen8+ users, I would suggest to wait it out if your systems are working as per your requirement and upgrade when LinuxMint 18.1 is released at around June-July 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment