upgrade 10.10 dangers?

[Dee_Ann]

Ok, I am waaaay unhappy with everything.

I do not like 11.x at all. I tried it and I hated it so I installed 10.10


I hate the Unity desktop, there is NOTHING I like about it. I also don't like KDE so Kbuntu isn't happening for me.

One of the major complaints I had with 11.x besides the cr*ppy desktop was that it refused to play nice with my M$ shares on a HTPC I run on a separate machine. That machine runs Winblows 7 and has a LOT of stuff on it, 8tb+, I shuffle files back and forth on it on a daily basis.

But now I get the message the 10.10 is no longer supported and I have to upgrade. I don't want to upgrade.

How can I terminate the friggin update notifications? I've disabled them but they still come up every day anyway...


And I suppose I have to ask this question.
My 10.10 also sucks. It has it's own problems but at least the desktop doesn't SUCK like Unity does.


IF, I upgrade, what is the danger that it will hose my stuff and I lose files? I can not take the chance of losing stuff but I can't back up a 2tb disk..

I can't let anything jack with my settings, my browsers, etc..
I've got lots of files, lots of photos, lots of things I can not replace and can not lose.

Is there a chance the upgrade procedure could screw my files? Could it jack with my browsers and their settings and plugins and cookies and passwords?



Also, I see 12.04 will be out soon and the beta is available.
Where can I find info on what it will be like? Like screen shots and feature lists? If it will offer Gnome and not that cr*ppy Unity garbage?

If it's better than the 11.x (that I do not like), how would I upgrade from 10.10 to 12.04? I've downloaded the iso for it but haven't burned it to CD. I typed update-manager -d and it just tells me I can update to 11.04 which I do not want.


Worst case, can I DOWNGRADE to 10.04? Is 10.04 LTS still really supported?

What are my options?

Thanks..

[mörgæs]

If you don't like Unity I recommend a fresh install of Xubuntu 11.10.

You can see the support schedule here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ubuntu_releases#Version_timeline

[jchw]

I was in the same position and a few months ago took the decision to downgrade to 10.04.LTS.

I am very happy with 10.04 it works fine and will be supported I believe for another year. Then I will decide what the next step is which may be a move to Mint unless the desktop issue has been resolved in the meantime.

[Bucky Ball]

Yes, 10.04 LTS will be supported for another year almost to the day! That has a one click upgrade to 12.04 LTS via the update manager when you're ready.

Yes, 12.04 LTS uses Unity but there is a fallback gnome apparently.

Yes, Xubuntu is an option. I only use xfce desktop environment so Unity issues aren't a concern for me.

Here is an option. 12.04 LTS is the first desktop release to be supported for five years rather than three. Xubuntu remains, for some reason, at three years support. So ... you could install 12.04 when you're ready, either by upgrade from 10.04 LTS or fresh, then immediately install 'xfce4', the Xubuntu desktop environment, from software centre. Log out, choose 'xfce session' from the sessions menu and there you have it; no more Unity unless you swap back.

I would suggest installing 10.04, install xfce4 from Synaptics, try it out and see how you go then at 10.04 LTS end-of-life upgrade to 12.04 and keep using xfce. Then you are set for the next five years. ;)

If you don't mind the lesser three year support of Xubuntu, then perhaps install Xubuntu 10.04 and go with that.

A note: LTS to LTS upgrade is always offered. If you are one of the interim releases then yes, you will be offered an upgrade to the next newer release (in your case 11.04 to 11.10 - the only way to 12.04 is 11.04 - 11.10 - 12.04 or a fresh install).