Smart choice! The option to just try it in a safe way with the live USB is a good way to try it.
Also try out some of the themes in the settings 😉 The amazing wallpapers of Linux Mint are so fancy, so I decided to use it on my work Windows PC, which I am forced to deal with ☺️
The hardest part will probably be the installation, but if you can follow a youtube guide you’ll be fine. Go for a distro like PopOS or Fedora that have polished out of the box experiences.
I wouldn’t say there’s a place to start. Once you start using programs that are configured through config files, learn about those config files in particular. Eventually, you might find that you prefer editing config files even for programs that have GUI settings - then you dive in more.
Regardless, once your config files become complex enough that you can’t quickly rewrite them if necessary, start looking for a dotfiles manager, tracking them in git, backing them up, etc…
Yes just install something that never breaks, has a graphical appstore with the correct sources, and a good GUI.
I would say try Fedora Silverblue from Ublue.it. it updates automatically (at least it should), and all your apps can be installed from your software store.
.bashrc in your home folder is pretty universal. It’s basically just stuff that gets run when you log into your shell, very useful. Set up some aliases and bash customization.
Assuming your laptop has hardware that has Linux support—wifi cards manufactured by certain companies are what typically make things difficult—a just works distribution like Ubuntu, Mint, and Pop!_OS will have a gentle learning curve for doing things that you want.
Mint is almost purpose made for people new to Linux or for people who just want to use their computer. It also has a large and friendly community around it, so there is community support, if you get stuck or confused on something. My parents, who are no tech people, have been happily using Mint for a couple of years now, with far less headache compared to Windows.
As others have said, the installation of whatever distribution you chose will probably be the most intimidating aspect of switching to Linux. It doesn’t require being technically savy, just a willingness to learn and follow the procedures. It will be helpful to have your phone handy when you are doing the installation, so you can look things up incase there is something you don’t understand.
If there is anything on the laptop that is important to you, back it up. The simplest way to install Linux will make whatever on the drive inaccessible. Additionally, find and record your Windows product key, just incase you want tk go back to Windows.
Linux has come a long way and is very user friendly now that even non-techie people can hit the ground running when using it. Similar to what the other comment mentioned, installing it is like 80% of the hard part. Just pick a distro that is recommended for beginners (i.e. Mint), and read up on a guide for creating a bootable usb installer. Distros like Mint make it very easy to install, you just need to know how to boot it from a usb drive.
Thanks I appreciate the detailed response. Luckily I dont game. I’ll be honest I was hoping/ expecting it to suddenly be twice as fast and that was a major factor in considering linux. But if it decreases overheating I’m still happy with that.
I have been degoogling and going the foss roite on my phone to the point of considering graphene os for my phone too so won’t be going the google route thats for sure.
Even if you wanted to game casually, getting Steam and games running is straightforward these days. You just need to enable Steam Play for all titles in settings.
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