When Windows 10 dies, I am going to jump ship over to Linux. Which version would you recommend for someone with zero prior experience with Linux? **Edit: Linux Mint it shall be.**
Whom also likes to game every now and then ;)
Edit: Thank you all for your input and suggestions! Linux Mint shall be my next OS! Though, I think I’ll give Pop!OS a look-see as well.
Ubuntu, mint, fedora, Manjaro are all pretty much in the same class, and it’s largely irrelevant which you pick. They’re all supported, have decent UI for most of what you want to do, and have good documentation for how to do it.
It’s not too difficult to change distros without having to move all your data once you’re switched, so it doesn’t matter too much, and you’ll probably try a couple before finding the one with the best menus for you.
I would recommend endeavor over manjaro. Manjaro has issues with the aur.
And I’d recommended if either of these are your first foray into linux, then dual boot with a windows install still functioning (because a noobie will break arch once or twice)
This is not distro specific advice but: when starting out you can use a virtual machine like VMware to test drive Linux without having to repartition your drive. VMware is free for individual non commercial use.
I would unironically recommend arch to anyone who has a large steam library, and id recommend KDE Plasma as the desktop. Valve uses Arch as a base, and KDE as their desktop mode environment, so a lot of games on steam are tested in this environment via proton.
I would not recommend it to newcomers to start with, but as a “learn about linux and work your way towards arch” type of ordeal. Arch would be the endgoal, not the starting line.
Depends. Whatever choice you pick - go with Plasma (KDE) desktop. Most of below choices have alternative desktop flavors that offer Plasma instead of Gnome.
If your goal is to play games - something like Bazzite might work.
If your goal is to have a desktop experience with some gaming, something like NobaraOS or PopOS would work.
If your goal is only desktop experience - ubuntu will work.
If your goal is to learn and have super awesome Linux desktop - Arch Linux.
Personally I am in Arch Linux for the past decade. Tried many different ones and Arch Linux is the only one that simply “just works” for me. Not suitable for beginners.
Yes Linux Mint. You CAN migrate later to other distros without losing your data so feel free to test others out later when you feel ready and know more about them.
So much stability and reliability, while modern packages. Just using Debian or Mint (Ubuntu LTS with an outdated Desktop and opinionated theming) is not a solution for a good experience, as you need updates.
Btw I broke every other Distro before, so I ended up on Fedora Kinoite
You can always start sooner and dual boot on Linux Mint to get familiar test your usecases. I have been dual booting and haven’t logged into Windows in over 6 months. Gaming is pretty good for many games on Linux.
Food for thought: you should start getting familiar with Linux, either with Virtualbox/VMware, or dual booting right now. When the time comes and Win10 reaches EOL, you know you will find reasons to just go with the flow and stay with Microsoft.
As for what flavor? There are a few that come to mind as “windowy”: Zorin, Mint, and the anything that uses KDE Plasma. Personally, I prefer Pop!_OS because I use MacOS as well and prefer that feel to windows a bit more, and System76 has done a fantastic job of making a polished product.
That’s what I did, anyway. The mental load of still having windows to fall back on if I couldn’t do something helped make the anxiety lighter and also helped me be motivated to try new things out. I couldn’t imagine having to learn something with a gun to my head!
Linux Mint is great, I used it as a daily driver in college on an old IBM T42, however, modern Linux on a modern PC – Debian/Ubuntu with KDE.
Basically, Kubuntu.
Kubuntu gets you off the ground running with Debian core, KDE Plasma, which is familiar to the Windows workflow and all the compatibility of Debian/Ubuntu. Steam and Proton work FLAWLESSLY via Vulkan API. Zero loss of performance.
If you want to spend a ton of time relearning an OS/tinkering however, get some flavor of Arch.
The AUR is crazy, it’s like a huge software library and the Wiki is expansive, BUT, you will be relearning absolutely everything.
Sorry other Linux people, I’m a jaded lifelong Windows user, who unironically uses Kubuntu and Artix on seperate machines.
You should try a bunch and see what you really like! The beauty of Linux is there’s so much out there that you’ll almost definitely find one that gels with you.
A good place to start is Linux mint! The best way I can describe it is a blend of all the best parts of windows 7, 10 and 11 with very few of the downsides. You’ll almost definitely settle in quickly and you might never want to switch as it’s very full featured, snappy and well put together. It was designed for people wanting that Linux experience while still feeling familiar to windows users.
Another one to try if you love customisability is ZorinOS. There’s a free and paid tier, both of which are excellent with the free tier offering layouts for old and new windows and Mac like experience and the paid tier (only around £30 for a lifetime licence) has layouts and customisability for absolutely everything else and extra tools and options for those that want more of that!
Pop OS is great because of up to date kernel and drivers, and they even have a specific version created for nvidia gpus, on disadvantage is that gnome version is a bit old, but its very stable at least
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