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.
Linux Mint is definitely the right choice here in my opinion. I installed it for my parent’s on their older laptop when they were having issues running windows. They were blown away by how fast it was and how they could do all of their usual tasks (i.e browsing, financing, basic games, etc.). It will be a great first experience for you!
It’s probably been said, but Ubuntu or one of its variants is really the easiest way to go. Canonical has devoted a great deal of effort to making things easy and intuitive, and a complete novice should be able to get a fully functional system set up within 15 minutes.
I’m already starting to migrate my small office. Two PCs done, a handful of others to go. I have probably three that I’ll run Windows 11 for software compatibility, and another three Mac’s for different software.
Who remembers “Windows 10 will be our last operating system’?” I remember. Fuck Microsoft. Fuck Macs too though.
Start looking at the desktop environments and use a virtual machine/live usb to try them out. For something similar to Windows I’d recommend KDE plasma or Cinnamon, both can be tried out using KDE Neon or Linux Mint.
I’d recommend Zorin. It has a UI similar to windows, easy to get into, great defaults, and being based on Ubuntu, most help on the internet will work just fine
Relax, Microsoft will eventually fix Windows 11, release a decent Windows 12 or extend the support for Windows 10 for so long you won’t be needing Linux anytime soon. :P
My recommendation goes for Debian and install all your software using Flatpak. This way you can get a rock solid OS and all the latest software. Ubuntu might be interesting as it is mostly beginner friendly and has a more cohesive all-in-one solution ou of the box.
Most of the top answers are good so I will emphasize something that others have mentioned as well, which is that one of the lovely things about Linux is that your GUI, your window manager or desktop environment (different things I know, don’t @ me) is up to you.
My personal favorite is xfce, but obviously a lot of people like KDE, Cinnamon, and Mate (mah-tay). There’s of course a whole world of options beyond those, when you’re choosing a distribution, go to the distro’s website, and look at the screenshots. If they have different versions for different desktop environments or window managers, look at all the screenshots. Try to pick one that has a look and layout that looks comfortable to you.
Also backup your home directory. And remember you can always distro hop.
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