Mint is my favourite beginner distro, can't really go wrong with it. What's your main use for your PC (gaming, office, development etc.)? There are some distros that are more well suited for certain tasks.
LMDE is also good, just a different version of Mint. Basically works the same.
I'm currently daily driving LMDE after some time. For OP it probably won't matter so choosing main line mint might be better.
Linux Mint all the way.
I've never used it but that should be fine
Linux mint
fun fact: my first experience of Linux was actually in Ubuntu (in a emulator ofc), and yes Im thinking of using mint
Also try LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition). I think it's their best flavor actually, but not enough people know about it and usually only try the regular Mint.
oooh I'll definitely try that first
can recommend mint too after using it for nearly half a year now, without issues
Curious, why not Ubuntu? Doesn't it have more support forums and generally more popular?
Almost all of those support forms are from way back when Ubuntu was user friendly and community driven. However they are no longer serving the community and shouldn't be considered user friendly like it was previously.
Anyway almost all of the Ubuntu specific stuff will work on Linux mint as its Ubuntu based.
I recommend first switching Windows-only software to crossplatform software so you won’t have to get used to another operating system and different software at the same time.
For example: LibreOffice, Firefox, etc
Mint is my recommendation, having using it myself for many years now.
If you have a Nvidia GPU, a case could be made for POP! due to the built in drivers, but installing Nvidia drivers is rather painless in Mint.
Then do it? It's a free operating system -- just download whatever distro pleases you, give it a spin, see what happens.
I would but I am pretty worried about my files being lost, plus I'm waiting until I get a better device
From personal experience: if you're trying to dual-boot with Windows, I recommend using completely separate drives (rather than separate partitions). Windows is very shitty about overwriting your Linux boot partitions when it updates. Having a separate drive isn't fool-proof, but it helps.
I haven't needed Windows in >10 years though, so maybe it's not as shitty about that, but I recommend caution.
I'm on a single ssd dual boot setup with encryption (LUKS for Linux / Bitlocker for Windows) for over 2 years. Never had any problems.
I used this guide back then. Hope it'll help you op.
I would do this if I knew how to install separate drives, and if my main PC wasn't a laptop
Maybe invest in an external drive you can copy important files to. Dual booting is usually issue free but it's always possible to have data loss in general. Data loss, especially data that is personally important to you is a tragedy.
you can install seperate drives on a laptop and dualboot, I know it because I did it before
TELL ME ASAP, I'll try to find the specs of my laptop, PLEASE TELL ME
Back in the late 1900s, you could open a laptop and remove a hard drive with only a #2 phillips screw driver. So I think they mean that. Physically remove your Windows drive, install a fresh drive, install/play/learn Linux. With your Windows drive disconnected, you can do ANYTHING in Linux without fear of losing any data on that other drive.
Frustrated and just "need to work"? Reverse the process back to the Windows drive.
Feeling a little more confident and want to access your files on the Windows drive? Get a SATA-USB adapter. No need to go all enclosure just yet as that just adds steps when you need the Windows setup.
Comfortable in Linux? Copy your important data over to the Linux system, format the original drive, NOW put it in an enclosure for a handy backup drive.
Feeling confident in your newfound prowess? Connect that external drive to a Raspberry Pi and turn the Pi into a basic NAS, maybe drop a little VPN on it, and now you can access that device/drive from anywhere. At the very least, you now have a place to backup important data in case the laptop falls into a volcano. Hell, now you've got a reason to subscribe to SelfHosted & HomeLab.
Reference: 1998-2001 I ran a "dual boot" using removable hard drive bays on a full tower system. As noted above, Windows can sometimes mess up what makes your dual boot possible.
Currently running Mint on an older HP Envy AMD laptop to get back into the Linux swing. Win10 is my daily driver on the desktop from that need of things to work. When you're fixing other people's/company's computers all day, the last thing you want to do is work on your own computer. That and a lack of real gaming support/documentation forever ago is what pushed me back to Windows. The old argument of "Linux is free" wasn't too heavy a talking point when MS kept giving me free licenses to stick with what I was more comfortable with. Win11 reminds me of Win8, reminds me of WinME, and the cycle of MS dysfunction continues. I want off the ride.
With Gaming as viable as it is on Linux, plus much nicer tools for VMs (AND Docker exists now), I've got about year to convert my daily driver desktop (2025 end of Win10).
Oh and I did try to put Arch on that laptop. It was overwritten by Mint as soon as it booted up without a GUI. Now, might of been my fault for using a "base image" or something, but again I need it to just work without spending what limited time I have trying to make it work. But hey, at least folks aren't trying to get you to install Slackware from 3.5" floppies.
depends onthd laptop mine wasas sjmplle as opening it and puting another ssd inside. tell me what laptop us it
speaking of Linux, I was supposed to upgrade to Linux when I got my new laptop, but forgot about it, sorry!
Yeah, I'm getting sick of these recommend-a-distro threads
Try it with a Live USB stick. And maybe don't listen to the people recommending Ubuntu. It's somewhat okay, but they regularly do annoying business decisions that affect their users. I'd rather start with Mint or something.
There are many other websites dedicated to this question:
thats sounds nice, I'll test it with my Chromebook first (after upgrading my specs ofc)
For the love of god and all that is holy just use mint cinnamon it's the easies most stable with little learning curve ever. High performance great for work gaming browsing whatever lol. If you can use windows 7/10 you can use mint cinnamon
I'll add that to my VM list!
LMDE
Mint cinnamon
plain old mint
Pop OS
Ubuntu
Planning to finally boot up my VM after procrastinating, anything else?
I've been using Mint for quite a while now on a spare machine and it's the first linux strain that has me not giving up in frustration. I can definitely recommend.
Another thing, I would've play with it first on a VM, like VirtualBox.
I wouldn't immediately wipe Windows if I were you. I'd do dualboot with Windows.
Then, when you're ready, stay with dualboot system or go full neckbeard /j
I'm actually thinking of dualboot on windows, gonna mess around to a VM!
You can also run many distros "live" from the install media without installing anything, to get a feel for them and to check that mosts things work (network, sound, movies etc.) You can make a bootable stick and choose the live option when it boots.
Why don't you try becoming comfortable with Linux while using it in a Virtual Machine? I tried different distros too, and then I decided which one was the best for me.
We can't really suggest you one, if we don't know what you are going to use it for.
You may want to do some research, because different distros have different purposes (gaming, privacy, programming, easy to use etc etc).
Let us know, what your use cases will be?
https://distrochooser.de/ is a great tool that help to understand what the different distros can do.
Also, you should probably know that selecting a distro is more about selecting the underlying OS and less about the UI (DE).
Most distros support the top 5 Desktop Environments (DE for short). And selecting a DE can be just as important.
guess I'm booting up my VM again!!
Mint is the most mentioned choice and an extremely great beginner distro with an huge community.
ZorinOS will get a big update very soon and is also a very good choice. It was my first distro, especially because it looks very modern and pleasing.
If you're a tiny bit more advanced and get the basics, then you might take a look at the immutable Fedora variants like Silverblue.
They have many advantages compared to traditional distros like the two mentioned above, but atomic Linux is a relatively new concept.
I also find them easier to understand and use, and, imo, they're even more user friendly, but not as refined.
Mint
Linux Mint and Pop!_OS are great options
I would recommend using one of the distros backed by a big company or have very long track records. They are less likely to break on updates, and have a higher chance of supporting any uncommon hardware you may have.
Fedora
Ubuntu
Mint
Pop OS
If you have new hardware (e.g. GPU newer than 6 months) you will probably have issues. Follow the recommendations from the hardware supplier, or use something arch based. I used Manjaro a while when I got new hardware.
Besides those tips, you should decide which desktop environment you like best. I prefer gnome, as I enjoy to spend time in apps and not on in settings. Others prefer customization. Have a look at https://youtu.be/09cYQJBgKEs?si=KX8FZeMRcMlPTzG2
I've been linux-curious on-and-off for years. I've toyed with it several times but always gone back to Windows eventually. I have a laptop with a 7th gen Intel CPU that is not supported on Windows 11, so I decided to wipe it and threw the latest version of Linux Mint on it. Everything (except for a fingerprint reader) worked straight out of the figurative box, and I've been happily running it on that machine for about 6 months now. I think Mint is a good choice if you want a simple windows-like experience.
I still have a desktop PC running Windows for games and Adobe Lightroom and stuff, but I won't be going back to Windows on that laptop.
A couple of assumptions I will be making:
Your hardware is supported; consider to check driver support over at linux-hardware.org. Honestly, most hardware should be well-supported, unless it has been released very recently or is hardware from known troublemakers (i.e. Nvidia GPUs or Broadcom etc).
Your 'computer-literacy' is at least (slightly) higher than average.
You've primarily used Windows in the past.
You prefer asking others instead of finding it out for yourself; the existence of this post supports that. (It's either that or you like to have a second opinion in all cases; but I would have expected more input from you if that was the case 😅.)
Your hardware is somewhat modern.
You will mostly stick to defaults (at least initially).
You're aware that while hundreds of actively maintained distros exist, most of them are either niche or not worth your time in the first place. If, from the remaining ones, the less impactful derivatives are surgically removed, followed by the removal of newbie-unfriendly distros, then only 10-20 distros would remain; most of which have been named in this thread already. And your needs dictate which one out of these would suit you best.
You will educate yourself regarding desktop environments like GNOME, KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, Xfce etc. Perhaps you will even boot into a live environment to check them out for yourself; loading a bunch of distros on your USB through Ventoy is excellent for that. This is important as they're arguably the biggest contributor to how you perceive your Linux system. You should also be aware that in almost all cases a second (or heck; even third, fourth etc) desktop environment can be installed on your system and you should be able to switch between them relatively easily. However, in most cases, the one provided on first installation works close to flawless while others that have been tacked on later on are generally less polished.
You will educate yourself (eventually) regarding universal package managers (read: AppImage, Flatpak, Nix and Snap) and Distrobox as collectively they've (mostly) ridden the Linux ecosystem of problems related to software not being packaged in the native repos. Don't feel the need to indulge into all of them simultaneously from the get-go. But be aware that they exist and that they enable one to install (almost) any package that has been made available to Linux regardless of their chosen distro.
Any distro I should use?
Typically, distros like Arch, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, openSUSE, Pop!_OS and Ubuntu (or their derivatives) will be mentioned in these kinds of queries. And it becomes mostly a popularity poll that measures what the community thinks is the preferred distro for beginners. And honestly, I don't blame them as you haven't really given us a lot to work with. My entry to that popularity poll would be Linux Mint. If you prefer to use GNOME or KDE Plasma instead, then consider either Fedora or openSUSE Tumbleweed. Additionally, Pop!_OS should be considered if Nvidia causes problems on all the others.
Feel free to inquire if you so desire!
EDIT: I just noticed how you mentioned to someone that your use case will be primarily gaming. First of all, gaming is somewhat equal on most distros; especially with the likes of Bazzite-Arch and Conty providing excellent environments for gaming regardless of installed distro. Though, these containers do still rely on the hosts kernel, therefore any perceived difference on same hardware but different kernels might be attributed to said kernels. Newer kernels generally come with improved performance; at least for newer hardware*. Though, perhaps more performance could be gained through other means as well. I will spare you the details, however, as this is potentially another rabbit hole within the initial rabbit hole. Therefore, instead, I will name a couple of distros known for being excellent for gaming purposes: Bazzite, Garuda Linux, Nobara Linux, PikaOS and RegataOS. If you want a no-nonsense system, just go for Bazzite; while initial setup might seem slightly more involved, it's by far the most robust system out of these. This does come at the cost of being 'unique' amongst the others, but I believe it's a great fit for your use case.
Completely agree that these kinds of threads end up being more a popularity poll than anything more actionable and usable. Everyone has their own opinions and preferences (which is great!), but that can end up being extremely overwhelming for a newbie.
sorry for being inactive here, I have other things happening at the moment. i'm just gonna put some stuff here
You will mostly stick to defaults (at least initially).
Kinda, I recently started to get interested in modding! It isn't stuff like homebrew (although I was planning to root my phone, until OEM unlock was disabled. Thanks wiko.), I mostly just use something like vencord and Bloxstrap (just tweaks the Roblox client a bit, no exploits tho) This might be not seen as modding, but who cares.
Your 'computer-literacy' is at least (slightly) higher than average.
slightly, I do know how to use HTML to an extent, and can know whats the difference between RAM and hard drives, I still have a long way to go.
Ok here are some of the specs that I can remember (I'm currently not home as of typing this)
I have a HP 2022 Laptop, decent enough to play games
I have a 512 hard drive and 12 GB of RAM
only has 2 USB ports, most of it was replaced by type C, so dual booting with.something USB related might be hard
Dabbled a bit into linux with a VM (a few years ago tho, it was Ubuntu)
and thats all I could remember, I do plan to do an update post after trying out some distros on a VM, hopefully it works!
Mint is good, unless it's very new hardware in which case the base (so things like drivers) can be a little dated.
Look up Ventoy. It's a tool where you can put multiple ISOs onto one USB drive and boot into any of them. You can use that to try out a few distros. Maybe Mint, Fedora, PopOS, Ubuntu.
Had not heard of Ventoy before, thanks alot!
Switched from Windows to Linux Mint few months ago, customized the look a bit and love it so far.
From my experience, download many distros from Linux Mint to Zorin, maybe Fedora and OpenSuse if you want something non Ubuntu bases, or Manjaro and Endeavor OS if you are up for a challenge.
Then install them in a Virtual Machine like Virtual Box. This way you can test which OS you like, and see if the software you want works.
In my experience the Desktop Environment makes the biggest impact on your user experience.
Followed by the package manager (app store)
Then available software (steam lutris libre office)
Finally the terminal for when things go south (or you installed arch)
Absolutely!
I started with mint. Hated it.
Ubuntu, Pop_Os. Hated it.
Fedora. Hated it.
Archlinux, okay, but not so much.
Manjaroo, hated it.
And now I settled with Garuda and Nobara. Like them.
I used Nobara for niche gaming (rarely use it now).
And Garuda Linux for dev work, and downloading and installing stuff, including proprietary packages. And I don't have to configure all the things to make it capable of allowing me to download stuff from all the nice mirrors, such as the community arch mirror.
Nobara, on the other hand, is great at handling compatibility issues kinda out of the box. Such [Edit1: as GPU] drivers.
The reason I disliked the aforementioned distros was solely because of how much involved I had to be to configure them to integrate with my rare WiFi chip drivers, which triggered me when I banged my head at the keyboard for hours only to find out that my WiFi driver was not supported.
But Garuda and Nobara or a blessing, and a chef's kiss.
That's coming from a person who tried more than 20+ distros and/or their derivatives.
[Edit2:] All in all, I would recommend what the comment above suggested, as that will help you find your own path. The samurai path, the kenjutsu path, or the kendo path, the peaceful path, or the hackers path. ;)
[Edit3: sorry Debian users, but I DID try your distros, I just didn't want to bother with them much as they had compatibility issues too !]
I've been wanting to do this for years, and tried several years ago but my AMD graphics card didn't have available drivers. I now have an rtx 2070 super, do you know if it's compatible?
I saw in a comment above that mint cinnamon is great for gaming, does that use wine or something similar? The gaming aspect is really holding me back.
Also slight concern with my dev environment but I'm sure that's been solved 100 different ways.
Drivers. I've yet to run across any major issues except for Intel Compute not working with Davinci Resolve but that's well documented.
Now for gaming on Linux. There are 2 ways to game on Linux.
Native ports. Most valve games and some third parties (mostly indie) are natively compatible. I've had no issues playing these ports and they run like any other application.
Windows Compatibility Layer. Now asking for 20+ year old games to be ported to Linux is a bit of an ask. Let alone asking devs to add Linux support to their games when Linux had such a small install base.
So what some very smart devs did, was make 2 pieces of software that makes playing native Windows games on Linux possible.
WINE, or WIne Is Not an Emulator, is a compatibility layer to run native Windows Software in Linux. With a primary focus on Windows System Calls. Gaming in wine isn't graphically the best.
Then there is DXVK, or Direct X to Vulkan compatibility layer, which translates DX9-DX11 code to the open source Vulkan that runs in Linux. Intel's Arc graphics uses this for their legacy compatibility.
Now you don't need to worry about installing any of this since Valve packages these apps, and some choice software like .Net Runtime in a package called Proton. This is a checkbox in Steam and when Steam Play is enabled, the Windows versions of games will be installed and will work.
Compatibility is very good at this point but there are edge cases that still need to be ironed out. Like anti cheat, DRM, and more.
Lutris is another prices of software that can be used like Steam Play but for non steam games. Its also good, but can be fiddly.
Install process is no more involved than actual Windows, but when a Ubisoft game crashes it won't take your entire machine down with it.
mint if you are after a general purpose distro more specialised ones I might be able to recommend if you specify your interests
Use a VM and play with different DEs
Fedora is a good base and comes with most DEs as spins so you don't have to swap live.
Choose the one you like the most.
Personally, XFCE for all around customization amd performance, KDE for out of box solid functionality (and wayland if you care).
Once you feel comfortable, then go ahead and install or dual boot.
Silverblue is okay but kinda overrated because Flatpaks are not a silver bullet and will break or have basic FS dependency issues. Plus, it's not a great intro to Linux experience because you can't shoot yourself in the foot easily most tutorials on Linux will be for a regular system.
As for the distros themselves:
::: spoiler spoiler
Arch: Bleeding edge and you want to actually suffer every time you boot.
Manjaro: Arch but supposed to work out of box.
Debian: The King of stability at the cost of slower package updates
Fedora: Cutting edge and works out of box unlike Arch
Ubuntu: Useless Canonical distro that is heavily dated
Pop! OS and ElementaryOS: user friendly downstream of Ubuntu that suffer the same issues as Ubuntu.
Linux Mint: Ubuntu if it was actually good except it's still a downstream so still has aforementioned Ubuntu issues.
Gentoo: You want something completely custom
Slackware: You want a classic Unix like machine but with Linux
RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/Oracle/Etc: Enterprise Linux (server usage and desktop usage)
OpenSUSE: The RPM equivalent of Arch & Debian (comes in rolling and stable releases). So you can choose bleeding edge or stability.
:::
Personally, I have stuck with Fedora for a long time. Debian or OpenSUSE would be second choice. Arch only if I'm forced to like the steam deck lol.
Also ArchWiki is your friend. Even if you're on any other distro, it has a wealth of the latest information and tutorials for whatever you want or need.
In the somewhat distant future you're looking to switch to Linux. Okay, the question of distros can wait.
What you want to do in the not-too-distant-future if possible is start finding FOSS alternatives to the software you use. Stuff like LibreOffice and Krita have Windows versions, so in the meantime start learning and using those apps. Because that's the real pain point.
As for distro...distros don't really matter. Most of the user experience comes from the desktop environment, and that's a matter of preference so personal that the real answer is "try several and use the one you like."
ok, is gimp supported with linux?
Yes. Very yes. the G in GIMP stands for GNU. GIMP ran on Linux before it ran on Windows.
mega thanks!
Don't use Manjaro, wordt mistake you could make
what would happen tho?
It's bugged. kernel, wifi, dual screens and any others issues will became your daily routine if you install it. Stick with Debian if you want a really reliable distro while learning some basics linux commands, or stick with linux mint.
will take note! Actually using mint on a vm at the moment, trying to see if i can the desktop environment tho
good distro for beginners. Also i recommend using Arch's wiki, useful even if you dont use Arch, you can find it there : https://wiki.archlinux.org/
thannks
I think i meant the theme agh
gotta go soon cya
Most distros are running the same software. The biggest difference is your package manager & community. Personal preference is NixOS but that ain’t beginner-friendly even if the rollbacks from bad states would help. Arch isn’t as difficult to set up as it used to be & has been more stable than a lot of distros in my experience so I wouldn’t discount it but .pacnew files can bite you if modifying in /etc instead of in the home folder (when possible). Of the things folks normally suggest as a first go, Fedora would probably be my pick (not yet had a problem) as everything Ubuntu-based still rubs me wrong for support & leadership.
I actually disagree on what the biggest difference is. For the average everyday user, the biggest difference is the desktop environment. Having a desktop environment that the user finds intuitive, easy, and is stable is by far the most important thing.
93 comments after a post like this, are you guys nuts?
I guess (almost) everyone here wants to recommend their own distro
think that's the case lol
126 (or 127) comments now, why does this have 115 upvotes dear god
EndeavorOS. It’s based on arch which has great nvidia driver packages if that's your thing and the arch wiki is amazing.
A nice package manager wrapper is bundled. Do yay \ to search for any package and install it; do yay (nothing else) to upgrade everything, and yay -Rcns \ to remove stuff and all their unused dependencies. I also recommend chaoticAUR which is also easy to setup. What is the AUR, you ask? A repository for user-created ways to install TONS of stuff, think homebrew (including cask, unseparated) but on Linux
For the DE I recommend MATE but you can select any of the major ones in the installer
Get synapse for a spotlight-like search; it uses the alt+space keybind by default
EndeavorOS. It’s based on arch
So, do you hate OP or what? They may get over the installation easier but then what?
WDYM? Why do you think Arch is hard to use?
Are you being serious right now?
Giving Arch to a complete beginner is like throwing a non-swimmer into the pool.
Arch is at most as a hard to use as Debian once you've got it installed, not to mention EndeavourOS's Welcome app
I like Endeavor. But it isn't right for a new user.
Here is butnone example: on most user friendly distros, connecting to share and other computers on their network is easy.
In endeavor it is not shipped with samba. Yet the desktop environments have icons to browse the network.
Now you and I know you simply add the smb packages you want, write a conf file and it will work.
But a new person doesn't know that. Or how to do that.
And that is just one example.
Ah, well I usually just share with cloud drive services like I did on Windows. Soom food for thought though.
But regardless of what distro they use, they're probably going to have to Google stuff every now and then. If they're not ready for that, then maybe they're not ready for Linux.
I switched a few months ago, and EndeavorOS is the only distro I've used and see no reason to switch. It's been fantastic.
I'd start with Ubuntu. If there's any niche software, it will probably run on Ubuntu/debian distros.
Second for Ubuntu. I've never felt a need to switch.
For 17 years now... Main machine hasn't been reinstalled since 2014...
Pop OS is the best to start with, it's awesome.
heard it works best with nividia's gpu's, I have an AMD GPU on a decent laptop, is that good enough?
So basically nvidia makes their drivers on Linux a pain to install and use and Linux's creator has called them out on it in the past. So PopOS is known for having tools that make getting them working easier.
AMD on the other hand has open source drivers so they are right in the kernel. So their GPUS are just plug and play like a USB mouse
Hmm I haven't heard that Nvidia works better than Amd ever actually.
Amd drivers are included on the kernel so it will just work on all distributions. So I would give it a shot, don't think you will have any problems. :)
If you want something that looks and behaves much like the Windows desktop environment, use Linux Mint. If you want something closer to the macOS environment, use Pop OS.
For a macOS-like environment I'd also recommend Elementary OS.
I can tell you how not to choose a distro: what its screenshots look like or what its default desktop environment is. Many begin shopping around for a distro that suits them best, which means visiting a website like DistroWatch.com, looking at the various screen shots, and picking one that looks nice. But any Linux distro can be made to look like any other distro without too much effort, what you see in the screen shots is just the default look. Really, the the screen shots should be the least of your concerns.
So don't worry about Xfce, KDE, Gnome, LXDE, LXQt or whatever else right now, you can try all of those in good time. First, just get Linux and, worry about figuring out which apps that you can get that work best for your work flow. Almost none of the apps you use now are available in Linux, the hardest part is figuring out how to replace the apps you use daily right now.
You should choose the distribution with the best web service, and the best apps.
Is the service reliable? Do they have a good team of people making sure the packages are always online, and making sure they are providing timely security updates?
Do they have corporate, or non-profit, sources of funding? Do you trust the people who are running it?
Do they have the apps you want, are the apps up to date? Do they have things you need, like word processing, presentation software, photo scrap booking, file sharing, video editing, music editing, personal organizers, video conferencing (can you install Zoom, for example?). Can you easily install Flatpaks or AppImages?
Many of the really big Linux distros all provide completely reliable service, which satisfy the above requirements, but I recommend any of the following four:
Mint
Fedora
Ubuntu
Pop!_OS
Mint and Fedora are community-run with backing from various sponsors, Ubuntu is run by the Canonical corporation, Pop!_OS is developed by the System 76 company (a medium sized US-based business that sells laptops and PCs).
First time? Use Ubuntu. Not only is it easy to use and a good UX overall, most tutorials assume a Ubuntu based distro (there are differences between distros that can be...hard to translate over). That's going to be really useful when you're looking up how to do stuff
Another vote for Ubuntu.
I tried it as my first Linux distro about 5 years ago. There was some learning curve, but I really enjoyed it.
I've been using it for 5 years now. I'm glad I switched from windows!
thanks!!!
Parent comment is right. The body of documentation generated for Ubuntu by the community is an enormous asset. It's one of the important side effects of it being the most used distro.
Parent comment is wrong. The default UX used in Ubuntu may actually be confusing for newbies, as it’s quite different compared to Windows. Just check some screenshots or videos and you can see for yourself. I’d instead recommend going for a distro which uses a more familiar UX (ie the Desktop Environment).
Perhaps a distro which uses KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon, MATE or LXQt by default (these are "desktop environments" (DE) - which is a collection of the desktop shell components (eg start menu, taskbar, dock etc) plus default applications that go with it eg the file manager, document viewer etc). A desktop environment like the ones I mentioned above, in their default settings, should be familiar to most Windows users. Now whilst you can install any DE on any distro, it can be a daunting task for newbies, plus, the settings might not be optimal for you. So it's better to go with a distro that comes with such easy-to-use DEs by default. Examples of such distros include Linux Mint and Zorin. These, by default, should look quite familiar to you, and should be even more easier to use than Ubuntu.
Both Mint and Zorin are based on Ubuntu, so most of the documentation for Ubuntu should be relevant to Mint and Zorin as well. But if you’re not sure, just include quotes for your distro when you’re doing a web search, eg how do I do this in Linux "Mint" will ensure you’ll only get results with “Mint” in the page.
Mint is a good beginner distro and has many guides available. Try LMDE
To break from the trend (because I recommend Mint as well),
Check out the options on distrowatch.com, test out any live distros you can. When you have some understanding of GRUB then dual boot, and then triple.
Inevitably, you're going to end up using Arch because it's so easily managed and you get to choose each component. But it's better if you have experience with the different components first. I completely missed out on learning RPM (package manager), I went from Mint (apt) to Arch (pacman). I did resurrect a lot of old laptops and desktops with various different distros though, and I learned Gnome and xfce, LXDE, MATE, and i3, xmonad..
There's a lot to learn but it's all fun, and it's all different. When you go to a tiling window manager, you'll understand why Windows adopted (albeit shittily) tiling in it's latest version.
whoa, actual good info! Thank you kind stranger, i will use this!!!
Know that you'll probably hate what you try first. Personally I say you shouldn't use Pop_OS!, but its better than being scared of making a wrong choice. "distrohopping" is a great way to learn.
tldr: just do it
I would but personal issues are holding me back atm
If you game, and especially if you use nvidiva, I'd recommend Pop!_OS or Nobara.
I'll take note
Get Ubuntu, Mint, or PopOS don't bother with the others at first as it will be more difficult to find help on forums with lesser known versions of Linux. If you have an Nvidia as your main graphics card you might have a better time with PopOS as it comes pre configured with the right drivers and everything.
I was impressed by how streamlined and intuitive EndeavorOS (with Plasma) is out of the box when I threw it on a friend's computer. Will probably switch to it myself shortly.
update: currently testing mini cinnamon on a VM at the moment
Looks pretty good, tho I haven't really gotten in the setup yet (really close tho!)
I approached Fedora workstation with little knowledge of Linux, as a former windows and Mac user. My workflows involved graphic, print, UX design, DFP, front end web dev, and some light 3D modelling. Getting acquainted with alternatives to certain apps (namely adobe suite) took some getting used to, but it's wonderful to no longer feel as if your industrial skill set is beholden to a massive, shitty company.
It was surprisingly easy to get along with. I feel like your experience in will mostly depend on your desktop environment rather than the distro itself, bear in mind that you can use any DE with any distro.
You don't really need to touch the command line anymore to get going, though I got familiar with it as I found it faster for certain tasks.
KDE plasma is probably more familiar for Windows users. I use the GNOME desktop with some plugins.
As a bonus, Fedora 39 is more performant for me in AAA gaming than windows 10/11.
Get a cheap 1-2 tb drive and start dual-booting with whatever system you're running now. This way you can play around with different distros while retaining your current settup to fall back on!
can you duel boot with a modren laptop tho, and can the drive be external
Don't use a HDD to run your system on it :D
will take note, but what would happen if I did?
It's a LOT slower than SSD
ah
It wouldn't be the most ideal, but you can dual-boot with an external drive. There are external SSDs that are meant for running programs/games off of them, and would look into those for best performance.
Alternatively, if you have plenty of unused storage on the laptop you can partition some of that for use, but a second drive is usually preferred.
Start off with Gentoo to get the hang of the basics. Switch to Arch because compile times and heat burns. Try Linux from Scratch for a laugh, giggle and move on, but with a new found respect for distro maintainers.
What's your use case? If it involves AAA games then that will narrow things a bit but if you simply want a bit of docs n that and, internet browsing and a spot of email and realtime sound and CAD then we'll need a broader chat.
Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSuSE, Mint - those would be my starters for 10 in no particular order. Pick yours and your hip angle. I personally run Arch (actually) and Gentoo. I don't recommend them as a dip your toe in the water job 8)
Feel free to dive in, the water is lovely.
my use case is mostly contained of playing games and and a slight bit of actual work, not triple a tho
Fedora, Mint, or Debian would all be fantastic for that.
noted!!
Here are some of my default choices: Linux Mint, Pop!OS, Nobara, MXLinux (if your PC is kind of a potato).
These distros should work regardless of your configuration with very minimal effort on your side.
Switch over the software you use to stuff that also works on Linux. alternativeto.net
Get an external SSD case if you are on a laptop, or just a second one and install it there
Extract your Windows License key!
Fedora kinoite from ublue.it
I started with Zoro which is a windows look alike, tried mint and a few other distros but ultimately landed on Fedora.
Fedora has been great and I haven't been tempted to leave since trying it out a few years ago.
I had several drives in my PC, so I wiped a small one and just installed a few different distros and figured out what I liked. I ended up sticking with nobara with KDE.
Honestly, I recommend everyone without existing Linux experience to use Fedora: it's reasonable modern (nice for, e.g. gaming), while also not being a full rolling release model like Arch (which needs expertise to fix in case something breaks).
It's also reasonably popular, meaning you will find enough guidance in case something does break.
Pop_OS. Everything just works great out of the box.
Alternatively, don't use Pop_OS. I installed it on an ex's laptop because it was easy but it'd have all the same problems as Ubuntu without the helpful diagnostic tools and extensive documentation. Hers messed up far more than my Arch install
I use Nobara which comes with drivers for Nvidia and stuff just works. It's very noob friendly.
It doesn't really matter much which distro you choose.
Use flatpaks - flatpaks sandbox your apps more than traditional packages. As a side effect, the package manager of the distro won't matter anymore.
There are thousand of distros, stick to a popular one.
Install packages on distrobox instead of directly onto your system if you use the terminal. Stay as close to the base image as possible. If you want to have access to all packages, install arch/endeavouros on distrobox and use the aur. If a package is not on aur, it's not published yet. With distrobox there's no reason to switch to another distribution because of package availability.
Use a distro with which you can roll back to a previous state easily. If things go downhill, youcan always fall back. There are many distros that provide a very easy out of the box experience for that. If you can't fall back easily, ignore the distro or be prepared for the worst case
Arch is for advanced people because you may set up your system as you like. There are many great distros that choose the base packages for you. You will have a great experience on most big distros. Most of them use GNOME. GNOME is great. KDE is awesome. Tough decision. Watch youtube vidoes about both. Install the other one in a VM to check it out. You may use an immutable distro like fedora silverblue/kinoite. You can switch back and forth by rebasing to the respective desktop environment.
Read the arch wiki whenever you want to do something or want to know something. https://wiki.archlinux.org/ you want to know more abiut piewire? aw! You want to know about GNOME? KDE? Type !aw KDE into ddg, qwant or brave. Read the respecting documentation of your distro. Follow them on mastodon. Register to the forum. Join a matrix community.
Watch great channels like "the linux experiment" on peertube. Yes peertube, why should you watch it on youtube if it's on peertube?
Arch is for advanced people
I'd say mid.. the Arch install process has got a lot simpler over the years and the wiki a lot better.
If you can google duckle effectively, I reckon even a sharp-minded beginner could handle it.
The thing with arch is that you have to know a lot of stuff. You have to take care of selinux yourself etc. If you know what you do, everything is fine. At the same time you can be on tumbleweed, kinoite or any other distro and install aur packages with distrobox. For me, there's no reason to use arch. If you want to tinker with your system, go for arch.
If you kind of know what you do as a beginner, you can go for it as well, steep learning curve but you'll be more advanced than others in the same time.
I haven't actually touched selinux at all.. It's not 'officially supported' in Arch yet, although there are compatible packages available. I only recently discovered PAM which I have yet to learn too.
KDE is the best desktop environment, period. Why not go with a stable OS base but enjoy all the current updates of your desktop, app suite? Introduction: KDE Neon
Use Archlinux. Reason ? Because you will be able to say " I use Arch btw".
Thinking of using Linux mint, anything else?
Mint is my favourite beginner distro, can't really go wrong with it. What's your main use for your PC (gaming, office, development etc.)? There are some distros that are more well suited for certain tasks.
LMDE is also good, just a different version of Mint. Basically works the same.
I'm currently daily driving LMDE after some time. For OP it probably won't matter so choosing main line mint might be better.
Linux Mint all the way.
I've never used it but that should be fine
Linux mint
fun fact: my first experience of Linux was actually in Ubuntu (in a emulator ofc), and yes Im thinking of using mint
Also try LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition). I think it's their best flavor actually, but not enough people know about it and usually only try the regular Mint.
oooh I'll definitely try that first
can recommend mint too after using it for nearly half a year now, without issues
Curious, why not Ubuntu? Doesn't it have more support forums and generally more popular?
Almost all of those support forms are from way back when Ubuntu was user friendly and community driven. However they are no longer serving the community and shouldn't be considered user friendly like it was previously.
Anyway almost all of the Ubuntu specific stuff will work on Linux mint as its Ubuntu based.
I recommend first switching Windows-only software to crossplatform software so you won’t have to get used to another operating system and different software at the same time.
For example: LibreOffice, Firefox, etc
Mint is my recommendation, having using it myself for many years now.
If you have a Nvidia GPU, a case could be made for POP! due to the built in drivers, but installing Nvidia drivers is rather painless in Mint.
Then do it? It's a free operating system -- just download whatever distro pleases you, give it a spin, see what happens.
I would but I am pretty worried about my files being lost, plus I'm waiting until I get a better device
From personal experience: if you're trying to dual-boot with Windows, I recommend using completely separate drives (rather than separate partitions). Windows is very shitty about overwriting your Linux boot partitions when it updates. Having a separate drive isn't fool-proof, but it helps.
I haven't needed Windows in >10 years though, so maybe it's not as shitty about that, but I recommend caution.
I'm on a single ssd dual boot setup with encryption (LUKS for Linux / Bitlocker for Windows) for over 2 years. Never had any problems.
I used this guide back then. Hope it'll help you op.
I would do this if I knew how to install separate drives, and if my main PC wasn't a laptop
Maybe invest in an external drive you can copy important files to. Dual booting is usually issue free but it's always possible to have data loss in general. Data loss, especially data that is personally important to you is a tragedy.
you can install seperate drives on a laptop and dualboot, I know it because I did it before
TELL ME ASAP, I'll try to find the specs of my laptop, PLEASE TELL ME
Back in the late 1900s, you could open a laptop and remove a hard drive with only a #2 phillips screw driver. So I think they mean that. Physically remove your Windows drive, install a fresh drive, install/play/learn Linux. With your Windows drive disconnected, you can do ANYTHING in Linux without fear of losing any data on that other drive.
Frustrated and just "need to work"? Reverse the process back to the Windows drive.
Feeling a little more confident and want to access your files on the Windows drive? Get a SATA-USB adapter. No need to go all enclosure just yet as that just adds steps when you need the Windows setup.
Comfortable in Linux? Copy your important data over to the Linux system, format the original drive, NOW put it in an enclosure for a handy backup drive.
Feeling confident in your newfound prowess? Connect that external drive to a Raspberry Pi and turn the Pi into a basic NAS, maybe drop a little VPN on it, and now you can access that device/drive from anywhere. At the very least, you now have a place to backup important data in case the laptop falls into a volcano. Hell, now you've got a reason to subscribe to SelfHosted & HomeLab.
Reference: 1998-2001 I ran a "dual boot" using removable hard drive bays on a full tower system. As noted above, Windows can sometimes mess up what makes your dual boot possible.
Currently running Mint on an older HP Envy AMD laptop to get back into the Linux swing. Win10 is my daily driver on the desktop from that need of things to work. When you're fixing other people's/company's computers all day, the last thing you want to do is work on your own computer. That and a lack of real gaming support/documentation forever ago is what pushed me back to Windows. The old argument of "Linux is free" wasn't too heavy a talking point when MS kept giving me free licenses to stick with what I was more comfortable with. Win11 reminds me of Win8, reminds me of WinME, and the cycle of MS dysfunction continues. I want off the ride.
With Gaming as viable as it is on Linux, plus much nicer tools for VMs (AND Docker exists now), I've got about year to convert my daily driver desktop (2025 end of Win10).
Oh and I did try to put Arch on that laptop. It was overwritten by Mint as soon as it booted up without a GUI. Now, might of been my fault for using a "base image" or something, but again I need it to just work without spending what limited time I have trying to make it work. But hey, at least folks aren't trying to get you to install Slackware from 3.5" floppies.
depends onthd laptop mine wasas sjmplle as opening it and puting another ssd inside. tell me what laptop us it
speaking of Linux, I was supposed to upgrade to Linux when I got my new laptop, but forgot about it, sorry!
Yeah, I'm getting sick of these recommend-a-distro threads
Try it with a Live USB stick. And maybe don't listen to the people recommending Ubuntu. It's somewhat okay, but they regularly do annoying business decisions that affect their users. I'd rather start with Mint or something.
There are many other websites dedicated to this question:
thats sounds nice, I'll test it with my Chromebook first (after upgrading my specs ofc)
For the love of god and all that is holy just use mint cinnamon it's the easies most stable with little learning curve ever. High performance great for work gaming browsing whatever lol. If you can use windows 7/10 you can use mint cinnamon
I'll add that to my VM list!
LMDE Mint cinnamon plain old mint Pop OS Ubuntu
Planning to finally boot up my VM after procrastinating, anything else?
I've been using Mint for quite a while now on a spare machine and it's the first linux strain that has me not giving up in frustration. I can definitely recommend.
I'd go for Linux Mint/Fedora Linux.
Another thing, I would've play with it first on a VM, like VirtualBox.
I wouldn't immediately wipe Windows if I were you. I'd do dualboot with Windows.
Then, when you're ready, stay with dualboot system or go full neckbeard /j
I'm actually thinking of dualboot on windows, gonna mess around to a VM!
You can also run many distros "live" from the install media without installing anything, to get a feel for them and to check that mosts things work (network, sound, movies etc.) You can make a bootable stick and choose the live option when it boots.
Why don't you try becoming comfortable with Linux while using it in a Virtual Machine? I tried different distros too, and then I decided which one was the best for me.
We can't really suggest you one, if we don't know what you are going to use it for.
You may want to do some research, because different distros have different purposes (gaming, privacy, programming, easy to use etc etc).
Let us know, what your use cases will be?
https://distrochooser.de/ is a great tool that help to understand what the different distros can do.
Also, you should probably know that selecting a distro is more about selecting the underlying OS and less about the UI (DE). Most distros support the top 5 Desktop Environments (DE for short). And selecting a DE can be just as important.
guess I'm booting up my VM again!!
Mint is the most mentioned choice and an extremely great beginner distro with an huge community.
ZorinOS will get a big update very soon and is also a very good choice. It was my first distro, especially because it looks very modern and pleasing.
If you're a tiny bit more advanced and get the basics, then you might take a look at the immutable Fedora variants like Silverblue.
They have many advantages compared to traditional distros like the two mentioned above, but atomic Linux is a relatively new concept. I also find them easier to understand and use, and, imo, they're even more user friendly, but not as refined.
Mint
Linux Mint and Pop!_OS are great options
I would recommend using one of the distros backed by a big company or have very long track records. They are less likely to break on updates, and have a higher chance of supporting any uncommon hardware you may have.
If you have new hardware (e.g. GPU newer than 6 months) you will probably have issues. Follow the recommendations from the hardware supplier, or use something arch based. I used Manjaro a while when I got new hardware.
Besides those tips, you should decide which desktop environment you like best. I prefer gnome, as I enjoy to spend time in apps and not on in settings. Others prefer customization. Have a look at https://youtu.be/09cYQJBgKEs?si=KX8FZeMRcMlPTzG2
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/09cYQJBgKEs?si=KX8FZeMRcMlPTzG2
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I've been linux-curious on-and-off for years. I've toyed with it several times but always gone back to Windows eventually. I have a laptop with a 7th gen Intel CPU that is not supported on Windows 11, so I decided to wipe it and threw the latest version of Linux Mint on it. Everything (except for a fingerprint reader) worked straight out of the figurative box, and I've been happily running it on that machine for about 6 months now. I think Mint is a good choice if you want a simple windows-like experience.
I still have a desktop PC running Windows for games and Adobe Lightroom and stuff, but I won't be going back to Windows on that laptop.
A couple of assumptions I will be making:
Typically, distros like Arch, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, openSUSE, Pop!_OS and Ubuntu (or their derivatives) will be mentioned in these kinds of queries. And it becomes mostly a popularity poll that measures what the community thinks is the preferred distro for beginners. And honestly, I don't blame them as you haven't really given us a lot to work with. My entry to that popularity poll would be Linux Mint. If you prefer to use GNOME or KDE Plasma instead, then consider either Fedora or openSUSE Tumbleweed. Additionally, Pop!_OS should be considered if Nvidia causes problems on all the others.
Feel free to inquire if you so desire!
EDIT: I just noticed how you mentioned to someone that your use case will be primarily gaming. First of all, gaming is somewhat equal on most distros; especially with the likes of Bazzite-Arch and Conty providing excellent environments for gaming regardless of installed distro. Though, these containers do still rely on the hosts kernel, therefore any perceived difference on same hardware but different kernels might be attributed to said kernels. Newer kernels generally come with improved performance; at least for newer hardware*. Though, perhaps more performance could be gained through other means as well. I will spare you the details, however, as this is potentially another rabbit hole within the initial rabbit hole. Therefore, instead, I will name a couple of distros known for being excellent for gaming purposes: Bazzite, Garuda Linux, Nobara Linux, PikaOS and RegataOS. If you want a no-nonsense system, just go for Bazzite; while initial setup might seem slightly more involved, it's by far the most robust system out of these. This does come at the cost of being 'unique' amongst the others, but I believe it's a great fit for your use case.
Completely agree that these kinds of threads end up being more a popularity poll than anything more actionable and usable. Everyone has their own opinions and preferences (which is great!), but that can end up being extremely overwhelming for a newbie.
sorry for being inactive here, I have other things happening at the moment. i'm just gonna put some stuff here
Kinda, I recently started to get interested in modding! It isn't stuff like homebrew (although I was planning to root my phone, until OEM unlock was disabled. Thanks wiko.), I mostly just use something like vencord and Bloxstrap (just tweaks the Roblox client a bit, no exploits tho) This might be not seen as modding, but who cares.
slightly, I do know how to use HTML to an extent, and can know whats the difference between RAM and hard drives, I still have a long way to go.
Ok here are some of the specs that I can remember (I'm currently not home as of typing this)
I have a HP 2022 Laptop, decent enough to play games
I have a 512 hard drive and 12 GB of RAM
only has 2 USB ports, most of it was replaced by type C, so dual booting with.something USB related might be hard
Dabbled a bit into linux with a VM (a few years ago tho, it was Ubuntu)
and thats all I could remember, I do plan to do an update post after trying out some distros on a VM, hopefully it works!
Mint is good, unless it's very new hardware in which case the base (so things like drivers) can be a little dated.
Look up Ventoy. It's a tool where you can put multiple ISOs onto one USB drive and boot into any of them. You can use that to try out a few distros. Maybe Mint, Fedora, PopOS, Ubuntu.
Had not heard of Ventoy before, thanks alot!
Switched from Windows to Linux Mint few months ago, customized the look a bit and love it so far.
From my experience, download many distros from Linux Mint to Zorin, maybe Fedora and OpenSuse if you want something non Ubuntu bases, or Manjaro and Endeavor OS if you are up for a challenge.
Then install them in a Virtual Machine like Virtual Box. This way you can test which OS you like, and see if the software you want works.
In my experience the Desktop Environment makes the biggest impact on your user experience.
Followed by the package manager (app store)
Then available software (steam lutris libre office)
Finally the terminal for when things go south (or you installed arch)
Absolutely!
I started with mint. Hated it.
Ubuntu, Pop_Os. Hated it.
Fedora. Hated it.
Archlinux, okay, but not so much.
Manjaroo, hated it.
And now I settled with Garuda and Nobara. Like them.
I used Nobara for niche gaming (rarely use it now).
And Garuda Linux for dev work, and downloading and installing stuff, including proprietary packages. And I don't have to configure all the things to make it capable of allowing me to download stuff from all the nice mirrors, such as the community arch mirror.
Nobara, on the other hand, is great at handling compatibility issues kinda out of the box. Such [Edit1: as GPU] drivers.
The reason I disliked the aforementioned distros was solely because of how much involved I had to be to configure them to integrate with my rare WiFi chip drivers, which triggered me when I banged my head at the keyboard for hours only to find out that my WiFi driver was not supported.
But Garuda and Nobara or a blessing, and a chef's kiss.
That's coming from a person who tried more than 20+ distros and/or their derivatives.
[Edit2:] All in all, I would recommend what the comment above suggested, as that will help you find your own path. The samurai path, the kenjutsu path, or the kendo path, the peaceful path, or the hackers path. ;)
[Edit3: sorry Debian users, but I DID try your distros, I just didn't want to bother with them much as they had compatibility issues too !]
I've been wanting to do this for years, and tried several years ago but my AMD graphics card didn't have available drivers. I now have an rtx 2070 super, do you know if it's compatible?
I saw in a comment above that mint cinnamon is great for gaming, does that use wine or something similar? The gaming aspect is really holding me back.
Also slight concern with my dev environment but I'm sure that's been solved 100 different ways.
Drivers. I've yet to run across any major issues except for Intel Compute not working with Davinci Resolve but that's well documented.
Now for gaming on Linux. There are 2 ways to game on Linux.
Native ports. Most valve games and some third parties (mostly indie) are natively compatible. I've had no issues playing these ports and they run like any other application.
Windows Compatibility Layer. Now asking for 20+ year old games to be ported to Linux is a bit of an ask. Let alone asking devs to add Linux support to their games when Linux had such a small install base.
So what some very smart devs did, was make 2 pieces of software that makes playing native Windows games on Linux possible.
WINE, or WIne Is Not an Emulator, is a compatibility layer to run native Windows Software in Linux. With a primary focus on Windows System Calls. Gaming in wine isn't graphically the best.
Then there is DXVK, or Direct X to Vulkan compatibility layer, which translates DX9-DX11 code to the open source Vulkan that runs in Linux. Intel's Arc graphics uses this for their legacy compatibility.
Now you don't need to worry about installing any of this since Valve packages these apps, and some choice software like .Net Runtime in a package called Proton. This is a checkbox in Steam and when Steam Play is enabled, the Windows versions of games will be installed and will work.
Compatibility is very good at this point but there are edge cases that still need to be ironed out. Like anti cheat, DRM, and more.
Lutris is another prices of software that can be used like Steam Play but for non steam games. Its also good, but can be fiddly.
Install process is no more involved than actual Windows, but when a Ubisoft game crashes it won't take your entire machine down with it.
mint if you are after a general purpose distro more specialised ones I might be able to recommend if you specify your interests
Use a VM and play with different DEs
Fedora is a good base and comes with most DEs as spins so you don't have to swap live.
Choose the one you like the most.
Personally, XFCE for all around customization amd performance, KDE for out of box solid functionality (and wayland if you care).
Once you feel comfortable, then go ahead and install or dual boot.
Silverblue is okay but kinda overrated because Flatpaks are not a silver bullet and will break or have basic FS dependency issues. Plus, it's not a great intro to Linux experience because
you can't shoot yourself in the foot easilymost tutorials on Linux will be for a regular system.As for the distros themselves:
::: spoiler spoiler
Arch: Bleeding edge and you want to actually suffer every time you boot.
Manjaro: Arch but supposed to work out of box.
Debian: The King of stability at the cost of slower package updates
Fedora: Cutting edge and works out of box unlike Arch
Ubuntu: Useless Canonical distro that is heavily dated
Pop! OS and ElementaryOS: user friendly downstream of Ubuntu that suffer the same issues as Ubuntu.
Linux Mint: Ubuntu if it was actually good except it's still a downstream so still has aforementioned Ubuntu issues.
Gentoo: You want something completely custom
Slackware: You want a classic Unix like machine but with Linux
RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/Oracle/Etc: Enterprise Linux (server usage and desktop usage)
OpenSUSE: The RPM equivalent of Arch & Debian (comes in rolling and stable releases). So you can choose bleeding edge or stability.
:::
Personally, I have stuck with Fedora for a long time. Debian or OpenSUSE would be second choice. Arch only if I'm forced to like the steam deck lol.
Also ArchWiki is your friend. Even if you're on any other distro, it has a wealth of the latest information and tutorials for whatever you want or need.
In the somewhat distant future you're looking to switch to Linux. Okay, the question of distros can wait.
What you want to do in the not-too-distant-future if possible is start finding FOSS alternatives to the software you use. Stuff like LibreOffice and Krita have Windows versions, so in the meantime start learning and using those apps. Because that's the real pain point.
As for distro...distros don't really matter. Most of the user experience comes from the desktop environment, and that's a matter of preference so personal that the real answer is "try several and use the one you like."
ok, is gimp supported with linux?
Yes. Very yes. the G in GIMP stands for GNU. GIMP ran on Linux before it ran on Windows.
mega thanks!
Don't use Manjaro, wordt mistake you could make
what would happen tho?
It's bugged. kernel, wifi, dual screens and any others issues will became your daily routine if you install it. Stick with Debian if you want a really reliable distro while learning some basics linux commands, or stick with linux mint.
will take note! Actually using mint on a vm at the moment, trying to see if i can the desktop environment tho
good distro for beginners. Also i recommend using Arch's wiki, useful even if you dont use Arch, you can find it there : https://wiki.archlinux.org/
thannks
I think i meant the theme agh gotta go soon cya
Most distros are running the same software. The biggest difference is your package manager & community. Personal preference is NixOS but that ain’t beginner-friendly even if the rollbacks from bad states would help. Arch isn’t as difficult to set up as it used to be & has been more stable than a lot of distros in my experience so I wouldn’t discount it but
.pacnewfiles can bite you if modifying in/etcinstead of in the home folder (when possible). Of the things folks normally suggest as a first go, Fedora would probably be my pick (not yet had a problem) as everything Ubuntu-based still rubs me wrong for support & leadership.I actually disagree on what the biggest difference is. For the average everyday user, the biggest difference is the desktop environment. Having a desktop environment that the user finds intuitive, easy, and is stable is by far the most important thing.
93 comments after a post like this, are you guys nuts?
I guess (almost) everyone here wants to recommend their own distro
think that's the case lol
126 (or 127) comments now, why does this have 115 upvotes dear god
EndeavorOS. It’s based on arch which has great nvidia driver packages if that's your thing and the arch wiki is amazing.
A nice package manager wrapper is bundled. Do yay \ to search for any package and install it; do yay (nothing else) to upgrade everything, and yay -Rcns \ to remove stuff and all their unused dependencies. I also recommend chaoticAUR which is also easy to setup. What is the AUR, you ask? A repository for user-created ways to install TONS of stuff, think homebrew (including cask, unseparated) but on Linux
For the DE I recommend MATE but you can select any of the major ones in the installer
Get synapse for a spotlight-like search; it uses the alt+space keybind by default
So, do you hate OP or what? They may get over the installation easier but then what?
WDYM? Why do you think Arch is hard to use?
Are you being serious right now?
Giving Arch to a complete beginner is like throwing a non-swimmer into the pool.
Arch is at most as a hard to use as Debian once you've got it installed, not to mention EndeavourOS's Welcome app
I like Endeavor. But it isn't right for a new user.
Here is butnone example: on most user friendly distros, connecting to share and other computers on their network is easy.
In endeavor it is not shipped with samba. Yet the desktop environments have icons to browse the network.
Now you and I know you simply add the smb packages you want, write a conf file and it will work.
But a new person doesn't know that. Or how to do that.
And that is just one example.
Ah, well I usually just share with cloud drive services like I did on Windows. Soom food for thought though.
But regardless of what distro they use, they're probably going to have to Google stuff every now and then. If they're not ready for that, then maybe they're not ready for Linux.
I switched a few months ago, and EndeavorOS is the only distro I've used and see no reason to switch. It's been fantastic.
I'd start with Ubuntu. If there's any niche software, it will probably run on Ubuntu/debian distros.
Second for Ubuntu. I've never felt a need to switch.
For 17 years now... Main machine hasn't been reinstalled since 2014...
Pop OS is the best to start with, it's awesome.
heard it works best with nividia's gpu's, I have an AMD GPU on a decent laptop, is that good enough?
So basically nvidia makes their drivers on Linux a pain to install and use and Linux's creator has called them out on it in the past. So PopOS is known for having tools that make getting them working easier.
AMD on the other hand has open source drivers so they are right in the kernel. So their GPUS are just plug and play like a USB mouse
Hmm I haven't heard that Nvidia works better than Amd ever actually.
Amd drivers are included on the kernel so it will just work on all distributions. So I would give it a shot, don't think you will have any problems. :)
If you want something that looks and behaves much like the Windows desktop environment, use Linux Mint. If you want something closer to the macOS environment, use Pop OS.
For a macOS-like environment I'd also recommend Elementary OS.
I have a blog article about this. Here is the short version:
I can tell you how not to choose a distro: what its screenshots look like or what its default desktop environment is. Many begin shopping around for a distro that suits them best, which means visiting a website like DistroWatch.com, looking at the various screen shots, and picking one that looks nice. But any Linux distro can be made to look like any other distro without too much effort, what you see in the screen shots is just the default look. Really, the the screen shots should be the least of your concerns.
So don't worry about Xfce, KDE, Gnome, LXDE, LXQt or whatever else right now, you can try all of those in good time. First, just get Linux and, worry about figuring out which apps that you can get that work best for your work flow. Almost none of the apps you use now are available in Linux, the hardest part is figuring out how to replace the apps you use daily right now.
You should choose the distribution with the best web service, and the best apps.
Is the service reliable? Do they have a good team of people making sure the packages are always online, and making sure they are providing timely security updates?
Do they have corporate, or non-profit, sources of funding? Do you trust the people who are running it?
Do they have the apps you want, are the apps up to date? Do they have things you need, like word processing, presentation software, photo scrap booking, file sharing, video editing, music editing, personal organizers, video conferencing (can you install Zoom, for example?). Can you easily install Flatpaks or AppImages?
Many of the really big Linux distros all provide completely reliable service, which satisfy the above requirements, but I recommend any of the following four:
Mint and Fedora are community-run with backing from various sponsors, Ubuntu is run by the Canonical corporation, Pop!_OS is developed by the System 76 company (a medium sized US-based business that sells laptops and PCs).
First time? Use Ubuntu. Not only is it easy to use and a good UX overall, most tutorials assume a Ubuntu based distro (there are differences between distros that can be...hard to translate over). That's going to be really useful when you're looking up how to do stuff
Another vote for Ubuntu.
I tried it as my first Linux distro about 5 years ago. There was some learning curve, but I really enjoyed it.
I've been using it for 5 years now. I'm glad I switched from windows!
thanks!!!
Parent comment is right. The body of documentation generated for Ubuntu by the community is an enormous asset. It's one of the important side effects of it being the most used distro.
Parent comment is wrong. The default UX used in Ubuntu may actually be confusing for newbies, as it’s quite different compared to Windows. Just check some screenshots or videos and you can see for yourself. I’d instead recommend going for a distro which uses a more familiar UX (ie the Desktop Environment).
Perhaps a distro which uses KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon, MATE or LXQt by default (these are "desktop environments" (DE) - which is a collection of the desktop shell components (eg start menu, taskbar, dock etc) plus default applications that go with it eg the file manager, document viewer etc). A desktop environment like the ones I mentioned above, in their default settings, should be familiar to most Windows users. Now whilst you can install any DE on any distro, it can be a daunting task for newbies, plus, the settings might not be optimal for you. So it's better to go with a distro that comes with such easy-to-use DEs by default. Examples of such distros include Linux Mint and Zorin. These, by default, should look quite familiar to you, and should be even more easier to use than Ubuntu.
Both Mint and Zorin are based on Ubuntu, so most of the documentation for Ubuntu should be relevant to Mint and Zorin as well. But if you’re not sure, just include quotes for your distro when you’re doing a web search, eg
how do I do this in Linux "Mint"will ensure you’ll only get results with “Mint” in the page.Mint is a good beginner distro and has many guides available. Try LMDE
To break from the trend (because I recommend Mint as well),
Check out the options on distrowatch.com, test out any live distros you can. When you have some understanding of GRUB then dual boot, and then triple.
Inevitably, you're going to end up using Arch because it's so easily managed and you get to choose each component. But it's better if you have experience with the different components first. I completely missed out on learning RPM (package manager), I went from Mint (apt) to Arch (pacman). I did resurrect a lot of old laptops and desktops with various different distros though, and I learned Gnome and xfce, LXDE, MATE, and i3, xmonad..
There's a lot to learn but it's all fun, and it's all different. When you go to a tiling window manager, you'll understand why Windows adopted (albeit shittily) tiling in it's latest version.
whoa, actual good info! Thank you kind stranger, i will use this!!!
Would recommend Fedora Silverblue.
https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/1503235037/transgender-pride-halterlose-strumpfe?click_key=f1e1e801868d2c2da2564d6c5fc226e48e7c2c8b%3A1503235037&click_sum=cf917bb9&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=trans+stockings&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&sts=1
look I'm not THAT into linux
but maybe one day...
Know that you'll probably hate what you try first. Personally I say you shouldn't use Pop_OS!, but its better than being scared of making a wrong choice. "distrohopping" is a great way to learn.
tldr: just do it
I would but personal issues are holding me back atm
If you game, and especially if you use nvidiva, I'd recommend Pop!_OS or Nobara.
I'll take note
Get Ubuntu, Mint, or PopOS don't bother with the others at first as it will be more difficult to find help on forums with lesser known versions of Linux. If you have an Nvidia as your main graphics card you might have a better time with PopOS as it comes pre configured with the right drivers and everything.
I was impressed by how streamlined and intuitive EndeavorOS (with Plasma) is out of the box when I threw it on a friend's computer. Will probably switch to it myself shortly.
update: currently testing mini cinnamon on a VM at the moment
Looks pretty good, tho I haven't really gotten in the setup yet (really close tho!)
https://files.catbox.moe/twr0yl.png (image link dw)
I'm currently using typing on said vm? pretty cool right?
https://files.catbox.moe/tj9gli.png (image link, i should probably switch to imgur lol)
Fedora is neat
I approached Fedora workstation with little knowledge of Linux, as a former windows and Mac user. My workflows involved graphic, print, UX design, DFP, front end web dev, and some light 3D modelling. Getting acquainted with alternatives to certain apps (namely adobe suite) took some getting used to, but it's wonderful to no longer feel as if your industrial skill set is beholden to a massive, shitty company.
It was surprisingly easy to get along with. I feel like your experience in will mostly depend on your desktop environment rather than the distro itself, bear in mind that you can use any DE with any distro.
You don't really need to touch the command line anymore to get going, though I got familiar with it as I found it faster for certain tasks.
KDE plasma is probably more familiar for Windows users. I use the GNOME desktop with some plugins.
As a bonus, Fedora 39 is more performant for me in AAA gaming than windows 10/11.
Get a cheap 1-2 tb drive and start dual-booting with whatever system you're running now. This way you can play around with different distros while retaining your current settup to fall back on!
can you duel boot with a modren laptop tho, and can the drive be external
Don't use a HDD to run your system on it :D
will take note, but what would happen if I did?
It's a LOT slower than SSD
ah
It wouldn't be the most ideal, but you can dual-boot with an external drive. There are external SSDs that are meant for running programs/games off of them, and would look into those for best performance.
Alternatively, if you have plenty of unused storage on the laptop you can partition some of that for use, but a second drive is usually preferred.
Start off with Gentoo to get the hang of the basics. Switch to Arch because compile times and heat burns. Try Linux from Scratch for a laugh, giggle and move on, but with a new found respect for distro maintainers.
What's your use case? If it involves AAA games then that will narrow things a bit but if you simply want a bit of docs n that and, internet browsing and a spot of email and realtime sound and CAD then we'll need a broader chat.
Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSuSE, Mint - those would be my starters for 10 in no particular order. Pick yours and your hip angle. I personally run Arch (actually) and Gentoo. I don't recommend them as a dip your toe in the water job 8)
Feel free to dive in, the water is lovely.
my use case is mostly contained of playing games and and a slight bit of actual work, not triple a tho
Fedora, Mint, or Debian would all be fantastic for that.
noted!!
Here are some of my default choices: Linux Mint, Pop!OS, Nobara, MXLinux (if your PC is kind of a potato).
These distros should work regardless of your configuration with very minimal effort on your side.
I started with Zoro which is a windows look alike, tried mint and a few other distros but ultimately landed on Fedora.
Fedora has been great and I haven't been tempted to leave since trying it out a few years ago.
I had several drives in my PC, so I wiped a small one and just installed a few different distros and figured out what I liked. I ended up sticking with nobara with KDE.
Honestly, I recommend everyone without existing Linux experience to use Fedora: it's reasonable modern (nice for, e.g. gaming), while also not being a full rolling release model like Arch (which needs expertise to fix in case something breaks). It's also reasonably popular, meaning you will find enough guidance in case something does break.
Pop_OS. Everything just works great out of the box.
Alternatively, don't use Pop_OS. I installed it on an ex's laptop because it was easy but it'd have all the same problems as Ubuntu without the helpful diagnostic tools and extensive documentation. Hers messed up far more than my Arch install
I use Nobara which comes with drivers for Nvidia and stuff just works. It's very noob friendly.
Following is a good source for anyone looking into desktops https://www.privacyguides.org/en/desktop/ they focus on an educated distro choice.
Read the arch wiki whenever you want to do something or want to know something. https://wiki.archlinux.org/ you want to know more abiut piewire? aw! You want to know about GNOME? KDE? Type
!aw KDEinto ddg, qwant or brave. Read the respecting documentation of your distro. Follow them on mastodon. Register to the forum. Join a matrix community.Watch great channels like "the linux experiment" on peertube. Yes peertube, why should you watch it on youtube if it's on peertube?
I'd say mid.. the Arch install process has got a lot simpler over the years and the wiki a lot better.
If you can
googleduckle effectively, I reckon even a sharp-minded beginner could handle it.The thing with arch is that you have to know a lot of stuff. You have to take care of selinux yourself etc. If you know what you do, everything is fine. At the same time you can be on tumbleweed, kinoite or any other distro and install aur packages with distrobox. For me, there's no reason to use arch. If you want to tinker with your system, go for arch.
If you kind of know what you do as a beginner, you can go for it as well, steep learning curve but you'll be more advanced than others in the same time.
I haven't actually touched selinux at all.. It's not 'officially supported' in Arch yet, although there are compatible packages available. I only recently discovered PAM which I have yet to learn too.
Archcraft and Arco.
https://neon.kde.org/
KDE is the best desktop environment, period. Why not go with a stable OS base but enjoy all the current updates of your desktop, app suite? Introduction: KDE Neon
Use Archlinux. Reason ? Because you will be able to say " I use Arch btw".
Btw, I use Arch.