Any distro I should use?
Use Linux Mint until you know enough to decide for yourself which other distro fits your use case better.
I’ve been thinking about mint for some time
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
can recommend mint too after using it for nearly half a year now, without issues
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
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
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?
guess I’m booting up my VM again!!
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.
Mint
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.
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
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.
Linux Mint and Pop!_OS are great options
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!
