Honestly, at this point I’m so done with window’s bullshit. Their operating system is damn near unusable. All the convenient stuff is hidden in weird places. The constant whining about having to buy their crap. Or worse trying to get me to use the horrible software that comes with the new versions.
My excuse used to be, but I can’t play games on it. This is no longer the case for the games I love. So Windows can suck it. At this point I’m switching away from a lot of stuff I used to use. (x-box became Steam-deck, twitter became blue-sky and reddit is becoming Lemmy) As a kind of computer illiterate person, this has been a worth while transition but a difficult one. Let’s just say I had to learn a lot of new stuff.
So I’m a total Linux newbie but thanks to my Steam deck I’ve become somewhat used to using it. Not like an expert, but I have run wine to create separate environments for running pokémon fangames. And have taken a look around the Linux environment. I like it and think I’ll be able to get used to it with practice. It reminds me weirdly of windows XP in how easily I can get everything to work the way I want. It takes a bit of doing and some research, but it works. Which is all I want in an operating system.
I am looking for tips as to where to start searching, because I am converting my windows computer to Linux. I just don’t know what version.
Any user experience is welcome, I have no idea where to begin. I mostly use the computer I’m installing this on as a glorified typewriter, that I play movies, music and retro-games on.
A user friendly version is preferred, I find it hard to parse out from the various versions I have seen so far how easy they actually are to use. Extra points if a large amount of the information has easy to find tutorials on the internet. I don’t always know where to start looking and as I learned while getting wine to work, some of the names/terms are completely different. (And kind of a lot at once if you are just getting started).
Any resources you might think are useful for a newbie are also highly appreciated.
tl;dr: I (a Linux noob) am looking for a recommendation for what version of Linux to use for my needs. And any tips tricks or other info that I might need to know before I switch. Because windows sucks.
I’m sorry if this has already been asked and answered. I did try to find an answer through searching, but as I already mentioned. My lack of terms and knowledge is holding me back.
Sounds like Linux Mint would be a good start for you
The best advice I can give you is to switch to Linux is don’t right away. Switch the applications you use to open source or Linux compatible alternatives that also run on windows. Then after you get used to those on windows then make the switch.
I would also recommend not dual booting at first since it’s too easy to jump ship at the slightest issue vs sticking with it to figure out the issue just like you would with a problem on windows. It’s a real thing I have experienced it in reverse as a long time Linux user that tried Windows 11 i kept jumping back to Linux every time I ran into issues that caused frustration.
This is some very solid advise.
Linux Mint. Easy to set up, reasonably easy to use, and used by enough people that a quick internet search should probably turn up results of people who have run into similar issues if you ever have a problem.
Also has an interface that clicks easier with people used to Windows.
I personally prefer Debian based distros just because of the number of apps in the software repo. Probably consider Ubuntu or Mint in your case. My wife and I have used Linux pretty exclusively for over 20 years. Easy of use is not that much of an issue once your setup. My wife and her dad are not technical and they have few issues.
Installing, and fixing issues is more technical but it is for Windows too especially if you do not get it preinstalled. You presumably have some stratagy for Windows support. Linux same, have a stratgey for it.
I like it and think I’ll be able to get used to it with practice. It reminds me weirdly of windows XP in how easily I can get everything to work the way I want.
xubuntu may be easier to switch for an xp user. Xfce is more malleable than all other desktop environments + ubuntu communities are active and less snobbish.
fedora also was surprisingly easy.
now i’m on arch and i asked myself countless times : Why are you doing this to yourself?
I second Linux mint. It’s my daily driver and I love it. I first switched my laptop which wasn’t much daily driver to mint and when I got used to it I switched my main desktop.
I’d go basic debian . Install flatpak and flathub to get any packages that are too far out of date or might get so. Any derivative or ubuntu derivative just sees like unnecessary extra dependencies to me.
Debian gives i think a wider choice of desktop environment than any of the derivatives on install, but I think they’re all much of a muchness really. Most of the DEs have the “Click something, window opens” feature.
https://distrosea.com/ After following some of the recommendations here, you can look into this website to gets first look and feel for the distro before downloading the live USB.
I recommend dual booting Windows and Linux until you’re comfortable switching entirely. Sometimes you need to go back for just one task.
Always back up your files before installing a new OS. Data loss is always possible during installation, and more likely if you don’t know what you’re doing.
The Grub boot manager (included and installed by default with Linux Mint and some other distros) makes it easy to pick which OS to boot each time when turning the computer on.
Check out Lutris for non-Steam Windows games. It uses Wine, but is a lot more user friendly to set up and use.
This is basically the holy grail for finding how to do things or troubleshooting once you have the basics down: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Main_page
A large amount of information is transferrable to other distros, particularly if they use systemd.
I would also spend some time getting comfortable with the command line. There are a million tutorials, guides, and free courses on this topic. Find a shell and terminal emulator you like. I’m using Fish and Kitty these days.
Going against the grain, maybe consider EndeavourOS for a distro? https://endeavouros.com/
Bard on my experience, Mint is probably the best gateway distro into Linux from windows. Debian and Ubuntu forums are relevant and useful. My wife and I are both IT professionals, and mint was just “natural”. She couldn’t care less what os, de, or wm is in use as long as it gets it done. She’s got mint on one laptop and Debian with gnome on another.
Once they decide they want something different they can find what meets those needs nice they have their bearings and a “need”.
Ubuntu never really hit home for me for some reason.
I wanted to move off mint, because I wanted the gnome DE. Yes, I did successfully slam gnome on top of mint, more as a can I do it vs should I do it exercise. Then I wanted something further upstream and went to Debian.
Then, I started tinkering with Endeavouros. This has allowed me to learn more about how things really work and WHY they work the way they do. Documentation on arch to me is second to none. Until I had daily driver Linux experience and spent some time tinkering, this was just overwhelming.
You get my standard reply that I use zorin which is an ubuntu based distro that tries to give the look of feel of windows and has a lot of default installed things like wine/playonlinux, libreoffice, app for disc burning, rdp client, basically most everything I would want for day to day use. It is not necessarily the best gaming distro and its certainly not bleeding edge. Its a great install and get to doing things right away distro to me which is what I want.
I don’t mind if things aren’t the newest of the new. In my experience that usually means there are more tutorials and fewer bugs. A distro that feels like windows a bit is tempting as a newbie and might make my switch easier, thank you for that consideration. I also like the idea of getting to work right out of the box. I’m definitely adding Zorin to the research pile, thank you.
windows’ is the correct way to form that since windows ends with an s
And you might say “don’t be a dick” but to that I say: you want to use Linux. You need to learn how to type things correctly and accurately or your computer will not work. The rules of most command line programs are far more restrictive than the ’ rule in English.
Either windows’ or windows’s is correct, actually. The reason is because of exactly words like “Windows”, if you use the former, it sounds like it’s a possessive of more than one window, but it’s a possessive of a proper noun, Windows. The latter is more correct in this case because of that. (it’s also pronounced that way!)
I’m in a very similar situation like you are. I too have started to be annoyed with the Big Tech products and the Internet in general.
I have switched to Lemmy, shut down my gmail account and opened a Proton Mail, and switched from using Google search engine to Qwant.
I too have switched to Linux Mint, and I’m loving it. TBH my IT colleauges talked me into buying refurbished Thinkpad laptop and told me to install Linux Mint. Boy am I glad I did that.
The next step for me is switching to Fairphone :D
I never understood the whole fairphone thing. Theres way more phones on the planet than people. The most fair phone is just buying something 2nd hand for cheap. Save it from a landfill. I got a 150$ Pixel 6 a couple years ago, put graphene os on there, and i dont expect to get another phone until it literally stops working lol.
I really like Debian. There’s a version of Linux Mint called Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) that I recommend for people new to Linux. My wife has been using it for about 6 months.
The easiest way to install is by using the live image on a USB drive. I recommend installing Ventoy on the USB first if you like the idea of having a dedicated USB for boot images. Totally not necessary, but can be useful.
I much prefer LMDE over any Ubuntu-based distro. I don’t like the way Canonical has been going for a while now, and dealing with Ubuntu PPAs and other weird Ubuntu shit just doesn’t work with me anymore. Gimme a repo to put into /etc/apt/sources.list and leave it at that.
Mint is a safe bet, I would also suggest you have a look at Pop! OS and CachyOS once you feel a bit more comfortable with Linux and are curious at all. They have a bit more cool stuff to offer that you don’t really get from windows imho
