What spec of laptop are you thinking of getting?
this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
243 points (98.4% liked)
Linux
48704 readers
1096 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Still shopping around, so nothing's set in stone. I'm not much of a hardware guy either, so the best I could tell you is just that I'm looking for something a step or two above 'bare minimum' for 2025. An SSD, fair bit of ram, ports for external storage so I can actually boot with another OS, maybe enough guts to run skyrim modded to the gills. Somewhere in that ballpark.
If you're getting a laptop with a graphics card, make sure you go with something by AMD. Nvidia cards will work fine enough, though for a whole host of different reasons, AMD is generally preferred for Linux.
good insight, thanks
If you're running an Nvidia gpu, then Linux Mint is great for not needing to deal with setup issues.
If you're going with an AMD gpu or no gpu at all, then i actually recommend Garuda Linux. It's Arch-based so you may need to keep up with the updates more often. But you'll get access to the AUR, a centralized* repository for just about every program you'll need to install. I personally find it and pacman easier to use than apt.
I’ve been using Mint and Pop!_OS on two different machines for a few years.
Neither has really required much from me as the user, although I have needed to use the terminal once on each of them.
Personally, I really like the way Pop does window tiling and workspaces.
load more comments
(1 replies)
mint is probably where you want to be. if you have performance issues with mint, consider MX Linux, AntiX, and EndeavourOS, in that order.
Don't get mint if you'll get a remotely capable laptop or plan to game on it. Its so called 'modern' desktop environment (wich still defaults to the old X window system) feels awful to use imo and while the 'retro' ones are better there's no point in using them on a new laptop. Choose a distro that ships with KDE, GNOME, or a wlroots based desktop environment.
I've also had driver issues with it that didn't happen with Ubuntu or arch.
Pretty much every distro has a caveman compatible installer.
I can’t disagree with mint being a good distribution, because it is.
I personally think for someone just starting out in Linux that an immutable distribution like fedora silverblue (gnome) or kinoite (kde) is the safest route to take. They’re difficult to break. I personally use bazzite on my framework laptop and it’s basically hassle free. Not for everyone, but they work well.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Any Debian/Ubuntu or fedora based distro will do you fine. I personally ran PopOS when I built my computer earlier this year and didn't have any issues with it
Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora or one of the offshoots like Mint or Pop.
As long as you don't go too far into the weeds with Arch, Silverblue or NixOS, You're probably going to have a pretty decent experience, as long as you don't dig too far under the hood too early most things that you're going to want to try are just going to work out of the gate.
to those suggesting mint, any particular reasons to choose between Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce versions?
I personally use Cinnamon, which has a similar feeling to Win10. Very satisfied with it on my desktop. From what I've heard XFCE also feels similar to Windows, but I simply have just used Cinnamon ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Cinnamon or Xfce are more similar to Windows' user interface. Between those two, Xfce is more lightweight than Cinnamon. MATE is more for people who liked GNOME 2 and want that interface over what the current GNOME is.
Cinnamon would probably be the most friendly as a new user, but I personally haven't used it in years and I'm not familiar with its current state.
I usually recommend Zorin OS to noobs, but personally I prefer arch based
Debian all day...
All these shiny new distros promising to make things easier and better... But nothing is easier and better than 30 years of rock solid stability and support.
Depending on how new the laptop is, it might not work on debian stable. Check your compatibility
From personal experience with a new laptop, the intel meteor lake platform didnt work well with debian stable
I've never noticed any hate for Mint, it seems to be a pretty good option. It'll easily run on anything that was able to run Windows 10 (probably 8 too) and the default desktop environment Cinnamon is easy to navigate if you're coming from Windows. Even if you have some obscure piece of hardware with Mint being based on Ubuntu there's probably a tutorial you can follow to get it working.
Install a few and see which one you like the most. You can install several distros at the same time and they'll all appear in the boot menu. When I was deciding which distro to use on my laptop, I was dual booting Debian and Fedora, with one /home partition shared between both of them.
Mint and Fedora are good choices IMO. Everyone is different though :)
load more comments
(2 replies)
Ubuntu. There are mixes of it but out of the box Ubuntu is about as straightforward a dist to install as possible and it is well supported.
That said "new laptop" and Linux are not always a match made in heaven. You might try it from a boot stick and confirm that things like the GPU, touch screen, touchpad, fingerprint reader, USB C / Lightning all work properly.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Mint was my beginner distro and is what I recommend. In my experience I was able to find a solution for most of my beginner problems by searching for a solution for mint.
The first time in installed mint I ruined the partitions on my laptop. But that was on me.
Look at screenshots of default interfaces and pick your fave bug distro. Can't go wrong with fedora, Ubuntu, mint, pop_os etc. mint would be good since you have a friend who uses it. When you want to know how to do something you can ask.
I run arch btw
linux from scratch /s
Linux Mint is good, Pop_OS! is good, Fedora is good.
TuxedoOS has been seamless, runs KDE, and all updates are checked for compatibility
TBH Ubuntu, or if you have an older/lower spec machine xubuntu
Linux mint (Cinnamon is my fav). You can never go wrong.
Maybe
Mint, Fedora
Run KDE if you consistently game, otherwise Gnome is good since you can leave every setting after setup with it
load more comments
(2 replies)