Linux

Linux Mint

You always start with Linux Mint. This is the way.

Pop!OS. It is maintained by a company called System76 who make Linux computers. You might think about getting one if you want a new computer. Support the cause!

This is universally regarded as the best distro for beginners and veterans.

Mint is my go-to linux newbie distro suggestion.

l'd say Linux Mint or Fedora as a distro.

And as a desktop environment (which I think will influence your Linux experience far more than the distro pick) I'd pick KDE or Cinnamon or if you want to go old school XFCE (which is little easier on the resources) (all three stick to a more traditional desktop paradigm, so the switch from windows wont be as awkward)

luckily you can switch the DE pretty easy. you can just install them on your distro of choice and use them side by side if you'd like to try them out (generally speaking, you can choose which DE session you want to use on your login screen)

Like most others have stated here, I'll also add my recommendations for Linux Mint.

I have helped most of my family, relatives and several friends move and familiarize themselves with Linux Mint, especially those that do almost everything within the web browser (shopping/email/Facebook/youtube/travel reservation/etc…). Since I already was their goto tech support, I showed them around on Linux Mint and they pretty easily got going as everything was intuitively similar to Windows. All was point and click (after my initial setup with their network, peripherals, printer and some basic automatic updates configuration), no terminal voodoo magic for them.

For the younger ones I typically set them up with Pop!OS and Steam and they are ready to jump without me having to explain much. Sometimes, I had to install and help setup a server (Minecraft) so they can play with their friends.

Personally, I use a mix of LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition), Alpine Linux, TrueNAS Scale, OPNsense and VMware ESXi/Workstation/vSphere for virtual machines.

Mind you, I would not recommend VMware as I am currently evaluating my transition options toward XCP-ng with Xen Orchestra or LXD/Incus or something else entirely.

Linux Mint is definitely the right choice here in my opinion. I installed it for my parent's on their older laptop when they were having issues running windows. They were blown away by how fast it was and how they could do all of their usual tasks (i.e browsing, financing, basic games, etc.). It will be a great first experience for you!

You should try Linux Mint. It's a good distribution for new Linux users. It's easy to understand, has a good community with plenty of solutions for all types of problems and it is not too specific.

Gaming with Steam on Linux works without any major issues except when it comes to games that intentionally made run on Windows only due to their DRM. I suggest using the Flatpak variant of Steam so you won't clutter your system with too many weird dependencies.

Linux mint for sure

I'll second Mint. It's got a similar layout to Windows, so eases you in, and everything just works.

I'd recommend POP!_OS. Very easy to install and use and most games I've tried to play work without any problems.

PopOS or Mint. Easy peasy.

Definitely Linux Mint. Literally the best out there whether new to Linux or an advanced user.

Fedora with KDE

Advantages:

• Most software has a version for it, this is not the case for e.g. OpenSUSE. The software is also usually quite new (unlike Debian).
• You can boot into older system versions if an update failed so you’re never stuck with a broken system.
• It doesn’t push snaps down your throat unlike Ubuntu and comes with Flatpak by default.
• A very customizable interface that is quite similar to Windows 7/10 by default with tons of useful features.
• Not a point release like Debian that requires a certain level of manual migration to upgrade to a newer version.

Downsides:

• Slightly less popular than Debian-based distro’s and thus has less info on it online.
• Rolling release so you will have to update very often.

Linux Mint is mentioned a lot in this thread, but it’s one of the few distro’s I’ve never used before so I won’t advise in favor of it.

Wait, when is Windows 10 hitting end of life? If Windows 11 doesn't support devices without aTPM, that's a huge swath of insecure machines.

Fedora’s my favorite. It’s also the most secure without going straight to QubesOS, which is not beginner friendly.

Another day another switching post. We need a new community for these posts.

Just FYI, you could also switch to Windows 10 IoT LTSC for longer support (2029 IG)

Linux Mint

I'm a Linux mint user for my main system and am no beginner. As others have said, it's friendly to both beginners and advanced users, it's good to see you've made that choice.

That being said, don't stop there. Whether it's in a virtual machine or some old laptop, also try one of the "from scratch" systems. I went with Gentoo and that is the root of where a ton of my Linux knowledge started. It's my favorite distro simply because it has that history for me. You'll find everyone has their own favorites for their own reasons, so be sure to explore and find the one that you enjoy and helps you learn.

Pop OS, it's just brilliant.

Linux Mint, 100%. Most of your configuration will have a GUI and their flagship Cinnamon desktop is made to look similar to Windows 7.

Good choice. Linux mint is nice for people coming from windows

I'm already starting to migrate my small office. Two PCs done, a handful of others to go. I have probably three that I'll run Windows 11 for software compatibility, and another three Mac's for different software.

Who remembers "Windows 10 will be our last operating system'?" I remember. Fuck Microsoft. Fuck Macs too though.

Why wait? Jump now.

I highly recommend dual booting because there will be times when you get fed up with the penguin's bullshit.

Also Linux Mint is a great recommendation, but I have to recommend the Debian edition.

You need to first understand what kind of interaction you expect with your OS. For this, you can start by considering what you use your OS for and currently what you do for your OS. e.g. Before I jumped to Linux, I was just starting to learn PowerShell on Win, because I saw a lot of places in my system where I wanted to use it. I felt consistently dissatisfied with the lack of things I could just tell the system to do, making me go to scripting. This way, I knew I won't have a problem with putting time into something that takes a lot of configuring. But since I was still new and wanted an easy start, I went with Manjaro KDE. It was based on Arch, but had a system of differed updates, giving me a feel of it being easier. Plus, it had a lot of customisations out of the box, some of which, I learnt from, when making my own configurations for EndeavourOS. EndeavourOS considers itself to be more terminal oriented, and it is possible to easily get a full-fledged tty system, just by selecting it in the installer. I chose KDE because I like changing the Appearance a lot, but you might want to look at other DEs depending upon your expectations.

Ubuntu has been shifting a lot to snaps, so if you want your computer to be snappy (the literal meaning), you might want to avoid it (ironically). But at the same time, if you want less configuration requirements and want to keep most of your exp outside the terminal, on top of finding it easier to install software from vendors' websites, you can consider it. If you are fine with putting in the minimal amount of brain usage it takes to understand the installation instructions of the website - and by that I mean, read the heading telling you which distro the copy-paste text is meant for (I know ppl too lazy to do that and trying paste an apt command into Red Hat) - I suggest Fedora/Linux Mint and a slew of others.

DE = Desktop Environment apt = Package Manager (kinda like an app store on terminal) used for Ubuntu

P.S.: If you choose an Arch-based distro, make sure you keep a backup OS that is in the Debian/Fedora tree. I keep a Debian KDE, mainly for older linux games, which ask for packages that have been long removed from Arch, but it is useful in case you break something. That way you won't have to wait for the time it takes to make a Live USB and can just restart.

Yes Linux Mint. You CAN migrate later to other distros without losing your data so feel free to test others out later when you feel ready and know more about them.

I went with Pop!_OS because it was one of the least Windows-like DEs. Which is what I wanted after getting so damn sick of their garbage. Kinda macOS though with the dock and all. I dig it.

Mate, why wait?,

Run to Linux, don't just run from Windows.

Start looking at the desktop environments and use a virtual machine/live usb to try them out. For something similar to Windows I'd recommend KDE plasma or Cinnamon, both can be tried out using KDE Neon or Linux Mint.

What I suggest is to Nobara for gaming or Linux mint. Most distros are the same but depends on what comes preinstalled.

Nobara if you game.