monaho ,

If you do not have a friend to help you along the way, use the Linux Mint Cinnamon edition first. Download it now and use it in a VM to get used to it.

If you're feeling confident and would like to explore further, install Debian with GNOME or KDE. I suggest Debian because it's a large and independent distribution, community-built, rock solid stability, convenient or powerful as needed, and stays true to "the standards" (like the stock GNOME) and free software, but doesn't prevent you from installing proprietary software as needed. I moved all my friends who were willing to switch to Linux with zero experience to Debian (3 in total), but they had me to help and I didn't have to do anything after assisting the installation and the first day configuration. Now they're all independent, using it daily and never ask me for help.

Fedora is also a good option, but every release has only 1 year of support while Debian has at least 3 years and Mint has 5.

forgotten_cloud ,

All the suggestions here are good, but actually Puppy Linux is also a good start.
Try their latest BookwormPup64 release, it is very polished, solidly build, and most importantly small enough to install on you usb pendrive.
Puppy linux runs in your ram, so it is super fast even on old basic hardware.

Give it a try.. I start using puppy after my pc crashed... Never look back to windoz since then..

fraksken ,

Fedora or debian stable. I would recommend the KDE desktop environment as it closely reaembles what you're using now.
try somw distro's and stick with what you like.
I would not wait though. Just do it.
welcome to the family

Evotech ,

I'm doing the same tbh. It's gonna be great (and painful) I have my scope trained at nobara

Adanisi ,
@Adanisi@lemmy.zip avatar

I'd suggest Debian Stable with KDE Plasma.

Debian is the grandparent of most distros today, instructions for it are everywhere, and it's got a large userbase.

Gakomi ,

First of all I recommand that no matter what distribution you get, that you should get one that has KDE as desktop environment as it looks mostly like windows and that would make it easy for you to get used to it.

As for what distro to use well that depends. While searching for info on how to do things when I first went to Linux most posts that I found were for Ubuntu.

Which was annoying as I did not want Ubuntu and I was using Mangaro and later went to Arch.

Manjaro is based on Arch so you can use documentați and forum answers from both Manjaro and Arch. Also Arch has very good documentation but it's a little too technical for someone that just started using Linux and might confuse you more then answer your questions.

My recomandation would be Manjaro but Ubuntu seems to be easier to find info for!

I also recommend to use ChatGPT or better yet the edge specific ChatGPT(as it is connected to the internet) for answer to problems you have encountered. It's not perfect but it's very helpful.

bl_r ,

Fedora. In my personal experience it has been much more sane and stable compared to ubuntu or tumbleweed, and my friends have preferred it over arch or kde neon, often for stability. The packages are up to date, games work great (even on nvidia) and it runs great on laptop

I’ve also heard good things about Pop!_os and mint, but I haven’t used either

trigonated ,

I also love that they don't seem to do much customization on the desktop environment, just a clean, default Gnome (which admittedly might not be ideal for many people due to some...questionable UX decisions).

captain_aggravated ,
@captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works avatar

Abstract: Use Linux Mint.

Welcome to the Linux community! I say that so often I've bound it to an autokey macro, I run it for every newcomer I greet.

First bit of advice: Don't wait until Windows 10 is unsupported and you're FORCED to a new OS to start learning Linux. Simple reason: Linux is a very different system. There will be culture shocks. An example I cite a lot is Linux doesn't call them "shortcuts." What Windows calls Shortcuts, Linux calls Links or Launchers, depending on exactly what it does. A shortcut to a document is a Link, a shortcut to a program is a Launcher. Makes perfect sense...and is different than Windows. And those culture shocks will spend months throwing you around.

I switched to Linux because I HATED Windows 8.1...and I kept a copy of Win 8.1 on that computer for that wretched products' entire lifespan. In case I found something I didn't know how to do in Linux. There were times when I had...let's say an essay or something I had to turn in on a deadline, and this required a task that I knew how to do in Windows, but that's not how Linux works...I found it best to just do it in Windows, turn it in, then when I had plenty of time and no pressure, I could easily learn how to do it later. Eventually that kind of stopped, and then reversed. Nowadays Windows feels foreign to me and Linux feels like home.

I also suggest starting to use FOSS software applications like LibreOffice as soon as you can, because honestly the OS isn't the thing that causes the real problems, it's the software library.

As for which distro: It honestly doesn't matter all that much, They honestly have more in common than they have differences. The major component that you'll really feel the difference in at first is the desktop environment, and that's a personal and kind of visceral choice. There are people that absolutely adore GNOME. I absolutely despise it; this is no hyperbole, if given a choice between using GNOME and using no GUI at all just the terminal, I'm using the terminal. A lot of people really like KDE. I can't put my finger on why, but KDE feels dead to me. There's some uncanny vacant quality to KDE, it gives me the same feeling as a website that is still on the internet but hasn't been updated since 2006. Cinnamon feels like home to me, I'm very comfortable with it, other people can't stand it for reasons I don't comprehend.

This is why we have choices.

I do generally steer folks away from distros that are, basically "Forks of Kubuntu with our own non-specific special sauce that makes it good for [beginners/gamers/trout/Anglicans/veterans of the Falklands war/cellists/hackers]." Because their own special sauce is going to be a skin for the settings menu that's 10% jankier, and a different color scheme. I would stick to top level distros like Debian or Red Hat, MAJOR forks like Ubuntu or Fedora (though Ubuntu is going so corporate these days I actually try to steer folks away) or DE flagship distros like Mint, Pop!_OS or Neon.

This is my tenth year of using Linux Mint. It stands the test of time, it doesn't Just Break the way the memetastic rolling release distros do, the GUI feels complete but not bloated, and...to me it's home.

WhatsHerBucket ,
@WhatsHerBucket@lemmy.world avatar

Why wait?

the803 ,
@the803@lemm.ee avatar

I recommend Q4OS if you have an older machine; I learned Linux on Ubuntu because it's popular, but realized over time that having a huge community means there are a lot of clueless know-it-alls giving bad advice to noobs. Q4OS is big enough to be supported, and the focus on stability and keeping old machines running makes it friendly to casuals and oldnoobs who just want to keep using the hardware they've got. There's an .exe installer that will let you plunk it down into your PC without losing anything other than hard drive space.

spittingimage ,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. It's designed to make the transition easy. The menus and taskbar are all in the same place as you'd expect them on Windows. There's the usual set of documents/pictures/downloads folders. The interface is good-looking and polished like you're used to, too.

JustUseMint ,

Please see username

IndiBrony ,
@IndiBrony@lemmy.world avatar

Sorry. Now my breath is fresh, which version of Linux should I use?

Pringles ,

"Tips Fedora"

wizzor ,

I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago, had used RHEL and Ubuntu before, my only complaint is that the task bar editor is kind of clunky.

Aside from that, solid OS (and there is no real need to edit the task bar, unless you are my kind of weirdo).

JustUseMint ,

I recommend Mint to newer people. For folks like you who want that level of customization which is totally cool btw, I would just suggest a distro that empowers that like arch.

smallaubergine ,

Justu Semint?

Agent641 ,

Ju Stusem Int

I think it's French.

mack7400 ,

Seconded. It was the first Linux that "just worked" for me, and has done so across 4 different machines now.

Reacher ,

I'd start with Pop!OS or Linux Mint. They both are beginner friendly.

Especially Pop runs well with NVIDIA GPUs. AMD is no problem on either.

I personally think that Pop has the best out of the box, everything is just running, experience.

squid_slime ,
@squid_slime@lemmy.world avatar

Arch Linux, gnome/KDE for desktop. Wiki is extensive, packages and updates are cutting edge .

There is endeavour os (arch based) which I hear is good

Addv4 ,

It's pretty polished. I have the sway community edition on my touchscreen thinkpad. Note I say touch screen, as it seems to be the best touch screen experience I could find for that laptop, which I think kinda emphasizes the level of polish.

squid_slime ,
@squid_slime@lemmy.world avatar

I use sway too, great theme-able wm

Molecular0079 ,

I don't think someone new to Linux should go with Arch right off the bat. It isn't as hard as everyone makes it sound, but it also isn't as easy or seamless for new Linux users.

squid_slime ,
@squid_slime@lemmy.world avatar

Endeavour is noob friendly

Molecular0079 ,

No its not. It's Arch with a fancy installer. You still have to keep up with Arch news and fix package breakages yourself. There's really no difference between Arch installed via archinstall and EndeavourOS.

squid_slime ,
@squid_slime@lemmy.world avatar

Is this coming from a non arch user? Ive never had to "keep up with arch news" in order to use the distro. And does Debian or whatever flavor of distro fix broken packages for you?

Molecular0079 , (edited )

Lmao, yes I am an Arch user. Literally all Arch users will tell you to check the Arch news for package breakages or adjustments. Just the other day I had to choose between dbus-broker-unit and dbus-daemon-unit, and a few weeks back I had to fix an update issue with openjdk. Both of these were listed on the Arch news site.

A new Linux user will not know what to do in these situations, much less know what dbus-broker-unit and dbus-daemon-unit is.

Adanisi ,
@Adanisi@lemmy.zip avatar

Yeah no. Don't suggest advanced distros for beginners.

squid_slime ,
@squid_slime@lemmy.world avatar

Endeavour isn't an advanced distro.

tiny_parking ,

Don’t wait. Experiment now in a VM to learn the basics.

Buddahriffic ,

Or alternatively, make a live USB and boot it natively.

jws_shadotak ,

If I go this route, is there a way to take that VM I've created and just roll straight into it? Just install it on the boot drive?

I've got a Pop!_OS VM going already.

tiny_parking ,

I think there is a way technically with something like trueimage or clonezilla, but I’ve never used it. Always thought of my VM as a learning tool, and then used what I learnt to fresh install on real hardware

jws_shadotak ,

Oh I never though of running those!

Clonezilla inside the VM to clone the "drive" and then clone that to the actual SSD

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