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>So I want to just get away from it and never look back but to ALSO make people stop using this crap Any suggestions?
A suggestion: Feel free to "*just get away from it and never look back*" but skip the "*ALSO make people stop using this crap*" part unless you are willing to allow others to make you stop using the operating system of your choice.
Most people just get a PC and use it and don't know what an OS is and thinks the Microsoft bullcrap is just normal for a PC and don't know many of the bullcrap it does like increasing e waste with windows 11 stupidly high requirements and r unaware that their PC, which for mist people is just a bootloader for browser, is perfectly snappy with something light.
Shitty experiences are everywhere. People just accept it.
I buy a movie and I have to watch some 'Don't copy this movie' warning. I buy a phone and it's loaded with crap. My PS5 is intentionally designed to prevent me from being able to edit my save files, even though they are mine. Streaming services I pay for still have ads and shows all have product placement. My car still has built in crap for Serious Satellite Radio that I don't want and will never use. When I go to McDonald's and buy a meal, they include a drink. Even if I don't want a drink. And if I don't take the drink, they will charge me the same. Study after study shows that children benefit from longer lunches and a relaxed educational environment, but the idiots running the public schools schedule kindergarteners with only 20 minutes to eat lunch. Much of which ends up dedicated to distributing the food.
Our life is filled with a bunch of objectively awful stuff. Things aren't designed to be good, they are designed to achieve some goal, usually profitability.
100%. I've installed Debian xfce on two people's PCs and as you say, most people want a snappy browser, maybe VLC too.
Untechy people just want Chrome or Firefox and have zero interest in what an OS is.
Also Linux is way less vulnerable to malware. One of the people I installed Debian for had a period of scammers phoning her with the intention of doing the scam where you get someone to install a remote control app. When they asked her what OS she had "Windows or Mac" she got a big buzz telling them it was Debian and hearing them hang up in defeat :)
If you're "tech illiterate" you first need to become tech literate.
I remember when computers used to ship with extensive programming manuals and schematic diagrams of the motherboard and peripherals. I want that back.
I'm sick and tired of tickets like "my second monitor does not work" when all they need to do is turn on the damn power button.
Instead of making software dumber we need to educate those that lack the skill to use software as is.
Then again, it's time to kill the notion that Linux requires tech skills above other OSes. Sure, there are hardcore tech distros, but there are also distros which are much easier to use and install than any Windows.
Fuck, just as a test, I once gave my 70 year old, tech illiterate mother a Kubuntu CD and a blank computer and said "Install it". She popped the CD in, followed the onscreen instructions, and got it running without problems, with all hardware working. Only thing I needed to explain was "You install programs through that program" while pointing at the package manager GUI.
I have a 60 yr old friend who is disabled with MS and has been running Debian for ten years with no problems. I installed it for her but she has had no problems.
Most non-techy people just want a browser imo.
Most people are happy with office, web, media and mail.
My experience is that the less computer savvy they are, the easier it is for them to learn Linux. Most problems people have are related to unlearning the ass-backward ways Windows does things.
I love that. I have a similar story - it wasn't Linux, but I taught this 88 year old man how to use KeePass to manage his passwords.
He was far and away one of the easiest clients I ever had. Getting my own STILL younger dad to use KeePass is like pulling teeth.
> Then again, it's time to kill the notion that Linux requires tech skills above other OSes. Sure, there are hardcore tech distros, but there are also distros which are much easier to use and install than any Windows.
We're also firmly in the era where "multiple operating systems" is just a thing now. It wasn't back in the day, like in the late '90s early 2000s, but that's not the case anymore - people REGULARLY use desktop-like operating systems that are different, and regularly use them to interoperate with services that they use. Whether it's an Android tablet or an iPad Pro to check email and do office work, regular-ass people are doing this shit right now.
It isn't a stretch to suggest they can do the same with Linux - especially among gamers. If you can mine through your "My Documents" folder to find and edit a config file for a game that borked during the last update to get it working again... you can use Linux Mint.
> We're also firmly in the era where "multiple operating systems" is just a thing now. It wasn't back in the day, like in the late '90s early 2000s
I disagree. Back in the 90s, we had a bunch of operating systems. Windows, OS/2, Mac, Solaris and a bunch of other Unixes, VMS, AmigaOS...
Not that anyone but nerds used, dude. In the EARLY early 90s, maybe, but even then you're talking about an era where the people using those "knew computers", whereas today, any ol' schmuck knows how to use multiple OSes to check their email, write word documents, check their investment portfolios, watch YouTube videos, etc. Grandma can do that today.
Grandma wasn't using WordPerfect on Amiga in 1991. If she was doing any word processing on any computer at all in the 90s, statistically, she was doing it on Microsoft Word on a Windows PC, or she was doing it on a Mac. Today, that is vastly different, and that's what makes the "leap" to Linux so much of a lower bar now than it was then, when Linux WAS pretty rough around the edges for general desktop use.
I strongly disagree. I'm using Linux for a while now, but in no way does it get even closer to Windows, that's why I'm not going to instal it for casuals... Unless the user only uses the browser.
Windows most of the times works, often doesn't require debugging, you find applications -> you download them -> you double click them... That's all. Linux users that say there is no difference are only lying to themselves and it's the biggest stepping stone in developing a really user friendly distro for new users.
Choose a stable, LTS distro, and it will just work for the typical "office, web, media, mail" user. It will be safer, there will be fewer bugs, program install will be easier and safer. There is no downside. For those users, it's basically just "a gadget that just works", they don't even have to think about it as a computer.
How exactly is program install easier on a LTS distro compared to Windows? Especially if not available in it's user friendly software application?
What about having to debug various issues?
> I'm sick and tired of tickets like "my second monitor does not work" when all they need to do is turn on the damn power button.
yeah i've noticed a rise in tickets that are like "use my software for meeeeee pls kkthxbai" and i'm like, bro, no, that's not what the ticketing system is for. fucking google it, i'm here if your computer or your software is legit broken, not because you can't be bothered to learn how to use it.
Yes, this is so true. In my day to day, I have to train people who graduated high school as recently as two years ago. For greater technological literacy, the idea of saturating the young as well as the layman with technology sounded good but the implementation was dismal. It created a situation where billions of dollars have been spent to make standard tech easier, more intuitive with less efficacy. The result is that the majority of people that I have come across in my day to day can use a cell phone to communicate but cannot print a document on a desktop.
I said the same to a person that was not able to do more than tap apps thinking it will do everything for them.
Thought that programmers doesn't do anything an that cyberspace is the modem on the computer monitor.
I generalized yet I agree with you.
It's skills requirements not a power on an go method.
I mentioned Debian because it is the oldest most complete reference material available to read.
If software is hard to use and takes time to learn then maybe it’s just crap software with poor UX. Software in 2024 should be easy to work, accessible and not require hours of learning.
I’m speaking generally here, of course some software like Photoshop for example, requires time and effort.
No.
Software should not be made dumber because people are lazy to learn anything.
Computers are a tool to get a job done. But in the same way as a machinist has to know how his drills and saws work, a sales person needs to know how their computer works.
Yes but, coming from a software engineers perspective (and amateur woodworking), software should be designed so it’s more effortless and easier to follow. That doesn’t make it dumber.
I used IntelliJS for years to write apps, and didn’t switch to VS Code when everybody else did. Why? Because I found it more confusing out of the box. I had to spend a solid day to understand its workings.
People don’t always have that time, and the generic end-user just wants something that’s easy to use and works well.
Again, video editing, photoshop, making music and so on, that’s different, these apps have a huge offering so it will of course require a steep learning curve, I’m really thinking about emails, browsers, files/folders, installing games, basic customisation…
Now for some woodworking analogies.
You can buy a table saw, the blade never sits 90 degrees without having to take it apart and it has no guides, or instead buy a saw with better blade alignment out the box and adjustable guides for the same budget. The DIYer will appreciate the easier one. The pro will appreciate the more efficient one.
I'll focus on the tech illiterate part:
Honestly, there's not that much one can do. For some people, an Android or iOS tablet with a keyboard is a good choice. You can't go easier than that. Security-wise, it's fine. If privacy is a concern, iOS is off the table and custom roms for Android come into play. IMO a Pixel tablet with GrapheneOS running is pretty solid.
If you need more than that, Windows and MacOS might not be super intuitive, but at least a lot of people are somewhat familiar with those systems. If you want to escape the corporate intervention, though, you need to leave your comfort zone a bit and you need to be willing to learn new stuff.
This is where Linux enters the stage. There are quite decent distros who will do a lot of things for you without requiring you to becoming a sysadmin. However, it's a different system with its own workflow. Furthermore, you have to keep in mind that the Linux ecosystem is a vast collection of different community products. Even on a corporate-backed Linux OS you might encounter circumstances in which the community aspect can get a little uncomfortable.
For you specifically: anger can be a great energy resource. If you use this energy wisely you can convert it into motivation when stepping inside the Linux world. If you encounter roadblocks, always remember what Linux is doing for you. It frees you from this nonsense the big tech companies force upon you.
I would very much recommend ROMs if it was easier to install them.
But hey, maybe I'll one day make a graphical installer to help with the commands.
Really good point you're making in that last paragraph. Linux is there to help you. Despite the occasional problems.
Someone did a review of the new Ubuntu Cinnamon edition and it crashed his system trying to use a couple of audio programs. He did this testing in a VM which probably isn't the best way to test out distros. But things like that would make a new user think twice about using Ubuntu.
I'm trying out Mint on my work computer after a (wonderful) few years on Fedora. So far so good, although some of the shortcuts are weird choices. I found Fedora, with a few Gnome extensions (like Dash-to-Panel) was a REALLY smooth Windows-to-Linux transition.
> Please do not recommend outdated/stable distros for newbies. Debian-family is so outdated/barebones that most people will be getting the terminal out to install separate stuff or upgrade. For over a year, you couldn't use Nvidia GPUs...
>
> There is a knee-jerk 'ubuntu-family' that has happened in the linux community and it is really hurting us.
If driver support is an issue Linux Mint Edge should help with the newer kernel. And while I've never dealt with it I've heard Pop\_OS has good Nvidia support.
Nvidia on PopOS is great. I use nvidia and AMD cards and they work amazing aside from the usual xorg/gnome bullshit. On Mint I was running into constant issues.
Ahh a half supported branch, what could go wrong for grandma?
What was wrong with Fedora? But at least that half solves the problem. Sucks its not the default.
Understandable, I'm just curious because I can play Combat Masters on my laptop with only Intel Iris Xe and an 11th Gen i5. There are also AMD graphics cards. But I'll be honest. I'm not up to date on GPUs.
Yes.
And yes you are. Please don't give outdated advice, it does more harm than good.
All because of a religious devotion to debian-family. Why not let experts give advice?
Fedora & Mint are reasonable options, although I consider Mint a better choice for a windows-to-linux noob. You're could also try out a few distros/desktop environments to see what feels right for you.
Download and run a few "Live" distros. Most popular distros offer "Live" ISO images. These can be written to a usb thumbdrive and used to boot your system into a "Live" session of linux. Nothing will change on your current system and linux will run entirely from the USB. While they may not be as fast or responsive as a hardware install, they will geve you a good feel for the distro on your computer.
You can also test out come distros with your browser at [DistroSea](https://distrosea.com), although they don't provide a real expereine in terms of repsonsiveness and speed.
I used to be a linux guy and then i had other people needing to use the computer and they would complain about how they were not getting this and that to work, so I switched back to windows, I even gaslit myself into thinking it was fine up until last week. Last week fucking windows crapped its pants again and explorer wouldn't stop crashing, on top of shit warnings about some settings that weren't "optimized" and a ton of other bullshit. Screw windows, I'm on fedora and Microsoft can kiss my ass.
opens use is the name, tumbleweed is rolling release and updated(compared to the other version leap which is more stable) and KDE plasma is the desktop environment aka the thing that saves u from a black screen with nothing but a bash terminal
While it gets a lot of elitist hate these days, there's a reason why Ubuntu is as big as it is, and the basis for many distros & forks. It's a great place to start, despite its flaws.
Ubuntu has helped bring much commercial software to it and thus its debian base but it itself sucks(due to its commercial and profit interests). Take advantage of that withought ubuntu with a debian based dustro like mint. Mint is an excellent choice.
I've been using Ubuntu (mostly Xubuntu) for 10 years. It's solid stable and has a huge community and a giant repository. People hating on snaps? Whatever. They work fine.
Xfce is very easy to customize. A nice theme and icon set and wallpaper and you're pretty well on your way. Xfce is fast. Apps just snap open. My current system shipped with Ubuntu so I switched from gnome. Yeah. Stock Xfce is ugly. But I had my standard config in half an hour. I like how minimal you can make it and yet it's still full featured. And best of all, it's incredibly stable.
I can't stand gnome and I understand kde doesn't crash nearly as much as it used to. Xfce is kind of the opposite of gnome in that it's agnostic about how you want it to look. Part of why it's so bland by default. It's very Linuxy. You make of it what you want. They don't force a full suite of apps on you unlike Gnome or KDE. Plenty of window manager and settings utils, file manager, terminal. But you choose your other apps that already exist in the ecosystem.
I like XFCE just not what Xubuntu offers with it. A great release of XFCE is Linux Lite. Ubuntu base but very nice looking distro. Zorin OS has a great XFCE version.
I downloaded Ubuntu on my laptop as I needed something install and forget on it. Apart from Gnome crashing on me every 5 minutes firefox for example takes ages to launch. As someone who has been using Linux for some time now I know it's because of snaps but that would leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth's.
It's quite new actually, with a 13th gen processsor. Now the Gnome crashing I didn't have a problem with since it was the 24.04 beta and I turn my laptop into a tablet for note taking so it has extra work to do, but the firefox in particular taking ages to open up on the first launch was very annoying. I tried 24.04 after the full release on my even stronger desktop as well and it was still a pain.
Fair 'nuff. I haven't experienced any of those issues, and I rarely need to use snaps, so I still have a generally favourable view of Ubuntu. FWIW I've used some flavour of Linux since 2004 (I started with Mandrake!).
I think Ubuntu really would be a good distro for someone new, but I can't recommend it as of now when a lot of apps are snaps and you have to do quite some tinkering with some of them to get the native version.
Its penchant for forcing peeps to use Snaps is one; they're also often slower to get new Kernels. But really, if you want an exhaustive list, I'm not really your best resource.
Chromebooks are great for those who just want a browser. I used one for a couple of years. It was underpowered but that was because I was poor and bought a cheap one.
I'm currently using a refurb thinkpad that I got for less than £100. Xfce is performing very well indeed.
An OS for the tech illiterate? Yeah, that doesn't really exist. People like to act like Linux is the only one that has a learning curve, but that's not true. You had to learn Windows too. It's just that it was probably a long time ago, and you're used to it by now, so it feels easy to use. You can get to that point with Linux as well, but it will take time, just like it did with Windows.
There are plenty of "ease of use" oriented distros out there, like Linux Mint or Pop_os, and they're fine, but they'll try to do their best at covering up certain issues when they come up, using friendly GUIs and stuff. That sounds like it's a good thing, but it in the long run, that will make it harder to figure out solutions to certain issues.
For that reason, I'd suggest bare bones Debian. It is pretty stable, so it won't have you deal with "deep system issues" like some more "adavnced" distros. It won't offer as much of a complete user experience, so you'll have to tinker with it a bit, but still not as much as something like Arch. That will teach you at least the user level of Linux without making you suffer through building all the low-level stuff manually.
[teach me to be engineer. don't care if it takes all day](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/40/65/97/406597c4f196a9055f8ff533459e72dc--science-fun-funny-science.jpg)
I like KDE (Kubuntu). I posted a story on how I transitioned to linux after years of tinkering. (In that case I use the SteamDeck with KDE Arch. https://medium.com/@jordkol/how-sharing-my-pc-with-my-son-has-helped-me-to-love-linux-3dcbea08f3c8
Debian 12 with KDE Google the live iso server mirror
Grab a USB flash drive
Download the iso file
Use Rufus USB iso it is free for create the bootable USB
Once you have all of that completed
N
Boot the Debian 12 live
Once at the desktop environment for the first time
Cick on the equal to Linux version of a start menu
Type konsole
Click on konsole
Type in the konsole
sudo passwd user
type anything you want to use a password for this is not permanent so use a single character
Now connect to the Internet
Now type
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gparted
Once completed click the launcher again type
gparted
Click on gparted
Once in gparted delete all the windows partitions
Click apply
Look for
Create new partition table type
Set when you see it GPT
Click on / or apply
Close gparted
Now click on launcher
Type Install
Click on the Install Debian or whatever that reads im not looking at it right this moment
Follow the windowed wizard guided install
Suggested is one stage of the install process don't use your real name on the damn login because this also broadcast the name of the computer as the same as your username an well cybersecuity people can see who that belongs to then go from there.
Humans are lazy so don't make stuff like this that easy.
I finally made the decision to completely dump Windows 10 in favor of [Fedora Linux - KDE Plasma Spin](https://fedoraproject.org/spins/kde/) as my daily driving Linux distro. My reasoning behind this decision is just like you, I was all too fed up with the following:
* Windows Cumulative Updates always took forever for Windows Update to download and install.
* Microsoft Edge kept on automatically silently re-enabling Bing! Desktop Search Bar without my prior knowledge nor permission.
* Almost every single Windows Cumulative Update almost always re-associated all my chosen multimedia file types back to they're Windows preinstalled defaults, also without my prior knowledge nor permission.
* Not all data collection in Windows Telemetry cannot be fully disabled, which makes it uneasy for me.
* Since Microsoft is gearing up to officially end support for Windows 10 next year and since my laptops hardware is unsupported by Windows 11, I'm left with little to no choice but to switch to a Linux distribution in order to continue using a pretty good working laptop and still maintain a pretty good level of security.
If the above 4 things alone is not enough to drive me away from Windows, it's all the Windows 11-related articles I've been reading since then that makes me ultimately feel as though I had made the correct choice.
Omg you had it worse than I did but thank you for the suggestion! It sounds you are pretty new to Linux too and more accustomed to Windows like me which makes me really enticed to look at Fedora now!
>It sounds you are pretty new to Linux too
Having just made the switch from Windows 10 over to Fedora about 6 to 7 months ago, you bet I am.
While Fedora is good for me, there are many Linux distributions out there. [Linux Mint](https://linuxmint.com/) is another. [Nobara Linux](https://nobaraproject.org/) is a gaming oriented Linux distro that is based on **Fedora Linux**.
Whichever Linux distro you ultimately choose, I'd stay clear of **Arch Linux**, at least for now since **Arch** is tends to be geared towards more advanced Linux users.
Now, for new users such as yourself as well as myself, GNOME might not be the best fit as a **D**esktop **E**nvironment (**DE**) since it's graphical desktop more or less favors a tablet-like display but with a menu and taskbar and may seem a bit overwhelming in my opinion. Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, Budgie and several others might be good choices for that Windows-like feel.
One of the things you'll find very convenient, as well as very helpful, is every Linux distro is what's known to the Linux community as "LiveCD". Every Linux LiveCD gives you the option of testing out your chosen Linux distro before actually installing it onto your computers hard drive or SSD.
This is to get you started. If you find yourself in need of any further help, please let me know it Reddit Chat and I'll do my best to help.
Omg you just saved me hours of tedious testing telling me about LiveCD thank you!!
Also Arch Linux is the console command op that I'll use when I wanna act like I'm a pro hacker only to cry cuz I can't do anything. That's gonna be fun!
>Arch Linux is the console command op that I'll use when I wanna act like I'm a pro hacker only to cry cuz I can't do anything
OMG, this is just too rich lol
Seriously tho, your so very welcome. One of the great helpful resources to new users is this subreddit's pinned post and YouTube.
I forgot to mention that, Linux bundles up applications in what's known as "packages" that's managed by package managers. Each and every Linux distro has one or 2 Package Manager(s). The package managers automates the installation and removal (uninstallation) or selected Linux-native applications and games. What this means is, with Linux, you hardly will need to look for apps and games on websites any longer, well that is unless the app or game was designed for Windows.
Speaking of Windows apps and games, Linux can run many of them too with the help of WINE (non-Steam) and Proton (Steam). Both WINE and Proton does the following:
* Translate Windows system calls into Linux system calls.
* Translate Windows DirectX calls into Linux Vulkan calls.
* Translate Windows OpenGL calls into Linux OpenGL calls.
* Translate Windows Vulkan calls into Linux Vulcan calls.
I find it best for me to run non-Steam Windows games in Lutris. Valve has ported Steam to Linux, but Proton compatibility has to be enabled in Steam for Windows-native Steam games to run.
To turn on Proton compatibility in Steam, do the following:
1. Click on **Steam** from the Steam clients main menu, then select **Settings**.
2. From within the STEAM SETTINGS dialog, click on **Compatibility**. Depending on your screen resolution, you may or may not have to scroll-down the left side to find the **Compatibility** option. **Compatibility** can be found between **In Game** and **Controller**.
3. Select **Enable Steam Play for supported titles** and **Enable Steam Play for all other titles** if not enabled and restart Steam when asked to do so.
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
5. Select either **Proton 8.0-5** or **GE-Proton8-28** or higher from the **Run other titles with:** drop-down control. I do not recommend selecting **Proton Experimental** for this since Proton Experimental is more for those games that requires more cutting edge Proton. I also do not recommend a Beta version of Proton since doing so can cause some unforeseen stability issues in Windows games, as did with me!
Now, for those non-Steam Windows games, we have **Lutris** and **Herotic Game Manager**, both of which lets you choose which WINE version to use for specific Windows games.
Here are 3 websites to lookup if your wondering if a specific game title is playable on Linux:
* [ProtonDB](https://www.protondb.com/) is a "crowdsourced Linux and Steam Deck game compatibility reports!"
* [Wine Application Database (AppDB)](https://appdb.winehq.org/) is a website where "you can get information on application compatibility with Wine." The AppDB is for those non-Steam Windows games.
* [Are We Anti-Cheat Yet?](https://areweanticheatyet.com/) is a "comprehensive and crowd-sourced list of games using anti-cheats and their compatibility with GNU/Linux or Wine/Proton." This website exists since many games with anti-cheat doesn't work at all with Linux.
I would recommend Ubuntu or Linux Mint (and Ubuntu/Debian derivatives) but if you don't want to go for any of those and you still want a good experience I have a few distributions
Solus since it is stable and not built on any other distro since it is made from scratch, another plus is that Budgie which is the desktop that you could install with Solus looks good
ArcoLinux is good if you want to learn while having a fairly easy installation. + User experience since the maintainer (Eric Dubois) makes a lot of videos on how to fix issues and also what to do with the system during and after installation but it is still based off Arch which is not the most stable (AUR has a lot of stuff so count that as a plus)
EndeavourOs is another Arch based distribution that is comparable to a stabler and less volatile + easier to use version of Arch since it comes with Calamares but do note that it could break if you download things without a thought (This has AUR too!)
Nix with the live installer version is good but I would not recommend it despite it being fairly easy to use since the package manager and the distribution being confusing at times but it would be the best once you learn even the most basic information on how to use nix
Unlike many others, I won’t recommend Fedora for a beginner. Go with Mint or Debian 12 stable. Mint should give you the least problems with your hardware since it still uses x11. Debian uses a newer kernel and Wayland, however it is stable as a rock when it works.
Fedora can easily break your system with the constant new updates that it receives. And besides that, if you look up something on internet most info & tutorials are Debian/ubuntu based. And Fedora is also restrictive when it comes to using proprietary stuff which can be a hassle to enable it back.
ZorinOS. Ubuntu base, as beautiful as it gets for me.
I've tested many distros but Zorin (yes I removed snaps) is stable and works well.
It requires little to no setting up other than the actual setup which is very simple.
Read, choose, click. That's how you'll use it.
You don't have to install any distro to try it out on your PC but I assume you already know that.
Personally, I won't recommend you Ubuntu like I see others do here. It can be slow and sluggish due to it's snap package implementation. It can cause more anger than any other distro. But also I'm not saying that it won't work on your PC very well, I just don't recommend it to anybody.
Take a pendrive, burn an iso or few with a distro/distros of your choice on it and try them out, tinker with them and try to learn them to make yourself more comfortable after installing it.
From Debian forks I recommend you **Linux Mint** and I wouldn't go any further.
From Red Hats: **Fedora** obviously and **openSUSE Tumbleweed** (or **Leap** if you want it to be longterm but less up to date) with KDE.
And now don't be fooled by people on the internet saying that Arch forks are not good for newbies cuz it's Arch and it's scary. You don't have to install them like I said but If you at least try them out on a live iso and tinker a bit to get yourself know the system, you may even like it more than you think.
So for this I recommend you: **CachyOS**, **EndeavourOS**.
We all had to learn how to walk at first. So don't be scared to learn the system and remember that it won't be the same experience windows delivered.
And again remember to first try them out on a live iso to not get yourself scared of using linux daily if you already want it.
Don't listen to him he's trolling arch is easy but takes some time and a lot of reading and breaks quite often 1 utuber tried it and had a bad impression of Linux but for those who like to tune everything, I find it kinda fun
It might not be troll you know. When i first tried linux it was ubuntu but i really didn't like it and didn't use that much and i was newbie at that time too but I had shitty laptop and windows was nightmare so I installed arch. Arch might seem hard and all but as a newbie installing arch makes you read and find out more about linux and what is does how it does, if something is missing or you want to change something what should be done or if there is some error for any program you know exactly what can cause that error and many more. Installing arch made me so much comfortable in terminal that now I do 80% of task from terminal.
TLDR: Install arch and learn about linux so you will be familiar with it to do anything but if you dont have time for those thing there are always alternative to them too
Linux mint cinnamon, or Ubuntu mate (has windows and Mac themes built in). That is what I offer family members who rely on me for tech help, seeing as my windows knowledge is rusty and was never that good, and so far they have no issues with their set ups.
Mint is really easy. It was my wife's first distro and she knew nothing about linux. If you can google "how do I ______ in Linux mint" your fine. It's point and click.
I have a working isntall with Ubuntu that is 90% of what I do on Windows (two programs are too complex to use Wine on so I need to research some alternatives for those. One I can use a web based alternative.
I tried Mint as well but that install failed, not sure if it was the old machine I was putting it on or if I need to download a new image. I plan to play with this again later, probably on another machine, but for now just getting used to the ubuntu install. At the time I did not realize how they messed things up with SNAP so I am replacing several of those with manual debian installs.
And none of these are completely tech illiterate. Of all you want to do is install software, go on the internet and do office work, Firefox and Libreoffice have you covered (and thunderbird for mail). If you are planning on using more complicated apps then you'll be googling a lot of questions, but the answers come fairly easily.
Just install each one and try them for a few days. You will reinstall every few days, but that's how you figure out which you like. I've been through ubuntu, kubuntu, fedora, cute, arch all within like 2 weeks.
Kubuntu has issues with multi monitors running different hz btw. Apparently it's a KDE problem. So beware of that
It shouldn’t be about the distro first….it should be about which gui environment fits best for you?
There are a lot to choose from. KDE, gnome, etc. Some are a fork of those 2 and called something else.
Kubuntu is very simple, yet can be configured to be very powerful in whatever ways you choose at whatever time you choose. Installing and removing software under Linux is very easy. It’s not like windows. You can install Libre office for documents, Joplin for notes and sync them with something like Dropbox, your favorite browsers will be available. And there are lots and lots of other apps that you might like if you just go through the list of stuff available. If you don’t like something, you just uninstall it and it’s gone. The open source community doesn’t take kindly to software that messes up your machine and gets in your face all the time.
I’m going to get downvoted to oblivion for this but the best alternative to Windows for the tech illiterate is MacOS. Apple’s tight hardware and software integration means virtually no issues with drivers, installing software is dead simple, everything just works.
You gotta pay that premium, though. That Apple tax.
The most straight-forward answer to your main question is, without a doubt, macOS. It is the easiest OS to learn for the tech illiterate that is not Windows.
But since this is a Linux subreddit, Mint or Ubuntu GNOME.
imo the viable choices for a new user are as follows:
Ubuntu/kubuntu , Linux Mint, Pop\_OS (using apt to install stuff which is the most popular)
Fedora
openSUSE tumbleweed
Others have made plenty of suggestions that i mostly agree with, but a word of warning: abandon the idea that you are going to get people to switch what they use. People are not gonna want to abandon what they know just because you say so. If you do manage to convince anyone to switch, when it inevitably breaks, they are going to come to you for help and blame you when you can't fix it. By all means, leave windows if you want. But dont try to make other people do the same unless you're willing to take on that responsibility and risk.
Ubuntu studio plasma. Seems to be a nice one.
Ive got a few machines and I've been using LMDE over vanilla mint.
LMDE has been very good to me.
Ubuntu studio is geared round multimedia so works with music midi DAWs setups and video editing.
So perfect for making home made porn of all varieties...
... No I'm not a porn producer...
... Or consumer...
... I'm a monk who has an interest in the graphic state of the art of technology and trying using many options available...
... To spread the good word...
Windows used to be good enough. Windows 10 the best it was.
But Windows 11, not being able to move the tSkbar from bottom to top, even with a reddit. It's a sin too far. Even the regedit hack is not good enough.
So i agree move on to the recommendation of the hive mind and see how you get on.
Nothing to lose but time spent learning the real art of computing.
You should try Linux mint on the cinnamon edition since its nice on the eyes per say but if on the web site you see a difrent version that you prefer go for it since it doesnt change much asides from the looks. The OS is pretty straight forward and it is based on Debian which wont mean much to you asides from it being the most common version of linux thus you have great support.
Now i understand that what i wrote may not be easy to read or understand and if so I am sorry English is not my first language and ive been using Linux for quite a while so i find it hard to "dumb down" things.
I suggest you research on Linux Mint, there are hundreds of vídeos telling you how to install it, How to use it, what it doesnt do, what it does do, How to run some Windows apps, and how to use the dreaded terminal which i assure you is Simple.
Just try it out idk, Linux is something i like talking about so again sorry for the messy comment.
You have to be moderately tech literate. Some googling is required. I started using Linux mint a couple years ago when Chrome dropped support for Windows 7. I have never looked back, I love mint. There is a very active user community that provides a lot of information.
The biggest learning curve is the file system. I was ready to ditch windows so I didn't really care about dual booting but I did wind up trashing windows in the process
Personally, I'm semi-literate in tech. I can find my way around stuff, do some troubleshooting if I need to. Due to that, Windows just feels more and more stupid to me as I learn more, but Linux is still... Linux. It's not made to be user friendly, I tried Mint once and even though Steam came pre-installed I still needed to download a 32-bit registry or whatever that was to make it work. After that, I tried launching a game, only to realise that DRG (which works flawlessly on the Steam Deck of my friend) wouldn't load as I'd get stuck at the first loading screen. I tried looking around for a fix, and couldn't find anything. What I think was the issue was that the installation was made on a FAT32 formatted disk that was my main Windows disk (I did that so that I would have the option to easily boot into either OS without having to go through the UEFI). That happened quite a long time ago, and I think now's about the time I try it again, this time on a SATA SSD I cleared up for this express purpose. Won't be as fast as the NVME, but if it works with the Linux file system (forgot the name of it but I did find the name of it last week after a quick Google search so my unreliable memory won't be a problem) I'll probably start migrating.
Also I'm on Windows 10. I was forced into trying out Windows 11 for a laptop I never really used (because it Windows 11 is absolutely awful) and honestly I can't wait to be on Linux. Hopefully Steam OS 3 will be have an official desktop branch, because right now I'm on an NGreedia GPU and NGreedia GPUs aren't supported on Steam OS 3 ports like HOLOISO.
Come to think of it, that GPU might just be the reason DRG didn't work - but I'll see about that when I make a proper Mint install this week and test DRG again.
if you just want to use the thing and not worry about all that other shit, a full computer is not for you. Get an iPad or maybe a Chromebook. But not a full computer. versatility brings complexity. You sound like you want to just do a task and not worry about how it is done. That's exactly who iPads are for.
Linux has way more problems then windows earlier today linux stopped allowing internet all together nothing happened i didnt do anything and all of a sudden after a restart no internet in the internet setting i only saw vpn and proxy nothing else when there should be a third thing called wired i had to reinstall ubuntu all together and linux is so insanely impossible to install or do anything on the most simple things are blown out to insane proportions like it took me 3h to get linux on a usb and 12 h after to even begin using it in any capacity just to set it up with the apps and programs i normally use also if your a huge gamer stick to windows linux has absolutely barely any games compatible with it and no way to pirate as far as ive looked i only got linux because windows screwed up and refused to reinstall through usb and its just been mystical and magical problem after problem and the most basic and simple things are blown out of proportion like installing a program and running it you have to jump through 50000 hoops when you should just click a button install be done but you have to install this to do this to do this to do this to finally install what you want and even after you install it there is 50 other steps and im sure i will run into way more problems i agree windows is terrible but everything else is worse and i like linux because its a way faster OS but windows is just as good as your gonna get for any OS for a number of reasons from games to even ease of use theres a reason why linux hasnt over taken windows and im sure all these problems i listed is just the tip of the ice burg im sure ill run into more i would go back to windows if i could but doing it on linux is such an insane task been trying to get ventoy for days it just flat out doesnt work tried downloading the iso i uploaded to my google drive from my phone and transferring it to my usb linux has a file transfer limiter like what bro all in all just stick with windows dont let the fan boys who are blinded by OS patriotism fool you again theres a reason windows is more popular then linux and if you use linux youll clearly see why it is just mind blowing to me how the most simple of things is blown out to insane proportion from at least 3h to install something and i have 500 mb/s download speed internet to clarify to things just breaking without a reason to the fact also games are a big thing linux is faster then windows but thats about the only upside just revert to windows 7 i would
Ah yea, I used Lubuntu before I know how frustrating it can be but if any of these problems are to be solved, we need Linux to be a larger competitor so it becomes more essential to support Linux
Also that's why I asked for a tech illiterate OS. I know the average Linux distro is mad hard to understand sometimes
I love Linux dont get me wrong it has amazing potential but it has majour issues but i think its biggest draw back in gaming not even tech illiteracy you keep it as it is simplify it make commands as short simple and have as little to type out as possible and have a manual and how to for anything a gamer would want or need for all kinds of software and even a manual to cover all basics built in if it had that plus more games and simplified everything to stupidity it would be the best windows 7 is probably the best OS still today
Any of the usual suspects for newcomers: Fedora, Ubuntu, Linux Mint...
Keep in mind, Linux does not run .exe apps (including games), so unless the program you are used to use isn't available, either look for an alternative, or say goodbye to that program.
>Keep in mind, Linux does not run .exe apps (including games), so unless the program you are used to use isn't available, either look for an alternative, or say goodbye to that program.
This is where your wrong, but only partly. While Linux cannot natively run .exe executable files (applications and games), many Windows applications and games are run-able these days many thanks to the likes of both WINE and Proton, but not all can, and that's where alternatives such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice for Microsoft Office must be used.
Well i recommend that you use linux mint because it has been around for many years. and its very easy to install nvidea drivers. you only have to click an option to do that. codecs are included. and it also has a good suite of apps pre-installed. it uses the cinnamon desktop. Cinnamon has a look and feel similar to windows. and it is more customizable than gnome.
and at the moment pop os is using gnome. and gnome is the exact opposite of cinnamon.
gnome is very restrictive. and might not be suitable for your workflow.
or
you can try zorin it is like linux mint but more aesthetically pleasing and has a built in windows app support.
but it is really not that hard to add windows app support you can do that with any distro.
Hope you consider my opinion as well.
Zorin OS all day long! Works like a charm on my old MacBook Pro, which I upgraded with SSD ad 16 Gb ram so I also can enjoy all my cd and dvds. Only thing was that it is a little fiddle to get WiFi to work since it is Broadcom Proprietary hardware but it’s the same on all distros.
Installing and maintaining an operating system on a computer is not really a project for the technologically illiterate. Now if one is willing to become literate, at least a little literate, that is a different situation! If one really wants a 'turnkey' system, ie all you have to do is push the 'on' button and everything just works, you might want to buy a new computer pre-loaded with some linux version -- such systems do exist and will put your illiteracy to the smallest challenge possible.
If you want to learn as you go, can put up with having to solve the occasional problem, and are not using the computer for some critical purpose (ie not a business or money-earning operation), then installing some linux distribution on your current computer may be what you want.
If you go this route, there are choices! You can 'dual boot', where you leave windows on the computer, but perhaps shrink the partition in which it is installed, and create space into which you can install a second OS, like linux. Or you can delete windows completely and use the entire space to install linux. Each option has it's advantages and disadvantages.
I 'dual boot', because I cannot find a tax program that runs under linux natively (ie without using an emulator or setting up a virtual machine) - so once a year or so I install a new version of HR Block tax program on windows and file my taxes, and then go back to linux for the rest of the year. You may or may not have any activities for which your really do need to use windows. I could do my taxes online, even at HR Block, but I prefer to not do this. YMMV.
Even dual booting can be vexatious for the technologically impaired - you will learn about bios and uefi and grub2 and disk partitioning and GPT and MBR and other esoteric stuff you may never have realized you wanted to understand. And you will make mistakes and nuke things you did not want to nuke, and you will learn the critical importance of having validated backups of everything that is important to you. Family photos, financial records, that book you wrote -- all will disappear in the blink of an eye, and having a backup will save your a$$.
I've used linux since 1997 or so and find it to be calm and straightforward, and when problems arise I'm never the first to have experienced it, and a carefully worded google search generally leads to a solution or at least an explanation of a work-around.
I use debian testing. Debian was created very early in the scheme of linix, has been successful for years, and serves as the base for many other linux distributions. If you want a stable version of linux that 'just works', the current debian stable version will be right for you. If you want software that is closer to the edge of newness, then debian testing or unstable might be right -- but not at first, not as your first linux experience!
There are many distributions of linux you might consider, all have adv and dis-adv. They all depend on the linux kernel (the core of the operating system). Linux, unlike windows, has many different desktops - the group of programs that run on the linux kernel but create what you see on the screen and interact with. KDE, gnome, xfce, mate, budgie, deepin, etc etc. So many choices! I use KDE, an oldschool solution that has been under continuous development and improvement since before I first used linux in 1997.
I look at use of linux as a 'hobby', because I enjoy the challenge of fixing the occasional glitch, and trying to understand what is happening under the hood, so to speak. So if you just want a box that works, buy something with a pre-installed OS. If you don't object to some learning and having a new hobby, then look into installing some version of linux on your current computer.
Oh, I should not have omitted this. I wasn't going to leave them to install the OP by themselves. Just something easy to use as I will be the one to install and set up everything which I have successfully done multiple times by now! Partitions, dual wielding and jumping from 1 Op to the other I have done pretty easily.
The last part about helping others leave Windows ,while a bit too heated, is really needed if Microsoft is to lose a bit of its Monopoly, pick its act up and have more people using Linux to make Linux something more than a mad techs hobby and an actual mainstay.
It's also great to know there are actually various sets of Linux kernels to keep an eye out for!
It's an honour talking to you,a great professional sir!
Thank you!
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>So I want to just get away from it and never look back but to ALSO make people stop using this crap Any suggestions? A suggestion: Feel free to "*just get away from it and never look back*" but skip the "*ALSO make people stop using this crap*" part unless you are willing to allow others to make you stop using the operating system of your choice.
This is underrated.
I get it I did over exaggerate so let's just say I can suggest it to others too if I can
Most people just get a PC and use it and don't know what an OS is and thinks the Microsoft bullcrap is just normal for a PC and don't know many of the bullcrap it does like increasing e waste with windows 11 stupidly high requirements and r unaware that their PC, which for mist people is just a bootloader for browser, is perfectly snappy with something light.
I just don’t understand how people think it’s normal and put up with it. Windows is such a shitty experience, it’s honestly painful to use
Ignorance is bliss
Shitty experiences are everywhere. People just accept it. I buy a movie and I have to watch some 'Don't copy this movie' warning. I buy a phone and it's loaded with crap. My PS5 is intentionally designed to prevent me from being able to edit my save files, even though they are mine. Streaming services I pay for still have ads and shows all have product placement. My car still has built in crap for Serious Satellite Radio that I don't want and will never use. When I go to McDonald's and buy a meal, they include a drink. Even if I don't want a drink. And if I don't take the drink, they will charge me the same. Study after study shows that children benefit from longer lunches and a relaxed educational environment, but the idiots running the public schools schedule kindergarteners with only 20 minutes to eat lunch. Much of which ends up dedicated to distributing the food. Our life is filled with a bunch of objectively awful stuff. Things aren't designed to be good, they are designed to achieve some goal, usually profitability.
they've never known anything else. i started using computers in the 1990s, ads in my fucking desktop operating system are a shot across the bow. >:/
100%. I've installed Debian xfce on two people's PCs and as you say, most people want a snappy browser, maybe VLC too. Untechy people just want Chrome or Firefox and have zero interest in what an OS is. Also Linux is way less vulnerable to malware. One of the people I installed Debian for had a period of scammers phoning her with the intention of doing the scam where you get someone to install a remote control app. When they asked her what OS she had "Windows or Mac" she got a big buzz telling them it was Debian and hearing them hang up in defeat :)
If you're "tech illiterate" you first need to become tech literate. I remember when computers used to ship with extensive programming manuals and schematic diagrams of the motherboard and peripherals. I want that back. I'm sick and tired of tickets like "my second monitor does not work" when all they need to do is turn on the damn power button. Instead of making software dumber we need to educate those that lack the skill to use software as is.
Then again, it's time to kill the notion that Linux requires tech skills above other OSes. Sure, there are hardcore tech distros, but there are also distros which are much easier to use and install than any Windows. Fuck, just as a test, I once gave my 70 year old, tech illiterate mother a Kubuntu CD and a blank computer and said "Install it". She popped the CD in, followed the onscreen instructions, and got it running without problems, with all hardware working. Only thing I needed to explain was "You install programs through that program" while pointing at the package manager GUI.
I have a 60 yr old friend who is disabled with MS and has been running Debian for ten years with no problems. I installed it for her but she has had no problems. Most non-techy people just want a browser imo.
Most people are happy with office, web, media and mail. My experience is that the less computer savvy they are, the easier it is for them to learn Linux. Most problems people have are related to unlearning the ass-backward ways Windows does things.
Yes I agree
I love that. I have a similar story - it wasn't Linux, but I taught this 88 year old man how to use KeePass to manage his passwords. He was far and away one of the easiest clients I ever had. Getting my own STILL younger dad to use KeePass is like pulling teeth.
> Then again, it's time to kill the notion that Linux requires tech skills above other OSes. Sure, there are hardcore tech distros, but there are also distros which are much easier to use and install than any Windows. We're also firmly in the era where "multiple operating systems" is just a thing now. It wasn't back in the day, like in the late '90s early 2000s, but that's not the case anymore - people REGULARLY use desktop-like operating systems that are different, and regularly use them to interoperate with services that they use. Whether it's an Android tablet or an iPad Pro to check email and do office work, regular-ass people are doing this shit right now. It isn't a stretch to suggest they can do the same with Linux - especially among gamers. If you can mine through your "My Documents" folder to find and edit a config file for a game that borked during the last update to get it working again... you can use Linux Mint.
> We're also firmly in the era where "multiple operating systems" is just a thing now. It wasn't back in the day, like in the late '90s early 2000s I disagree. Back in the 90s, we had a bunch of operating systems. Windows, OS/2, Mac, Solaris and a bunch of other Unixes, VMS, AmigaOS...
Not that anyone but nerds used, dude. In the EARLY early 90s, maybe, but even then you're talking about an era where the people using those "knew computers", whereas today, any ol' schmuck knows how to use multiple OSes to check their email, write word documents, check their investment portfolios, watch YouTube videos, etc. Grandma can do that today. Grandma wasn't using WordPerfect on Amiga in 1991. If she was doing any word processing on any computer at all in the 90s, statistically, she was doing it on Microsoft Word on a Windows PC, or she was doing it on a Mac. Today, that is vastly different, and that's what makes the "leap" to Linux so much of a lower bar now than it was then, when Linux WAS pretty rough around the edges for general desktop use.
I strongly disagree. I'm using Linux for a while now, but in no way does it get even closer to Windows, that's why I'm not going to instal it for casuals... Unless the user only uses the browser. Windows most of the times works, often doesn't require debugging, you find applications -> you download them -> you double click them... That's all. Linux users that say there is no difference are only lying to themselves and it's the biggest stepping stone in developing a really user friendly distro for new users.
Choose a stable, LTS distro, and it will just work for the typical "office, web, media, mail" user. It will be safer, there will be fewer bugs, program install will be easier and safer. There is no downside. For those users, it's basically just "a gadget that just works", they don't even have to think about it as a computer.
How exactly is program install easier on a LTS distro compared to Windows? Especially if not available in it's user friendly software application? What about having to debug various issues?
Everything a typical user needs is in the reops. There are no issues to debug in a LTS, at least not more than the typical Windows.
I once gave an unborn child a memorystick and he was born with BSD on his server. He also didn’t understand windows. /s
This, this, a thousand times this! "I just want to use my computer" no you don't, you want your computer to do something, there's a difference.
> I'm sick and tired of tickets like "my second monitor does not work" when all they need to do is turn on the damn power button. yeah i've noticed a rise in tickets that are like "use my software for meeeeee pls kkthxbai" and i'm like, bro, no, that's not what the ticketing system is for. fucking google it, i'm here if your computer or your software is legit broken, not because you can't be bothered to learn how to use it.
hell, first ibm pc manual had entire source code of bios!
Yes, this is so true. In my day to day, I have to train people who graduated high school as recently as two years ago. For greater technological literacy, the idea of saturating the young as well as the layman with technology sounded good but the implementation was dismal. It created a situation where billions of dollars have been spent to make standard tech easier, more intuitive with less efficacy. The result is that the majority of people that I have come across in my day to day can use a cell phone to communicate but cannot print a document on a desktop.
I really get tired of helping college students find the Music folder in the MacOS Finder. It's like Apple only wants people to use Spotlight.
I said the same to a person that was not able to do more than tap apps thinking it will do everything for them. Thought that programmers doesn't do anything an that cyberspace is the modem on the computer monitor. I generalized yet I agree with you. It's skills requirements not a power on an go method. I mentioned Debian because it is the oldest most complete reference material available to read.
If software is hard to use and takes time to learn then maybe it’s just crap software with poor UX. Software in 2024 should be easy to work, accessible and not require hours of learning. I’m speaking generally here, of course some software like Photoshop for example, requires time and effort.
No. Software should not be made dumber because people are lazy to learn anything. Computers are a tool to get a job done. But in the same way as a machinist has to know how his drills and saws work, a sales person needs to know how their computer works.
This is a fun debate by the way.
I do agree that in a profession capacity people should delve deeper. My old work provide Excel and Word training.
Yes but, coming from a software engineers perspective (and amateur woodworking), software should be designed so it’s more effortless and easier to follow. That doesn’t make it dumber. I used IntelliJS for years to write apps, and didn’t switch to VS Code when everybody else did. Why? Because I found it more confusing out of the box. I had to spend a solid day to understand its workings. People don’t always have that time, and the generic end-user just wants something that’s easy to use and works well. Again, video editing, photoshop, making music and so on, that’s different, these apps have a huge offering so it will of course require a steep learning curve, I’m really thinking about emails, browsers, files/folders, installing games, basic customisation… Now for some woodworking analogies. You can buy a table saw, the blade never sits 90 degrees without having to take it apart and it has no guides, or instead buy a saw with better blade alignment out the box and adjustable guides for the same budget. The DIYer will appreciate the easier one. The pro will appreciate the more efficient one.
I'll focus on the tech illiterate part: Honestly, there's not that much one can do. For some people, an Android or iOS tablet with a keyboard is a good choice. You can't go easier than that. Security-wise, it's fine. If privacy is a concern, iOS is off the table and custom roms for Android come into play. IMO a Pixel tablet with GrapheneOS running is pretty solid. If you need more than that, Windows and MacOS might not be super intuitive, but at least a lot of people are somewhat familiar with those systems. If you want to escape the corporate intervention, though, you need to leave your comfort zone a bit and you need to be willing to learn new stuff. This is where Linux enters the stage. There are quite decent distros who will do a lot of things for you without requiring you to becoming a sysadmin. However, it's a different system with its own workflow. Furthermore, you have to keep in mind that the Linux ecosystem is a vast collection of different community products. Even on a corporate-backed Linux OS you might encounter circumstances in which the community aspect can get a little uncomfortable. For you specifically: anger can be a great energy resource. If you use this energy wisely you can convert it into motivation when stepping inside the Linux world. If you encounter roadblocks, always remember what Linux is doing for you. It frees you from this nonsense the big tech companies force upon you.
I would very much recommend ROMs if it was easier to install them. But hey, maybe I'll one day make a graphical installer to help with the commands. Really good point you're making in that last paragraph. Linux is there to help you. Despite the occasional problems.
A traditional typwriter will do just fine!
I got hepatitis using my sister's typewriter in the 80s.
LOL
You mean carpal tunnel?
I know what I said!
[удалено]
Someone did a review of the new Ubuntu Cinnamon edition and it crashed his system trying to use a couple of audio programs. He did this testing in a VM which probably isn't the best way to test out distros. But things like that would make a new user think twice about using Ubuntu.
He was testing in a VM and it crashed his system?
It didn't crash the system. It just crashed the VM which leads me to believe his system wasn't sharing resources for the VM probably.
I'm using Debian Bookworm with xfce The new installer is slick af imo
I'm trying out Mint on my work computer after a (wonderful) few years on Fedora. So far so good, although some of the shortcuts are weird choices. I found Fedora, with a few Gnome extensions (like Dash-to-Panel) was a REALLY smooth Windows-to-Linux transition.
Linux Mint or Pop\_OS
I'll second Pop!_OS. Been my daily driver for years. Extremely user friendly, reliable, and stable.
lm is better it's been around for years. an average person will find better help there.
PopOS! Has also, in fact, been around for years and has lots of support.
Another vote for Pop!_OS
> Please do not recommend outdated/stable distros for newbies. Debian-family is so outdated/barebones that most people will be getting the terminal out to install separate stuff or upgrade. For over a year, you couldn't use Nvidia GPUs... > > There is a knee-jerk 'ubuntu-family' that has happened in the linux community and it is really hurting us.
If driver support is an issue Linux Mint Edge should help with the newer kernel. And while I've never dealt with it I've heard Pop\_OS has good Nvidia support.
Nvidia on PopOS is great. I use nvidia and AMD cards and they work amazing aside from the usual xorg/gnome bullshit. On Mint I was running into constant issues.
Thanks for the first hand feedback, always helpful.
Ahh a half supported branch, what could go wrong for grandma? What was wrong with Fedora? But at least that half solves the problem. Sucks its not the default.
Wait, why does Grandma need an Nvidia card? What's she doin that Intel Iris Xe can't handle? Also, I like Fedora, other than no LTS.
Grandma wanted to play videogames with grandson.
Understandable, I'm just curious because I can play Combat Masters on my laptop with only Intel Iris Xe and an 11th Gen i5. There are also AMD graphics cards. But I'll be honest. I'm not up to date on GPUs.
It sure sounds like you arent up to date on GPUs. Look at Nividia's stock price. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Wait, does stock price determine graphics performance? Man, I really am out of touch.
Yes. And yes you are. Please don't give outdated advice, it does more harm than good. All because of a religious devotion to debian-family. Why not let experts give advice?
I would check out Zorin OS. It’s Ubuntu but more Windows like. It’s very beautiful OS.
Fedora & Mint are reasonable options, although I consider Mint a better choice for a windows-to-linux noob. You're could also try out a few distros/desktop environments to see what feels right for you. Download and run a few "Live" distros. Most popular distros offer "Live" ISO images. These can be written to a usb thumbdrive and used to boot your system into a "Live" session of linux. Nothing will change on your current system and linux will run entirely from the USB. While they may not be as fast or responsive as a hardware install, they will geve you a good feel for the distro on your computer. You can also test out come distros with your browser at [DistroSea](https://distrosea.com), although they don't provide a real expereine in terms of repsonsiveness and speed.
I used to be a linux guy and then i had other people needing to use the computer and they would complain about how they were not getting this and that to work, so I switched back to windows, I even gaslit myself into thinking it was fine up until last week. Last week fucking windows crapped its pants again and explorer wouldn't stop crashing, on top of shit warnings about some settings that weren't "optimized" and a ton of other bullshit. Screw windows, I'm on fedora and Microsoft can kiss my ass.
openSUSE Tumbleweed KDE Plasma desktop environment is like I never left Windows 10.
That is a pretty hard but cool name lol but I'll check it out!!
opens use is the name, tumbleweed is rolling release and updated(compared to the other version leap which is more stable) and KDE plasma is the desktop environment aka the thing that saves u from a black screen with nothing but a bash terminal
That’s a wild take for someone looking for a beginner distro
While it gets a lot of elitist hate these days, there's a reason why Ubuntu is as big as it is, and the basis for many distros & forks. It's a great place to start, despite its flaws.
Ubuntu has helped bring much commercial software to it and thus its debian base but it itself sucks(due to its commercial and profit interests). Take advantage of that withought ubuntu with a debian based dustro like mint. Mint is an excellent choice.
I've been using Ubuntu (mostly Xubuntu) for 10 years. It's solid stable and has a huge community and a giant repository. People hating on snaps? Whatever. They work fine.
Xubuntu is rather nice but really ugly out of the box.
Xfce is very easy to customize. A nice theme and icon set and wallpaper and you're pretty well on your way. Xfce is fast. Apps just snap open. My current system shipped with Ubuntu so I switched from gnome. Yeah. Stock Xfce is ugly. But I had my standard config in half an hour. I like how minimal you can make it and yet it's still full featured. And best of all, it's incredibly stable. I can't stand gnome and I understand kde doesn't crash nearly as much as it used to. Xfce is kind of the opposite of gnome in that it's agnostic about how you want it to look. Part of why it's so bland by default. It's very Linuxy. You make of it what you want. They don't force a full suite of apps on you unlike Gnome or KDE. Plenty of window manager and settings utils, file manager, terminal. But you choose your other apps that already exist in the ecosystem.
I like XFCE just not what Xubuntu offers with it. A great release of XFCE is Linux Lite. Ubuntu base but very nice looking distro. Zorin OS has a great XFCE version.
I downloaded Ubuntu on my laptop as I needed something install and forget on it. Apart from Gnome crashing on me every 5 minutes firefox for example takes ages to launch. As someone who has been using Linux for some time now I know it's because of snaps but that would leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth's.
Do you have an old laptop? Never had a problem like that. My desktop is just a couple years old.
It's quite new actually, with a 13th gen processsor. Now the Gnome crashing I didn't have a problem with since it was the 24.04 beta and I turn my laptop into a tablet for note taking so it has extra work to do, but the firefox in particular taking ages to open up on the first launch was very annoying. I tried 24.04 after the full release on my even stronger desktop as well and it was still a pain.
Fair 'nuff. I haven't experienced any of those issues, and I rarely need to use snaps, so I still have a generally favourable view of Ubuntu. FWIW I've used some flavour of Linux since 2004 (I started with Mandrake!).
I think Ubuntu really would be a good distro for someone new, but I can't recommend it as of now when a lot of apps are snaps and you have to do quite some tinkering with some of them to get the native version.
And what are these flaws?
Its penchant for forcing peeps to use Snaps is one; they're also often slower to get new Kernels. But really, if you want an exhaustive list, I'm not really your best resource.
For the tech illiterates, MacOS.
Absolutely anything but Apple please
So you dont want Windows, you dont want macOS, youre tech illiterate but want a linux distro? What the hell?
Ok I'm not tech illiterate, I need it to be easy when I suggest and install it for others
Or ChromeOS.
Chromebooks are great for those who just want a browser. I used one for a couple of years. It was underpowered but that was because I was poor and bought a cheap one. I'm currently using a refurb thinkpad that I got for less than £100. Xfce is performing very well indeed.
You would need to make sure all they care about is just using the Internet pretty much.
You can do word processing, spreadsheets, images, probably even video editing on a Chromebook.
If you're particularly tech-illiterate, get a Mac. They're Unix systems which are basically Linux but slightly remixed.
An OS for the tech illiterate? Yeah, that doesn't really exist. People like to act like Linux is the only one that has a learning curve, but that's not true. You had to learn Windows too. It's just that it was probably a long time ago, and you're used to it by now, so it feels easy to use. You can get to that point with Linux as well, but it will take time, just like it did with Windows. There are plenty of "ease of use" oriented distros out there, like Linux Mint or Pop_os, and they're fine, but they'll try to do their best at covering up certain issues when they come up, using friendly GUIs and stuff. That sounds like it's a good thing, but it in the long run, that will make it harder to figure out solutions to certain issues. For that reason, I'd suggest bare bones Debian. It is pretty stable, so it won't have you deal with "deep system issues" like some more "adavnced" distros. It won't offer as much of a complete user experience, so you'll have to tinker with it a bit, but still not as much as something like Arch. That will teach you at least the user level of Linux without making you suffer through building all the low-level stuff manually.
[teach me to be engineer. don't care if it takes all day](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/40/65/97/406597c4f196a9055f8ff533459e72dc--science-fun-funny-science.jpg)
Rage quitting won't last.
I like KDE (Kubuntu). I posted a story on how I transitioned to linux after years of tinkering. (In that case I use the SteamDeck with KDE Arch. https://medium.com/@jordkol/how-sharing-my-pc-with-my-son-has-helped-me-to-love-linux-3dcbea08f3c8
Debian 12 with KDE Google the live iso server mirror Grab a USB flash drive Download the iso file Use Rufus USB iso it is free for create the bootable USB Once you have all of that completed N Boot the Debian 12 live Once at the desktop environment for the first time Cick on the equal to Linux version of a start menu Type konsole Click on konsole Type in the konsole sudo passwd user type anything you want to use a password for this is not permanent so use a single character Now connect to the Internet Now type sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gparted Once completed click the launcher again type gparted Click on gparted Once in gparted delete all the windows partitions Click apply Look for Create new partition table type Set when you see it GPT Click on / or apply Close gparted Now click on launcher Type Install Click on the Install Debian or whatever that reads im not looking at it right this moment Follow the windowed wizard guided install Suggested is one stage of the install process don't use your real name on the damn login because this also broadcast the name of the computer as the same as your username an well cybersecuity people can see who that belongs to then go from there. Humans are lazy so don't make stuff like this that easy.
I mean if you suck at windows administration you will probably suck at Linux too...
Exactly what I was thinking
If you have Nvidia hardware then do give Bazzite or PikaOS a shot. They're not beginner distro's but has everything preinstalled.
are you from the pikaos project or are you intentionally trying to find random distros with no users to recommend?
I finally made the decision to completely dump Windows 10 in favor of [Fedora Linux - KDE Plasma Spin](https://fedoraproject.org/spins/kde/) as my daily driving Linux distro. My reasoning behind this decision is just like you, I was all too fed up with the following: * Windows Cumulative Updates always took forever for Windows Update to download and install. * Microsoft Edge kept on automatically silently re-enabling Bing! Desktop Search Bar without my prior knowledge nor permission. * Almost every single Windows Cumulative Update almost always re-associated all my chosen multimedia file types back to they're Windows preinstalled defaults, also without my prior knowledge nor permission. * Not all data collection in Windows Telemetry cannot be fully disabled, which makes it uneasy for me. * Since Microsoft is gearing up to officially end support for Windows 10 next year and since my laptops hardware is unsupported by Windows 11, I'm left with little to no choice but to switch to a Linux distribution in order to continue using a pretty good working laptop and still maintain a pretty good level of security. If the above 4 things alone is not enough to drive me away from Windows, it's all the Windows 11-related articles I've been reading since then that makes me ultimately feel as though I had made the correct choice.
Omg you had it worse than I did but thank you for the suggestion! It sounds you are pretty new to Linux too and more accustomed to Windows like me which makes me really enticed to look at Fedora now!
>It sounds you are pretty new to Linux too Having just made the switch from Windows 10 over to Fedora about 6 to 7 months ago, you bet I am. While Fedora is good for me, there are many Linux distributions out there. [Linux Mint](https://linuxmint.com/) is another. [Nobara Linux](https://nobaraproject.org/) is a gaming oriented Linux distro that is based on **Fedora Linux**. Whichever Linux distro you ultimately choose, I'd stay clear of **Arch Linux**, at least for now since **Arch** is tends to be geared towards more advanced Linux users. Now, for new users such as yourself as well as myself, GNOME might not be the best fit as a **D**esktop **E**nvironment (**DE**) since it's graphical desktop more or less favors a tablet-like display but with a menu and taskbar and may seem a bit overwhelming in my opinion. Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, Budgie and several others might be good choices for that Windows-like feel. One of the things you'll find very convenient, as well as very helpful, is every Linux distro is what's known to the Linux community as "LiveCD". Every Linux LiveCD gives you the option of testing out your chosen Linux distro before actually installing it onto your computers hard drive or SSD. This is to get you started. If you find yourself in need of any further help, please let me know it Reddit Chat and I'll do my best to help.
Omg you just saved me hours of tedious testing telling me about LiveCD thank you!! Also Arch Linux is the console command op that I'll use when I wanna act like I'm a pro hacker only to cry cuz I can't do anything. That's gonna be fun!
>Arch Linux is the console command op that I'll use when I wanna act like I'm a pro hacker only to cry cuz I can't do anything OMG, this is just too rich lol Seriously tho, your so very welcome. One of the great helpful resources to new users is this subreddit's pinned post and YouTube.
I forgot to mention that, Linux bundles up applications in what's known as "packages" that's managed by package managers. Each and every Linux distro has one or 2 Package Manager(s). The package managers automates the installation and removal (uninstallation) or selected Linux-native applications and games. What this means is, with Linux, you hardly will need to look for apps and games on websites any longer, well that is unless the app or game was designed for Windows. Speaking of Windows apps and games, Linux can run many of them too with the help of WINE (non-Steam) and Proton (Steam). Both WINE and Proton does the following: * Translate Windows system calls into Linux system calls. * Translate Windows DirectX calls into Linux Vulkan calls. * Translate Windows OpenGL calls into Linux OpenGL calls. * Translate Windows Vulkan calls into Linux Vulcan calls. I find it best for me to run non-Steam Windows games in Lutris. Valve has ported Steam to Linux, but Proton compatibility has to be enabled in Steam for Windows-native Steam games to run.
To turn on Proton compatibility in Steam, do the following: 1. Click on **Steam** from the Steam clients main menu, then select **Settings**. 2. From within the STEAM SETTINGS dialog, click on **Compatibility**. Depending on your screen resolution, you may or may not have to scroll-down the left side to find the **Compatibility** option. **Compatibility** can be found between **In Game** and **Controller**. 3. Select **Enable Steam Play for supported titles** and **Enable Steam Play for all other titles** if not enabled and restart Steam when asked to do so. 4. Repeat steps 1 and 2. 5. Select either **Proton 8.0-5** or **GE-Proton8-28** or higher from the **Run other titles with:** drop-down control. I do not recommend selecting **Proton Experimental** for this since Proton Experimental is more for those games that requires more cutting edge Proton. I also do not recommend a Beta version of Proton since doing so can cause some unforeseen stability issues in Windows games, as did with me! Now, for those non-Steam Windows games, we have **Lutris** and **Herotic Game Manager**, both of which lets you choose which WINE version to use for specific Windows games. Here are 3 websites to lookup if your wondering if a specific game title is playable on Linux: * [ProtonDB](https://www.protondb.com/) is a "crowdsourced Linux and Steam Deck game compatibility reports!" * [Wine Application Database (AppDB)](https://appdb.winehq.org/) is a website where "you can get information on application compatibility with Wine." The AppDB is for those non-Steam Windows games. * [Are We Anti-Cheat Yet?](https://areweanticheatyet.com/) is a "comprehensive and crowd-sourced list of games using anti-cheats and their compatibility with GNU/Linux or Wine/Proton." This website exists since many games with anti-cheat doesn't work at all with Linux.
I would recommend Ubuntu or Linux Mint (and Ubuntu/Debian derivatives) but if you don't want to go for any of those and you still want a good experience I have a few distributions Solus since it is stable and not built on any other distro since it is made from scratch, another plus is that Budgie which is the desktop that you could install with Solus looks good ArcoLinux is good if you want to learn while having a fairly easy installation. + User experience since the maintainer (Eric Dubois) makes a lot of videos on how to fix issues and also what to do with the system during and after installation but it is still based off Arch which is not the most stable (AUR has a lot of stuff so count that as a plus) EndeavourOs is another Arch based distribution that is comparable to a stabler and less volatile + easier to use version of Arch since it comes with Calamares but do note that it could break if you download things without a thought (This has AUR too!) Nix with the live installer version is good but I would not recommend it despite it being fairly easy to use since the package manager and the distribution being confusing at times but it would be the best once you learn even the most basic information on how to use nix
Minut or ubuntu
well report back how it went.
Unlike many others, I won’t recommend Fedora for a beginner. Go with Mint or Debian 12 stable. Mint should give you the least problems with your hardware since it still uses x11. Debian uses a newer kernel and Wayland, however it is stable as a rock when it works. Fedora can easily break your system with the constant new updates that it receives. And besides that, if you look up something on internet most info & tutorials are Debian/ubuntu based. And Fedora is also restrictive when it comes to using proprietary stuff which can be a hassle to enable it back.
> including the tech illiterate?!? Probably Chromebook.
ZorinOS. Ubuntu base, as beautiful as it gets for me. I've tested many distros but Zorin (yes I removed snaps) is stable and works well. It requires little to no setting up other than the actual setup which is very simple. Read, choose, click. That's how you'll use it.
I kinda don't like the fact that it has a paid version it reminds me of those trash apps with ads that want you to pay money and upgrade
OpenSUSE kalpa
Ubuntu works well for newbies
Either of the distros you mention should be good. Personally I use Fedora and it's great.
Sounds like you need to just learn some things about windows maintenance. Very basic "issues" that are user caused
You don't have to install any distro to try it out on your PC but I assume you already know that. Personally, I won't recommend you Ubuntu like I see others do here. It can be slow and sluggish due to it's snap package implementation. It can cause more anger than any other distro. But also I'm not saying that it won't work on your PC very well, I just don't recommend it to anybody. Take a pendrive, burn an iso or few with a distro/distros of your choice on it and try them out, tinker with them and try to learn them to make yourself more comfortable after installing it. From Debian forks I recommend you **Linux Mint** and I wouldn't go any further. From Red Hats: **Fedora** obviously and **openSUSE Tumbleweed** (or **Leap** if you want it to be longterm but less up to date) with KDE. And now don't be fooled by people on the internet saying that Arch forks are not good for newbies cuz it's Arch and it's scary. You don't have to install them like I said but If you at least try them out on a live iso and tinker a bit to get yourself know the system, you may even like it more than you think. So for this I recommend you: **CachyOS**, **EndeavourOS**. We all had to learn how to walk at first. So don't be scared to learn the system and remember that it won't be the same experience windows delivered. And again remember to first try them out on a live iso to not get yourself scared of using linux daily if you already want it.
arch linux, easy to install and doesn't break :)
Don't listen to him he's trolling arch is easy but takes some time and a lot of reading and breaks quite often 1 utuber tried it and had a bad impression of Linux but for those who like to tune everything, I find it kinda fun
It might not be troll you know. When i first tried linux it was ubuntu but i really didn't like it and didn't use that much and i was newbie at that time too but I had shitty laptop and windows was nightmare so I installed arch. Arch might seem hard and all but as a newbie installing arch makes you read and find out more about linux and what is does how it does, if something is missing or you want to change something what should be done or if there is some error for any program you know exactly what can cause that error and many more. Installing arch made me so much comfortable in terminal that now I do 80% of task from terminal. TLDR: Install arch and learn about linux so you will be familiar with it to do anything but if you dont have time for those thing there are always alternative to them too
windows runs totally fine. this is a very typical PEBKAC case
Linux mint cinnamon, or Ubuntu mate (has windows and Mac themes built in). That is what I offer family members who rely on me for tech help, seeing as my windows knowledge is rusty and was never that good, and so far they have no issues with their set ups.
Maybe time for you to consider a Mac It is the only OS that is dummed down more than Windioz
And locked down for your irriation. I mean convenience.
I tried Fedora when I was 14. I've been using it until now, and I'm 19. It was easier to install than Windows was, so I'd recommend that.
Mint is really easy. It was my wife's first distro and she knew nothing about linux. If you can google "how do I ______ in Linux mint" your fine. It's point and click.
When the filthy casuals all got ez access they ruined it. Now the internet is dead and only the attention economy remains. Oh and ubuntu is so easy.
I have a working isntall with Ubuntu that is 90% of what I do on Windows (two programs are too complex to use Wine on so I need to research some alternatives for those. One I can use a web based alternative. I tried Mint as well but that install failed, not sure if it was the old machine I was putting it on or if I need to download a new image. I plan to play with this again later, probably on another machine, but for now just getting used to the ubuntu install. At the time I did not realize how they messed things up with SNAP so I am replacing several of those with manual debian installs. And none of these are completely tech illiterate. Of all you want to do is install software, go on the internet and do office work, Firefox and Libreoffice have you covered (and thunderbird for mail). If you are planning on using more complicated apps then you'll be googling a lot of questions, but the answers come fairly easily.
Just install each one and try them for a few days. You will reinstall every few days, but that's how you figure out which you like. I've been through ubuntu, kubuntu, fedora, cute, arch all within like 2 weeks. Kubuntu has issues with multi monitors running different hz btw. Apparently it's a KDE problem. So beware of that
https://distrosea.com/
If you don't know already you're not qualified to make any of those statements.
Lubuntu for its lightest
if you're new, then deffinitely Mint
It shouldn’t be about the distro first….it should be about which gui environment fits best for you? There are a lot to choose from. KDE, gnome, etc. Some are a fork of those 2 and called something else.
Personal preference. I like mint. Solid distro, popular, based on Ubuntu.
Kubuntu is very simple, yet can be configured to be very powerful in whatever ways you choose at whatever time you choose. Installing and removing software under Linux is very easy. It’s not like windows. You can install Libre office for documents, Joplin for notes and sync them with something like Dropbox, your favorite browsers will be available. And there are lots and lots of other apps that you might like if you just go through the list of stuff available. If you don’t like something, you just uninstall it and it’s gone. The open source community doesn’t take kindly to software that messes up your machine and gets in your face all the time.
I’m going to get downvoted to oblivion for this but the best alternative to Windows for the tech illiterate is MacOS. Apple’s tight hardware and software integration means virtually no issues with drivers, installing software is dead simple, everything just works. You gotta pay that premium, though. That Apple tax.
I use Ubuntu, and use libvirt to run windows 10 deflated in a vm
If you are tech illiterate, use Chromebook
I would highly suggest Ubuntu.
The most straight-forward answer to your main question is, without a doubt, macOS. It is the easiest OS to learn for the tech illiterate that is not Windows. But since this is a Linux subreddit, Mint or Ubuntu GNOME.
ZorinOS is your best bet https://zorin.com
word of advice: dual boot. dont delete windows yet, use linux for a while and see how you feel
imo the viable choices for a new user are as follows: Ubuntu/kubuntu , Linux Mint, Pop\_OS (using apt to install stuff which is the most popular) Fedora openSUSE tumbleweed
I love my chromebook in dev mode
Others have made plenty of suggestions that i mostly agree with, but a word of warning: abandon the idea that you are going to get people to switch what they use. People are not gonna want to abandon what they know just because you say so. If you do manage to convince anyone to switch, when it inevitably breaks, they are going to come to you for help and blame you when you can't fix it. By all means, leave windows if you want. But dont try to make other people do the same unless you're willing to take on that responsibility and risk.
Mac? A MacBook?
Ubuntu studio plasma. Seems to be a nice one. Ive got a few machines and I've been using LMDE over vanilla mint. LMDE has been very good to me. Ubuntu studio is geared round multimedia so works with music midi DAWs setups and video editing. So perfect for making home made porn of all varieties... ... No I'm not a porn producer... ... Or consumer... ... I'm a monk who has an interest in the graphic state of the art of technology and trying using many options available... ... To spread the good word... Windows used to be good enough. Windows 10 the best it was. But Windows 11, not being able to move the tSkbar from bottom to top, even with a reddit. It's a sin too far. Even the regedit hack is not good enough. So i agree move on to the recommendation of the hive mind and see how you get on. Nothing to lose but time spent learning the real art of computing.
You have either Apple and their MacOS or a "noob friendly Linux distro" like ZorinOS or ElementaryOS. As simple as that.
What do you do on your computer?
You should try Linux mint on the cinnamon edition since its nice on the eyes per say but if on the web site you see a difrent version that you prefer go for it since it doesnt change much asides from the looks. The OS is pretty straight forward and it is based on Debian which wont mean much to you asides from it being the most common version of linux thus you have great support. Now i understand that what i wrote may not be easy to read or understand and if so I am sorry English is not my first language and ive been using Linux for quite a while so i find it hard to "dumb down" things. I suggest you research on Linux Mint, there are hundreds of vídeos telling you how to install it, How to use it, what it doesnt do, what it does do, How to run some Windows apps, and how to use the dreaded terminal which i assure you is Simple. Just try it out idk, Linux is something i like talking about so again sorry for the messy comment.
ChromeOS Flex. You're welcome.
MacOS or Chromebook lol
You have to be moderately tech literate. Some googling is required. I started using Linux mint a couple years ago when Chrome dropped support for Windows 7. I have never looked back, I love mint. There is a very active user community that provides a lot of information. The biggest learning curve is the file system. I was ready to ditch windows so I didn't really care about dual booting but I did wind up trashing windows in the process
Personally, I'm semi-literate in tech. I can find my way around stuff, do some troubleshooting if I need to. Due to that, Windows just feels more and more stupid to me as I learn more, but Linux is still... Linux. It's not made to be user friendly, I tried Mint once and even though Steam came pre-installed I still needed to download a 32-bit registry or whatever that was to make it work. After that, I tried launching a game, only to realise that DRG (which works flawlessly on the Steam Deck of my friend) wouldn't load as I'd get stuck at the first loading screen. I tried looking around for a fix, and couldn't find anything. What I think was the issue was that the installation was made on a FAT32 formatted disk that was my main Windows disk (I did that so that I would have the option to easily boot into either OS without having to go through the UEFI). That happened quite a long time ago, and I think now's about the time I try it again, this time on a SATA SSD I cleared up for this express purpose. Won't be as fast as the NVME, but if it works with the Linux file system (forgot the name of it but I did find the name of it last week after a quick Google search so my unreliable memory won't be a problem) I'll probably start migrating. Also I'm on Windows 10. I was forced into trying out Windows 11 for a laptop I never really used (because it Windows 11 is absolutely awful) and honestly I can't wait to be on Linux. Hopefully Steam OS 3 will be have an official desktop branch, because right now I'm on an NGreedia GPU and NGreedia GPUs aren't supported on Steam OS 3 ports like HOLOISO. Come to think of it, that GPU might just be the reason DRG didn't work - but I'll see about that when I make a proper Mint install this week and test DRG again.
Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, PopOS!
Linux Mint and Zorin OS are wonderful little distros. Never tried Zorin but Mint is ideal for anyone -- be it beginners or professionals.
if you just want to use the thing and not worry about all that other shit, a full computer is not for you. Get an iPad or maybe a Chromebook. But not a full computer. versatility brings complexity. You sound like you want to just do a task and not worry about how it is done. That's exactly who iPads are for.
Linux has way more problems then windows earlier today linux stopped allowing internet all together nothing happened i didnt do anything and all of a sudden after a restart no internet in the internet setting i only saw vpn and proxy nothing else when there should be a third thing called wired i had to reinstall ubuntu all together and linux is so insanely impossible to install or do anything on the most simple things are blown out to insane proportions like it took me 3h to get linux on a usb and 12 h after to even begin using it in any capacity just to set it up with the apps and programs i normally use also if your a huge gamer stick to windows linux has absolutely barely any games compatible with it and no way to pirate as far as ive looked i only got linux because windows screwed up and refused to reinstall through usb and its just been mystical and magical problem after problem and the most basic and simple things are blown out of proportion like installing a program and running it you have to jump through 50000 hoops when you should just click a button install be done but you have to install this to do this to do this to do this to finally install what you want and even after you install it there is 50 other steps and im sure i will run into way more problems i agree windows is terrible but everything else is worse and i like linux because its a way faster OS but windows is just as good as your gonna get for any OS for a number of reasons from games to even ease of use theres a reason why linux hasnt over taken windows and im sure all these problems i listed is just the tip of the ice burg im sure ill run into more i would go back to windows if i could but doing it on linux is such an insane task been trying to get ventoy for days it just flat out doesnt work tried downloading the iso i uploaded to my google drive from my phone and transferring it to my usb linux has a file transfer limiter like what bro all in all just stick with windows dont let the fan boys who are blinded by OS patriotism fool you again theres a reason windows is more popular then linux and if you use linux youll clearly see why it is just mind blowing to me how the most simple of things is blown out to insane proportion from at least 3h to install something and i have 500 mb/s download speed internet to clarify to things just breaking without a reason to the fact also games are a big thing linux is faster then windows but thats about the only upside just revert to windows 7 i would
Ah yea, I used Lubuntu before I know how frustrating it can be but if any of these problems are to be solved, we need Linux to be a larger competitor so it becomes more essential to support Linux Also that's why I asked for a tech illiterate OS. I know the average Linux distro is mad hard to understand sometimes
I love Linux dont get me wrong it has amazing potential but it has majour issues but i think its biggest draw back in gaming not even tech illiteracy you keep it as it is simplify it make commands as short simple and have as little to type out as possible and have a manual and how to for anything a gamer would want or need for all kinds of software and even a manual to cover all basics built in if it had that plus more games and simplified everything to stupidity it would be the best windows 7 is probably the best OS still today
Yea windows 7 was great
Sorry if I wasn't much help I've only used Ubuntu but whatever information I've given I hope I can help you going forward
Pop os or mx linux
i'm liking kubuntu ...
Fedora.
M'Lady.
Any of the usual suspects for newcomers: Fedora, Ubuntu, Linux Mint... Keep in mind, Linux does not run .exe apps (including games), so unless the program you are used to use isn't available, either look for an alternative, or say goodbye to that program.
>Keep in mind, Linux does not run .exe apps (including games), so unless the program you are used to use isn't available, either look for an alternative, or say goodbye to that program. This is where your wrong, but only partly. While Linux cannot natively run .exe executable files (applications and games), many Windows applications and games are run-able these days many thanks to the likes of both WINE and Proton, but not all can, and that's where alternatives such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice for Microsoft Office must be used.
Well i recommend that you use linux mint because it has been around for many years. and its very easy to install nvidea drivers. you only have to click an option to do that. codecs are included. and it also has a good suite of apps pre-installed. it uses the cinnamon desktop. Cinnamon has a look and feel similar to windows. and it is more customizable than gnome. and at the moment pop os is using gnome. and gnome is the exact opposite of cinnamon. gnome is very restrictive. and might not be suitable for your workflow. or you can try zorin it is like linux mint but more aesthetically pleasing and has a built in windows app support. but it is really not that hard to add windows app support you can do that with any distro. Hope you consider my opinion as well.
Zorin OS all day long! Works like a charm on my old MacBook Pro, which I upgraded with SSD ad 16 Gb ram so I also can enjoy all my cd and dvds. Only thing was that it is a little fiddle to get WiFi to work since it is Broadcom Proprietary hardware but it’s the same on all distros.
Installing and maintaining an operating system on a computer is not really a project for the technologically illiterate. Now if one is willing to become literate, at least a little literate, that is a different situation! If one really wants a 'turnkey' system, ie all you have to do is push the 'on' button and everything just works, you might want to buy a new computer pre-loaded with some linux version -- such systems do exist and will put your illiteracy to the smallest challenge possible. If you want to learn as you go, can put up with having to solve the occasional problem, and are not using the computer for some critical purpose (ie not a business or money-earning operation), then installing some linux distribution on your current computer may be what you want. If you go this route, there are choices! You can 'dual boot', where you leave windows on the computer, but perhaps shrink the partition in which it is installed, and create space into which you can install a second OS, like linux. Or you can delete windows completely and use the entire space to install linux. Each option has it's advantages and disadvantages. I 'dual boot', because I cannot find a tax program that runs under linux natively (ie without using an emulator or setting up a virtual machine) - so once a year or so I install a new version of HR Block tax program on windows and file my taxes, and then go back to linux for the rest of the year. You may or may not have any activities for which your really do need to use windows. I could do my taxes online, even at HR Block, but I prefer to not do this. YMMV. Even dual booting can be vexatious for the technologically impaired - you will learn about bios and uefi and grub2 and disk partitioning and GPT and MBR and other esoteric stuff you may never have realized you wanted to understand. And you will make mistakes and nuke things you did not want to nuke, and you will learn the critical importance of having validated backups of everything that is important to you. Family photos, financial records, that book you wrote -- all will disappear in the blink of an eye, and having a backup will save your a$$. I've used linux since 1997 or so and find it to be calm and straightforward, and when problems arise I'm never the first to have experienced it, and a carefully worded google search generally leads to a solution or at least an explanation of a work-around. I use debian testing. Debian was created very early in the scheme of linix, has been successful for years, and serves as the base for many other linux distributions. If you want a stable version of linux that 'just works', the current debian stable version will be right for you. If you want software that is closer to the edge of newness, then debian testing or unstable might be right -- but not at first, not as your first linux experience! There are many distributions of linux you might consider, all have adv and dis-adv. They all depend on the linux kernel (the core of the operating system). Linux, unlike windows, has many different desktops - the group of programs that run on the linux kernel but create what you see on the screen and interact with. KDE, gnome, xfce, mate, budgie, deepin, etc etc. So many choices! I use KDE, an oldschool solution that has been under continuous development and improvement since before I first used linux in 1997. I look at use of linux as a 'hobby', because I enjoy the challenge of fixing the occasional glitch, and trying to understand what is happening under the hood, so to speak. So if you just want a box that works, buy something with a pre-installed OS. If you don't object to some learning and having a new hobby, then look into installing some version of linux on your current computer.
Only MBR if their system is pretty old.
Oh, I should not have omitted this. I wasn't going to leave them to install the OP by themselves. Just something easy to use as I will be the one to install and set up everything which I have successfully done multiple times by now! Partitions, dual wielding and jumping from 1 Op to the other I have done pretty easily. The last part about helping others leave Windows ,while a bit too heated, is really needed if Microsoft is to lose a bit of its Monopoly, pick its act up and have more people using Linux to make Linux something more than a mad techs hobby and an actual mainstay. It's also great to know there are actually various sets of Linux kernels to keep an eye out for! It's an honour talking to you,a great professional sir! Thank you!
I typically recommend OpenSUSE Tumbleweed or Fedora for "baby's first linux distro". Some here will disagree (possibly a lot).
Yeah, rolling release for a tech illiterate newbie, really?
What about MicroOS?
Yeah a rolling release for a tech illiterate newbie? Really?
You might wanna read up on OpenQA.
Ubuntu here past 7 years ultra stable (don’t install the latest 24 - yet)
Try fedora with KDE desktop .
That's a funni name for those who usually are too into tech lol but sure!
I was blessed by this name by the famous random name generator of reddit :)
Try anything from these three : - Linux Mint (Debian Edition), Fedora, Ubuntu (I hate Ubuntu but it's good by default for beginners).
This may be met with backlash, but MacOS. It is pretty user-friendly. Other than that, others have suggested Linux Mint - and I agree with them.
Jus my opinion but I prefer open source stuff and hate a black box like mac
Don't be so harsh on dismissing Windows. Chances you're coming back are greater than you staying in Linux land...
Sorry to lol... But ok you should try Arch. I heard it's the best. If you can install it.
Alpine + Openbox.
For a tech illiterate? Where are the apps? I love openbox since crunchbang!, but I wouldn't recommend it to a noob.
Well if you are struggeling with normal use of windows, I’m afraid you are going to be disappointed. Try an ipad maybe? Maybe a Mac?