Just wondering as ive been told many os’s online and then told to not use certain one aswell, i feel confused on what linux os to try someday. i come from windows 10 and i always find i need windows on atleast 1 device, and put linux on the “outdated” devices, but i keep hoping around, i cant seem to make up my mind.
If you want to learn Linux, install Gentoo. That’ll give you a pretty good understanding of what’s going on. It’ll be an intense process though.
If you just want to install and use Linux, pick one of the usual suspects: Mint, Fedora, openSUSE Leap/Slowroll, whatever. If you come from Windows, picking KDE Plasma as your desktop environment (DE) is a good choice. Mint’s Cinnamon should be good too. Picking a popular distro usually means troubleshooting is easier, since someone else out there most likely has the same issue you have, and documentation is more comprehensive.
Remember that many distros provide a live environment you can run from a USB stick. Try a couple with different DEs and see what fits your needs. Honestly, the distro doesn’t matter that much, they all do the same thing, more or less. Maybe try to pick your DE first and then just go from there.
If you want a simple answer, pick Mint.
Linux Mint. It was specifically created for this use case. It just works. That’s it.
I’ve been using MX for years, stable reliable Dedian distro, regardless of which kernel, KDE Plasma desktop keeps workflows clean & familiar. If I was a total newbie in 2026… I’d try ZORON… it’s impossible to goose that up and can use ubuntu store.
I started my wife on fedora about 10 years ago, and my kids have grown up using fedora
Arch
(this is a joke, do not use Arch unless you crave pain)(I use Arch, btw)
do arch people actually say this? :p
I’ve been on Arch or Arch based systems for 13+ years now. It used to be an incredibly annoying joke. I mostly saw it used to mock Arch users. But since Arch is more accepted now it seems to have morphed into a (mostly) funny meme. I never ever said it until this year though lol.
I never ever said it until this year though lol.
you’ve joined the groupthink :p
Shit, guess I need to switch to an even more niche distro so I can sit on a high horse and feel smug about being a unique and special edgelord. Internet memes are for peasants!
Bazzite for people new to computers in general. CachyOS for long time Windows users.
I think the best approach is to completely step out of Windows. Don’t use a desktop environment that is “Windows-esque”. Choose something that feels completely off the rails but fun/interesting.
Arch seems intimidating? Try it out. Windows is all floating windows? Try tiling through hyprland. Don’t like the look of base hyprland? Rice it with caelestia or noctalia shells. Find the quirkiness that feels too good to pass up.
Some people actually want their computer to just work, without having too much of a faff. For people like that something like Mint is a great option. If you have a lot of time and see mucking about with the computer as a hobby, installing Arch etc. can be fun. But for the rest of us it’s just not a sensible use of our time.
This has been an argument I’ve seen multiple times and I’ve never understood it. What specifically is taking more time to setup or configuration on Arch than on Mint?
Between archinstall and the Mint installer it’s going through the exact same steps and questions. I’ve never seen an installation of Arch not “just work”. Genuinely curious about this.
I think this is terrible advice lol. I switched to Kubuntu from Windows a while back and it’s been great. I even tried a Gnome based DE and hated it. Kubuntu just works. It was familiar then and continues to be familiar and practical.
To be fair, it’s not Kubuntu that’s familiar, it’s KDE that’s familiar.
You can include KDE Plasma in your base install of Arch the same as Kubuntu.
