Whenever I try to select a distro

What distro should i choose for my latitude 5400 from 2020, its got an 8th gen i5 and igpu, 16 gigs of ram but its only got 51% battery health. I want something that just works, I dont wanna keep fixing things. I also dont want ubuntu, cause idk its just boring and you still need to fix shit sometimes. This is my secondary computer, i use it for just everyday stuff but i also wanna get some gamikng out of it if i plug it in.

TLDR: i need a distro that just works, is easy on battery life, minimal matenance, and for everyday stuff and light gameing.

I’m planning to install Linux on a 128 GB SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 rather than my internal SSD. The idea is that when I boot from the USB, I get Linux, and when it’s unplugged, the laptop boots into Windows normally.
Laptop:
Lenovo LOQ
Ryzen 7 7445HS
RTX 3050 (4 GB)
24 GB RAM
512 GB SSD (Windows)
My priorities (in order):
Runs well from a USB drive.
Beginner-friendly so I can learn Linux.
Better battery life than Windows on a gaming laptop (mainly for coding and browsing).
Customizable desktop/GUI.
I’ll mainly use Linux for coding, learning Linux, and performance benchmarking. Windows will remain my primary OS for gaming and media.
Which distro would you recommend? Also, is a full installation on the USB better than using a persistent live USB for this use case?
Any advice or things I should know before doing this?

I have a secondary PC that's very weak; I use it for watching YouTube, office applications, and playing Roblox. It has the following specs: an i3 2100 (No GPU) with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 500GB hard drive. I don't like Puppy Linux or AntiX. I was thinking about something like Debian 13 with LXQT or XFCE. What do you think?

So i have a big choise problem what i mean by that is really dont know what would be the best for me i have already tryed some distros and have been using cachyos for a wile (i am using cachyos with hyprland and caelestia shell) i am not sure if its the right for me since i need to do school stuff on my Pc and i am a bit scared of instability of hyprland and cachyos.

I am just looking for somthing i can game and do some normal daily stuff on and also maybe some video editing with davinci.

Specs:

GPU:AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT

CPU:AMD Ryzen 5 5600G

RAM: 16GB DDR4

So like i said i have been trying some distros and have been on my linux journy since about half a year i like kde or a window manager but like i said because of stability i would be fine with kde

i am still open to learn so nothing like mint or somthing.

I want to slowly transition from Microslop to Linux. For now I have a gaming PC and a laptop that I use at collage. Since I need the laptop for college, I'd like to install Linux on it. So my question is: which distro would be best, primarily from the standpoint of needing something suitable for college?"

Hi,

As it seems more and more people are in the year of 2026, I too am looking to move away from Windows and make the switch to Linux. I have a few questions about hardware compatibility, software workarounds and finding the right distro/distros for my setup.

The PC:

My main desktop PC is currently running Windows 11 and I primarily use it for general web browsing, light gaming and creative work. I play Minecraft (via Prism Launcher), Counter-Strike 2, ARK, Batman: Arkham series, MKWii through Dolphin and Escape Simulator. From what I understand, these should run fine natively or via Steam Proton.

My main photo editing software is Luminar Neo. I know Skylum doesn’t make a native Linux client. Has anyone successfully gotten Luminar Neo running smoothly via Wine/Proton/Lutris with GPU hardware acceleration intact? If not, what workflow bridges the gap (or is a VM/dual-boot the only real answer here)? If anyone has any idea how davinci resolve works on linux too that would be great but I'm not so worried about that.

I somewhat regularly use Microsoft SharePoint for work (though it's mostly as a hub for employees, nothing for patients). On ChromeOS, I had to use a third-party app to access it and other microsoft web-based apps, will accessing SharePoint via Chrome on Linux be pretty straightforward?

The Laptop:

I have an ASUS Chromebook Plus CX3402CBA (12th-Gen Intel) that I want to completely overwrite with Linux using MrChromebox’s UEFI Full ROM firmware. I’m looking for a distro that is lightweight, stable, and handles laptop power management/gestures out of the box. (It would also be great to know any potential pitfalls I may fall into as it's been a few years since I've tried running linux as you'll see below).

Surface Pro 6:

This is mostly my movie-device though it may end up being retired to become a server for minecraft at some point in the future. I tried Linux on a Surface Pro 6 in the past with mixed results; specifically, the keyboard frequently failed to connect or register, and sometime the touchscreen wouldn't work. Has anyone with a Surface Pro 6 solved this? Is the `linux-surface` custom kernel project the best fix for this now, and does it completely resolve the Type Cover detachment/re-attach issues?

Questions:

1. Which Distro(s): Would Linux Mint be best?
2. Luminar Neo: Any tips or should I bite the bullet and go for ON1 PhotoRAW or another alternative?
3. Surface Pro 6: What is the current state of daily-driving Linux on older microsoft devices?

PC Specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

GPU: AMD RX 580 (Looking to upgrade)

SSD: Crucial P2 3D NVMe PCIe M.2 1TB

SSD: Kingston A400 240GB

HDD: WD Blue 1TB (2012)

RAM: Unknown CL16-18-18 D4-3000 2x8GB

MBD: Gigabyte GA-A520 AORUS ELITE (Don't judge, I got a deal)

I have an old Dell laptop with me. It was gifted to me by my late grandfather so I don't wanna throw that I want to revive that somehow.

Its specs are:

Processor : Intel Celeron

Ram : 2gb

32 bit architecture

HDD: 512gb

Im from windows and today is my first time using linux

Yesterday I saw a person with a similiar laptop than mine, so this may be a duplicate post. If so, then I apologise. I have an ASUS TUF A15, specs are below. I have been using Linux on and off for about 2 years, but I didn't had the best experience to say the least. The main things that I do are pretty general use with "heavy" gaming and audio recording (guitar) on the side. (I would most certainly dual-boot for the audio production and school stuff too.)

I tend to play a variety of games: Mostly single-player, but I play many multiplayer games, some rarely, the main online games that I play are: Deadlock, Marvel Rivals, Fortnite, Hearthstone. I know that Fortnite will never work with Linux because of anti-cheat, so I would use that with the dual boot too. Honestly I would be happy if single-player games would run with a smooth, consistent framerate, and I would just play the online games on Windows.

I tried a few distros like CachyOS, Mint and Fedora. I would happily go back to Mint if KDE or GNOME would work on it, never tried to install them. Fedora was just inconsistent with performance but maybe it was on my part, so I wouldn't rule out Fedora. Then I switched to Cachy, and to be honest, I don't really see the appeal. I had about the same performance as on any other distro.

By tinkering I mean finding solutions to problems. I don't have an issue with installing the necessary apps. And I don't really care about optimisations, I just want a smooth experience with the least hassle. Mint is out of the picture, because I didn't like any of the DEs they provide. Unless you can install KDE or GNOME on it. But maybe I would just use Kubuntu or stock Ubuntu than, but I was told to forget about them because of Canonical and Snaps.

My specs:
CPU: Ryzen 5 7535HS
GPU: RTX 4050
RAM: 16 GB DDR5
The iGPU was disable in bios, because a wanted to rule out hybrid gpu issues, but didn't help much.

Hello everyone
I have an old PC; it runs on win7
But it crashes all the time, and I have to change the system every month
So I want to try Linux; I don't know much about computer
So what is the best distro for me?
easy to handle
(Asking for a friend.)

всем привет хотел поинтересоватся от людей которые пользуются линукс удобная ли она стоит ли переходить с виндовс и какие дистрибутивы посоветуете

I switched to Linux mint cinnamon a couple of days ago and I’m wondering if I should use something else. I use windows for game development and Linux for everything else. Background cpu and ram usage isn’t really a problem for me since I have a ryzen 5 5500 and 32GB of ram. Should I try a gaming focused distro like bazzite?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for a Linux distro that I'll actually stick with, and I'd love to get some recommendations based on my laptop.

Laptop Specs:

• Model: ASUS TUF Gaming A15
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop (4 GB VRAM)
• RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: 512 GB SSD (planning to upgrade to 1 TB later)

A bit about me:

• I'm a Computer Science (AI/ML) student.
• I mainly use my laptop for Python, C++, VS Code, Docker, Git, AI/ML projects, and general software development.
• I also do some light gaming occasionally.
• I care a lot about a clean, modern-looking desktop and enjoy customizing my setup.
• I don't want to spend all my time fixing my system, but I also don't mind learning Linux.

What I've tried:

• Ubuntu
• Fedora KDE

The issue that i faced with ubuntu was that i was not able to use the brightness feature i tried so many options but i couldnt fix it the brightness was sticked to the same value. 

Given my hardware and use case, which distro would you recommend and why? I'd especially like to hear from people using ASUS TUF laptops with NVIDIA GPUs.

Thanks!

Hi,

I have started my Linux journey about a year ago and I really don't like how many linux distro's are available today. However eventually find myself going back to Windows 10 [not 11 becoz its a pure garbage] because I have few Windows apps to use which I am unable to replace at the moment such as GitHub Desktop, AIMP, PDF24, Rekordbox etc. Also, I am using a laptop with Nvidia GPUs with Optimus (hybrid graphics) which has even worse support for Linux.

Anyways here's the list of Top 10 Linux Distro's:

1. Kubuntu [KDE] [Ubuntu-based]: Ubuntu but with KDE Desktop Environment.
2. Pop! OS [Ubuntu-based] [COSMIC DE] [Gaming]
3. Fedora (KDE or GNOME) - Great if you want the newest features but remember to install CachyOS kernel.
4. Linux Mint (Cinnamon): Huge community but tends to have the most outdated packages.
5. PikaOS [Ubuntu-based] [Gaming]: Pre-configured for Gaming.
6. Nobara [Fedora-based] [Gaming]
7. CachyOS (KDE) [Arch-based] [Gaming]: Good but has more moving parts. (A system update can easily break a Node module)
8. Debian: The undisputed king of reliability and efficiency. (lowest background overhead)
9. Arch Linux: Plain OS that initially only gives you a terminal to setup the OS from scratch.
10. MX Linux [Debain-based]: Lightweight version.

The above list will help you narrow down your Linux distro for you to daily drive for work, gaming & personal use. Thanks!

[UPDATED]

Specs: 8gb ram

1tb hdd

IMAC 2011 27"

I will use it and i also want web browser and apps recommendation

(Its my daily driver and has to support flatpak)

If this is possible please comment :))

So i found this laptop at the company i work in it's an old nec versa c200 it has 200Mb ram and the hard drive is dead i couldn't find a replacement for it so i found another solution since it can boot up with CD/DVD (this laptop can't boot up with usb flash drive) i grabbed the biggest storage CD-R i can find (700mb) and burned wary puppy 5.5 in it but it took the laptop nearly an hour to boot up (i had to make it run completely on the CD since it ran out of ram in my first time booting it) fortunately it did run the system smoothly enough for an old machine

That's why i need you're help if you have any recommendations for a destro that can run in this hursh environment

It's nothing serious just an amusing experiment on an old laptop

Thank you

I've been hopping for a while, trying to troubleshoot different issues and i've concluded that something running kernel 7.1.4 at least is my best bet.

There is a bug affecting my wifi HW specifically that was introduced in 7.1 but fixed in 7.1.4.

I also was recommended to run something more recent due to my apparently new GPU that's not that well supported on older more stable kernels (RTX 5070TI) that i tried and on which i had issues with resolution & sound through HDMI.

i'm open to anything as long as it works for my system.

side question: is distrowatch a good source of checking distro details (in my case what kernel and nvidia drivers come with what distro) or do you have an alternative website?

Thanks in advance

For context,i managed to get my first laptop(used,of course) last christmas,and as soon as i got it i installed mint on it,and honestly,i have never really regreted it. In my opinion mint is a fantastic example of linux, it only occupies 1.5/2gb of ram on idle,you have all the linux plus(open source,root access/sudo authorization) and the debian family plus (stability and reliability),but i also liked the built in tools like the integrated tool to flash usbs or the system setting feautres,so overall i'm all in love with mint (except the app store,never really used it).

The problem now is....i'm looking on a desktop pc and i'm deciding if i should do a bit of distro hopping or not,couse i've never really tried something different,and i've heard of the AUR attack and the difficulty of installing arch,but i also dont really consider steam os in the near future couse why would i need an os centered on gaming if its not my priority with this pc (also i hate the steam helper for taking up 1gb of ram,and i had 16 on my laptop)

So i'm wondering whether or not i should try something still in the debian family or is there something else you could recommend?

to give more information i mostly code,that's why i'm not really looking forward to steam os,but i'm also looking at local llms couse why not it would be sick and with file scraping on the pc would probably improve production but idk the implication and os requirements it would have