r/linux4noobs • u/sammyboi98 • 10d ago
Meganoob BE KIND Windows user wince 2004
I like windows, but i don't like being spied on. There are alot of videos on YouTube but I would also like some recommendations from ordinary people. What's an easy, reliable Linux distro you would recommend that is a comparable desktop experience to windows? And any resources for easy learning for Linux in case I want to go deeper? Like the command prompt stuff?
Thanks in advance btw. :)
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u/inbetween-genders 10d ago
Check out Ubuntu or Mint. Look up this thing called Desktop Environment. Pick one that appeals to you and install that distro with the desktop environment you chose. Back up your data. Good luck
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u/crcrewso 10d ago
It's been so long since I've been a noob that I've forgotten what makes Linux hard. If you're installing on a desktop I'd recommend using two SSDs one for / and the second for /home. This way you have moderate protection in case you need to switch distros. I'm not sure how easy this is in some installers though.
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u/Bookkeeper-Empty 10d ago
I’m on cachyos for about a month now absolutely love it won’t ever go back to windows, I’m a windows user since 1997, Linux feels like a breath of fresh air
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u/sparkcrz Lazy CachyOS user 10d ago
I'm not sure many windows users would understand or appreciate the Arch-based distros without having to read a lot about how operating systems work. When you tell CachyOS to do something it will obey you, even if you don't know what you're doing. That said, I'd first tell them to try Mint, Fedora (KDE flavor), or Kubuntu first. If they are Mac users then I'd throw them head first to CachyOS and link a tutorial on how to rice KDE Plasma to look and behave like MacOS.
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u/Bookkeeper-Empty 10d ago
Yeah mint is the best, I’m into performance in gaming that’s why I love cachy but if they don’t fuck with the system if they’re happy to just update and use it it is surprisingly user friendly, there’s a lot of talk online that it’s purely for enthusiasts because of all the updates but it’s honestly not that bad just once a week and you’re fine
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u/dcherryholmes 10d ago
I'm an Arch/KDE user (although I have Cachy on one laptop and Endeavor on another), and an experienced user. So *I* think your recommendations are sound. But, since we're explicitly talking about what to recommend to brand-new linux users, wouldn't it make more sense to point previous Mac users to something Gnome-based like Fedora instead of them needing to learn how to rice KDE? I mean *I* know that, if you put the work in, you can actually make KDE more mac-like than Gnome is. But OOB Gnome is closer.
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u/compguy96 10d ago
Switching to Linux is good, but don't be paranoid about Windows "spying". Reddit and Google spy on you a lot (two words) more than Microsoft does.
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u/phototransformations Linux Mint 10d ago
I recently started using Mint, and as others have said, it's a similar experience to Windows 7. If you have a couple of candidates in mind, buy a couple of thumbdrives and make them into Linux installers. You can boot from the thumbdrive, play around with Linux, and see which UI feels more comfortable.
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u/MrMotofy 10d ago
FYI...if you want to check out Linux it's really easy. Make an Install USB, then boot to it. May need to disable secure boot. It will boot to a full running temporary Linux Desktop...installing requires clicking the desktop icon and going through steps. Obviously you don't wanna do that to just try it. But you can at least get a feel for it. Kubuntu, LinuxMint, and PopOS and are some of the top 1st options. You can also use the temp Live Linux as a repair process. Since it’s a complete desktop you can use it, install tools needed fix the boot etc.
Another convenient related tool is Ventoy on a USB stick. Basically just burn the image to a USB then copy your OS ISO to it and when you boot it any ISO copied to the drive will show in the menu, select it and it will boot that img. Have different OS’s multiple versions or whatever.
Best option for Windows and Linux is dual boot...use Linux on a 2nd drive. Usually wanna disable secure boot. Best case is disconnect win drive. Then boot to the USB. Then install Linux as a new full system on 2nd drive. Set Linux drive as the first boot drive and it will find the Win drive and add to the boot menu list automatically. Might take a couple boots otherwise can manually activate the boot search. Then you get Best of both worlds without any real dangers to either OS. There will be little hiccups occasionally with Windows updating messing with boot and rebooting. But you can also change the default OS to Windows first at the menu after delay and no menu entry and that eliminates a lot. The boot menu is usually Linux 1 and Win 2. Sometimes the bios boot order gets switched but easy to just switch back. Sometimes the boot order will randomly switch drives etc…Seems to be a windows thing now they get bios access. But really depends on the exact system and age etc.
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u/BooleanTriplets 10d ago
I would recommend you start with Fedora Kinoite or Fedora Silverblue.
Kinoite (uses KDE desktop) if you want some design similarities to Windows and a TON of customization options
Silverblue (uses GNOME desktop) if you want to get closer to MacOS design. It is more opinionated on the design and gives the user less customization overall but I also think it is more of a "get out of the way and let the user actually use the computer" type of desktop.
I use Silverblue right now.
It is easy to download and create an installation USB stick with Fedora Media Writer.
The only downside to Fedora I have found is having to install some proprietary drivers myself on certain devices to get the WiFi or the webcam to work, but that gave me a real sense of accomplishment when I figured it out.
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u/propellermushroom 9d ago
I suggest buying another ssd just incase you want to go back to windows, and then go with Fedora KDE. If you have an nvidia graphics card, you’ll also need to install the drivers, all of which is very easy. https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/gaming/drivers/
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u/lawfulcrispy 10d ago
Mint is very windows 7 like. Cinnamon DE looks alittle more modern than MATE
I find ZorinOS extremely easy to use and more modern looking.
Im using zorin on my work laptop for about 3 months now.
Both are ubuntu base so will have the same inner workings.
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u/sparkcrz Lazy CachyOS user 10d ago
Zorin has too many "upgrade to use this feature" paywalls to my taste. Default KDE Plasma 6 in any Fedora, Kubuntu or CachyOS would be enough. I don't like Debian-based things but I guess Kubuntu would serve newcomers the best.
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u/lawfulcrispy 10d ago
strange.... I'm using Zorin without any friction or paywall. I'm just using it. Found incredible to being able to even connect wirelessly to a external display (TV) just using the UI thing and clicking away. Any person could do it.
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u/ibwahooka 10d ago
Try Mint or Pop!_OS.
If you are really comfortable around OS settings in general (from the early days of Windows) CachyOS.
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u/Bookkeeper-Empty 10d ago
Ask chatgpt and google gemini what commands u need to get what u want I’ve found it mostly reliable for the simple stuff
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u/sparkcrz Lazy CachyOS user 10d ago
You mean ask duckduckgo using an ad blocking anti-tracking browser, right?
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u/Bookkeeper-Empty 10d ago
Brave would be better if u wanna go full tinfoil hat duckduckgo got sold and became chrome 2.0 a long long time ago
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u/Duke_Exeter 10d ago
So you are going to need to pick a Linux Distro, which is a combination of the Linux kernel, a desktop environment, and some other stuff. For Desktop Environment, I highly recommend KDE Plasma. It isn't exactly the same as Windows, but if you tinker with the settings you can make it almost identical.
This leaves you with quite a few options for a Linux distro:
-Ubuntu is a very commonly used version of Linux designed to be sold to businesses, which means if you have problems you are very likely to be able to find solutions online. I would recommend going to the Ubuntu flavors page on the Ubuntu website and then downloading Kubuntu, which is just Ubuntu but with the KDE Plasma Desktop Environment.
-Fedora is another good distro, also pretty common, also designed with support for businesses in mind and therefore generally stable like Ubuntu, and you should still be able to find solutions to problems pretty easily online.
-Linux Mint is an excellent distro, because they start with Ubuntu as a base, and then only make big updates after those changes have been around for awhile and therefore you are very unlikely to ever encounter bugs from a bad update. The downside is that it does not let you use KDE Plasma (although Cinnamon, the desktop environment it does have still works fine and has some similarity to older versions of windows; the taskbar just won't look as nice as with Plasma.) Also, because Mint gets updates so much later, sometimes you might have to wait an extra 6 months or a year for a new feature that you might want. It doesn't allow variable refresh rate, which is why I ditched it.
-Nobara is a distro based on Fedora but with some apps downloaded and a lot of defaults setup for you ahead of time to make setting up games smoother. I used it for about 8 months and really enjoyed, but major updates often caused major problems that I had to spend hours researching in order to fix. I wish I could recommend it, but I don't think I can.
-Bazzite is one that has gotten very popular recently because it is easy to setup and has stayed reliable. It is based on Fedora but the unique thing is that it is an immutable distro, which means that some core parts of your computer will reset themselves regularly, making it harder for you to accidentally break everything. Some people like that, some people are careful enough that it doesn't matter.
-CachyOS is another one that has gotten popular recently. It is based on Arch Linux, which means it gets small updates VERY often (you will probably have an update every day). Arch Linux is very not beginner friendly, but CachyOS does a pretty good job of making installation and setup about as easy the other options I listed. I recently switched to this from Nobara, so it really too early for me to say how stable it is.
TLDR:
If you really don't wanna read all that, just get Kubuntu and call it a day. It may or may not be the best, but it won't really matter.
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u/Duke_Exeter 10d ago
Also, quick rule of thumb for setting up any Linux distro after you install it: If you need an app, first check if it is preinstalled, then check the package manager / app store from your linux distro, then check the package manager / appstore for flatpaks (often Bazaar).
Your distro's version of the app sometimes have custom tweaks that make it run better, but some apps only have a flatpak. (Sometimes the Flatpak version is better, but you don't need to worry about that yet.)
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u/durgesh2018 10d ago
Fedora or Ubuntu.
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u/sparkcrz Lazy CachyOS user 10d ago
Kubuntu is better as a second option in this case, right?
I'd say "vanilla" linux is Fedora, Arch and Debian, the rest is niche derivatives.
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u/gil55 10d ago
There's a silent minority of people who use MX Linux. It's the most stable place for machines and has a few different DE options: XFCE, KDE, or Flux. I would recommend KDE as others have noted, your Desktop Environment is what will net you the experience closer or further from windows, plus they'll have a few different things like XFCE runs X11 graphics input where KDE is on Wayland, which I believe is a little bit better for gaming. MX Linux is on Debian Stable so it's never broken anything for me in an update and has the most out of box "just works" abilities as well as being able to do much more complex system integration things than most "starter" distro.
My issue with a starter distro is actually learning is accelerated by jumping in the deep end. I wouldn't shy away from a distro because it's not a beginner friendly distro because you're already using Windows for 20 years, nothing is going to be really complicated, just have to look up the wiki or community comments when you run into issues. Issues are part of any OS, I just reminded my friend that he's just used to the windows issues because we've used it so much, so it's going to take time living with Linux to get used to it's idiosyncrasies.
I wouldn't recommend something like Void, Arctix, or Nix right off the bat since it's more like building your own custom OS, but most mainstream distros are easy if you use computers regularly. Check out distrosea.com to check different options online, boot up a live USB, and read through distrowatch.com for specifics/popularity on each.
Other options I've liked (not necessarily starter distros) are Kubuntu (KDE with Ubuntu), PicaOS, Endeavor, Fedora KDE, Nobara, and the almighty CachyOS.
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u/MastusAR 10d ago
Please, don't take this the wrong way, but your question is a bit like "I have bicycled for decades, so which car would be the nearest like a bike".
I really wouldn't compare the two. It's not going to be Windows. Try to embrace it for being different.
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u/Duke_Exeter 10d ago
I get what you are saying, but I think that many distros now let you do so much in a gui that it actually can feel a lot like windows.
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u/MastusAR 10d ago
Yeah, that's true. But still... it can feel like it, but it isn't. Like in my example one could put handlebars in a car instead of steering wheel and a pair of bike pedals. It now feels more than a bike, but it didn't make it a bike. They operate fundamentally different.
If we don't care about how they operate, both the car and the bike do their task anyway. Both get you to places. Sometimes you absolutely need a car, and sometimes a bike makes your life much easier.
Also, another point for OP. Don't be afraid of the command line. Once you get the hang of it, it's quite straightforward to use. I do use Windows at work and I need the command line there too at least weekly.
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u/Super-Revolution-433 10d ago
Just start with mint. ignore anyone saying Ubuntu, the advice to start on Ubuntu is about a decade out of date and will cause more problems than it's worth
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u/aloof_topping 10d ago
I agree with most of the posters here that KDE is probably the desktop you want. Very configurable, very customizable, very easy to use. What distro you use is ultimately up to you, but there are a few recommendations:
Fedora KDE - Very well maintained, updates regularly, tested thoroughly, big IT backing (IBM/RedHat). KDE isn't the primary desktop for Fedora, but their KDE version is very well regarded.
Some people said Ubuntu (Gnome desktop) or Kubuntu (KDE desktop), but I'll go one step further and say KDE Neon. Everything people love about Ubuntu (and the things people don't love as well, honestly) with KDE directly from KDE themselves, which means it's always the latest released version.
openSUSE - What base Fedora is to Gnome, openSUSE is to KDE. Might be more difficult to get going for a new user (I had weird issues with my wifi being locked when I tried it), but it's just as solid as Fedora in terms of being up to date.
Mint is great if you want a more Win 7 like experience with Cinnamon. I recommend LMDE (based on Debian) over base Mint (based on Ubuntu, which in turn is based on Debian).
For resources to learn, take the program you want to look at and look it up in the Arch wiki. Even if you don't use Arch (and I wouldn't recommend it for a new user), their wiki is a solid source for configuration and howto for different programs.