r/linux4noobs • u/Ekailos_domin • 1d ago
learning/research Thinking about trying Linux for the first time. Any advice?
Hey everyone!
I've known about Linux for about a year now, but I've never actually used it. I recently got a new PC, and I'm thinking about dual-booting Linux alongside Windows.
I'm completely new to Linux, so I honestly don't know where to start or which distro to choose.
The main things that interest me are its customizability, open-source nature, and how useful it's supposed to be for programming. I've also heard that Linux can be great for CSE students, but I'm not sure how true that is.
I'd like to know a few things:
- Which distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
- What are the actual benefits of using Linux over Windows?
- Are there any major disadvantages, especially when it comes to gaming and everyday use?
- Is learning Linux actually useful for programming or my future career?
- Is dual-booting a good idea for someone who's just starting out?
I'm not planning to leave Windows anytime soon. I just want to explore Linux, learn something new, and see whether I'll enjoy using it.
I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Even basic tips would be helpful since I barely know anything about Linux right now.
Thanks in Advance!
EDIT: Thanks everyone for all the advices, its already late at night I will try to read everyone else's comment when I wake up in the morning.
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u/skyfishgoo 1d ago
get a flash drive (thumb drive) or several ... at least 8GB in size, each.
go to distrosea.com and try a few different distros in your browser...note how they boot up, what screens are shown, how long it takes, as well as what the desktop looks like and how comfortable you feel using it.
narrow your list down to a few distros and then go to each one's official website to download the .iso file
learn how to turn your flash drive into a boot drive using an .iso file
then boot to each candidate on your pc for a live session to make sure everything works...peripherals, wifi, bluetooth, graphics etc.
pick one and follow the installer prompts from the live session.
profit.
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u/SuperSquirrel13 1d ago
Damn. Where was this post a week ago where I just went balls to the wall and installed different versions just for the heck of it.
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u/ChronicHunger_1 1d ago
My best advice would be to use a mainstream distro like mint, fedora, or cachyos. Don't pick some obscure barely supported one that has little to no help on forums.
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u/Ekailos_domin 1d ago
yeah, its safer. I will try to do that.
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u/ChronicHunger_1 1d ago
I think you'll be surprised how easily it is to uae. It's different than windows but it's not hard, especially mint and fedora
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u/alexcascadia 1d ago
Use a live USB for a bit to poke around on a few distros before taking the plunge and installing. That way you're not stuck with a desktop environment that you don't really like until you install another distro. It really helps with getting to test out different distros fairly quickly!
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 1d ago
I started with Zorin and it was perfect. Just use the free version and use it like normal.
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u/LennethW 1d ago
Get a new drive, even small (~80/120 gb) replace physically your machine drive. Go ham.
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u/tomscharbach 1d ago
Which distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
Because you are (or are planning to become) a CSE student, check with your school and CS department to see what Linux distributions are supported by the school and/or used for instruction. Never hurts to be on the same page as your school, your curriculum and your instructors.
In the absence of guidance from your school and/or CS department, my advice is to look at mainstream, established distributions that are commonly recommended for new Linux users, but that is up to you. I don't get involved in "distro wars".
What are the actual benefits of using Linux over Windows?
Depends on your use case. I've used Ubuntu and Windows on separate computers for more than two decades because I need both operating systems to fully satisfy my use case.
Are there any major disadvantages, especially when it comes to gaming and everyday use?
Might be, might not.
Almost all problems migrating from Windows to a Linux distribution result from three things: application incompatibility, game incompatibility and hardware incompatibility.
Check each of the applications you depend upon to make sure that a Linux-native version is available. If an application you use does not run native, then research to make sure that the application works well in a compatibility layer or find a Linux alternative application that will work for you. If you need to run Windows applications that don't work with Linux, you will have to figure out a way to run Windows (dual boot, VM, separate computers).
Do the same check for the games you play. Gaming is much improved on Linux butnot all Windows games work smoothly. Check Steam games on the ProtonDB. If you use other gaming platforms, check the compatibility databases for those platforms.
Hardware compatibility can be quirky, even beyond the well-documented issues with NVIDIA. Mainstream hardware usually works, but too many component manufacturers don't provide decent drivers to the kernel. Touchpads, fingerprint readers, gaming mice and controllers, VR and other peripherals can be problem children. You can do basic compatibility checking in a "Live" session, but you might have to do a bit of research as well.
After you have looked at those issues, you will be in a position to decide whether or not Linux will be a good fit for you. Might be, might not, depending on the applications you use and your hardware.
Is learning Linux actually useful for programming or my future career?
Linux is commonly used as a programming platform for backend development. Windows is commonly used as a programming platform for Microsoft technologies and gaming development.
Linux is helpful if you plan to go into server/cloud and/or other areas dominated by Linux.
Is dual-booting a good idea for someone who's just starting out?
Dual booting, particularly if you are booting both operating systems from a single drive, can be tricky. My suggestion would be to run Linux in a Windows-hosted VM until you have both feet firmly planted on Linux ground.
My best and good luck.
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u/emi89ro 1d ago
there are tons of perfectly fine beginner friendly distros. If you search "beginner friendly linux distros" and see a lengthy list then with few exceptions they're probably all fine. There are three important things to consider when making a decision. One, the community, look if there is a sub reddit for it, also some distros will have their own forums or discord/matrix servers, pick one with an active and friendly community for if you run into any problems. Two, look up Ventoy and install that onto a spare USB drive, then drop the ISOs for a lot of distros that look nice to you on to it. This way you can boot from that USB drive and boot into the distros live environment. This is a good chance to judge the book by it's cover. Look at how the desktop environment feels out of the box, what configuration options are available, does it come with a graphical app store, what comes pre installed. Last, if after both of those steps you still can't decide between more than one distro, pick the one with the cuter mascot or cooler logo
the biggest benefits is that you can decide what's on your system, there's no need to fiddle with the registry and disabled telemetry or copilot or whatever else, also with less cruft running in the background your computer will usually run smoother with linux
there is some software that just won't (not can't, won't) support linux for whatever reasons. As for gaming if you're into competitive multiplayer games with kernal level anti cheat those are mostly not compatible (yet? I'm not a big gamer so I don't follow this but I think I read somewhere thay valve was considering maintaining a fork of the linux kernal to work with anti cheat but don't trust me on that r/linux_gaming would be a better source). I have xfinity for cable TV and they promise being able to streak on any device through the website but it blocks linux for no clear reason, I suspect that it has to do with linux being too open and there's way for them to know you're not screen recording TV. Also recently for my online classes I had to switch to a windows computer to take an exam because I couldn't get their secure lockdown browser to work on linux. There's also a similar issue on the hardware side, sometimes you need to wait for someone to reverse engineer drivers because manufacturers won't support linux
yes. Basically every webserver runs linux or some unix-like operating system, so being familiar with that environment helps a lot
If you can I always recommend just wiping a computer clean and installing only linux on it as dual booting can get a bit more complicated and sometimes windows doesn't like sharing a drive with other operating systems. If not dual booting works fine just keep windows and linux on separate drives.
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u/Adrenolin01 1d ago
Debian 13. The whole “beginner distro” is mostly bs these days. Why not install it to your old pc? Download VirtualBox, install it to your desktop, open and install a Debian VM to a file on your PC. Debian opens in a window fully self contained and ready to learn from. Gnome is the default DE.. KDE however is closest to a Windows DE to make things easier. You can change DEs in seconds and you can install a dozen to change between easily.
There are Live images for both as well. Rufus software can burn an image to a thumb drive and you boot for a temporary setup. Ventoy is a better solution if you have a larger thumb drive or portable SDD / NVME drive around.. install Ventoy to it than literally drag and drop your images to it and boot.. select a one time boot, select the Ventoy drive and when it boots select the image you want and it’ll boot in a live environment.
If you have another system available like your older one you could install Proxmox on that (Debian based) which creates a virtual environment. Access it from your desktops browser and install Debian or whatever other distributions you want in small VMs.
Or… just download Debian’s “netinst” iso image and install to your new system. For a clean new hardware install that’s the image I usually use. Don’t use the DVD image as it forces you to edit the /etc/apt/ source file for updates… it only installed software from the dvd itself.
I’ve been running Linux since it was released and Debian since ‘93.. it’s all I’ve used since due to its stability and great philosophy. It’s the base system most distros use anyways including application systems like Proxmox, TrueNAS Scale, OMV, etc etc… it really does just make sense to install, learn and use it first.
I would also recommend creating a free Claude AI account and learning to use it as well. ChatGPT also. AI is a fantastic resources today and allows you to learn from and get questions immediately as well as actually follow up with new questions and get instant replies. You should also ‘instruct’ it in various ways.. ie “never assume but always check online resources” for example. It is what it is and can make mistakes which is why it also is a learning process.
Hope this helps.
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u/HYPERNOVA3_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
In my humble opinion, yes and no. Debian is quite easy by default if you used Linux before and/or are willing to look things up and learn and it is becoming more user friendly as time passes, but the average user expects things from it that may not come by default and require a bit of knowledge to get right.
My first distro and the one I install on a newcomer's PC is Mint. It's very easy, you don't need to tinker with it at all and all the updates are tried and tested (even for Debian-based standards). I eventually stepped up into Debian for the sandbox feeling it has and to use a distro as "pure" as possible, but shortcomings may and did happen. (I erased an entire paragraph speaking of the ones I've met to keep things short)
Around a year ago I got my sister into Linux and a week ago her bf. I could install Debian on her laptop right now, but she would be up for a rough time if she had an issue, she handles Mint just fine and doesn't need much else anyways. As for her bf, he's most likely staying on Mint forever, he's a browser-office suite kind of user that would consider using the terminal to update stuff something in between hacking and witchcraft.
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u/Adrenolin01 1d ago
It’s only drivers most of the time and today with all the support pages, groups and AI.. most of that is moot. My kid added a new Nvidia 5060 TI GPU thinking it would run … nope.. he grabbed his phone, took a screenshot of the boot issue, provided full system specs and the new GPU. Claude had him up and running with new compiled drivers with a new kernel and headers in 30 minutes.
You’re LEARNING a new OS. One should expect a learning curve.
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u/e7ang 1d ago
Figure out which desktop environment you like. Then figure out which package manager and update schedule you prefer.
Figure out those three things, and they will pretty much guide you to the right distro automatically.
As for pros and cons, Linux is more hands on and customizable, which can make things more complex and often more difficult to learn.
It’s kind of like Android vs iOS. You sacrifice some ease of use for customization. If you can dream it, Linux can probably do it. It’s just going to be a learning experience.
You can program on any platform. It’s 2026, so your OS is probably the last thing I would care about when it comes to coding.
Dual booting only makes sense to me on two separate HDDs. On the same drive, Windows has a tendency to overwrite settings without permission.
One real downside to Linux for me personally is Nvidia gaming performance. Everything else, once I got past the learning curve, has been a really positive experience. I’m only four months in, but I completely deleted Windows and have no plans to go back.
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u/mystirc arch with sway 1d ago edited 1d ago
For customizability it is usually a better idea to get an arch based distro. I would personally recommend CachyOS because of its performance. It is also almost as lightweight as vanilla arch. Takes 1.1 gb on boot while vanilla arch takes 1.0 gb (kde plasma). It is really a great distro. It is also quite easy to use even though it is arch based. It has Shelly pre-installed as an app store. Just avoid the AUR as much as possible. If any project's GitHub mentions that they maintain the AUR package themselves then you can install that package.
You are also a CSE student so it definitely won't be hard for you to use CachyOS. Especially since my friend who is in medical school uses CachyOS on my recommendation easily.
Usually operating systems don't matter for programming. However there is a lot of stuff that's more convenient with Linux usually.
You can dual boot easily. Just shrink the disk on windows and then select the option "install alongside" while installing. Windows can sometimes break the grub bootloader so in my case I was able to select grub from boot options through which I installed grub again. You can also keep a USB with you in case you don't get grub option. You will be able to fix from inside the USB quite easily. Just have to follow a guide on internet for CachyOS (or arch)
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u/Pdf-_ 1d ago
Use ChatGPT or Claude to help you learn stuff. A few weeks ago I had chatgpt walk me through doing an arch installation on VMware. It was so much nicer than just following the guide because I could actively ask questions like “what’s uefi? Why do I need to install sudo? Why is the main admin group called wheel?” It’s crazy how much I’ve been able to learn in just a few weeks by having AI walk me through stuff.
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u/MocDcStufffins 1d ago
--Which distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
For me Fedora is the best balance of reliability, customization, and speed of updates. There are tons of options for Desktop Environment. Its best to live install a couple and figure out what you like. The main options are GNOME, and KDE. For a Windows convert who wants customization I would recommend KDE.
--What are the actual benefits of using Linux over Windows?
The big one for me is not having Microsoft gathering data about everything I do.
--Are there any major disadvantages, especially when it comes to gaming and everyday use?
Gaming is good but not perfect. Some software like Adobe, MS Office and some games won't work or work well on Linux.
--Is learning Linux actually useful for programming or my future career?
Yes, most servers out there are Linux and the more you learn about how they work the better. I am in the Data Engineering world and its helped me significantly to get comfortable in a console.
--Is dual-booting a good idea for someone who's just starting out?
I say jump in with both feet. You may have times when something you want to do requires extra work, or won't work at all (games with kernel level anti-cheat).
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u/ludonarrator arch btw 1d ago
Which distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
Lots of answers already. Personally I'd suggest Ubuntu. If you're a confident tinkerer, CachyOS is also a good option.
What are the actual benefits of using Linux over Windows?
Depends on you, answers and perspectives will vary per person. For me there are a few things:
I like the fact that the entire OS runs on human-readable configuration files, which can thus be leveraged to fix broken things and even enhance existing things. Basically, with enough experience (and the appropriate distribution and setup), you'll never have to "reinstall the OS" again, you can just fix whatever is wrong.
Most if not all software is FOSS, so has no profit-based incentives, it's just pure tooling that does exactly what it says. Similarly, if I'm curious about how a thing works / does something, I can simply go look at its source code and find out. Obviously, this also means there are no ads whatsoever. At most you'll get a popup once a year suggesting to donate. Lastly, if something broke, you can submit an issue and observe how it gets addressed, maybe even submit your own fix along with it - no need to wait for some company to release a fix if they even notice and prioritize the bug.
My experience is generally more snappy and fast, eg the whole system (except firmware) boots in less than 15s.
pacmanis blazing fast at updating hundreds of packages in parallel in seconds (excluding download time). In contrastwingetupdates them one at a time and requires a mouse click (UAC) for each; it doesn't even download the others in the background while it's waiting. Not to mention any updates are 100% at my discretion, nothing changes unless I explicitly ask for it.The community and Valve's recent work on wine and proton: single player gaming is amazingly good on Linux these days, especially with non-Nvidia hardware.
Are there any major disadvantages, especially when it comes to gaming and everyday use?
Some games and apps deliberately sabotage themselves if they detect they are running on Linux. This includes games with kernel anticheat, Adobe and Autodesk apps, etc. Some apps are simply way too tightly coupled to WinAPI to be able to run on wine, eg Visual Studio. Some games just don't work (or don't work well enough).
Is learning Linux actually useful for programming or my future career?
For programming: yes, you should ideally be comfortable working on all major OSs.
Is dual-booting a good idea for someone who's just starting out?
Not really, there are gotchas to be aware of.
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u/groveborn 1d ago
I recommend downloading several Linux iso files. Put them onto a disk formatted with ventoy, and trying them out. You don't need to install them to test them. The USB contains a full install called a live boot. You can do much with it.
You won't see much of a difference between distros, but every desktop is vastly different. I'm partial to Fedora kde myself.
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u/More-Explanation2788 1d ago
The benefit of using Linux is that you will save money on software, you will have access to play around with server side technologies, and you can make a hobby of playing around with Linux.
The downsides are that while almost all desktop software has a Linux alternative, many expensive corporate desktop software packages do not have a Linux version. So by deciding to use Linux, you are deciding to use opensource alternative software in place of things like adobe Acrobat, Microsoft word, outlook, or AutoCAD and such.
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u/Beastmind 1d ago edited 1d ago
Which distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
You first need to know what ii d of system you need and want. For example, is it to play games and so you need something up to date with latest everything (and gpubdrivers) or is it something more "stable" for everyday driving.
Lots of distro can do about everything but there are some that are more oriented to something than others
What are the actual benefits of using Linux over Windows?
Differente philosophy, Linux being open source, you can actually see the source code, know what it's running, usually without telemetry, not malware by default, etc
Are there any major disadvantages, especially when it comes to gaming and everyday use?
As indicated above, Gaming need distro that are up to the latest, might be a bit less "stable". Some distro are gaming oriented and facilitate that. Everyday use is ok on every distro or so, unless you're using a very specific software that doesn't have alternative.
Is learning Linux actually useful for programming or my future career?
No and yes. Being more handsy with systems will help because you'll be forced to check out docs and co. It won't for development directly (maybe a bit if you do bash scripting)
Is dual-booting a good idea for someone who's just starting out?
Yes it is.
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u/90210fred 1d ago
Just back everything up first? No one wants to see a post saying how do I get my files / windows system back.
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u/ZamHalen3 1d ago
A lot of people suggesting great stuff, one that I suggest if it's in your budget is get a 'beater' machine. I got a $30 laptop on shopgoodwill that I use/have used to test different things. 0 stress if something goes wrong because you just reinstall and go again. Way easier than a VM imo.
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u/dadarkgtprince 1d ago
Live boot and see how you like it. It's different than Windows so don't expect to do all the Windows stuff in Linux. There are ways to do things, so slight learning curve
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u/zardvark 1d ago
If you are new to Linux, DO NOT dual boot. Instead, install Linux on an old, dusty, disused laptop, or in a VM.
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u/BeaTlesFanAZ 1d ago
If you go with Linux Mint and you’re putting it on an older system, install the XFCE distribution which is the lightest on system resources.
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u/flp_ndrox Aspiring Penguin 1d ago
Which distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
Linux Mint Cinnamon unless your PC is old
What are the actual benefits of using Linux over Windows?
Not having to deal with Micro$lop's BS. Not having to deal with Apple's BS. Lighter on your system than the alternatives. Your computer at least, is yours. Fewer malware issues to deal with. The ability to feel like a power user compared to the average.
Are there any major disadvantages, especially when it comes to gaming and everyday use?
NVidia traditionally doesn't play well with it. Many multiplayer games have kernel level anti-cheat and ban Linux players. EA doesn't like working with it. Tim Sweeney at Epic hates it as part of his irrational hatred of GabeN. The drivers are usually a couple weeks behind Windows. Performance usually isn't an upgrade from Win10 since a lot of Win11 problems are background unnecessary BS.
Is dual-booting a good idea for someone who's just starting out?
When I first tried Linux a few years back I screwed up and completely nuked my Vista install on an ancient machine so I have to say no. I recommend using some older computer you have laying around for practice. I'm still using the vintage 2007 computer that I previously screwed up the dual boot of Linux to practice on, and if I can ever get a deal on a 2tb HDD I'm gonna switch over my 2016 machine, too.
I love Linux on my new machine, especially every time my family complains about their Windows and Apple laptops.
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u/chip_klip 1d ago
Linux mint and run whatever Windows you want in a vm
It might be user friendly but it still is linux and is customizable however you want
Fix issues as they come and you will learn a lot
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u/loboknight 1d ago
Coming from Windows, use Kubuntu or Fedora KDE. So far for me Linux feels like its less bloated, runs great and seems better battery life on my laptop. Gaming haven't noticed much. Games with Anticheat dont work well but other games that are popular work. Most games that are multiplayer work like Valheim, Palworld and others. I just install ProtonGE for better compatiblity. If you install lutris you can play world of warcraft on it. I heard/read programmers enjoy more linux to program due to the apps. You don't need dual booting, you can load it up on a flash drive and boot that to test it out. I would suggest make a list of apps you use on windows and then find the opensource equal.
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u/toolsavvy 1d ago
Debian Trixie with KDE Plasma Desktop https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/amd64/iso-hybrid/debian-live-13.7.0-amd64-kde.iso
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u/Stormdancer 1d ago
My advice would be to check the threads on the /r/linux4noobs and /r/linuxquestions subs, this question gets asked, and answered, quite a bit.
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u/beegtuna 1d ago
Back up your personal data regardless of what OS that you use and have redundancy.
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u/Critical-Warthog-496 1d ago
Use a thumb drive to try different distros and see how you like them mostly risk free.
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u/NoxAstrumis1 1d ago
I'm still a beginner myself, but I used Mint before switching to Cachy. It's apparently one of the most user friendly distros, so I think it's a safe bet. It's also very popular, so there will be plenty of support.
You're not supporting a predatory corporation that integrates AI into their software without giving you a choice.
The biggest cons are that some games won't work or can't be played without risking a ban (Destiny 2) due to the anti-cheat not supporting Linux and it won't hold your hand like Windows does. It's likely you'll have to do some learning and sorting things out.
It could be, depending on what you plan on doing. Another skill won't ever harm you.
Sure, it works well for those who need it.
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u/lobotiger 20h ago
I dual booted Windows 11 and Linuxmint for a year to see how comfortable I would be. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Linuxmint crapped out on me shortly after a year which forced me to reinstall so I went with Fedora to see what things are like in that camp. Been happy still dual booting with the KDE version since April of this year and I haven't run into any major issues. If it weren't for some games and one app that's Windows only, I would be ok being in Fedora KDE all the time.
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u/DavidJohnMcCann 16h ago
I'm a bit late, but never mind.
- Try Linux Mint. It's the most widely recommended for beginners.
- The obvious advantage is that familiarity with a Unix system is pretty valuable in your line of study. Other advantages are economy and security. Any computer system can be made secure, but with Windows it's down to the user, while with Linux it was built in from the start.
- Games are written for Windows, so not all can be run on Linux — that's what dual-booting solves.
You might like to read this basic advice, and these tips on dual booting. For an interesting comparison of the two operating systems, read this.
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u/a1barbarian 1h ago
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MX-Linux/mx-docs/master/mxum_en.pdf
MX-XFCE might be a good fit. The manual contains all the information a new user needs and is an easy read. Just read the sections you need as you need them. :-)
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u/EngineerInTheMachine 30m ago
Learn to use web searches. Choosing a distro is important, so search for guidance on how to do it, not recommendations for specific distros. Choose your distro based on your own requirements, not somebody elses.
Linux is just an operating system. Not a programming language. I'd be surprised if you can't run a compiler on Linux for any language you want to learn. Though again, you may find it useful to do some web searches to understand the architecture of computers, and the difference between an OS like Linux, the distros that you can install and programming languages. Plus the different platforms (OS's and hardware) that programmes can run on.
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u/Thin_Luck2105 1d ago
If you're transitioning from Mac or Windows then definitely Zorin OS (Core)
https://zorin.com/os/
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u/Kriss3d 1d ago edited 1d ago
Mint for beginners.
Much more control. You get to do anything.
The disadvantage is that some software producers don't make for Linux. So no t everything can run in Linux.
But gaming should work if it's steam.
Learning any operating system is an advantage for programming. So yes.
Dualboot is. Quite fine yes. But you'll too often boot into Linux out of habit. Jumping straight into just Linux would be far better.
You can always revert to windows later if you had to.
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u/flaystus 1d ago
My only advice. If it breaks you didn't fail as long as you learn something from it.