I’ve been having a big think over Linux distros. See, I’ve been looking back at my still-new Linux experience of nine months, and wondering how my own journey can help other people get started with FOSS operating systems. Whenever the topic of a Windows refugee-friendly OS came up, I would recommend Linux Mint because, first, it’s the one everyone says, and second, it was the Linux OS that I started with, fresh off Windows.
I always follow that up with a comment about how you don’t have to stick with Linux Mint if you don’t want to. You can do what I did, which is to dip your toe into the Linux distro water and find something that suits you better. But if I’m setting up Linux Mint as “my first Linux distro,” why not just skip the middleman and get right into the distros that have a bit more meat on them?
I think the problem here generally stems from the view that a system which is explicitly not Windows should be suitable for “Windows refugees”. (Haiku would come to mind sooner than Linux, but I don’t want to open that can of worms here.)
Mint isn’t “like Windows”, not even Zorin is “like Windows”. No operating system (except perhaps ReactOS) that isn’t Windows aims to provide a good sanctuary for “Windows refugees”. The expectation that a Linux distribution must be “suitable for Windows users” will lead to many more disappointments.
Bill Joy (google him if necessary) once said (quite rightly):
Take Linux for what it wants to be (a free implementation of parts of V7 UNIX for reasonably modern systems), and you’ll immediately be less disappointed.
(Disclosure: As far as Linux is concerned, I currently only use Gentoo myself—not because it’s great for Windows users, but because it’s a great Linux distribution.)
A distro for Windows refugees isn’t an exact copy of Windows. They can stay on Windows for that.
It is the Linux flavour that is the easiest to use after working with Windows your entire life. It should have all the advantages a Linux system brings, but have the same type of logic how UI is organized as Windows, and offer the same advantages.
Like out-of the box drivers that work on every hardware. A setup with easy to understand questions that aren’t technical. A file system with similar structure. A GUI setting menu where the most used settings can be changed without opening a command window. …
There is no Windows-like file system fully supported for / as far as I know. You can’t have C:\ on Linux.
That’s not really distribution-specific though. All GUI configuration tools I know are distribution-agnostic.