If you’re still on the fence about switching to Linux, try downloading a Live Linux USB image and booting it from a USB stick. This lets you try out Linux without changing anything on your Windows drive. The Live version will also let you see if Linux detects all your computer’s hardware before you install it for real.
I had already done that before pulling the trigger. I used Obsidian to get a listing of distros and then took notes as I tested them on my Lenovo Yoga 720 laptop. Obviously, not the same as my daily gaming rig, but it gave me a good enough approximation for how well I’d like some of the distros I tried. In the end it was Mint Cinnamon (currently installed on my Yoga) or openSUSE. I eventually had to reinstall openSUSE last night when KDE started giving me trouble. It’s probably the last time I try KDE for a while. I just don’t seem to have good luck with it all three times I’ve tried it across different distros.
Either way GNOME is working great this morning and I’m working on getting stuff customized!!
I agree on trying the live boot first. I played around with the live boot for a week, and ended up installing mint as dual boot when I got frustrated about not being able to save files, save settings etc. I was barely using Windows at that point.
Agree, a USB stick live install is a good way to test - users should just bear in mind it is slower than a real install as USB drives are not as fast as internal hard drives. Once the OS is loaded fully it will feel reasonably snappy but still every piece of software you launch will take longer to load than a real install, and the bigger the software the longer it will take to load.
I also tended to recommend Linux Mint for beginners although I think I’m moving more towards recommending OpenSuSE Leap. The reason being it ships with KDE which is a slick interface with a Windows like set up by default (although very customisable - users can create MacOS or Gnome like interfaces with relative ease if they prefer) and gives a better idea of what modern Linux is capable of than Cinnamon in my opinion. Also KDE’s Discover app makes it easy to install software, comparable to Mint’s software store. Mint still has many more guides online but they’re often around terminal use and APT based solutions, and I’m beginning to think that is actually a bad thing. Most stuff for mainstream users can be done via the GUI, and KDE offer’s a great GUI. Plus Flatpak is a far better way of installing custom software than the APT recommendations I still see widely shared, so I think it’s actually better to move people away from Mint. Personally I think OpenSuSE Leap is the better option (and possible Fedora KDE Plasma edition although I am less familiar with it).
If you’re still on the fence about switching to Linux, try downloading a Live Linux USB image and booting it from a USB stick. This lets you try out Linux without changing anything on your Windows drive. The Live version will also let you see if Linux detects all your computer’s hardware before you install it for real.
I recommend Linux Mint for beginners.
I had already done that before pulling the trigger. I used Obsidian to get a listing of distros and then took notes as I tested them on my Lenovo Yoga 720 laptop. Obviously, not the same as my daily gaming rig, but it gave me a good enough approximation for how well I’d like some of the distros I tried. In the end it was Mint Cinnamon (currently installed on my Yoga) or openSUSE. I eventually had to reinstall openSUSE last night when KDE started giving me trouble. It’s probably the last time I try KDE for a while. I just don’t seem to have good luck with it all three times I’ve tried it across different distros.
Either way GNOME is working great this morning and I’m working on getting stuff customized!!
IIRC you can even install stuff and more to try out software.
I agree on trying the live boot first. I played around with the live boot for a week, and ended up installing mint as dual boot when I got frustrated about not being able to save files, save settings etc. I was barely using Windows at that point.
Agree, a USB stick live install is a good way to test - users should just bear in mind it is slower than a real install as USB drives are not as fast as internal hard drives. Once the OS is loaded fully it will feel reasonably snappy but still every piece of software you launch will take longer to load than a real install, and the bigger the software the longer it will take to load.
I also tended to recommend Linux Mint for beginners although I think I’m moving more towards recommending OpenSuSE Leap. The reason being it ships with KDE which is a slick interface with a Windows like set up by default (although very customisable - users can create MacOS or Gnome like interfaces with relative ease if they prefer) and gives a better idea of what modern Linux is capable of than Cinnamon in my opinion. Also KDE’s Discover app makes it easy to install software, comparable to Mint’s software store. Mint still has many more guides online but they’re often around terminal use and APT based solutions, and I’m beginning to think that is actually a bad thing. Most stuff for mainstream users can be done via the GUI, and KDE offer’s a great GUI. Plus Flatpak is a far better way of installing custom software than the APT recommendations I still see widely shared, so I think it’s actually better to move people away from Mint. Personally I think OpenSuSE Leap is the better option (and possible Fedora KDE Plasma edition although I am less familiar with it).