So where does a lifelong windows user get started with making the switch?
I prefer reading to videos, but ill take any suggestions. I seem to find only broad strokes for beginners, or stuff that is a couple steps ahead of me.
Linux Mint, as someone who switched about 10 years ago it’s what I always recommend. I tried several distros, but mint has been my daily driver for the last 9 years.
Also it’s set up similarly to Win 7, so it’s far more intuitive for a Windows user. And Mint seems to have the best documentation and community when you can’t figure something out.
*And before anyone says anything, I’m speaking of the Debian based distros, I know REHL has some distros that also have great documentation and communities, I’m just a Debian guy so that’s what I’m comfortable speaking to.
Even though I haven’t run anything Debian based as a daily driver in about a decade, I still recommend Debian based distro’s to beginners. With Ubuntu being so widespread it just makes sense, because whenever you search for “how do I install xyz on linux” it’s going to be a guide for Ubuntu 99% of the time, which should work on other Debian based distro’s most times.
I found Ubuntu to be a bit to foreign when transitioning from Windows, it was actually the first distro I tried. It has more of an old school Mac feel to me, and I just couldn’t get used to it. I get what you’re saying about the guides though, I do still get Ubuntu forums a lot when I forget to add + Linux Mint on the end of my searches.
For me it was Ubuntu, then back to windows for a while, then ZoronOS for a while, then finally settling on Mint. I’ve tried a few other distros over the years but I keep coming back to Mint.
Get a new drive, install Linux on new drive, be too lazy to move all your shit from windows to Linux so just use your windows as a scuffed way to store everything else.
Benefit is you don’t lose your windows drive so you can always go back
The bad thing is windows doesn’t let you see into your Linux drive even though Linux can see into your windows drive so it forces you to move your files to windows fully if you don’t like linux
Or do like me and install to a 200gb partition, then carve down the window partition to create a third partition to keep new files, repeat untill you have 5 partitions on your drive. After that, find that you haven’t touched windows in forever and wipe it now that everything is spread between an unethical amount of partitions.
The biggest change from the Windows world will be the different interfaces to choose from. While they’re one of the best features of Linux, the number of choices and strong opinions on the matter can be overwhelming to new users. And everyone in the community is certain that theirs is the best. Don’t stress out about picking the “right” one. You can always change it later (especially if you choose something Ubuntu based). Pick one that has a large user base, good community, and excellent documentation. My recommendation would be Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Linux comes in many different flavors, or “Distributions”. Often shortened to “Distros”. The most obvious difference between Distros is the interface (or “Desktop Environment” or “DE”). It’s not the only thing that sets them apart, but it’s the most noticeable.
I would recommend Ubuntu or any one of it’s variants. The best variants (in my opinion) are Linux mint and Linux Lite. Linux Lite having the most “Windows like” interface. Linux Lite also has additional tools to install common programs that Windows users are accustomed to. Ones that don’t come with other Distros by default.
Until recently Ubuntu used an interface called “Unity”. As of the last couple of releases, they have switched to Gnome. However, they’ve made gnome look a lot like Unity, so you should be able to follow instructions you find on the internet without too much trouble.
Gnome has a ton of customizations available via the “Gnome extensions” website. If you’re willing to relearn how to interact with your computer’s interface, it’s a good fit for someone who wants customization.
Here’s a good article with the basics of getting up and running with Ubuntu.
To be clear if you stop there Linux will not installed, you won’t lose any data, and you can just unplug the USB stick to allow windows to boot up when you restart.
One note, sinceit’s installed to a USB stick it’ll be a bit slower than if you installed it on your PC. Still though, it’ll be the same idea.
So where does a lifelong windows user get started with making the switch?
I prefer reading to videos, but ill take any suggestions. I seem to find only broad strokes for beginners, or stuff that is a couple steps ahead of me.
Linux Mint, as someone who switched about 10 years ago it’s what I always recommend. I tried several distros, but mint has been my daily driver for the last 9 years.
Also it’s set up similarly to Win 7, so it’s far more intuitive for a Windows user. And Mint seems to have the best documentation and community when you can’t figure something out.
*And before anyone says anything, I’m speaking of the Debian based distros, I know REHL has some distros that also have great documentation and communities, I’m just a Debian guy so that’s what I’m comfortable speaking to.
Even though I haven’t run anything Debian based as a daily driver in about a decade, I still recommend Debian based distro’s to beginners. With Ubuntu being so widespread it just makes sense, because whenever you search for “how do I install xyz on linux” it’s going to be a guide for Ubuntu 99% of the time, which should work on other Debian based distro’s most times.
I found Ubuntu to be a bit to foreign when transitioning from Windows, it was actually the first distro I tried. It has more of an old school Mac feel to me, and I just couldn’t get used to it. I get what you’re saying about the guides though, I do still get Ubuntu forums a lot when I forget to add + Linux Mint on the end of my searches.
For me it was Ubuntu, then back to windows for a while, then ZoronOS for a while, then finally settling on Mint. I’ve tried a few other distros over the years but I keep coming back to Mint.
additionally to what everyone says: make a list of programs you use/need and look for alternatives on Linux
Like word -> web word/libreoffice/softmaker
Then before switching make sure you have a way back into windows in case you forgot some important files (no backup, no mercy)
simply boot from usb for testing distros/desktop enviroments as linux does not need a pc install to run
Get a new drive, install Linux on new drive, be too lazy to move all your shit from windows to Linux so just use your windows as a scuffed way to store everything else.
Benefit is you don’t lose your windows drive so you can always go back
The bad thing is windows doesn’t let you see into your Linux drive even though Linux can see into your windows drive so it forces you to move your files to windows fully if you don’t like linux
Or do like me and install to a 200gb partition, then carve down the window partition to create a third partition to keep new files, repeat untill you have 5 partitions on your drive. After that, find that you haven’t touched windows in forever and wipe it now that everything is spread between an unethical amount of partitions.
At least I can give them funny names
my folder management is so bad but yours might just be worse.
For context mine is:
media/drive/archive/important/archive/misc/programming/archive/misc/sdk
https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs
https://github.com/bobranten/Ext4Fsd
https://github.com/a1ive/NkArc
https://a1ive.github.io/NkArc/
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-File-Systems-for-Windows
The biggest change from the Windows world will be the different interfaces to choose from. While they’re one of the best features of Linux, the number of choices and strong opinions on the matter can be overwhelming to new users. And everyone in the community is certain that theirs is the best. Don’t stress out about picking the “right” one. You can always change it later (especially if you choose something Ubuntu based). Pick one that has a large user base, good community, and excellent documentation. My recommendation would be Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Linux comes in many different flavors, or “Distributions”. Often shortened to “Distros”. The most obvious difference between Distros is the interface (or “Desktop Environment” or “DE”). It’s not the only thing that sets them apart, but it’s the most noticeable.
I would recommend Ubuntu or any one of it’s variants. The best variants (in my opinion) are Linux mint and Linux Lite. Linux Lite having the most “Windows like” interface. Linux Lite also has additional tools to install common programs that Windows users are accustomed to. Ones that don’t come with other Distros by default.
Until recently Ubuntu used an interface called “Unity”. As of the last couple of releases, they have switched to Gnome. However, they’ve made gnome look a lot like Unity, so you should be able to follow instructions you find on the internet without too much trouble.
Gnome has a ton of customizations available via the “Gnome extensions” website. If you’re willing to relearn how to interact with your computer’s interface, it’s a good fit for someone who wants customization.
Here’s a good article with the basics of getting up and running with Ubuntu.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/migrating-from-windows-7-to-ubuntu/
Here’s Ubuntu’s website for downloading and documentation:
https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop
The official “Getting starting” guide:
https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/try-ubuntu-before-you-install#0
Here’s the list of official Ubuntu Distributions:
https://www.ubuntu.com/download/flavours
Here’s a great article explaining the difference between the official Ubuntu Distribution (written by an awesome Redditor Killyourfm):
“Forbes: Linux For Beginners: Understanding The Many Versions Of Ubuntu”: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2018/11/28/linux-for-beginners-understanding-the-many-versions-of-ubuntu/
Here’s the official install guide:
https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-install-ubuntu-desktop#0
An install guide for Dual Booting:
http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com/2018/04/installing-ubuntu-along-side-windows-ie.html?m=1
And here’s Linux Lite’s official page:
https://www.linuxliteos.com/
Gnome extensions:
https://extensions.gnome.org/
Thank you so much. And also everyone else who commented, save maybe the steam deck recommendation without context.
It has helped.
I’d suggest the hands on approach personally. It may take some time to get up though.
You can install a distro onto a USB stick and boot from it to play around and see if you like it.
Here’s a quick tutorial:
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/latest/preparing-boot-media/
And separately the distro I’d reccomemd using:
https://fedoraproject.org/spins/kde/
After you create the live CD you should be able to keep it plugged in and boot to using this method from howtogeek:
https://www.howtogeek.com/129815/beginner-geek-how-to-change-the-boot-order-in-your-computers-bios/
To be clear if you stop there Linux will not installed, you won’t lose any data, and you can just unplug the USB stick to allow windows to boot up when you restart.
One note, sinceit’s installed to a USB stick it’ll be a bit slower than if you installed it on your PC. Still though, it’ll be the same idea.
Here’s a full guide on how to install it:
https://www.howtogeek.com/693588/how-to-install-linux/
🔫🐧?
🐧🗡️!
Buy a Steam Deck.