Installing Linux instead of windows

[Kamikaze420]

How difficult would it be to use Linux on my first home PC after only using Windows  PCs  and a year or two with i-Macs in the late '90s?

[315jordan09]

I would suggest using Ubuntu or linux Mint as I found both very easy to use. I switched from Windows and Mac to Linux a few years ago and it wasn't that difficult. You don't really need to know how to use the terminal (which kinda scared me before I learned it) to use Ubuntu or Mint. Most of anything you need the terminal for is online anyway. I prefer Ubuntu now also and highly suggest trying it out.

[Bobbyman5506]

39 minutes ago, Kamikaze420 said:

How difficult would it be to use Linux on my first home PC after only using Windows  PCs  and a year or two with i-Macs in the late '90s?

Definitely pick mint if you want a good, and good looking experience. Its Fast, Easy, and it looks good

[wasab]

Using Linux isn't that difficult. You will easily get the hang of it. 

[Sauron]

13 hours ago, Kamikaze420 said:

How difficult would it be to use Linux on my first home PC after only using Windows  PCs  and a year or two with i-Macs in the late '90s?

Not much but it kind of depends on what exactly you want to do with it.

[kookburr_]

I've found Ubuntu really easy to use, it's pretty similar to Windows

[KaiLikesProgramming]

I recommend Pop!_OS or Zorin, both are fantastic.

[Worstcaster]

I'm using Mint on my work laptop and really like it.  If there is something you don't like with it the nice thing about Linux is you can change it.  People make a really big deal about the terminal and it is worth learning about, but for general use the GUI is very similar to what you would deal with in Windows.  If you want to move a file you can just click and drag from one folder into another, just like on Windows.  For gaming Proton has done a lot for making gaming easier on Linux.  Many Windows only games for Steam can now just be installed and run.  If you do need to make changes to run a game, there are usually instructions you can find with a web search.  The community for Linux is pretty good too.  A lot of people talk about the toxicity of the community, but so far my experience has been very positive.  Many people in the community want Linux to see more wide spread adoption and are willing to help.  Below are some links to help you get started.

 

Linux Mint Forums: https://forums.linuxmint.com/

 

Manjaro Forums: https://forum.manjaro.org/

 

Level 1 Techs: https://forum.level1techs.com/

 

Basic Linux Commands for Beginners:  https://maker.pro/linux/tutorial/basic-linux-commands-for-beginners

 

One safety tip, never blindly copy and paste commands into the terminal.  Like I said most of the community wants to help, but some people just want to watch the world burn.

 

Linux commands never to run: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-lethal-linux-commands-never-run/

[Touch My Hamm]

Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint are the most common builds people use for personal use. Lots of places to learn Linux and its a fun OS to use as I live in CLI for most things. I use Windows daily for gaming but for work I use Ubuntu/OSX since it allows terminal use. 

 

Its great to learn Linux as it helps with learning how computers work and once you can use Linux, Windows and OSX will be pieces of cake to learn. 

[Ashleyyyy]

3 hours ago, KaiLikesProgramming said:

I recommend Pop!_OS or Zorin, both are fantastic.

Zorin had a massive controversy a while back. They were sending telemetry without the user’s consent. Avoid!

[KaiLikesProgramming]

1 hour ago, Twilight said:

Zorin had a massive controversy a while back. They were sending telemetry without the user’s consent. Avoid!

That was not news in my radar

[lloose]

Grab some USB thumbdrives and test drive some. You don't have to install them to boot up a live session and see which one you like. I personally use Pop OS and have been for about a year. Manjaro, Ubuntu, Solus, Elemtary OS, and Linux Mint are all popular distros and are generally very beginner friendly.

 

Be patient with Linux. You won't be able to do everything you could with Windows, but you can do almost all of it with a little bit of effort. Its a small price to pay for peace of mind knowing that you aren't taking part in what Microsoft is trying to change as acceptable practices with Windows. 

[Ashleyyyy]

7 hours ago, KaiLikesProgramming said:

That was not news in my radar

 

[GCandy77]

15 hours ago, lloose said:

Grab some USB thumb drives and test drive some.

I`ll stick my thoughts in as a lifetime user of MS until the end of W7 who just recently jumped & has stayed on PopOS.  The advice above imo is ure best best if your not to sure about jumping to Linux or what distro to go for. You can actually run the Os's Live from a thumbdrive & It will give you a very good taste of how the Os runs as long as you dont attempt any hardcore gaming or install large programs (you'll need the whole system working for that). 

 

The best analogy imo for Linux is that it runs very much like Android as in you can customize a hell of a lot and not just cosmetically either, because there are so many different types of distros out there for Linux, in some circumstances you can also install programs or apps that are not ment for that OS/environment. Its a very flexible system. 

 

Ive only used 3 versions of Linux - Knoppix, Mint & PopOS.  Knoppix is like "WTF" for us Linux noobs so I wouldn't recommend going there.  I didn't get on well with Mint, not because I had any major problems with it .. I just didn't like the "cinnamon" desktop that it used.  It wasn't bad and worked as it should have, but because it looked very similar to the Win7 desktop & I had problems locating programs I wanted to use & I didn't really try to "switch" my brain into learning Linux environment which only hindered me later.

 

Im now on PopOS & am Loving it - granted I dont have everything working how I would like but that seems to be a AMD issue rather than anything Linux, but Im happy with a 98% working system that Imo pis**ss over Win 10 totally & looks down upon the MS users of today.    It uses the Gnome desktop environment, which allowed my brain to shift into figuring out a new system & at 1st minor things were a bit of a pain, but there is a great Linux/ubuntu community out there always willing to help :)   (they must be nuts to constantly put up with out noob problems).  

 

PopOs also installs very easily & has a easy setup that takes approx 10/15 mins - Once ure in the Os, just head over to the Gnome-extentions website and things start to become a little clearer when u start to install apps like dash-to-dock.

 

If youre Gaming on Linux the main things you need to check are - Is your gpu compatible with the Proton/Vulkan Api's as if it is not you will not be able to use DXVK properly Or Lutris & will only be able to run games native via steam or by using a program(I hate to call it that) called WINE. 

 

If ure just using the OS for everyday kinda stuff, Linux should be a breeze for you if you install any well supported Distro - If you want to use for gaming I suggest PopOs or Manjaro ( disclaimer - I haven't used Manjaro but my friends advise its all good)

[Dutch_Master]

I'm a Linux-only user since 2005 and TBH, it's dead easy once you're used to it. (but the same goes for Win-OS, right? )

 

Linux-land has its own controversies, especially regarding systemd, but apart from that, it's usually an open community welcoming new users. Mind though that unlike Win-OS, people expect you to "do your homework" before asking help. But Google is your friend and so are the many support forums for various Linux flavours. Many a time, someone else had the same problem and documented the issue, and often with a solution, somewhere on the web. Adding "howto linux" to your search string would yield instant results quite often.

 

As for what distro to use, YMMV! Some have good experiences with main-stream distro's, others with specialised ones. Mint and Ubuntu are good starters, Distrowatch lists the most popular ones. ReactOS is one aimed at Win-OS "converts" allowing Win-applications to easily integrate into the Linux desktop. Personally, I'm running Devuan and Funtoo.

[AbsoluteFool]

Linux is not as hard as people think.. Most of the scare around linux is because people think of a black box with white text, that is used on servers.

 

Linux is more alike Mac than Windows, so if you feel that your knowledge with Mac is good then linux wont be a problem. it's basickly the same.

 

The only real difference that you will notice is that things are called something else, or in a diffirent location. Must more difference is not noticible unless you dig into the command line tools.

 

So linux for a complete noob i'd say give him a week and he should have his hands warm on atleast the GUI. 

 

[Donut417]

On 1/25/2020 at 7:59 PM, Kamikaze420 said:

How difficult would it be to use Linux on my first home PC after only using Windows  PCs  and a year or two with i-Macs in the late '90s?

Been using Linux maybe for 8+ months now. Honestly its fairly easy. The key is finding the right distro. I personally use Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, it works OK. Generally speaking when your running new hardware like me you want to make sure you download a verison with the latest kernel and such for better hardware support. Most things I found just work. BUT WiFi/Bluetooth can be tricky some times. Linux is not too hard to use. Yes sometimes you may have to use the CLI, but honestly its not that hard. 

 

A few things to consider. There are many games that work on Linux, you just have to be willing to look. Hell there are tons aviable on steam. That being said, most if not all are NOT AAA titles. With proton you can run even more games. If you have software that does not run in Linux, in some cases Wine can help. Chrome runs just as shitty if not even more shitty in Linux. But i mean, Chrome has been a pile of dog shit for some time. There are diffrent desktop environments out there. For example Ubuntu generally uses Gnome, SUSE at least when I used it last used KDE, and Linux Mint uses Cinnamon. There are a few more as well, many people have a prefrence.

[Kidplayer_666]

On 1/27/2020 at 6:05 PM, KaiLikesProgramming said:

I recommend Pop!_OS or Zorin, both are fantastic.

Agree. You probably won’t need to use much command prompt on these (plural of os) 

[KaiLikesProgramming]

2 hours ago, Kidplayer_666 said:

Agree. You probably won’t need to use much command prompt on these (plural of os) 

Operating Systems...

[Kidplayer_666]

First English is my second language, second, was referring to the plural of OS (the initials) OS’s

[Lady Fitzgerald]

OS's is not the plural of OS; it is the possessive of OS. While, technically, the plural of OS should be OSes, it has been misspelled as OSs often enough,it is also considered acceptable (geeks are often horrible spellers; for example, Google was a result of misspelling googol).

[KaiLikesProgramming]

On 1/25/2020 at 5:59 PM, Kamikaze420 said:

How difficult would it be to use Linux on my first home PC after only using Windows  PCs  and a year or two with i-Macs in the late '90s?

Really depends on one factor: Do you like a CLI interface for installation, or do you prefer graphical interfaces?

 

- CLI installers like on Arch or Gentoo aren't that bad or hard just much more involved
- GUI installers like on Ubuntu or Fedora are easier for most people to understand but you are not as involved [depending on how customized you want your system this can be good or bad]

- Mixed installers like on Slackware, Debian, and the Ubuntu Mini ISO are a lot like GUI installers but often you do not get your mouse, and depending on the system you will get sent head first into a terminal interface because they didn't include a GUI.

 

None of these are "hard" just they each have a different level of graphical-ness to them

[DavidKalinowski]

Mint is quite possibly the easiest linux distro I have come across. they have multiple user interfaces you can try, Cinnamon is much like windows, then they have XFCE, which is windows-ish and then Mate whichis old gnome style, whichis kinda windows-ish. I personaly like cinnamon. You can also with a little google fu, install any other gui from almost any other linux. want kde? you can, want gnome3 you can, whant open-box  you can!  this is true of more or less any linux distro.

 

Ubuntu/Mint = easy to install and most hardware is ready to go out of the box, nice package (programs) manager

 

CentOS/Fedora = not hard to install but can be a little intimidating / overwhelming if you have no experiance with partitions. Not as nice of a package manager for a new user, but it does have a powerful one once you understand it.

 

those are honestly the ones I would stick with, if you really really really want to learn the ins and outs of linux from the most technical and extreme then check this out http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ this will teach you how to build linux literally from scratch. (not for the feint of heart, I have not honestly been able to force my self past like chapter 2.)