Question about Linux

[PoliczkiProLinga]

I know, I will get tons of versions to check

 

But I have an Laptop with Celeron J4105 4/4 2.6Ghz, 8Gb DDR4 and 256gb m2.

 

it running windows 11 24h2, it’s not the best but surprisingly quite responsive with browsing Microsoft Edge. 
 

But I’d like to squeeze the most juice I can from it, and battery, so..

 

What’s the best Linux, easy to install, with windows like UI but not too junky, with preinstalled most useful apps, like browses etc. To just Install and play

[Guest]

Most people recommend Linux Mint for beginners, I've used it and it's fine for basic web usage. Probably way faster than Windows on that machine, especially Windows 11.

[Needfuldoer]

Linux isn't magic. It can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and it won't make Firefox or Chrome a ton faster.

 

Try one of the official Ubuntu variations with a non-demanding desktop environment, like MATE or XFCE. Get the current LTS release so you'll get more than 6 months' worth of security patches and package updates. They're all the same bundle of system services under the hood, and they all run the same packages, so you'll be able to install Chrome (or Chromium), Firefox, VLC, and LibreOffice (same as on Windows).

[RollyShed]

As said above, Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. Cinnamon as it has easy, logical options for setting up everything you might want.

 

It used to be said MATE or XFCE were lighter but you won't notice any difference there.

 

It comes with Firefox and LibreOffice by default.

I also add VLC for videos and Audacious (for sound) and make them the default apps used for these.

Also I install, Audacity, gThumb for picture editing, Chromium as an added web browser.

In the fonts section of the Software Manager is FONT-Ttf-mscorefonts to get a range of Windows fonts. NOTE - halfway through its installation it stops and you MUST tick the wee box in about the middle of it.

WINE might be handy if Windows things want to be run.

 

Aisleriot has a good game of Freecell, just to take your mind off what you should be doing.

 

You can, during installation, tick the box under the password boxes to not need a password each time you boot it up. That is your preference.

 

I always put the password in a file in Documents so I can do a copy & paste each time I do updates or app installation. Again it depends on where you live and how you are going to use your computer.

[BootlessBuck]

The desktop environment / window manager is going to be the biggest variable for you. I bought a cheap micro PC off Amazon a while back. It came with Windows 11, and I immediately threw Linux on there (but kept Windows just incase). Windows 11 ran as good, or better, than the more modern user friendly distros with the popular window managers (Gnome or KDE). I had to switch to lighter weight ons (like some mentioned in this thread). Note that you don't need to distro hop to test out a bunch of window managers and desktop environments to see which one runs the best. Just know that as lean out the UI, your windows-like experience starts to drop off and it starts to feel junky... or to be more kind, old.