Recommended Linux Distribution.

[JavaChurro]

I am a windows user currently (windows 7) and I have decided to lapse into linux and I was wondering what the most recommended distribution for a windows user that wants to switch to linux with having never used it before. 

[Bloodyvalley]

Mint.

[007agentHP]

ubuntu 14.04

[Enderman]

linux mint

[Tagiau]

A lot of people switching to linux recently. yay. Um mint. 

[Geekazoid]

A lot of people switching to linux recently. yay. Um mint.

I will N E V E R !

[flibberdipper]

Linux Mint or regular old Ubuntu.

[Jade]

Mint.

 

linux mint

 

A lot of people switching to linux recently. yay. Um mint. 

I said it in the last thread about this. When a distro doesn't have a safe method of upgrading, and when things go wrong during that process, the typical advice is just "reinstall", it shouldn't be recommended to new users. (Hi, yes, ex Mint user here.)

 

OP: If you're brand new to Linux, use Ubuntu or ElementaryOS.

[FuzzyYellow]

I would go the ubuntu route because of the larger user base which means more software, better support, more people to give you advice, etc.

If you don't want ubuntu, then go with linux mint.

[Enderman]

I said it in the last thread about this. When a distro doesn't have a safe method of upgrading, and when things go wrong during that process, the typical advice is just "reinstall", it shouldn't be recommended to new users. (Hi, yes, ex Mint user here.)

 

OP: If you're brand new to Linux, use Ubuntu or ElementaryOS.

why would you need to upgrade an os...

ive never upgraded windows and its just fine

[Jade]

why would you need to upgrade an os...

ive never upgraded windows and its just fine

Linux Mint is not Windows. Nor is Ubuntu. Upgrade and update are synonymous in this scenario and there are major version updates. If it were as simple as not needing it, they'd simply drop the version and version names.

[WinNut]

I'd go for Ubuntu. I went from 7 to Ubuntu over the summer, and the transition was pretty smooth. 10/10 would do again

[Geekazoid]

-snip-

Hey there mate! B)

[Noxxx]

if you want to use linux for sofware development, use Ubuntu

if you want to use linux like Windows, just stick with Windows. 

[KemoKa]

Ubuntu is okay, but it's become too much like OSX in that it's flashy, patronizing and vain. It's a Linux distro masquerading as an easy-to-use operating system, which it is to a point, but once you want to do complicated stuff, any casual user will hit a wall.

I personally am planning on building Slackware and installing it on one of my hard drives and learning Linux with that. Mint is good and lightweight, but I am kind of turned off by the abhorrent battery life you get on a laptop, because I want to use Linux, I really want to use Linux, but I want to use it on the go and it's only getting 1-2 hours on my laptop where Windows will get 7-8 hours. As soon as Linux can completely surpass Windows in battery life (realistically there is no reason why it can't) I will install it on my laptop that same day.

People are getting into Linux these days, and that's definitely a good thing, but it still isn't set to wipe out Windows yet. Don't get me wrong, it's almost there. As soon as they can get the battery life sorted out and Windows programs seamlessly supported on it, Windows will essentially die overnight. They will lose most of the PC enthusiast community very quickly. It's just a matter of time, but the Windows ship isn't on fire yet. We're just pouring gasoline at this point, and then someone needs to find a box of matches.

[deVIZtation]

I tried Mint the other day. Only played around with it for a bit though, seems easy enough to use. I'm actually planning on using Mint for my next build. Tired of paying 100 bucks for an OS.

[Oktyabr]

Mint is good, Ubuntu is good, (prefer Debian Testing/Unstable but that's definitely NOT for beginners!) but in the process of selling a couple of old computers I had laying around I went searching for a "lite" linux distro that would play nicely with slower, older hardware.  That's when I stumbled on LXLE:  http://lxle.net/

Based on Lubuntu (and yes, compatible with all the stable ubuntu repositories), LXLE offers a few different desktop modes including the excellent "XP" mode.  This was so easy to use and it came with so much of the right stuff, right "out of the box", that the guy that came to buy one computer from me ended up taking both of them home.  He had never used any linux before.

For gamers it comes with Steam for linux as well as a bunch of native linux open source games and PlayOnLinux is easily installable too.  Within a couple of hours I had Dota2 and a couple of other games up and League of Legends (via PlayOnLinux) up and running, per the customer's request.  He's so pleased with them his original plans to buy Win7/8 for these machines has been postponed... indefinitely

Very nice, fairly complete and highly polished ubuntu spinoff, and nice on older hardware too.  Might have to throw it on an empty partition of my main gaming rig just to mess around some.

(Installed on a Core 2 Duo desktop with 2GB of RAM and a 1.6 Celeron laptop with 1.5GB)

[Lord Gaben]

What do you want in a Linux Distro.

 

Eg- Bleeding Edge, Stability

[LudoTheGreat]

Go with Mint. It'll give you the most Linux like feel out of all the easy to use distros out there. Ubuntu is a nice distro and well documented, but Unity sucks. You don't want to go into linux trying to figure out how to install gnome or KDE. Go with mint. get used to linux for a bit. Then if you feel brave start venturing out into other distros that might be a little better but require additional work and configuration to get it to a usable state.

[DerBernd]

I use Lubuntu on my Laptop (2010, 330€, so not much) and on my work computer Kubuntu. LXDE as a Desktop environment (on Lubuntu) works okay and is lightweight and has some config tools with a GUI. I like the KDE surface of Kubuntu, nice and shiny.

I did not like the Graphical Interface of the Mint I tried and did not use that very much (dual boot system) so I changed back to Ubuntu. Don't need any rational reason

 

Ubuntu works okay for a beginner. Try it and mess around with it. You'll probably change distribution after a while, just get your feet wet first you are unlikely to find the "perfect distro" with your first try.

 

If you choose ubuntu get the LTS version (Long Term Support, gets updates until 2017 or something). The other versions update yearly. But then again: I'm a sucker for stability, I do not want to have to deal with update realted issues every year since an old version of linux suits my need just fine.

[JavaChurro]

Thank you all for the feedback, I think I will choose either mint or Ubuntu I will try both out and whichever one I enjoy more I will switch to! 

[Opcode]

I personally run Ubuntu as I find it to be far easier to setup out of the box. Mint is also viable as it strongly resembles the Windows feel (taskbar, start menu, etc).

[CrzyBvr68]

Ubuntu mate or Mint

[Satlen]

Mint, Ubuntu, or ElementaryOS

[Tarzan]

Zorin 9 OS. http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zorin