I want to try linux out on my laptop, where do i start?

[alexbianchi15]

So I, like many of you, like tech and i hear so many good things about Linux ie. Luke talking about it on the wan show. So with windows 10 being the mess tat it is i finally want to test out linux, not on my main gaming pc, but on my dell xps 13 so that i can test it out and potentially figure out a solution to do it on my main PC.

So where do i start as far as installing Linux and Ubuntu? Than once i get Ubuntu how do i get chrome and change the skin?

What about drivers?

So many questions!!!

Anyone that has any experience with Ubuntu would be a great help thanks.

[vanished]

You can download an image from the website and write it to a USB drive that you can then boot and use just as you normally would without modifying your system.  If you like what you see, you can shrink an existing partition to make room and install it.  Then, next time you boot, and every time then after, it will ask if you want to boot Windows or Linux when you turn on your computer.  Keep using it, and if you still like it, we can go from there.  Changing themes in chrome is an issue for later down the road (and also is very easy)

[dcgreen2k]

If you want to try out Linux, just download a distro you like (They're all free), burn it to an optical disc, then put it into your computer. There, you can either install it or run a live version. If you choose live, you can boot into linux off the optical disc, no hard drive required. If you want to install it, you can make a new, unallocated partition and install Linux onto that and dual boot Windows alongside it.

[alexbianchi15]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

You can download an image from the website and write it to a USB drive that you can then boot and use just as you normally would without modifying your system.  If you like what you see, you can shrink an existing partition to make room and install it.  Then, next time you boot, and every time then after, it will ask if you want to boot Windows or Linux when you turn on your computer.  Keep using it, and if you still like it, we can go from there.  Changing themes in chrome is an issue for later down the road (and also is very easy)

Thanks, i meant change the skin on linux not chrome btw, like the icon sets.

[Aelita Sophie]

4 minutes ago, alexbianchi15 said:

So I, like many of you, like tech and i hear so many good things about Linux ie. Luke talking about it on the wan show. So with windows 10 being the mess tat it is i finally want to test out linux, not on my main gaming pc, but on my dell xps 13 so that i can test it out and potentially figure out a solution to do it on my main PC.

So where do i start as far as installing Linux and Ubuntu? Than once i get Ubuntu how do i get chrome and change the skin?

What about drivers?

So many questions!!!

Anyone that has any experience with Ubuntu would be a great help thanks.

Drivers in general are decent managed on most linux distributions. They mostly have a "generic" driver that works fine for most hardware. Though GPU drivers you sometimes need to download. Though it isn't to hard to google it.

 

I would suggest to start with Ubuntu. It has a nice smooth interface and gives a premium feel. Its fairly early adopting new software and has a huge community behind it. If you wan't something more stable then I would recommend Debian. (Ubuntu is a fork of Debian, meaning Ubuntu's base is Debian)

[alexbianchi15]

1 minute ago, thegreengamers said:

If you want to try out Linux, just download a distro you like (They're all free), burn it to an optical disc, then put it into your computer. There, you can either install it or run a live version. If you choose live, you can boot into linux off the optical disc, no hard drive required. If you want to install it, you can make a new, unallocated partition and install Linux onto that and dual boot Windows alongside it.

Yea i don't think i even own an optical disk let alone a burner

[dcgreen2k]

2 minutes ago, alexbianchi15 said:

Yea i don't think i even own an optical disk let alone a burner

You can still use a USB flash drive - 4GB should be enough for any Linux distro.

[alexbianchi15]

Just now, thegreengamers said:

You can still use a USB flash drive

Ya lol thats what i figured

[Ithanul]

55 minutes ago, Aelita Sophie said:

I would suggest to start with Ubuntu. It has a nice smooth interface and gives a premium feel. Its fairly early adopting new software and has a huge community behind it. If you wan't something more stable then I would recommend Debian. (Ubuntu is a fork of Debian, meaning Ubuntu's base is Debian)

I actually advise Mint for users testing the waters with Linux.  That distro I notice will actually find GPU drivers (at least the Nvidia ones) and CPU chipset drivers.  Also gives a nice update window when updates are available along with importance of the update and what the updates are for.  My only experience with distros so far is Ubuntu, Mint Mate, and Fedora.  Fedora was not bad either, but that is a different branch from Ubuntu and Mint which are on the Debian branch.

[chilicheeseburger]

This tool will help you creating a bootable USB stick:

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

Download the tool and choose the Linux distro you want, it will give you a download link.

 

I can recommend Ubuntu and Linux Mint but there are loads of others that are good.