[SOLVED] Linux OS for a new user

[Praneeta]

Hello users,

This question may be offtopic here, but i need your kind suggestions. I am now going to reinstall an operating system in my computer.
I had Windows 10 earlier. Now I am thinking to use Linux. I have not used it before so I have a few doubts.

Will it be difficult to use and understand Linux?
Will Linux be faster than Winodows 10?

Thanks

 

[Colif]

I think putting this in linux area will get just as many answers and from people who know about the subject

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Lubuntu is my pick. It even looks like XP. Very easy to learn, use and install and configure

 

[Alabalcho]

Talking about "Faster" - do you plan to game? If so - carefully check whether your games have Linux versions.

And before trashing your Windows installation - make sure you have backed up your important data. If you can afford another drive for Linux, even better.

 

[USAFRet]

What do you use your system for?

 

[USAFRet]

A way to get your feet wet with Linux is a Live CD or USB.
Boot from and run directly from the USB, without affecting your current Windows install.

 

[wpgwpg]

I like Linux Mint. It has a user interface similar to the one in Windows, so you don't have to know much at all about Linux. I put on a USB flash drive, and it will boot in under a minute.

 

[Dave8671]

I use ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Here is a video how to use the interface. Though once you install it it does have a help guide.

Ubuntu interface

 

[mangaman]

It all depends on what you do. There are many different distros out there, but for new Linux users, I highly recommend Linux Mint. Mint has a very similar look to Windows, so someone migrating over to Linux won't be bombarded with confusion. I've used it for a while, and never had any major issues.

As for speed, it all depends. Sometimes Windows is better than Linux, while sometimes Linux is better than Windows. It all depends on what you do. This is why I always use both.

 

[dmroeder]

I'm a fan of dipping your toes in using virtual machines. You can easily try them out, if you don't like it, delete the VM and create another. I use VirtualBox personally. Being "easy" is up to the user. My goto is Kubuntu (used to be Mint KDE until Mint dropped KDE). We use it in our house, my folks use it, my kids use it. In reality, nobody really notices anymore. Occasionally my parents will call me with questions, not any more than the did with Windows.

There will be a learning curve, especially around understanding how programs are installed, what equivalent programs are available for Linux, etc. You can figure it all out in a VM, the only sacrifice is disk space.

 

[Dave8671]

Depending on your specs of your computer what Linux distro to use will be on how much ram you system has. unlike windows Ubuntu has many GUI <-- meaning "graphical user interface" Linux Mint uses Cinnamon or Mate GUI which look like windows GUI. I think you can start here by reading the links below. its not hard to learn its a different way than windows operates. If you have at least 4GB or mare ram than you need not worry about ram.



Link GUI info

How software is installed

Installing software

 

[DumbMahreeo]

Everything depends from the Distribution. There are lightweight distros, there are gaming distros, cyber security distros etc... I would suggest Zorin OS to a new comer (the free version). Since It's ubuntu based but it got a windows-like interface by default. Mint got a similar interface, but in this period I would not suggest mint. If you feel like, wanting to try something totally different from windows tho, you could try Ubuntu or Fedora. About the usability, ubuntu is more Noob Friendly than Fedora, but you can easily learn how to use the terminal and the system in general, it may sound hard that you have to "write things" to install a program, but It's not, in fact It's easier than windows. You don't need to go on strange websites to download software, you can just open a terminal and type a command (for example, on Ubuntu is
apt install software-name). when you got more expert, you could even move from Ubuntu to Debian (Ubuntu is based on Debian). Linux welcomes everyone that is willing to learn.

 

[michael diemer]

I think Zorin 15 may be the most Windows-like at this point. The start menu is a thing of beauty, very easy to navigate. While I often suggest Mint as a first go at Linux, I've seen some things that suggest it may not be as problem-free as in the past.

I agree with the poster who said it's a good idea to try several out, using a live DVD or USB drive. that way you can get a feel for the layout, as well as how it works on your system Keep in mind a live version will be a bit slower, DVD especially so, USB is much better. You can then install it right from the live version.

You will need to do a lot of research on how to install it. You can ask for help as needed here, I'm sure you will get what you need. Also study the installation instructions from the home page of the Linux distro you are installing, as well as any tutorials on their forums.

Good luck!

 

[cryoburner]

Simple answers to your questions:

Will it be difficult to use and understand Linux?

Probably.

Will Linux be faster than Winodows 10?

Probably not.

Linux can behave a lot like Windows, though some things are less user-friendly or simply behave quite differently. Also, you are more likely to run into compatibility issues with hardware and software, and some software won't run properly on Linux, even when using workarounds to enable support for programs that were not intended to run on the operating system.

As for performance, if you are running it on old hardware, then some distros have lighter system requirements than Windows 10. If you have relatively modern hardware though, don't expect software and games to run better. If anything, they will be more likely to run worse if you are using a compatibility layer to get certain Windows-only software to function.

It could be worth experimenting with, but you might want to test out a version running from a CD or in a virtual machine before committing to replacing Windows with it.

 

[ryzengamer]

Debian testing/Sid Xfce is the best, because you can make your own distribution with Debian simple-cdd easily. Debian Xfce is the most stable, easiest, fastest and lightest to use:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/5l39tz/linux_distros_ram_consumption_comparison_updated/


Begin with:

Debian -- Debian-Installer

www.debian.org

https://wiki.debian.org/Steam

https://wiki.debian.org/Simple-CDD/Howto

 

[orindaz]

Hello users,

This question may be offtopic here, but i need your kind suggestions. I am now going to reinstall an operating system in my computer.
I had Windows 10 earlier. Now I am thinking to use Linux. I have not used it before so I have a few doubts.

Will it be difficult to use and understand Linux?
Will Linux be faster than Winodows 10?

Thanks

Linux is not easy to use or learn, but neither is it anywhere as difficult as many M$ fanboys would like you to believe. Linux is different, which means you have to learn it the same way you learned Windows. Not all distros are equal when it comes to ease of use, or being intuitive to figure out, so you can save yourself a lot of grief and frustration by focusing on those that are easier to learn, since you are probably going to have to teach yourself.

I have tried out about twenty distros over the past couple years. As a XP Pro user, I found most to be too difficult to mess with. Those I'd recommend as worthwhile for a Windows expat are MX Linux, Linux Mint, AntiX and TAILS. These are the only ones I found that connect to the internet automatically (my first testing requirement), have good to excellent instructionals, are fairly easy to figure out, have decent forum support, etc.

You will find informative reviews of these on Youtube, which should go a ways towards giving you a feel of what each is like. I'd recommend test-driving each distro in LiveCD mode, where you can practice with it til you can choose one that best suits you, then install the 'pick of the litter'! If you don't have the patience for that, then just go with MX Linux.

 

[mdd1963]

I just put Mint 19.1 or 19.2 on an old i3-2120 w/ 6 GB of RAM last night just to tinker. (Once was a full install to a 32 GB USB flash drive just to test the experience, the other to a small used drive)

I find Mint in it's recent iterations of the the last 4-5 years actually much easier to use than Windows 7 or Win10...(once Chrome is installed, shortcuts are set on desktop and task bar panel, it's almost pure simplicity incarnate; I put shortcuts to Software Manager and Update Mngr on desktop as well. Mint's terminal shortcut is almost not needed at all....

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I love Lubuntu