So ive use windows pretty much for everything and ive kinda had a enough of windows. i was thinking of trying linux on an old laptop that i just upgraded to 8gb of ram and im not sure wha tos to put on it. i was thinking something lightweight maybe ubuntu mate? i need somethign like windows that will allow me to game and do other things liek gaming maybe even streaming or reading? idk. also what are some neede dsoftware, browser so rthigs needed for linux. i com efrom a family who has never trie dlinux and hates it because its “the smar advanced coders os” somethign liek that.

anyways im a noob so go easy on me please als i may have ben linux distro hopping but i still feel lost.

  • @barfplanetEnglish
    3•1 year ago

    A few folks have said something similar but…

    Linux is very modular. Distros are mostly unique in the way they combine software that other people wrote, and usually there’s just a bit of code or theming that the distro adds. Usually you can take a distro and swap some pieces out for others if you want because it’s so modular.

    When you ask for something like windows, I assume you’re asking for an interface like windows. The interface comes from the Desktop Environment(DE). You probably want either KDE or Cinnamon. I’d pick KDE out of those two, but you should try then each out.

    You can put one of these DEs on top of any distro. The bigger distros generally come with a prebuilt version of all of the major DEs, but you can install a different DE even on distros that don’t. Personally, I’d always go with a prebuilt one, because switching DEs can get messy for reasons I won’t get into.

    As far as distros, there aren’t really any that are like Windows, because they’re all Linux and it’s just different. Most distros have reached the ‘it just works’ point, although you might still hit challenges with wifi or sound or something. Worst case is it takes some googling.

    I’d recommend going with something either Fedora or Ubuntu based. I prefer Fedora, but other folks live Ubuntu. Both are great. If you do get drawn in by the Arch side of things, I’d recommend Endeavor OS.

    Enjoy