Best Linux Distros For Newcomers

Datamation ^ | 11 January 2016 | Matt Hartley

[Pearls Before Swine]

I have to say, Fedora has gotten better.

One of the big gripe about Fedora was that you couldn’t keep up with the distributions easily, unless you were willing to uninstall the old and reinstall the new. The newer version of YUM, called DNF, promises to have a one-line distribution upgrade command.

And, I found Debian with XFCE very easy to get accustomed to last year.

[ThunderSleeps]

Agreed. There are any number of good distros out there, and a number of good window managers / desktop environments. Unity is not one of them.

I'm currently using Mint with KDE and like it. I agree with the OP that the "disable touchpad when mouse connected" feature is pretty neat. I set up my wife's laptop to dual boot and this one little feature is one of the main reasons she now does most of her stuff on the laptop in Linux. Without it, the laptop is just about unusable for typing anything in due to the size and placement of the touchpad.

[ShadowAce]

Yeah--I've upgraded Fedora a couple of times with the dnf command. It works as advertised.

I run xfce on Fedora. I really like the layout, and how it works. You don't really have to adjust your way of working to it--it can adjust to you.

[garryowenartillery]

Mint 17.3 w/Mate used here. No windows in my home, yet I can see for miles...

[MediaMole]

Grandma usually never installs anything, especially the OS, that’s for her grandchildren to do. ...but, with Mint and Ubuntu, installing new software and keeping it up to date is just like installing software on an iPhone, iPad or Android device.

There is the functional equivalent to an app store and you just click install or update.

[taxcontrol]

I also run RHEL on a work laptop. In fact, I am using it right now. Solid and easy to maintain .... if you know a little about system administration. Not for those new to linux though.

My bump for easiest distro for newbies is Mint.

[Old_And_Grumpy]

Mint with KDE or Mate. SuSE also does the best KDE distro going.

[Prospero]

btt

[hoosierham]

LinixMint used daily.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

LinixMint used daily.

Me too. It just works. My HP printer was recognized instantly and works well.

It's a joy for me...and my wife who is/was WindowsXP bound is staring to love it. So, we use both...Mint for internet and online...XP for everything else we've gotten used to over the years.

[Johnny B.]

I personally prefer Fedora/Mate. I like the looks of the UI more than the other distributions or Desktop Managers.

It works flawlessly with all of my hardware, and runs much faster than when I ran Windows 7 or 10 on the same laptop.

The main point I would make is that it's trivial to install "Live" images on a USB thumbdrive, and try out various distributions. That's the best way to try out Linux and decide if it's for you.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The one thing I love about Linux Mint (don't know about other distros) is that when I select 'Shut down' it shuts the PC down in under 4 seconds.

My WinXP box takes up to 5 minutes while it sits with a "Windows is shutting down" message. But then, I have a huge registry.

[r_barton]

Check out Distrowatch.com. They have links and reviews to hundreds of Linux distros. Also they rank the top 100 distros for popularity based on visitor views. Great Linux website.

[r_barton]

It all depends on the user. The average person would never install Windows either. It comes already installed and with a basic configuration.

If Linux were sold this way on a larger scale, already installed on pc’s with a basic configuration, it would be more popular.

If Windows only came as software that had to be installed, like most Linux distros, neither would be more popular than the other.

Linux is just as easy (or difficult) as Windows to install. Look at all the problems people are having going from Win 7 to Win 10.

It’s all in the delivery to the end user. Delivery as software only is more difficult than delivery as already installed and working on hardware.

[TomGuy]

But we have to use Windows to get anything done.

Half-a-decade ago, I tried out several of the distros. They did the basic, but they were confusing and had few actual instruction/help or tutorials.

The number of versions or distros still make various Linux OS's difficult to use. If the makers really want to 'sell' Linux distros, they should come up with a 'comparability' list:

In Windows, to do XYZ, use these programs. In Linux, to do XYZ, use these programs.

I don't want to spend a lot of time learning a new OS to do things I can do immediately in Windows. However, I have played with Win10 a few times and found it AWFUL. Thus, I am more open to something different when Win7 goes the way of XP.

I have been using Android on a tablet and smartphone and have a similar opinion of it. It is okay for quick-and-dirty, but certainly not for doing real productivity computing.

[Mr. K]

Whats so awful about windows 10?

I am not sure i like what comes with it, but it worked nice on the new computer i just got

[TomGuy]

Win10's problem is the User Interface. I am an old classic theme person. I like to see buttons and scrollbars and window frames. Those are almost invisible on Win10. Per some early Win10 commentaries, MS removed the classic theme in some early beta versions and never put it back.

When I was experimenting with it, the frames bled together and were indistinguishable. Scollbars didn't show up until I moved the cursor almost on them, and when they did show up, they were too narrow to be useful.

[rdb3]

Slackware. The only linux I’ve used since 1995. Still an awesome distribution today.

Yes indeed.

I know this is for GNUbees, but still. . .

Jesus Christ: You can't impeach Him and He ain't gonna resign.

[Varmint Al]

I have a dozen friends using Linux Mint KDE 64 Bit. They are very happy with it. The updates are easy and the system is solid. All were ex-Windows users and it was easy for them to convert over to Linux.

It was easy for them because I installed the OS for them. It is an easy install and much easier than any Windows install I have done. Only a personal password is required and NO authentication is required.

The beauty of Linux Mint is that I can instal the complete OS with all the important applications on one hard drive and then duplicate that hard drive for other computers. All of the necessary drivers are built in. Linux Mint finds the wireless hardware almost automatically and is a snap to setup. (Try that with Windows and the included wireless setup CD)

Also going from Linux Mint KDE 17 to 17.3 is as easy as one click of the Update Manager. The Update Manager automatically checks for updates and does NOT bug you with Pop Ups. The manager icon merely puts a blue dot in its icon's center when an update is avaliable.

I am sure happy I cut the ties with Microsoft a year and a half ago.

Here is a link if you are interested in trying Linux Mint 17.3 "Rosa" KDE version.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Fedora at home, Ubuntu with Gnome Shell at work (since Fedora isn’t an option there). That gives me the UI I’m used to and I’m with those that don’t like Unity.

Can’t get used to apt-get/apt-cache though - and below that layer prefer rpm to dpkg - but I guess I can muddle through all of that.