Looking for a Linux distro similar to Windows 7

Self | 12/11/2019 | Self

[Openurmind]

Good deal! I think you will like it, it has GUI support default for just about everything linux, old stuff, new stuff, flatpacks etc.

[Pollard]

https://techlog360.com/alternative-linux-distributions-for-windows-macos/

1. Zorin OS (not very customizable)
2. ChaletOS (never heard of it)
3. Robolinux (never heard of it - sounds interesting but maybe difficult)
4. Elementary OS (one of the nicest looking OSes - not very customizable)
5. Kubuntu (runs the Plasma destkop which I use but it can be buggy - I lost the ability to control my sound for about a month - then one update fixed it)
6. Linux Mint (second in popularity with #1 being Ubuntu - Mint is very stable)
7. ReactOS (never heard of it)
8. Linux Lite (too lite imho - good for older PC)
9. Pinguy OS (never heard of it)
10. Q4OS (very classic windows look - I've never tried it)

Xubuntu and Lubuntu are fairly lightweight but not so much as to limit you and should run fine on your machine. Straight Ubuntu now runs Gnome desktop which isn't very customizable. A few from above are very windows looking but all pretty much work the same. Click a button and the menu pops up with all your programs. They all have a file manager of some sorts which work like Windows Explorer. Many versions of ubuntu/linux can be written to a USB thumb drive and run Live from the USB and you can also install it from that usb drive. The Live USB feature allows you to test drve the OS before installing. There's a couple of windows programs that will write the Live USB. PenDriveLinux is one, UNetbootin is another.

There's a few of them - below are all Ubuntu based

Below is all linux family

[Nailbiter]

flr

[Paal Gulli]

Similar ... how? If you want a Linux that occasionally has a Blue Screen of Death, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.

If you’ve used UNIX (and weren’t command-line-only), you’re probably familiar with the Common Desktop Environment (CDE). The two biggest Linux desktops are (or were) KDE and Gnome. The KDE desktop (originally said to stand for ‘Kool Desktop Environment,’ later reduced to simple ‘K Desktop Environment’) probably will be more familiar out of the box because it’s a spin-off of CDE.

The distros noted to be most similar in menu structure to Windoze are ChaletOS, Zorin OS and Kubuntu. If you’re familiar with the Linux naming convention, you’ll recognize that Kubuntu is an Ubuntu fork that uses the KDE desktop rather than Ubuntu’s usual Gnome-based desktop. Ubuntu used to ship with a home-grown desktop called ‘Unity’ but now they’ve gone to Gnome.

Elementary OS is noted for being Mac-like but it probably still should have a shorter ramp-up time for an experienced Windoze user than most than other distros.

I save Linux Mint for last because I’m a long-time Mint user so some confirmation bias is bound to creep into anything I say. Like most distros, Mint has a few desktop options but the original (and default) is Gnome-based Cinnamon. I was drawn to Cinnamon because the latter versions of Gnome (my personal favorite) had grown bloated and unweildy and Cinnamon was a retrograde movement toward the simpler earlier versions. I’ve also read online tech gurus opining that Cinnamon was similar to Win7 in the structure of its menu system. I do think the Cinnamon desktop is reasonably intuitive and long have held that it would be easier to learn than any Windows desktop you care to name provided you didn’t come from a Windows background. But because there is some degree of commonality between all Windows desktops (with the possible exception of Win8/8.1’s idiotic Metro), Win10 probably would be more familiar to a Win7 user than Mint’s Cinnamon.

For several years now Ubuntu and Linux Mint have been neck-and-neck for most widely-used distro. Also, Mint is a fork of Ubuntu and Ubuntu is a fork of Debian, one of the oldest and most robust of distos (but Ubuntu and Mint are noted for being the more “user-friendly” of the three). Which is worth noting because the more users a particular distro has, the larger the support group that will be available to you online (in the form of the distro-specific forums), plus more exhaustive beta-testing (many hands make light work) and generally also will mean more peripheral applications will be available. So the advantages in using whatever distro is in most widespread use at the time are manifest. Debian, Ubuntu and Mint all use Debian’s “*.deb” installation packages and apps written specifically for Ubuntu almost without exception also will install flawlessly and without drama on Mint. So there’s quite a lot to recommend either Ubuntu or Mint (or for that matter Kubuntu).

[MarineBrat]

It’s the Lite Version of Zorin that I have the most experience with. Whenever I have a friend or family member with an old machine that seems too sluggish to run windows, I like to put Zorin lite on it. My dad had an ancient windows netbook that came with windows XP, and Zorin allowed him to get an extra five years out of that machine. :-)

[The Duke]

I do think I paid $5 to download it, now that you mention it. Sorry I forgot that detail. The only thing about it that cause me any difficulty was that, strangely, there’s no control in the corner of windows to minimize the window. One has to click on the icon in the task bar at the bottom.

But, it is nice and stable, and very Mac-like.

[usconservative]

I don’t mind paying a few bucks to download it, I was just surprised it was a pay first model is all.

Question: do they keep the OS updated and do they continually add features?

Thanks!

[Windflier]

Over here...