Which distro has the best support base? When I was on ubuntu, a couple of problems reared their head but the community was pretty good about addressing it.
Also, I no longer use computers with DVD/CD drives, so the install would need to be across a USB stick.
My Win7 desktop died a couple of months ago, so I replaced it with a Win10 — which apparently doesn’t support the Win11 requirements.
I also have been using Linux Mint 20.2 some.
During the transition, I ran across LinuxFX which basically has Win10 appearance and WindowsFX which basically has Win11 appearance. They use the .wine emulation for Windows programs, so they are not fully Windows capable. However, for home users and novices, they narrow the gap between the Linux environment and the Windows environment.
Windows11 seems to have significantly more cosmetic utilities. One can even get back actual buttons, etc., by doing a lot of tweaking.
How do I manipulate Linux to make the screen fit my monitors screen? On Windows, I RT click on a blank portion. On Linux??? How to conform it?
The major tax software is not supported in Linux.
Where is Mint? Mint is taking the market. That is why you do not see it in the list. These are all small fry compared to Mint. Mint is Debian/Ubuntu with Gnome also.
Ubuntu is popular because of the two click software repository and Mint uses the same Ubuntu software repository. But it kicks on Ubuntu for many other features Ubuntu does not have.
After trying ALL these I went back to Mint... No need to shop anymore... Even my young Grandkids got on Mint and right away flew with it like Linux pros. :)
Thanks. I have tried most every Linux desktop you mentioned and more, and one sees lots of daily Internet and streaming use daily by a brother in the house, but as I have side, they all lack the ease of customization I find with Windows, and I would need to take a lot time learning how to do so with Linux. Then there is the unresolved but less needful multitude codec issue.
However, I am considering unplugging all my drives and installing a distro on a dedicated SSD (I do not want to dual boot), then plugging them all back in and use the F11 key (on my system) during POST to choose to boot Linux from that, and see if I can migrate my multiple portable browsers (each has a particular general purpose) or at least my profiles. As well as migrate certain Libreoffice configuration files. And go about customizing, including if I can finally remap CapsLock to ctrl+c that we have tried to do.
What are your thoughts about "Trusted Computing" (read) and Windows 11 and potential for abuse? And "Is Windows 11 DOA Or The End Of Computing As We Know It? What is TPM"? If the TPM becomes mandatory for Windows users that would boost Linux, although if it becomes mandatory for financial transactions (which I think it eventually will be) then that is another thing. As is if it will be eventually used to censor politically incorrect content, which I think is the trajectory. And no, i am not given to conspiratorial porn, but thinking soberly if not very well informed.
My work laptop is (unfortunately) Windows 10 and I have a Win10 VM that I fire up when I need to do my taxes, use MS Office specifically for something, or use one of my Ham Radio apps that doesn't have a Linux equivalent. I have a backup copy of my Windows VM in case it gets corrupted so I can copy it back quickly if needed. Best DR option right there.
There are on the order of 600 flavors of Linux, some 400 of which are actively maintained.
I doubt Torvalds himself knows the names of all of them.