Linux Help

Best for Windows users who want something to “just work”

• Linux Mint – best option for non-technical users
• ZorinOS – a little flashier and less tested, but apparently a very pain-free experience

Best for users who want more control and are down for tinkering

• Fedora Linux – what I use daily, has lots of support
• Ubuntu – made by a corpo who has opinions. Like the Apple of Linux (derogatory), but also widely supported
• CachyOS – most optimized for NVidia GPUs

Best for a console-like experience only for playing games

• Bazzite – extremely stable experience designed to look and feel like a video game console, works great for a living room/couch experience
• Nobara – similar to Bazzite, with a limited, simplified experience, but a little bit more tailored for occasional desktop use

Desktop Environments are the actual look and feel of your computer. The Distro will control the behind-the-scenes stuff, but most Distros use one of two DEs:

• KDE – more “Windows”-y, lightweight, a “traditional” desktop
• GNOME – more “Mac”-y, flashier, nice for laptops/trackpad

There are actually lots more DEs, but unless the distro you choose uses another one, then you’ll probably end up picking up one of these. For example, Fedora lets you choose GNOME or KDE, but Mint comes with Cinnamon, it’s own dedicated DE.

Basically, if you are using a laptop or want something that feels fresh, then try GNOME, otherwise, KDE will feel familiar. If you choose a Distro whose main DE isn’t one of these two (Like Mint/Cinnamon), then just use the default one, as it’s probably why you chose that distro in the first place.