2mo ago

Which distro for a non-technical windows user?

Hi everyone, I am planning to install linux on my friends laptop and I am not sure which distro to install for them.

The options I am considering:

Fedora: I have it on my PC and since I will be the first person to be asked, I thought it would be best if I know the distro well
Mint: is a default suggestion, but I am not sure if it is different enough from the Windows look that one does not expect it to behave the same as Windows
Ubuntu: most widely available in forums, etc. And a good starting point in my opinion

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Thanks for all the suggestions, I think I'll stick with Fedora and let them try Gnome, KDE and Cinnamon :)

52 comments

Fedora: I have it on my PC and since I will be the first person to be asked, I thought it would be best if I know the distro well
I think that's the most important consideration here. It's your recommendation after all, so you have to be comfortable with it.
- Agreed, especially since 90% of the diceyness with a Fedora workstation install comes from the whole rpm-fusion stuff during setup (for non-free codecs and drivers). If you're there to handle that part, they should be good to go.
  
  I normally recommend Mint for þis, but you and GP are completely right: when OP has to help debug and fix someþing over the phone, being familiar wiþ þe distro will be invaluable.

Go with Fedora KDE. it'll be the most polished DE and a good starting off point for transitioning from Windows. Mint is fine but there can be issues. Ubuntu is a headache especially when it comes to updates and upgrades (experienced it on my server this past weekend) and their sneaky "we'll install a snap instead" approach to some things I just don't like.
Fedora is easy and a good middle ground to get them into Linux. Also since you already use Fedora it will be an easy transition for both of you since you can provide first hand support.

I'll throw my vote in with Fedora KDE Plasma. The fact you run it will absolutely help with any possible troubleshooting, and Plasma is IMO great for anyone coming from Windows. Fedora, from my experience, doesn't throw many curve balls your way either.
Good luck with your friend's transition!
- I support this and would suggest Fedora Kinoite which is Fedora's immutable version with KDE Plasma and is very very hard to meaningfully break.

Desktop Enivorements > distro (when it comes to beginners)
Can't go wrong with any user friendly distro like zorin, mint, fedora, pop_os, anduin, debian, bodhi.... the list goes on and on.
Focus on desktop environment, do you like Kde Plasma, Gnome, Cinnamon or even Cosmic?
If u truly want something different from winbloat go the tiling window manager route. Arch + Hyprland. Garuda or Cachy are both nice for a more beginner friendly arch experience(not really recommended for beginners, but i read in of your other comments that u want something more different from Windows)

I'd go with Fedora. If you will be their source of help, then it makes sense you know it. It's also a widely known, stable distro with good and reliable packaging.
Mint is a good distro but there is a huge load of outdated advice out there, and I think it's getting risky as a result. Like I still keep seeing tips to add 3rd party repos to install software, rather than pointing to things like Flatpak. However it remains very userfriendly and there is loads of support out there, so it's still a great choice.
Another consideration is Fedora offers a better selection of DEs to use "officially". Personally I like KDE, but also having Gnome available as a default option is good. Mint is somewhat limited in that respect by focusing on Cinnamon, Mate and XFCE as the official spins. They're all decent but I feel like people coming into Linux should be introduced to the big 2. When I mained Mint a few years ago, I moved to KDE and it was actually a little frustrating how bloated it got to have lots of unneeded Cinnamon tools left behind, and some essential to the system.
I'd avoid Ubuntu. It's big but it's increasingly compromised by Cannonical's behaviour, and personally I object to Snap. Snap as a technology is fine but the Snap store is closed source and controlled by Cannonical. And in Ubuntu so many apps are forced onto users as Snaps now - for example web browsers which are slow to start up. This is not a good experience for users.

I use Mint. I got used to it very quickly. I have a harder time going back and forth between that and my MacBook. I've used Ubuntu. It's fine also.
It's been so long since I've used Fedora that my opinion would be outdated, but I observe it has many adherents, which it wouldn't if it was terrible.
I really like Mint, but if you're looking for something that screams "not windows" I guess you could look elsewhere. I'm not a big fan of "how the fuck do I..." and for the most part Mint has worked as I'd expect.
- I'm also a happy Mint user. If you look for something that just works and causes minimal hassle, it's an excellent choice.

I would look at Fedora Kinoite, much harder to break than classic distros.
https://fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/kinoite/
- I don't have any experience with atmoic distros, so I think it is too much of a risk for me 😅
  
  If you're gonna be the main tech support then I'd mirror your own install, go for Fedora with the same DE as you use yourself.
  
  It's actually slightly less risk especially for someone's PC you won't be around 100% of the time to help fix. Immutable just means the system files can't be edited.
  The "atomic" part means it gets frequent (daily, if desired) updates but you can change in the settings to only check monthly so it doesn't feel crazy.

Mint!

First two seem fine. Just commenting to actively discourage Ubuntu, as it does many things bad or just weird.
If you expect someone to need a lot of real windows programs (wine) or games, look for something pre-configured to be hassle free. Like Nobara or Bazzite (both fedora based).
- Just commenting to actively discourage Ubuntu, as it does many things bad or just weird.
  By that logic LMDE would be the only acceptable Mint flavour, since they can only gloss over so many of Canonical's missteps.
  And if any gaming will be involved I'd probably steer clear of either of them, since the available graphics driver will likely be outdated rather quickly.
  
  And if any gaming will be involved I’d probably steer clear of either of them, since the available graphics driver will likely be outdated rather quickly.
  Ubuntu LTS (and therefore Linux Mint) gets updated graphics drivers between releases, so the situation is not too bad. I'd say it's good enough for most people. You only really have an issue if you want to buy a brand-new AMD/Intel GPU.
  For comparison, Debian 13 (and LMDE) currently ships the Nvida 550 driver, while Ubuntu 24.04 ships the 580 driver.

zorin
I gave it to two people in my family and they both have no complains.
- I have never heard of it, but it fits right with my complaint with mint:
  but I am not sure if it is different enough from the Windows look that one does not expect it to behave the same as Windows
  Only that I am sure that it is not different enough from Windows 😅

Mint or Fedora Plasma edition. Your friend might like Plasma as that looks polished. Anything gnome related could have a few problems getting used to the UI (though I personally like it).

I've installed Fedora on my sister's laptop, and I barely have to do any maintenance. She's not very technologically minded, but it's been solid nonetheless. I don't use Fedora on my machines, but for someone else, it is what I recommend.

Setup a Ventoy drive and let them try out a few. Linux Mint, Fedora Workstation (GNOME), and Fedora KDE/Kubuntu (KDE) are all good starting points to figure out what kind of DE they like. If they play a lot of games, Bazzite might also be a good option. GNOME, KDE, and Cinnamon are all very different from each other, and I’m sure that your friend will like at least one of them.
- Not a lot of games, mostly Sims. I doubt that they are willing to test a lot of things 😅
  
  I would still try to let them try out a few different options, see what they like and don’t like. At the very least, show them some pictures and basic rundown of the strengths and weaknesses of different DEs (e.g. GNOME is the most touch-optimised and is very “sleek” and “minimal”, KDE is extensively customisable…)
  
  It might be worth also teaching your friend how to:
  install games via Lutris (if they downloaded the Sims while sailing the high seas)
  to change Proton/Wine versions (for compatibility, if they play older titles)
  how to install libraries through Winetricks/Protontricks (again for older titles requiring abandoned libraries like playing .wmv files in-game)
  how to mod the Sims and how to run .exe tools inaide Wine/Proton prefixes (such as Anadius' tool for Sims 4)

For which one would you like to provide free support?

Fedora will get you the most stock Linux environment without all the caveats, and it's eash to switch from KDE to Gnome or whatever you want without fuss.
Mint is fine-ish, but has caveats when looking for support online.
I no longer recommend Ubuntu at all.
- Mint is fine-ish, but has caveats when looking for support online.
  What are the caveats in your opinion?
  I no longer recommend Ubuntu at all.
  Because of snaps? Or because of something else?
  
  Mint caveats are that it's Mint. Yes, most solutions for Ubuntu will work with Mint, but it has Cinnamon for its DE, whereas the bulk of all Linux users are on KDE or Gnome, so that puts this new user at a disadvantage due to that simple difference.
  Canonical just keeps making poor decisions with Ubuntu, and can't be trusted to keep putting the user first. Snaps, data/telemetry collection, attempting to shove ads into desktops, disengaging with the community, and all these subtle package shifts away from open community solutions to Canonical solutions.
  
  I had a couple small issues and the Mint forums.sorted it out easily for ne, suoer helpful

Zorin
- Zorin creator's name is also artyom..... Coincidence 🤔🤔
  
  ...what makes you think I'm the creator of Zorin?

while the recent overposting of the latest update of zorin has been annoying it is still my recommendation because it is an out of the box distro. so after install you can burn a disk, watch a dvd, play a wav or mp3, make a document, rdp to a windows host, and it even has wine with play on linux installed so you can doubleclick windows programs and they are likely to run. its basically an ubuntu respin and its lts. its great for beginners but its not great for experts as its opposite of bleeding edge and experts tend to want less is more where its whats needed and they will add anything else with apps of their choosing. its also not a gaming distro. great for the beginner or the lazy (like me)

Fedora, specifically the DE you are using.
I normally go with Mint as a recommendation but generally speaking you must understand these people will ask you for help for any small issue, so it will be a lot easier if you use the system yourself.
Now, I use Arch^BTW with KDE, and I would never recommend arch to a new user (KDE is a good choice tho), meaning I normally recommend Mint (from experience I know noobs love it), so I am in this awkward situation where I have to provide tech support to mint users usually (tho TBF so far only 1 person and the real issue is that his laptop is dying but he hasn't come to terms with it) and it is sometimes annoying because I don't know the settings layout and all that stupid GUI shit (I love using the CLI a lot if you couldn't tell)

In my opinion, the best way to get started with Linux is still through Ubuntu, because I would never recommend distributions that do not have their own repositories, as is the case with many easy-to-use Debian derivatives.

I'd reccomend fedora. mint and Ubuntu will be simpler but its like giving a toddler a wheelchair instead of teaching them to walk. the few things they'll have to learn are necessary anyway.
- I think you are exaggerating a bit. I am an adult having Mint on my private computer. I am by no means an expert, but I don't need to be. I write my own shell scripts, I ssh around in my network, I navigate from the terminal, I install stuff, I set up services. Is Mint really a wheelchair for you because it is based in Ubuntu LTS? Maybe I don't understand enough about different Linux distros, but I don't see how a distro can be "too easy".
  
  If you're writing scripts and even just using ssh you're already more technically inclined than probably 90-95% of Windows users.
  
  IMO mint and Ubuntu make things simple in a way that keeps users from ever encountering something where they have to be aware of what the computer us doing. this means if something is happening that shouldn't (malware, something misconfigured, steam being an asshole, etc.) they won't know where to look. this is something windows and Mac do as well and it leads to the vast majority of people not knowing that they can make the software on their computer do what they say. if people dont know how to do that, corporations will (and do) take advantage of it. i probably am exaggerating a bit but I still think putting a new user on Ubuntu or mint is doing them a disservice.

52 comments