Pop!_OS is my top recommendation for Windows expats, followed by Mint (Cinnamon Edition), and then Bazzite (KDE Plasma desktop). Bazzite is so, so, so good, but it has some unique features that make it a little more frustrating for Windows power users who are new to Linux. But honestly they are all good. Pick one, and if you aren’t vibing with it, try something else.
Also, keep in mind that “distro” and “desktop environment (DTE)” are two different things. Sometimes a distro has a default DTE and sometimes it gives you a choice. The DTE makes the biggest difference to your experience. There are many different DTEs, but the two biggest are GNOME (MacOS-like and moderately customizable) and KDE Plasma (Windows-like by default, but very customizable).
I cannot recommend Bazzite. It’s an atomic distribution, which is pioneer tech that tries to make some things better but in effect makes a lot of things more difficult. FWIW, I’ve been using Linux for 20+ years.
I will be looking into these, thanks for sharing! Any top recommendations from the three??
Pop!_OS is my top recommendation for Windows expats, followed by Mint (Cinnamon Edition), and then Bazzite (KDE Plasma desktop). Bazzite is so, so, so good, but it has some unique features that make it a little more frustrating for Windows power users who are new to Linux. But honestly they are all good. Pick one, and if you aren’t vibing with it, try something else.
Also, keep in mind that “distro” and “desktop environment (DTE)” are two different things. Sometimes a distro has a default DTE and sometimes it gives you a choice. The DTE makes the biggest difference to your experience. There are many different DTEs, but the two biggest are GNOME (MacOS-like and moderately customizable) and KDE Plasma (Windows-like by default, but very customizable).
I cannot recommend Bazzite. It’s an atomic distribution, which is pioneer tech that tries to make some things better but in effect makes a lot of things more difficult. FWIW, I’ve been using Linux for 20+ years.
Just go with regular Fedora KDE Desktop. https://fedoraproject.org/kde/
I see that Fedora uses Btrfs, so it should be able to take file system snapshots, which are sort of an alternative to the immutable thing, isn’t it?
Yes, but not really. It can be convenient. Just remember it takes more space so provision accordingly for /.
Also…
Oh if your looking for a distro? Mint is a great entry point (and even can support crusty old graybeards as well).
I recommend Mint. It’s super easy to install and maintain. And very easy to use.