The TL;DR
Microsoft is making Windows 10 obsolete in the second half of this year. It will no longer receive security updates or bug fixes as of October 14, 2025.
As a result, people are looking to replace Windows with another operating system due to their computer not having official support with Windows 11. There is also a desire to not use Windows 11 as it contains advertising and AI spyware built into the operating system.
Additionally, a lot of computers that do not meet Windows 11’s minimum specifications are quite powerful and have lots of life left in them. They should be kept from recycling centres to lead another life under an alternative operating system like Linux or BSD.
Switching to Linux is not a quick “install some software” and continue using the computer. Learning new things and possibly adjusting habits is required.
It is possible to use Linux for all desktop computing needs unless there is reliance on proprietary software to work with other people. Even then, there can be alternate work flows, even better ones, depending on the software and work flow.
Regardless of being a power user or a non-technical person looking for a change, taking the path of least resistance is advised. Straightforward tools should be chosen instead of jumping into the deep end with highly technical and bleeding edge software. Develop familiarity and new finger memory and make the learning opportunities approachable and fun.
Someone trying Linux should obtain an external hard drive or USB stick to back up their working files. The existing files on the Windows computer will be overwritten when any new operating system is installed.
If the distribution supports a live version of the distribution, this can be used to boot from a USB stick to test the computer hardware with Linux. Things like sound, network, finger print readers, etc. should be tested. This will not delete files on the existing operating system.
Another good approach is to use an old, unused PC to experiment with Linux before re-imaging the current working computer. Not everyone has this luxury.
If an old computer is not available and re-imaging seems too risky, then Linux experiments can be done by installing free virtual machine software like Virtualbox on the Windows PC or Mac to experiment in a safe way without touching the existing operating system. Be aware that virtualization software on PC and Mac can be quite slow and not reflect the true nature of the virtualized Linux installation.
Unless there is a clear reason to try something different, choosing a straightforward and polished Linux distribution like Linux Mint or Elementary OS is recommended.
These are very good entry points into Linux and have a polished experience for a new user. Being Linux, these distributions can support a non-technical or power user very easily. There are no downsides. Will this be the final Linux distribution a user installs? Maybe, maybe not.
These recommendations do not consider what may be the best Linux distribution for Windows Gaming on Linux. This document is focused on non-gaming usage. Again, being Linux, these distributions can be used for gaming also. They may need some extra configuration to do Windows gaming.
Who is this document for?
This web page is for anyone that is curious about alternatives to the commercial operating system that is on their computer today.
With Windows 10 becoming end-of-life in October 2025, this is driving an exploration of alternatives. Especially if the current computer does not meet the minimum specifications for Windows 11.
The curiosity may be driven by talk about data sovereignty and privacy concerns around using proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS. These companies are becoming more and more bold with injecting advertising and tracking into their operating systems and also adding “artificial intelligence” that is effectively creepy spyware.
That’s a lot to unpack. This article is for anyone in the following groups:
- looking for an alternative to Windows 10 that doesn’t require upgrading computer hardware
- curious about open source operating systems
- looking for a secure computing platform
- wants to avoid tracking and advertising
- wants to avoid invasive “artificial intelligence”
Let’s be realistic
Can Linux be a full replacement for Windows or macOS? Yes! But there are caveats. It may be necessary to change how work is carried out.
The most important caveats are related to understanding the work flow when using a computer.
- Are you a graphic designer? Do you share files with colleagues that use proprietary software like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator?
- Are you a film editor that uses Adobe Premiere or other proprietary software?
- Are you an executive that uses the Microsoft Office suite with a larger group of people?
- Are you using a proprietary CAD/CAM/FEA package that does not have a Linux version?
The ability to use Linux as a primary operating system depends on how much independence and direction there is to use whatever tools are available under Linux. Sometimes it’s best to cut ties with the past work flows and start anew with different, open tools - if that is practical.
In some cases the best of breed software is a first class citizen under Linux (e.g. DaVinci Resolve, Blender). Migrating to Linux can be more simple in this case.
In other cases, a change of work flow is required (e.g. using LibreOffice with Microsoft Office file formats, exporting files from Linux applications in an open format that can be read by the proprietary application). This can work provided the files can be opened and updated cleanly by the Linux and proprietary tools.
Sometimes it is necessary to run the actual proprietary software on Linux. This can be done either through an emulation layer like Wine for Windows applications or via virtualizing an entire Windows computer inside Linux to run the proprietary software.
Wine can be hit or miss on success depending on the software. Virtualization should always work unless there is some hardware component that the software depends on that can not be passed through to the virtual machine.
There will be issues to work through with all these scenarios. But it can be very satisfying.
What is Linux anyway?
“Linux is an operating system kernel”
Ok, what does that mean? The easiest way to think about it:
- The first program that runs when the computer boots up.
- This first program or kernel starts other programs that set up the system to provide a user interface to use the computer.
This is a very simplistic explanation. There is more to it but for now this is adequate.
Linux distributions
This is where a lot of people get overwhelmed trying to understand Linux.
Linux distributions are operating systems that use the Linux kernel.
Each distribution packages the Linux kernel in their own way and then provides everything to create a full operating system that a person can use to interface with the computer.
Some Linux distributions can be very opinionated about how they work and the software they implement.
Other distributions are a buffet of many options at install time — the operating system can effectively be tuned in any way one could want.
Generally, all Linux distributions are the same. As a new Linux user the differences don’t really matter. Or, when the differences matter the user will be informed enough to be aware of the differences and will no longer be new.
Diction — a primer: so many words!
The free software world is full of technical words and phrases that can be confusing and opaque to anyone that has not been exposed to it before.
Let’s talk through the jargon.
Rolling release
A rolling release distribution of Linux is a Linux operating system that does not have a version number release cycle.
As a non-rolling release example, Windows 7 is version 7 of Windows. Windows 10 is Windows 10. Typically when one upgrades from Windows 7 to Windows 10 they will wipe the hard drive of the computer and then install the new operating system. This is the usual good practice for upgrades to the next version of an operating system.
Arch Linux is a rolling release Linux distribution. In theory, the operating system is installed once and it continually updates over time “forever”. There are no version numbers. The individual software packages that are installed are updated continuously over time.
Packaging
Operating system packages
Linux distributions distribute their software as packages. Debian Linux uses a package standard with deb files.
An example could be a software package file named like hugo_extended_0.141.0_linux-amd64.deb. By the file name extension (.deb) we know this is a Debian package file. There’s more to it than that but this is meant to be a simple, illustrative example.
It is important to be aware there can be conflicts in the deb files distributed by Debian, Ubuntu, or other distributions that use this type of packaging.
Likewise there are rpm files for Red Hat style distributions. There can also be conflicts between rpm files used between distributions.
There are other standards used by other independent distributions. For example, Alpine Linux, Arch Linux, and Solus all have different packaging systems.
Snaps
Snaps are a package format used by Ubuntu. Snaps have not really caught on outside of Ubuntu due to the proprietary application store associated with them and some technical reasons beyond the scope of this document.
Flatpaks
Flatpaks are an open standard for distributing software.
Flatpaks tend to package all the things required for the software to run. In some instances other, system level Flatpaks will have to be installed as a dependency in order to run.
Flatpaks are a great thing for a Linux distribution to support, especially for distributions that are not the most cutting edge or have too small a team to have every piece of software in their operating system software library.
AppImages
AppImages are similar to Flatpaks in that they can co-exist on a system that may not be the most up to date or have all software available in their libraries.
AppImages have everything required to run the application inside the AppImage including libraries that may already exist elsewhere on the system. In some ways they can be thought of as a thick program that can run on almost any Linux distribution.
There is overlap between the commonality of libraries on the base operating system, inside a flatpak, or inside an AppImage. Disk space is cheap, it’s not a problem. It is good to have these libraries compartmentalized and not having different versions interfering with one another.
The takeaway
From a new Linux user perspective none of this really matters other than awareness.
Regardless of what distribution is chosen, users will have multiple ways to obtain the latest, greatest software available.
Based
“Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu”.
“Ubuntu is based on Debian”.
“Endeavour OS is based on Arch”.
“Solus is an independent Linux distribution and not based on any others”.
What does this mean?
Linux distributions can be thought of as having a family tree, some distributions are based on another distribution. That’s really all there is to it. Each distribution uses another distribution to make their own Linux distribution with the features or look and feel that they prefer.
An independent distribution is one that does not rely on another distribution for it’s base. It is its own unique Linux distribution.
What Linux distribution is used as a base or whether a distribution is independent depends on the goals of the team that created the distribution. It may be due to technical, philosophical, or political reasons. It is worth investigating the team that has put together a distribution to see if their goals align with a new Linux user’s intent and goals. Otherwise, whether a chosen distribution is based upon another or independent doesn’t matter, at least initially.
The Linux distribution family tree diagram can be seen here: Time Line of Linux Distributions @ Wikipedia
Open source desktop environments and window managers
Microsoft Windows looks like Windows and Apple macOS looks like macOS.
There is no standard look and feel in Linux. In fact, a Linux desktop can be made to look identical to either of those operating systems — at least on the surface. And it can be made to look totally different altogether.
For the most part, Linux desktop software looks similar to Windows or macOS, but there are differences.
There is also the matter of floating windows on the desktop versus tiling windows.
Windows and macOS use floating windows to show programs. The individual windows can be resized and moved around the screen and layered on top of one another. It is the desktop paradigm that everyone knows.
A tiling window manager does something different. At a high level, it cuts up the screen into a grid of applications as they are launched. The first application will typically maximize to the full size of the screen. The second application will divide the screen into two parts with the first application in one half and the second application in the other half. Launching a third application will divide the screen further. The divisions are user configured usually.
A tiling window manager can have its benefits but for someone changing everything on their computer by migrating to Linux it is best to ignore tiling window managers — at least initially. There is enough change to deal with when switching to a Linux distribution.
What’s the difference between a desktop environment and a window manager?
A desktop environment is composed of a suite of tools that all work together and share the same design language in order to allow the user to do the typical things that they need to do with the computer. In addition to a window manager and application launcher they will typically include a file manager to manipulate files, a settings manager to make changes to the desktop and the underlying computer in some cases, a default text editor, a default image viewer, those sorts of things.
A window manager only includes the software required to manage the programs on the screen. It defines the look/feel of the windows and nothing else. If the computer user wants to have a graphical file manager, image viewer, or a calculator application then it is up to the user to install those programs. In some instances this can be exactly what someone would want to do. For someone just getting into Linux the suggestion is to stick with a desktop environment.
To be clear, a desktop environment includes a window manager. In some cases a custom window manager can even be run in a desktop environment!
X-Window and Wayland
When researching Linux distributions there will be references to X-Window and Wayland. What are these? They are the underlying graphics display systems that the desktop environment or window manager uses to draw images on the screen.
X-Window is the legacy display presentation system and is being supplanted by Wayland. There are reasons for this beyond the scope of this article. The recommendation going forward is to choose a Linux distribution that is polished and provides a good user experience. Whether that distribution uses Wayland or X-Window does not matter at this time (March, 2025).
Desktop environments
Gnome
Gnome is a modern, elegant, and opinionated desktop environment. It is designed to look and work a certain way. It can be changed with various tools and extensions in order to be more Windows or macOS like.
KDE Plasma
KDE Plasma is also modern and elegant but is also very configurable. If it’s on the screen it can probably be changed.
XFCE
The XFCE desktop environment is simpler than the aforementioned desktop environments. It has the same utility and is very configurable but does not have the same levels of ’eye candy’ that the others have. At least not as delivered as a base configuration.
If the computer being upgraded to Linux is older, slower, and has a small amount of memory, then XFCE may be worth trying.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon diverged from Gnome many years ago. It has a very straightforward floating window and task bar style environment that in some ways is similar to Windows. Cinnamon is the flagship desktop environment for Linux Mint and is developed by the Linux Mint team. It is available on other Linux distributions.
Pantheon
Pantheon is the desktop environment that comes with Elementary OS. It is very polished and elegant. It is also very opinionated similarly to Gnome.
Some compare this desktop environment to macOS. The similarities are overstated. It is its own thing that has a vague similarity to macOS. It can also be customized.
Pantheon is the flagship desktop environment for Elementary OS and is developed by the Elementary OS team. In theory it is available on other distributions (source code available) but it would be a big effort to make it work elsewhere.
MATE
MATE also diverged from Gnome many years ago. It is simple and light on compute resources. Consider it for really low powered computers.
Other desktop environments
There are many others desktop environments but they won’t be highlighted here for various reasons that won’t be detailed — this document is already too long!
- Budgie
- COSMIC
- Deepin
- Enlightenment
- LXQt, LXDE, and others
Window managers
There are many stand-alone window managers available for Linux. They will not be outlined here as any mainstream Linux distribution will pre-package a competent desktop environment with window manager as discussed above.
For the curious, the Arch Linux wiki page for window managers has a large collection of window managers listed and linked: Window manager @ wiki.archlinux.org
Choosing a Linux distribution
The recommendation
The following is an opinionated list of Linux distributions to try. These are distributions with large support groups and low install friction.
- Linux Mint: this distribution is often recommended as a starting point. The desktop environment used is very similar to Microsoft Windows 10 with it’s task bar at the bottom of the screen and floating windows. It is polished and works well. Based on Ubuntu.
- Elementary OS: A polished distribution with an approachable user interface that will be familiar to people coming from commercial operating systems. Works well. Based on Ubuntu.
- Pop!_OS: Pop is a very polished, well curated Ubuntu/Debian based distribution. In the future it will migrate away from Gnome to COSMIC as it’s desktop environment. If there are difficulties getting NVIDIA graphics cards working try the NVIDIA specific version of Pop to see if it works. Based on Ubuntu.
- Debian: One of the granddaddies of Linux. It is super stable, secure, and slow to update to the latest software. That can be a good or bad thing depending upon goals. With modern desktop environment maturity, and Flatpak & AppImage distribution methods for updated versions of applications, this can be a very good option. It is an independent Linux distribution.
- Fedora: The author does not have a lot of experience with Fedora/Centos in the last fifteen years so can’t make a solid recommendation. People seem to like it. It is Red Hat Enterprise Linux based.
The absence of a Linux distribution from this list is intentional. None of these distributions are rolling-releases. This is also intentional. The reasoning may be a future blog post.
For most people Linux Mint and Elementary OS are fine starting points.
To be clear: all of these distributions have the same level of capability. Installing one distribution over the other does not in some way make the computer more capable or more “professional”.
The recommendations are based upon distribution polish, variety, and the likelihood to succeed for a new Linux user.
Wild Hare
Power user on Windows or macOS? Have spare hardware lying around that can be nuked to play with something new? Looking for something more esoteric?
If yes then go to this list:
- Debian: Yep, that’s not a typo or mistake. Everyone needs Debian in their life.
- Arch Linux: Arch is the ultimate tool kit. It can be anything or be made to do anything. Don’t use the installer! Follow the install method provided in the Arch Wiki and make informed choices on the subsystem choices to create a custom install. For example, do something other than grub for the boot manager, use systemd for the network instead of NetworkManager, those kinds of things. Arch is a rolling release distribution.
- BSD: Everyone needs to run BSD. As Linux skews into weird directions the BSD’s are still stable UNIX. Is Linux about to be (has been?) co-opted by commercial and/or weird technical interests? Linux blue screens? Systemd? Tongue in cheek, maybe. Hedged bets.
- Alpine Linux: Small, tight, fast, free(dom). It’s what Android could have been in a way. Be aware that since Alpine uses the musl library it is impossible to get NVIDIA display cards working under Alpine (AFAICT). But, AMD has an open source driver and works. Intel also works.
- Chimera Linux: The author of this document has not tried Chimera but is intrigued by the idea of a Linux kernel paired with the BSD userland. Note that NVIDIA support seems… non-optimal. AMD and Intel work.
Final Thoughts
The struggle was real when writing this document. Trying to give a lot of information in a format that can be easily digested by someone new to Linux is hard; information overload. This article does meander in places and the tl’dr is not quite as short as was hoped.
But, the point was providing information for informed decision making and level setting for broad awareness of what is practical with Linux for someone new to Linux.
Are there things left out of this document? For certain!
Things like the philosophy behind what some distributions are based upon and the types of licenses used by some of the software has been left out. These are important but in the spirit of reducing information to the need to know, have been omitted. That may be a future blog post.
Init systems were not discussed. For a new Linux user it is of little utility to be aware of what init system a distribution uses. In most cases it doesn’t matter. If one thinks it matters then one is ready to go down that path. Another potential blog post.
A lot of neckbeard joke opportunities were not taken. Ha.
If you made it all the way down here you are a rock star.
If you’d like to comment, I posted on Mastodon.
Thanks for reading.