Could be that you’ve thought about giving desktop Linux a try. You’ve heard that Linux is highly stable and offers lots of top quality free software, so you’re tempted to give it a shot. It’s free, you know that much, so you get on the net and do a search for Linux - and you’re shocked to find there isn’t just one “Linux”, there are many!..

Feeling kinda ‘out of your depth’, yet wanting to make a smart choice, you have no idea where to start. This is where a lot potentially new Linux users simply give up and retreat to their 'comfort zone'. Coming from Windows or Mac the ‘freedom of choice’ that Linux offers seems too confusing for many, and that’s not hard to understand.

Years ago I was in the same boat. Except for my son gifting me with a set of installation disks for Ubuntu 5.10, released in October, 2005, I might never have begun the transition that moved me from Windows to Linux.

Modern cutting edge Linux for the desktop is available to download and use for free. Its various editions are known as ‘distros’, short for ‘distributions’. It’s easy to find yourself confused with so many choices, but a great site to help sort this out is Distrowatch.com. Check it out and see if you agree!

The “best distro” for you is the one you decide fits your needs. If you don’t have someone to lean on while making this decision, like I had with my son and the Ubuntu installation disks he gave me in 2005, let me suggest you start by reading a bit on Distrowatch. The top 5 distros listed there are the ideal place to begin. If experience means anything, among the top 5 Distrowatch listings - MX Linux, Manjaro, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, and Ubuntu - the first I would recommend to a new user would be Linux Mint, with MX Linux an equal optional choice.

You won’t go wrong with either of these two. Mint is particularly suited to new users, providing a familiar easy to use desktop interface that includes everything you’ll typically need to get right to work from the instant it’s initially booted up. They’re both available as live USBs that allow testing the OS before installing it. All it costs is the time to download the image file, ‘burn’ it to a USB stick, and try it on your PC without changing a thing! ..Really, it’s fun to discover what Linux on your desktop is all about, especially on bitterly cold winter days when riding isn't all that much fun and Covid limits what we can safely do.

Stick with these top 5 distros to begin with, starting with the two I’ve suggested. Once you have your bearings and you’ve got a good idea what Linux offers on your PC, you’ll be on your way to discovering the amazing world of possibilities that Linux provides - a journey well worth taking, especially these days!..


..I'd rather have questions I can't answer, than answers I can't question.. Dr. Phil