Which is the best LINUX distribution for an all time Windows user

Question

I want a Linux installation which closely matches with Windows Vista in terms of GPU support and good Desktop experience.

I heard that Ubuntu is a good choice here. Anybody have thoughts or experience to share.

Answer 1

If Windows is what you're comfortable with, why are you switching?

Answer 2

I personally tried to make the switch but went back to Vista in the end. I tried Ubuntu, openSUSE, Mandriva and Fedora. I liked the most Ubuntu and openSUSE but several issues were annoying enough to go back.

Your best bet is to install a few distros in a virtual machine and play with them until you have a winner.

Answer 3

I find Mandriva is actually quite good. The system management is a lot better than Ubuntu in my experience. Plus, there's a ton of really good software available in the repository. Mandriva is great as a desktop OS, although it's usually forgotten about in these types of conversations.

Answer 4

This is mostly opinion, but I've found that Ubuntu has very good hardware support (especially for the GUI), it has a 'live cd' as the default download - so you can just put it into your existing computer, boot off of the CD and play with Linux, only installing it if you really want to. Then there is Wubi, which allows you to install Ubuntu into a file inside your existing Windows installation - so you don't have to reformat or partition your system.

The Linux GUIs (Gnome or KDE) are different from Windows, but they're easy to explore and there are a lot of resources available in the Ubuntu forums and on the Internet in general. Ubuntu also has quite a large number of software applications available that can be installed via Synaptic, which allows you to browse and install (over the Internet, for free) applications.

Answer 5

From the distributions that I have tried Ubuntu was the easiest to get set up and running with. It has good support for installing restricted drivers and so forth. I highly recommend you check it out.

Also the desktop environment across the distributions will be roughly the same, (usually) either GNOME or KDE.

Answer 6

I can personally recommend Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, Ubuntu with the KDE desktop instead of GNOME). It was the first Linux distro I installed on a home machine, and I've been very happy with it. It's got a 6 month release cycle, so it's always being improved.

The default installation comes with plenty of productivity apps, games, etc. And, you can get to thousands of others quickly and easily with apt-get.

Answer 7

ubuntu is the easy go-to answer. it is (for the most part) the easiest to install and get running. if you are on the fence about linux you'll definitely want to get what they call a "live cd" or "live dvd" wherein you can boot into a fully functional linux environment without touching (writing data to) your hard drive.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

this is an extremely debatable topic so i'm sure you'll get a wide variety of responses.

Answer 8

hi there,

Ubuntu is the best. Try the live CD version first and then install it directly from windows, either by downloading it or asking for a CD mailed to you -- https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

It might help if you first install a unix like environment on your windows called cygwin. Once you are comfortable in cygwin, especially the shell and important configuration files, it should NOT take too much to get up and running on Ubuntu.

If you're a firefox user, you will NOT miss too many things.

If you can list out which applications you use the most on Windows, people might be able to suggest a more closely matching distro.

BR,
~A

Answer 9

Ubuntu definitely takes care of the finer points. That said, it uses GNOME as its default desktop, which is very different from Windows from a usability standpoint. You will find yourself much more at home using KDE as a desktop.

So your choices are simple : Install Ubuntu and then install and use KDE

OR

Install Kubuntu, which is nothing but Ubuntu, but with KDE as the default desktop.

Answer 10

For a clueless windows user (aka my mom), or an experienced Windows user who doesn't want to have to tweak anything, I'd recommend Ubuntu.

For a windows power user, or a tweaker I'd recommend Fedora.

Both are great first time distros because of a simple install, general stability, ample documentation, and active user communities. Ubuntu is a fantastic first-time distro for people who want things to just work, and Fedora is a fantastic first time distro for people who want to tweak things out and want a distro that moves quite quickly. The main difference between the two is that Ubuntu typically only pushes out bug fix updates over a version's lifecycle whereas Fedora pushes out all stable releases for installed packages during the releases lifecycle. I think both are really fantastic, and I can say that having spent time with both.

Answer 11

I have a decade of UNIX-based development experience that went before a decade of Windows-based development experience, and I have not found a fully capable distro for day-to-day work. I have tried various desktops on top of Ubuntu (Gnome, KDE, XFCE), and the deficiency that I have not gotten past is a suitable substitute for Windows Explorer. (I have heard the same feedback from Windows folks switching to the Mac.)

Maybe Wubi (mentioned in this thread) can afford me a more leisurely, integrated evaluation experience. Thanks for that mention Kyle.

Answer 12

Ubuntu is a good desktop-centric distro and a decent starting point in the Linux world. Also, the live cd lets you get a feel for it before installing.

My general advice is to find a distro that'll get you up and running easily (Ubuntu, Fedora, SuSE), then install some virtualization software (Virtualbox is a good, free package). It'll let you try out a bunch of different distros quickly so you can see how they're different and what you prefer. Sometimes it's hard getting good advice because of how irrational people can be about different versions of Linux, so I've found it's best to just try them until you find one you like.

Answer 13

I like Ubuntu with all the good reasons given by others, however it lack of one thing it was not design to be a developer platform as this idea suggested http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/13596/

Answer 14

I like Sabayon Linux - on my year and a half old laptop, it installed everything without any driver-searching on my part or dependencies or anything, even using their 'mini edition'. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Answer 15

SUSE was once cool. you could try ubuntu and KDE installed, as it's the easiest to use Desktop Environment. It is downloadable as Kubuntu

Answer 16

I used Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu. It ships with codecs and drivers that aren't strictly free software, so it's great from a compatibility standpoint.

Answer 17

I found OpenSUSE as a very comfortable distribution. It's got a huge community (second maybe only to Ubuntu's) and it's very "neat". Another reason was, at the time when I was installing it, Ubuntu didn't work with my laptop's wireless, and ethernet card very nice. Had some graphics problems too (don't know if they fixed this by now).

Anyways, whatever you choose, since being a first time user, check whether you can find a good source of information with helpful fellas (forums, usenet group or such). It will help tremendously when things start to go wrong.

Answer 18

I recommend building your own distribution from scratch: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Answer 19

Without any doubt best LINUX distro for any user is CENTOS -> The Community ENTerprise Operating System , has huge and great support community.