This page is dedicated to helping out people who want to give Linux-based operating systems a try but aren't sure which is the best distro for them or what software to use. All of the information here is only my opinion, but I stand by it completely. Read it as a crash course into what's good at the moment.



My take: ultimately, when getting into Linux, it all boils down to the fact that you should want to try out different things and see what you like more through experience; this is the biggest advantage of Linux operating systems, the possibility to choose and adjust nearly everything without having to rely on shameless, predatory corporations which trap you in their web of bad decisions and data farming. However, if you are just starting out or not too interested in tinkering there's nothing wrong with using something that 'just works' too. We have video tutorials for everything so there is no reason to be afraid of trying it out.



Some great news is you can easily dual-boot most of them nowadays. You don't have to commit to one or the other right away. I dual-booted Windows and Linux for a long time because 1) I was a noob 2) I still had some proprietary software I relied on for work, etc. It was a great decision because I was able to get acquainted with everything on my own terms without rushing or tearing my hair out in case something went wrong. I've ruined my fair share of OS installations by mis/abusing the command line and it will happen to you too if you're a curious creature. Having Linux on some spare hard drive in your system is a very convenient way to try it out.(just don't format your main drive by accident xd)



Did you know you can test out different distributions in your heckin browser?





1. Which distro?



It depends on how comfortable you are with the command line. In my case, I was fairly experienced and curious enough to jump straight into Debian, later Arch and others. Someone less confident should consider something like Linux Mint to start, it's a more beginner friendly "works out of the box" type based on Ubuntu.



New coming from Windows - Linux Mint or Zorin OS

New coming from MacOS - elementaryOS

Need the best gaming support - PopOS! or CachyOS





2. Desktop environments?



Big fan of KDE, I've tried most of them and love that one because it's the most aesthetically sensible and the K-apps are superior to the others like Gnome apps. KDE includes Dolphin which is pretty much the best file manager and integrates into KDE well.



If you don't care about eye candy XFCE is a sweet and simple DE. Typically you'd run that on older hardware and it's pleasant to use.





3. Useful stuff



Timeshift, Snapper - use snapshots to back up your OS before major changes.



KeePassXC - start early and use a local password manager if you don't already. Cloud based pw managers have been and will get owned, you don't want your 300 passwords leaked and have to change every one.



The default archive manager on KDE is Ark which is good to have because of the Windows-like ability to open zips in the file manager, but I recommend having peaZip as well. It's more powerful and supports better compression algos.



VLC or MPV - video players. VLC is well known to Windows users but MPV is lighter and very scriptable.



Strawberry - good music player.



If you're a visual artist you might be familiar with Krita already. For the manga artists out there I know first-hand it's possible to fully run Clip Studio Paint via WINE, there is a script on github if you search which will make the process a lot easier. Most distros have very good drawing tablet support right away.













will keep updating as time goes on... feel free to message with questions or suggestions





Deardenshieien...





last update: May 25th, 2026