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LinuxOpen SourceOperating SystemLinux DistroLinux distributionoperating systems

What are the best Linux operating systems for personal use?

17

Options
Considered

161

User
Recs.

5 hrs

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

16 Options Considered

Best Linux operating systems for personal use	Price	Based On	Default Desktop Environment
86 Fedora	Free	Independent	GNOME
-- Linux Mint	Free	Debian>Ubuntu LTS	Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce
-- Zorin OS	Free / paid	Debian>Ubuntu LTS	Gnome / Xfce
-- PsychOS	Free	Devuan	XFCE
-- Linux Lite	-	Debian>Ubuntu LTS	Xfce

Fedora

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Top Pro

Integration with GNOME

It perhaps has the best integration with GNOME (GNOME software works out of the box). See More

Top Con

Proprietary drivers are unsupported

Fedora does not support proprietary drivers, meaning that users may have problems with a lot of hardware when using Fedora. The software to make that kind of hardware work can be installed, but it can be done only through third-parties and it's not easy for the average user. See More

DrHiro ひろ's Experience

Fedora 34 with GNOME40 is a huge leap from the previous version. Nothing can be blamed in terms of performance and everything works, and works so well, the touchpad gestures are extremely useful for laptop uses. See More

Specs

Based On:Independent

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Init-System:Systemd

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Top Pro

Fast performance

On newer hardwares, the performance on Fedora is almost unbeatable, although not as great on extremely old hardware. See More

Top Con

Too many changes to upstream packages leading to a "Fedora way" of doing things

Linux should be linux, but Fedora is constantly introducing breakage and changes which move things in the wrong direction and make things worse for everyone. See More

Top Pro

Fast and stable updates

Top Con

May stutter on low end devices

Wayland and GNOME are a great combo for sure, but they can cause mouse freezing and lagging on low specs devices. Nothing that feels unusable, but it's noticeable compared to other smoother GNOME/Wayland experiences. See More

Top Pro

Focuses on innovation

By using bleeding edge software, Fedora allows for innovation to take place by testing out things which other distros are not willing to try due to fears of having instability issues. See More

Top Con

Slow

It is sometimes slow on some old computers. See More

Top Pro

Strong commitment to free software philosophy

Top Con

Updating to a new release can be problematic

While there are a few tools on offer that will upgrade an old Fedora release to the newest, there can often be problems with these methods. Some that may not even crop up at first but will show later down the road. Being that upgrading can be an issue, it can be exacerbated by the fact that Fedora updates every six month, which means twice a year there is a risk of completely borking ones install. See More

Top Pro

Frequent updates to latest versions of software, so quick security and other bug fixes

Latest version software often means quick bug fixes, more useful features. For example, for a daily user of TeX, the latest TeX distro is a must. It's also useful to be able to use recent external hardware such as USB Wi-Fi dongles or printers. See More

Top Con

Not for beginners

It is not a user-friendly distro like Ubuntu, PCLos. You will be required to learn a lot of commands even for simple activities. See More

Top Pro

Create user after the installation

Very good for selling PC‘s with Fedora. See More

Top Con

Unstable

Some packages may break, because there isn't an option to test them before rolling them out. See More

Top Pro

Backed by one of the biggest Linux kernel contributors

Fedora is backed by RedHat, the 2nd biggest Linux kernel contributor in the world. Using a distribution made by RedHat means that it will be fine-tuned to work as efficiently as possible since it's made by the same people who work extensively on the kernel and know its ins and outs. See More

Top Pro

Huge array of binary packages ready to install

Top Pro

Can still be installed in a bad sector on the hard disk

Top Pro

Very good integration with Flatpak and Snap Packages

Top Pro

Frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints

Fedora has a relatively short life cycle: version X is supported only until 1 month after version X+2 and with approximately 6 months between versions this means that a version of Fedora is supported for approximately 13 months. This promotes leading-edge software because it frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints. See More

Top Pro

The best choice for sysAdmin and developers

Nearly flawless, perfect performance and consistency with development and operational software. See More

Top Pro

Minimalist GNOME

Fedora Workshop does not come with bloatware. It is a minimal GNOME installation, which makes it very simple and nice to use out of the box. See More

Top Pro

Linus Torvalds distro of choice

Top Pro

Spins and Labs

Spins are images with a different WM/DE, and Labs are filled with a specific theme of packages. See More

Linux Mint

Top Pro

Windows-like for people new to Linux

While it definitely doesn't try to be a clone of Microsoft Windows, a lot of its look-and-feel will make sense and be comfortable to someone coming from the Windows world. See More

Top Con

The Linux Mint website once provided spyware

The website for Linux Mint was hacked in 2016 and its download links led to a modified ISO, which contained spyware. See More

CulturedHatmehit's Experience

Coming from previous Windows user it is a really good OS. Fast, reliable and most importantly stable. I used Windows for 15 years but finally got the guts to make a change in 2019. Now I have been Linux Mint for two years and I could not be more satisfied. It has everything I need and it works like a charm. In looks its similar to Windows so I guess that was what attracted me to it. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Top Pro

Already functional out-of-the-box

Mint comes bundled with software for browsing the web, editing pictures, browsing files, watching videos and even a full office suite (LibreOffice). An average user can use Mint right away after a fresh install, using all the software that comes with the distribution to complete most of their daily tasks. See More

Top Con

Trades security for convenience

Security is inversely proportional to convenience and Mint has chosen convenience. It was ok to recommend it to people who had hardware that needed proprietary drivers, but not any more. The developers running the project were not interested in security and in fact were working around security features that existed in the distributions they were copying (Debian and Ubuntu). It's hard to trust a Mint system to be secure. See More

張一中's Experience

Based on Ubuntu and beautiful UI interface. Easy to use with big community support. See More

Top Pro

Complete and stable

It's based upon Ubuntu LTS or Debian. It depends on which one you select - Linux Mint or Linux Mint Debian Edition. The Debian Edition is even more stable. See More

Top Con

Limits to the support of proprietary hardware drivers

Mint has limited support for older graphics cards beyond the generic nouveau driver, and some software (like Stremio) only works with official Nvidia drivers (for example). See More

Top Pro

Good community support

There are several different ways to get support for this distribution, including the forums, their IRC channel, or their github repositories if you think their software isn't behaving as it should. See More

Top Con

Looks ugly

The default theme and wallpaper looks outdated and bland. Luckily that is easy to change in the settings. See More

Top Pro

Supports proprietary software

Linux Mint does maintain a free software environment, however, it does offer full support to proprietary software (Chrome, Skype, Teamviewer). See More

Top Con

Nothing new

Just another fork of Ubuntu. Produces nothing that can't be found in another Debian-based distros. See More

Top Pro

Pretty desktop

Linux Mint has a quite pretty default desktop. Cinnamon is adopted by other distros also. See More

Top Con

System updates can lead the system to being unstable

While a new installed system is stable, after an update, there is a slight chance of something not working. See More

Top Pro

Easy installation and configuration

Linux Mint uses the same installer as Ubuntu. It is very easy to use for beginners, and also allows more advanced users to choose their own partitions. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop is highly customizable and can be made to look however preferred. See More

Top Con

Cheap Windows substitute

Mint tries to be like Windows when it could be different and provide options. See More

Top Pro

Familiar user interface

Mint is highly recommended for both users coming from Windows, as well as users coming from Ubuntu, but unhappy with Ubuntu's recent, rather dramatic interface changes. Mint provides an updated interface with a look and feel similar to Gnome 2, with an application menu reminiscent of the Windows 7 Start Menu, with categorization and search. See More

Top Con

Mint 19 forces unwanted updates

Since version 19 Mint adopted Windows 10's policy to force the user to install unwanted updates and even if the user deselects them and marks them not to be installed, they're still being installed. See More

Top Pro

The easiest option ever

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever. See More

Top Con

Political

Clement Lefebvre, the lead developer of Linux Mint said “I don’t want any money or help coming from people who support the actions of the Israeli government.” See More

Top Pro

Compatibility with Debian and Ubuntu software builds and repositories

Mint gains a very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories. See More

Top Pro

Popular

Linux Mint is currently the most hit page on DistroWatch. Because of its popularity, long-term support is pretty guaranteed. See More

Top Pro

Not from a big company

Linux Mint is not Canonical, while based upon Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Provides LTS (long term support) versions

Long Term Support versions are versions of software that are continuously updated for an extended period of time, even after newer versions are launched. LTS versions will typically get feature additions and enhancements for an extended period of time, then security updates up until its End of Life. An LTS release should typically be considered good for at least 5 years. See More

Top Pro

The OS is great for both beginners and advanced users

The OS has different update settings for different users and has easy manual within the OS. See More

Top Pro

Has more desktop options

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. See More

Zorin OS

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Top Pro

Good Selection of pre-installed software

New users may be unaware of what software is available for Linux, but Zorin includes a good selection for everyday tasks out of the box. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

To quote Jack Wallen: "Zorin OS 16 is exactly what a Linux desktop distribution should be" See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:Gnome / Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Top Pro

Stable

Top Pro

Low resources consumption

Top Pro

Installer can set up dual boot

Top Pro

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More

Top Pro

Ubuntu-based

Zorin is compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software. See More

PsychOS

Top Pro

Lots of command-line tools

Lots of command-line tools and I really like the CLIMax thing. It's a good tool to have if you want to spend time in the command-line but aren't that experienced. Also, it plays a quick, one-time ascii animation when you go into the tty for the first time. See More

Specs

Based On:Devuan

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Init-System:SysVinit

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Top Pro

TONS of Thunar Custom Actions

PsychOS comes with a lot of Thunar Custom Actions, many of which as disabled, but they are there none the less; most probably just in case. Right-click on a DOOM WAD shows there's a menu item to play it directly using LZDoom. See More

Top Pro

Runs well on older, 32-bit hardware (i686)

PsychOS is designed for older/lighter, 32-bit, i686 hardware with plans to go even further back with i486 (PsychOS486), i386 and older (PsychDOS), and so on and so forth as opposed to always trying to run on the latest hardware, not that it could in most cases anyway since 32-bit i686 operating systems will run on most x86_64 ones. See More

Top Pro

RetroGrab is really cool

It lets you install old software for use with emulators like DOSBox but run them as if they were normal programs from the normal applications menu. See More

Top Pro

No fuss. Just works.

A lot of the programs are already set up for you. Just boot it and go. This is definitely one of the better SHTF distro's. See More

Top Pro

QuickEdit

There's a yad-based tool you do not see on any other GNU/Linux distro in which you can simply right-click pretty much any file and then use the "QuickEdit" option to quickly edit small things about a file such as size if it's an image or video, convert the file, or even render the file if it's a Blender project. It's nice not having to open an image with GIMP every time I want to resize or convert something. See More

Top Pro

The IceWM option looks and functions nice

Most GNU/Linux distributions that include IceWM as a desktop environment option don't do too much to it, if a t all. PsychOS seems to have a customized or themed version that actually doesn't feel you with dread and still uses many of the keyboard shortcuts from XFCE. See More

Linux Lite

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

OS Family:GNU+Linux

MXlinux

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Top Pro

Stable

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce

Init-System:SysV

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Anarchy Linux

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Top Pro

Full access to Arch repositories as well as Aur

Top Con

Redundant

It's just Arch with a graphical installer and ArchLabs already has this. See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Default Desktop Environment:Budgie, Cinnamon, Gnome, OpenBox, Xfce

Actual Download Link:https://gitlab.com/anarchyinstaller/installer/-/releases

Top Pro

The end result is a well configured standard Archlinux system

Top Con

The installer has many bugs

Especially during the manually partitioning and the additional software installing procedure. If you do the automatic partitioning and you don't install additional softwares it's ok. See More

Top Pro

Good for gaming

Smooth and cool. Easy to get going. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

The community and developers are willing to solve any kind of inconvenience. See More

Top Pro

Low setup time

Even a person without prior knowledge will figure out how to set it up quite quickly. See More

Top Pro

LVM on LUKS encryption of whole disk possible

It works! Whereas neither the calamares installer used by arcolinux or manjaro nor the archlabs installer produces a working result. See More

Top Pro

Supports 32-bit architecture

Use ArchLinux32 instead of the traditional Arch Linux to support 32-bit architectures. See More

Top Pro

Fully developed in Bash

Being programmed entirely in Bash, it is relatively easy to find and solve errors or propose improvements. See More

Top Pro

Looks good by default

Top Pro

Everything you need in a small and fast Arch distro

Top Pro

Many preconfigured Desktop environments supported

Top Pro

Saves a lot of time to set up an Archlinux system

Once you had your experience to set up an Archlinux system manually from scratch this distro saves a lot of setup time. See More

ArchLabs Linux

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Top Pro

Retains the minimalism of Arch

ArchLabs provides an easy-to-use installer without including unnecessary packages by default, unlike Manjaro. See More

Top Con

Systemd

7hinkr's Experience

The ArchLabs installer is "arguably" the best arch installer all around! In my opinion this distro has found a perfect ballance between the customizability of Arch and a very polished desktop experience right out of the box. Strangely enough, it doesn't get all the praise it deserves despite being a trully well thought minimalistic statement in a world of bloated distros. Props to the team from AL! See More

Top Pro

Unbloated by design

ArchLabs has found a great ballance between customizability and polishment by keeping it's desktop experience free from bloat, a choice which is increasingly rare nowadays among other distros . See More

Top Pro

Lightning fast

Top Pro

Inspired by BunsenLabs, Powered by Arch

Top Pro

All the benefits of Arch Linux

Since this is an Arch-based distribution, it has all the same benefits. See More

Top Pro

Powerful AL-installer

The ArchLabs installer is very simple and gives users so many choices such as kernels, bootloaders, which extra programs to install, whether you want LVM, etc. See More

Ubuntu

Top Pro

Looks good

Ubuntu looks clean even when running from a LiveCD. See More

Top Con

Splits the Debian community

The most packages are imported from Debian but Ubuntu uses own bug trackers and develops its own patches. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Init-System:Systemd

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Top Pro

Stable

It‘s one of the most stable Linux Distros. See More

Top Con

Canonical does not respect Ubuntu users' preferences

In 2012 it became impossible in Ubuntu to move the close-window-button back to the upper-right corner of the window, where it always was before. To the questions of their users Canonical replied that they know better than users where it would be convenient for users to have the close-window-button. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity

Ubuntu is designed to be used by everyday people. Because of that, Ubuntu has tried hard to make a user interface that's intuitive and looks pleasant and clean. See More

Top Con

No rolling release

New Ubuntu versions are released two times a year, during this period almost all software receives only security updates and minor bug fixes. See More

Top Pro

Wide range of software out of the box

The default apps available in Ubuntu cover the gamut of most anyone's needs. From music, video or office applications Ubuntu has an app that will cover the users needs. See More

Top Con

A tweaked Gnome version

Instead of original Gnome desktop with Ubuntu you get a tweaked Gnome and most of the tweaks makes user experience worse. See More

Top Pro

Great long term support release schedule (2 years)

This allows for users to always have a new supported release available without long unkown wait times in between. See More

Top Con

Relatively high system requirements

The default GNOME desktop environment is a resource hog which requires hardware accelerated graphics rendering in order to run smoothly, making out of the box Ubuntu unsuitable for low end systems and older hardware. Even mildly aged hardware, you'll get far better performance out of a lighter desktop environment like LXDE or XFCE. See More

Top Pro

Perfect for collaboration on open source projects

This is probably the best option when collaborating on open source projects in hardware. This is mostly because packages and tools are readily available via software center. See More

Top Con

Canonical (author) is proprietary

Canonical is focused on making money so you can see many proprietary offers by them and the OS has built-in trackers (Amazon). See More

Top Pro

Just works out of the box

Lots of support for hardware, lots of pre-installed software, and a smooth install process means less time downloading drivers, less time digging through configuration files, and less time deciding on software to use just to get up and running. It also means less time digging through forums looking for support. See More

Top Pro

Lots of support

As the most popular Linux distribution, there's a wide range of sources for support online if you ever need help, including the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and the Ask Ubuntu Stack Exchange site. See More

Top Pro

Cares about stable drivers

Top Pro

Company behind Ubuntu supports open source development

Not all distributions give back to the Free Software communities, but Canonical (Ubuntu's corporate parent) does so in a big way. They hire noted developers and pay them to continue releasing software under Open Source licenses. They spend money doing things that are needed but there aren't enough developers interested in doing for free, like accessibility for people with disabilities. See More

Top Pro

Use it on almost any device

Not just for laptops - Ubuntu was designed with tablets and touchscreen devices in mind, and with phone support on the way. Ubuntu also has Long Term Support releases, as well as a version oriented toward servers, so you can use the same OS at work or on mobile as you do on your desktop. See More

Top Pro

Good UI for small monitors

Because the menu usually is in the title bar and the launcher auto-hides, the whole screen can be used by an application. See More

Top Pro

Flexible

The setup for personal use is simple enough for anyone to achieve, and can easily be modified to act as a server. Programs and all features are easy to find and use, and first-timers can easily pick up on how to use it. See More

Top Pro

Good PPA repositories available

PPA repositories allow you to install the latest version of your preferred software while keeping the rest of the operating system "stable". See More

Top Pro

UTF-8 is the default character encoding

Beginning with Ubuntu 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding, which allows for support of a variety of non-Roman scripts. See More

Top Pro

Unified search

Type any query into the Dash Home, and search will look through files, stores and web-pages to find what you are looking for. See More

Manjaro Linux

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Top Con

Can still be unstable

Here are the details of it. See More

Top Pro

Based on Arch and user friendly

Manjaro is an Arch-based distribution with all the benefits of the Arch ecosystem and community but with the added benefit of being much more user-friendly than Arch. The overall features it provides are hard to beat. Arguably the best desktop distro with its kernel. Consumes a very small amount of RAM. See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE, KDE Plasma, GNOME

Top Con

Imcompatible with Arch User Repository and archlinuxcn

Because Manjaro packages are not synced with Arch, using AUR or archlinuxcn could break dependencies. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

If you ask questions of users in their forums or on other platforms, they are willing to help you. Also according to the developers, they are open to new ideas in order to make the distro better. See More

Top Con

Same cons that apply to Arch Linux

Since it is based on Arch Linux. See More

Top Pro

All major desktops and even less common ones like Budgie, Lumina, LXQT, Deepin, Enlightenment, etc. can be directly installed from official repositories

Also available as independent variants. See More

Top Pro

Uses low memory

By using Xfce or Plasma (or LXDE, Fluxbox, supported by community) as default desktop environments, Manjaro is able to have a low memory footprint. See More

Top Pro

Very good looking desktops

All desktops look good by default. See More

Top Pro

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Features include: providing notifications of available updates; mirror management; Snap support, Flatpak support and AUR support (with the option to suppress unnecessary confirmations during the install process); update settings (frequency, whether to check for updates from the AUR, packages to ignore updates for); and a history of packages installed, updated, or removed (from the official repositories - AUR packages are not currently tracked). See More

Top Pro

Support for multiple kernels

Manjaro has built-in support for multiple kernels as well as a way to easily install them. Using LTS kernel makes this distro stable and less buggy. See More

Top Pro

Arch User Repository access

Manjaro allows the user to access of the Arch User Repository, a very large user-maintained repository of packages for Arch Linux and derivatives. See More

Devuan GNU+Linux

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Top Pro

Debian without systemd

Devuan is Debian just without systemd, it just mirrors the the Debian archive and repacks packages that have hard dependencies on systemd. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE and XFCE

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Origin:Worldwide

Top Pro

Stability

It is stable like Debian. See More

Top Pro

Very secure

More secure than Debian, because it doesn't use Systemd. See More

Top Pro

Most decent look amongst other XFCE distros

Default XFCE theme is unique of all the XFCE distos including MXLinux, Xubuntu etc. See More

Top Pro

Excellent for normal people

It is easy to use and is a good choice for beginners. See More

openSUSE Tumbleweed

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Specs

Based On:Jurix>SUSE

Init-System:Systemd

Release Schedule:Rolling

Deepin OS

Top Con

Very slow installer

Because the servers are in China. See More

FunGamer's Experience

Slow with a capital S. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Con

Based in China

TrustingTrebaruna's Experience

user friendly, deepin repair inbuilt program, WPS office excellent. See More

Top Con

Slow default repos

Download speed for packages from the default repos, is abnormally slow if you don't choose the correct sever. See More

Top Con

Pretty laggy

Top Con

Deepin store apps not up to date

Top Con

Team doesn't know what to do

Deepin has changed the base 4 times, and the name 3 times. The Desktop Environment also has been changed 4 times. See More

Top Con

Cannot customize desktop environment.

Because the developers have locked down desktop customization is A HUGE detractor against the idea of setting things up how you want. See More

Top Con

Customization is a bit hidden

GUI is not straight forward for changing GTK+ or QT themes. See More

BunsenLabs Linux

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Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:Openbox

Init-System:Systemd

Origin:Worldwide

Mint

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