Slant community chat on Discourse| 10 Recommended Products | Recommendations | Based On | Default Desktop Environment | Release Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Mint· · · | 20 | 4 | Ubunbu LTS | Cinnamon | 2 Year LTS / 6 Month Release |
| #2 Linux Lite· · · | 4 | 0 | Ubuntu LTS 16.04.2 | XFCE | – |
| #3 Ubuntu· · · | 10 | 8 | Debian | Unity | 2 Year LTS / 6 Month Releases |
| #4 Zorin· · · | 2 | 0 | Ubuntu | Zorin Desktop | 2 Year LTS |
| #5 Funtoo· · · | 4 | 1 | Gentoo | None | Rolling Release |
| #6 elementary· · · | 2 | 0 | Ubuntu | Pantheon | N/A |
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 Windo...
Pro Very stable
System is very stable that one you install, you don't need to worry about crashes.
Pro Full multimedia support out of the box
Linux mint focuses first on usability, and thus provides proprietary multimedia support out of the box. This makes it a good choice as a distro if you're installing it for a novice user that is unable to install full multimedia support themselves.
Con Security may be an issue
Linux Mint by default does not have auto updates turned on for things such as xorg or the kernel, thus leaving users with potentially insecure software.
Con LinuxMint tries to force people to use less powerful custom package management system
The custom package management system is slow, frustrating, and forces you to select and install one package at a time. Can't select a whole load of packages and then run the installations in one go. They've also blocked certain powerful features of synaptic, the default Ubuntu/Debian packa...
Pro Active forum and helping community
The forum is pretty active and the community is very friendly & helpful. The creator of Linux Lite itself is active on the forum and helps in getting problem sorted out!
Pro Beginner friendly
Linux Lite renames software it comes bundled with to be more user-friendly, it gives suggestions on what additional software the user might be interested, support on how to keep the system up to date, etc. It should especially be familiar to Windows users, since the desktop layout and the basic way
Con Not compatible with UEFI
Linux Lite is not compatible with UEFI. You have to enable Legacy Mode to install Linux Lite. Which makes this OS a little behind latest OS.
Pro Great community 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.
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
Con Fundamentally different UI
The default desktop environment Ubuntu uses, called Unity, has window buttons on the left, taskbar on the left, "Start" button in the top left corner, etc.
Con Unity offers very limited customizability
The Unity desktop environment is practically non customizable with the user only being able to change certain themes and icons and adding a dock.
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.
Pro Partial Windows compatibility
Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games.
Con Limited desktop styles in Free Version
All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes.
Pro Binary kernel in stage3
The stage3 tarball provides a prebuilt kernel, allowing you to be up and running quickly and build your custom kernel from a fully operational system.
Con People who don't want to learn shouldn't use it
The whole funtoo user experience is tailored so you can use the distribution on every single piece of hardware that is probably in your house. With Funtoo, it's only a question of time to get something running on a piece of hardware. Unlike other distros, the learning curve might be steep at t...
Pro Beautiful and consistent UI
The OS ships with custom applications for basic tasks (web browsing, text editing, multimedia, etc.) and they are all based on the same guidelines and are really well designed. Learning to use them is really easy.
Pro Based on Ubuntu
This brings the stability and offers a great selection of available software and drivers.
Con Third party apps may feel strange
Elementary's user interface guidelines means that third party apps look strange in this desktop environment and not everything is supported out of the box.
Pro Customizable
Official distro of XFCE, one of the most customizable desktop environments. In XFCE you can create as many tasks bars as you need and configure every one of their elements and behaviours. You can also change any icon, font, color... etc. Literally there's nothing you can't change in GUI.
Pro Comes with lightweight applications
Xubuntu is designed as a lightweight operating system and Linux distro. It uses XFCE by default and comes packed with XFCE applications which are generally pretty lightweight.
Con XFCE development is slow
The desktop environment used in Xubuntu has not been update in over two years and is developed at a snail's pace.
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...
Pro Focuses on innovation
By using bleeding edge software, Fedora allows for innovation to take place by testing out things other distros are not willing to try due to instability.
Con Nonfree software requires jumping through hoops
For a Windows user who wants an easy Linux distribution to get acquainted with, having to go through all the work to listen to an MP3 file will probably be demoralizing.
Con Frequent breakage
Fedora is a testbed distribution. As such, it frequently has beta software that isn't quite production ready
Pro All you need is pre-installed
The installation is big, but that also means you rarely need to use the package manager for basic things.
Pro Reliable
The packaging team is dependable resulting in system updates that come in a timely fashion and systems which rarely, if ever, break due to packaging. The versions of software that are selected and the configuration of them is typically extremely high quality.
Con Using YAST is not user-friendly for beginners
On the surface YAST looks simple enough, but inside can be as complicated as a WindowsOS registry.
Know any positive aspects of this option?
Con Custom compiling a kernel is a daunting task
Install Gentoo can fail because of this issue. Compiling your own kernel is not for the faint of heart and it's time consuming and learning intensive. A prebuilt kernel would really help to get a grip on the system first before diving into the internal workings of Linux.
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