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LinuxLinux DistroGNU/LinuxLinux distributionGNU/Linux distribtion

What are the best Linux distributions for beginners?

40
Options 
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1.2K
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Mar 6, 2021
Last 
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37 Options Considered

Best Linux distributions for beginnersPriceBased OnDefault Desktop Environment
89
Mint
-Debian>Ubuntu LTSCinnamon, MATE, Xfce
81
Manjaro
-Arch LinuxKDE, GNOME and XFCE (more with Community Editions)
--
Peppermint Linux OS
-Debian>UbuntuLXDE, Xfce
--
Pop!_OS
FREEDebian>UbuntuGNOME
75
MX-Linux
-Debian Stable>antiXXFCE
See Full List
89

Mint

My Recommendation for Mint

My Recommendation for Mint

Add Video or Image
All
65
Experiences
15
Pros
25
Cons
24
Specs
Endi Sukaj
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
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

System update can lead the system to unstable

While a new installed system is stable, after an update, there is a slight chance of something not working. See More
CulturedCopacati
CulturedCopacati's Experience
clean and nice user interface and 99% work is done without using its terminal See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS
Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:i386, amd64
See All Specs
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Compatibility with Debian and Ubuntu software builds and repositories

Mint and gains the very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories. See More
Laura Kyle
Nirav Tailor
Top Con
•••

A lot of bloatware

As an linux user, keeping things simple is importante. But OS'es like ubuntu and Mint are filled with lot of bloatware. See More
AffableLiTieguai
AffableLiTieguai's Experience
As and older user I found it great and easy to use and didn't mean I had to do a lot of learning to get used to it. It just does everything and it means I can get on with things. Everything is in the places I want them to be and I could easily personalise it. I was so impressed that I let my wife try and she loved it. See More
thermoplastics
Vali Neagu
Top 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. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Upgrade process between version can be painful

The Linux Mint team offers a method to upgrade the OS between versions but they tend to recommend clean installs, which isn't always suitable for everyone. However, following the upgrade process currently is less than straightforward and is easily capable of leaving your system in a confused state. See More
TactfulChantico
TactfulChantico's Experience
In my opinion Linux Mint and Ubuntu are the most easy and nice OS following with Elementary OS. I agree with almost all PRO and CON. But I didn't feel a problem Ubuntu going with it's own way. Anyway there are some very nice OS but definitely not for beginners like Open Suse. See More
thermoplastics
Vali Neagu
Top Pro
•••

The default desktop environment is easy to use

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
ResponsibleJuventas
Top Con
•••

Buggy

For some people has really annoying bugs, like choppy menu navigation. Not stable, nor fast, nor smooth. See More
LoveableChrysothemis
LoveableChrysothemis's Experience
It simply works. Zorin is a pain to customize properly, Debian has cascades of broken dependencies, but Mint works as a charm everytime. See More
Endi Sukaj
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
Monika
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

The update doesn't work sometimes

Sometimes the update fails to configure a package. See More
LovelyMetztli
LovelyMetztli's Experience
Mint is very windows-like, and easy to install. I recommend this for a beginner but it'll likely grow old if you ever hope to advance in your knowledge of linux. See More
Vali Neagu
Top Pro
•••

Very customizable

See More
ResponsibleJuventas
Top Con
•••

Looks ugly

The default theme and wallpaper looks outdated and bland. Luckily that is easy to change in the settings. See More
HealthyChloris
HealthyChloris's Experience
For the absolute Linux newbie, Linux Mint is the best place to start. The layout is familiar, and maintenance is simple. See More
Francisco
MightyArethusa
Top Pro
•••

Extremely stable on old systems

See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Nothing new

Just another fork of Ubuntu. Produces nothing that can't be found in another Debian-based distros See More
StudiousZaqar
StudiousZaqar's Experience
The default desktop environments of both MATE +and+ Cinnamon are fairly easy to use for beginners coming from Windows. See More
x.
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
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Limits to the support of propriatary 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
AwesomestMaximon
AwesomestMaximon's Experience
Really easy.Can install packages from Debian and Ubuntu.Similar to win10 See More
HealthyChloris
Top Pro
•••

Easy to install extra drivers

If for some reason your wireless card or some other device is not supported out of the box, Linux Mint comes packaged with a handy GUI for pinpointing and installing the right firmware. See More
WiseProserpina
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
TrustworthyChukwu
TrustworthyChukwu's Experience
Mint is about as close to windows a linux machine can look. Simpler too. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Dedicated upgrade process

The Linux Mint team are very dedicated to upgrading and improving Mint, to the point where their releases are fairly predictable. They are also dedicated to their users, meaning that they are responsive to critiques, suggestions, etc. See More
WiseProserpina
Top Con
•••

The Update doesn't work sometimes

Sometimes the update failed to configure a package. See More
ardhill
ardhill's Experience
Mint is my Daily Driver. I have used many different distributions, but Linux Mint is the one I prefer over them all. It looks good, is intuitive to use and quite simply 'Just works'. It allows me to use my computer as the tool it was intended, and not spend all my time getting my operating system to work. Some Linux OS need too much TLC to keep them going, Windows is a complete time-drain just keeping it updated and secure. Linux Mint just gets out of the way and lets me do my job, recreation, whatever. See More
Monika
PerceptiveHnoss
Top Pro
•••

Complete and stable

See More
WiseProserpina
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
IncredibleNefertum
IncredibleNefertum's Experience
it's easy to use,user friendly,like a windows in generaly See More
x.
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
EnchantingTammuz
Top Con
•••

Mint comes from Ubuntu who flirts with Microsoft Windows world

what would happen to Mint if Ubuntu went to Microsoft's arms ? They already work a lot together. See More
PoisedHahanu
PoisedHahanu's Experience
Linux Mint is the king of "It just works" Linux distributions. Absolutely the best for the first experience as long as the computer has moderate memory, processor speed and disk space. See More
x.
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
thermoplastics
Top 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. See More
Lucifer Morningstar
Lucifer Morningstar's Experience
Cheap See More
WhiteLilac
Monika
PerceptiveHnoss
Top Pro
•••

The OS is great for both starters and advanced users

The OS has different update settings for different users and has an easy manual within the OS. See More
Monika
HealthyChloris
Top Con
•••

Software Center is a bit behind the times

In its current state, the Linux Mint Software Center is very outdated and contains some broken packages. See More
ReverentKutkh
ReverentKutkh's Experience
First experimented with Linux Mint 6/7 back in 2007 for my parents, but was so impressed that I switched over to Mint 8 in 2008, and have stuck with it ever since. Prefer the LMDE version over the regular (Ubuntu) version myself, but both are great! :) See More
SiamSami
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
Izem Lavrenti
Mike The Beirut
Top Con
•••

Most desktop extensions available through the tweak tool have issues

Most desktop extensions available through its native tweak tool are not compatible with the system and never work. See More
Ajay Kumar Rawani
Ajay Kumar Rawani's Experience
Awesome ! See More
x.
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
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Does not handle multiple languages well

See More
Yoshiyuki
Laura Kyle
Patricio Rojas Ortiz
Top Pro
•••

Update manager with update policies

Linuxmint has update policies. Unsafe software packages are in all distros. You can check for example here. To get daily reports by email, install the software package called Debsecan for Debian-based Linux. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Many proprietary (closed-source) packages

By default, Linux Mint includes almost all the proprietary packages just to improve the user experience. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

There is a "system restore" tool to restore the OS if something breaks

This tool backs up the core OS files to an external drive with an option for full encryption. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Linux Mint 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 package management application. See More
Monika
PerceptiveHnoss
Top Pro
•••

Offers full support to proprietary software

Linux Mint does maintain a free software environment, however, it still offers full support to proprietary software (Chrome, Skype, TeamViewer, etc.). See More
SiamSami
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
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

MATE desktop (as an option)

MATE is a classic desktop as opposed to the newer "Unity" desktop. For people who prefer the classic style this is one of only few modern distributions with still active MATE desktop development. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Too many kernel crashes

See More
HilariousRhea
Top Pro
•••

Pretty desktop

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

The Linux Mint website once provided malware

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

The easiest option ever

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever. See More
Kristaps
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Cheap Windows substitute

Mint tries to be like Windows, when it can be different and provide options. See More
HilariousRhea
Top Pro
•••

Not from a big company

Linux Mint is not Canonical, while based upon Ubuntu. See More
Monika
RationalAnansi
Top Con
•••

Problems with AMD/ATI

It supports X.Org drivers for graphics card, but the computer frequently completely freezes. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Pro
•••

Has more desktop options

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
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
ardhill
Top Pro
•••

You Can Choose To Have Auto Updates

Mint has implemented automatic updates. Set it along with Timeshift - the restore package, and you don't have to think about updating yourself again. It all happens automatically, and safely (with Timeshift). See More
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81

Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

Add Video or Image
All
53
Experiences
10
Pros
18
Cons
24
Specs
Endi Sukaj
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. See More
Chris Rogers
Bryan
Marc Draco
Top Con
•••

Not that beginner friendly

Archlinux, on which Manjaro is based, appeals to power users who want to control bloat by customizing every aspect of their build/install. While Manjaro is a more user-friendly of this, users with some knowledge of Linux and terminal commands will find the most benefit, especially if using a tiling windows like the popular Manjaro i3wm release. See More
SkillfulHilaera
SkillfulHilaera's Experience
great See More
Specs
Based On:Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:KDE, GNOME and XFCE (more with Community Editions)
Init-System:systemd
Official Supported Architectures:x86-64 (AMD64)
See All Specs
Endi Sukaj
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
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Can still be unstable

Here are the details of it. See More
WittyPamola
WittyPamola's Experience
Velocidad de inicio, velocidad y desempeño de apertura y cierre de ventanas, compatibilidad con sistemas de ofimatica y sus recomendaciones, instalado en un Lenovo L430 Core I3 8gb Ram SSD 220gb See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

A rolling-release distribution

Manjaro uses a rolling release method for all updates, so once a system is installed, as long as the user regularly updates there is no need to re-install. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

The Manjaro unstable repository syncs with the Arch stable repository and if any package has moved, it gets moved to stable. The issue here is that this is not done frequently, which means that Manjaro may be getting package updates much later than Arch. See More
Martyn Harrison (msheu)
Martyn Harrison (msheu)'s Experience
well laid out interface and KDE version looks amazing See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Stable and consistently up to date

Manjaro receives regular updates, but more importantly these updates are stable. The updates are rolled out, which means you can easily update the software without needing to re-install. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Calls itself "stable," but actually just holds Arch Linux repositories back for a week

See More
Lucifer Morningstar
Lucifer Morningstar's Experience
Who wants an Arch based Distro as a beginner ? Stick with Stable stuff like debian based Ubuntu distro. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Features include: providing notifications of available updates; mirror management; 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
StudiousZaqar
Top Con
•••

Manjaro to discontinue support for beginners' 32-bit computers

Manjaro, just like its parent distro Arch already has, is planning to eventually discontinue support and distro SW for 32-bit PCs (i686, x86). But many beginning Linux users are still using 32-bit Windows7-compatible machines, and have no plans to discard these PCs once Manjaro leaves 32-bit by the wayside for 64-bit (amd64, x86_64). See More
MemorableInvidia
MemorableInvidia's Experience
User friedly, polished and far cleaner than debian like. pacman is definitively amazing compared to dpkg See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Uses low memory

By using XFCE (or LXDE, Fluxbox, supported by community) as the default desktop on an install, Manjaro is able to have a low memory footprint. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Bad Dependencies

This is similar to the mac0S experience in that you're not allowed to remove plank. See More
AmbitiousKusarikku
AmbitiousKusarikku's Experience
Manjaro is slow. Test system specs: Type: Laptop System: Gateway product: NV55S v: V2.02 CPU: Topology: Quad Core model: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon HD Graphics bits: 64 type: MCP L2 cache: 4096 KiB Speed: 1690 MHz min/max: 800/1500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1712 2: 1707 3: 1738 4: 1709 See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages

Packages from Arch's repositories are tested (about two weeks) longer for stability and compatibility issues. Patches are applied, when necessary, before being made available in the stable repositories. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Although it is possible to change the default dark theme, this has no effect on Firefox, which appears to have the dark theme "hard coded". Hardened Linux pros may find a way to change this, but for the rest, it renders an otherwise nice distro a no-go. See More
AntiWindows
AntiWindows's Experience
Manjaro Linux has good performance for real and virtual machine. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Installation is a breeze

Calamares installer and MHWD is the reason why this distribution is good for desktop user- friendliness! Audio codecs, latest packages,latest kernel and easy upgrade to the latest build makes it the best choice for new users. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

New packages and security updates are held for testing longer

Packages are usually about two weeks behind Arch's stable repository. While some urgent security updates are released as soon as they become available, other security updates are held for testing longer. See More
PioneeringKoliada
PioneeringKoliada's Experience
Best distro for modern Hardware See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Support for multiple kernels

Manjaro has built in support for multiple kernels as well as a way to easily install them. See More
WiseProserpina
Top Con
•••

Uses systemd

See More
PracticalLiber
PracticalLiber's Experience
Great first Linux experience for a beginner like myself. Very stable distribution, backed up by access to the AUR for when you feel a little more confident. See More
LovelyDedun
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
MemorableInvidia
Top Con
•••

Same cons that apply to Arch Linux

Since it is based on Arch Linux. See More
VladimirB
VladimirB's Experience
Ubuntu8-18, Mint 17-18, Manjaro 18 , OpenSUSE. See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro
•••

Steam installed by default

See More
Siamsami Ratul
Top Con
•••

Bloated

See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Official support for OpenRC

Not locked into systemd like Arch Linux. See More
VladimirB
Top Con
•••

most of favourite programs do not have official versions for Manjaro.

Also most of favourite programs do not have official versions for Manjaro and or reliable versions in AUR (ppa- repos for Ubuntu provide much better quality so far) e.g. Virtualbox (when you try to install it from AUR pacman reports missing database) or Megasync from Mega.nz has no version for Manjaro at all. See More
PracticalLiber
Top Pro
•••

Very good looking desktops

All desktops look good by default. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Nothing new

There is nothing new in Manjaro compared to any other Arch based distribution. See More
Matthew
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro
•••

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm)

Run automatically during the installation process, it allows for Manjaro to work fully on your system 'straight out of the box', without the need to manually identify and install the necessary drivers or to manually edit the appropriate configuration files. Also usable via the terminal after installation, the features of the mhwd command include: The choice of free (i.e. open-source) or non-free (i.e. proprietary) drivers Identification and listing (general or detailed) of your system's hardware Identification and listing (general or detailed) of installed drivers Listing of available drivers for installation (free and proprietary) Support of hybrid graphics cards (e.g. Nvidia Optimus) Easy removal and installation of drivers (selected automatically, or you can identify and choose your own). See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Bad way of handling dependencies

Manjaro is based on Arch Linux. Arch Linux and its derivatives have a bad way of handling dependencies. To handle dependencies, it installs a whole another program which contains the required dependencies. As a result, it requires more disk spaces. See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro
•••

Good documentation and forum

The Manjaro community is very helpful, and there are lots of tutorials. See More
wolfenlord
Joti
Top Con
•••

Very slow development for 32-bit hardwares

ArchLinux-32 community maintains their forums every day. They upload new ISO's every month. But Manjaro-32 community upload new ISO's once in every 6 months. And provide only a DE-mate. See More
ResponsibleJuventas
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
Joti
Top Con
•••

Weekly manual updates

Since it is rolling release, it needs updates nearly every week, which (though are checked for automatically) must be manually downloaded, confirmed and installed. That may annoy or scare off many new users. See More
LivelyTaranis
Top Pro
•••

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

You can choose between different Manjaro editions which have their own change in features, and there is also Manjaro community editions where the community can make their own changes. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

It's Archbuntu

See More
LivelyTaranis
Top Pro
•••

Deepin desktop environment is a worthy attraction

See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Redundant

It's just Arch Linux with an easier installer so there is no reason to use it. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Nothing new.

There is nothing new in Manjaro compared to any other Arch based distribution. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Bad dependencies

This is similar to the mac0S experience in that you're not allowed to remove plank. See More
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

Calls itself "stable," but actually just holds Arch Linux repositories back for a week.

See More
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

Installation is extremely buggy

There's no easy way to switch from local keyboard layout if non-Latin installer language is selected. See More
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

No gfvs pre-installed

So no Trash (and possibly smartphone file system access via USB) support. See More
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

Slightly bloated

See More
HideSee All
--

Peppermint Linux OS

My Recommendation for Peppermint Linux OS

My Recommendation for Peppermint Linux OS

Add Video or Image
All
9
Experiences
1
Pros
7
Specs
CredibleDogoda
Top Pro
•••

Comes with a variety of helpful tools

Works great with Teamviewer, Synaptic, XNview, KODI, and Pdf-Xchange editor (via playonlinux). Netflix works awesome with Chrome browser. The ICE SSB tool is great for creating web apps that run as if you installed them locally. The Software Boutique (packaged with The MATE Welcome software Center) recognizes all software and installs it with one click. See More
ExcellentKotharWaKhasis
ExcellentKotharWaKhasis's Experience
Stable, user friendly ans has LTS. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:LXDE, Xfce
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:i585, amd64
See All Specs
CredibleDogoda
Top Pro
•••

Fast and light on resources

RAM consumption is the same as LxLE, but more efficient and because of Whisker Menu and other tweaks that let us feel more like we have a XFCE desktop environment, as keyboard shortcuts, for instance, it looks like we got here the fastest and lightest, globally speaking. Very good on performance. Download Respin 7 (March 2017), install Libreoffice and then compare, for example, opening Libreoffice Writer inside Peppermint 7, Extix 17.04, Lubuntu 16.10, Xubuntu 16.04, Backbox 4.7, Linux Mint 18.1 Xfce an Mate or Linux Lite 3.4 (and others). Finally, you'll find out that after opening a few apps in Peppermint it remains smooth and light. Nemo file explorer on Peppermint is incredibly faster than on Mint Cinnamon; lx terminal is very fast when opening; updating is fast. And after all this, distro keeps working and working very solidly and consistently along the time. And yet the look and feel of the environment is pleasant. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Pro
•••

Looks great

The XFCE Whisker menus and dark theme are well designed. Easy to move the panel to the top and add plank on the bottom. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Pro
•••

Friendly and helpful forum

See More
GregariousPannychis
Top Pro
•••

Peppermint 10 is Stable

See More
Monika
ExcellentKotharWaKhasis
Top Pro
•••

Offers a long term support release

Peppermint 10 (20190514), based on the 18.04 LTS (long term support) code base. See More
ExcellentKotharWaKhasis
Top Pro
•••

Peppermint9 is stable

Peppermint 9OS (32 and 64 bit) has been updated to the Respin PPA. See More
HideSee All
--

Pop!_OS

My Recommendation for Pop!_OS

My Recommendation for Pop!_OS

All
13
Experiences
1
Pros
8
Cons
3
Specs
FlexibleEulabeia
Top Pro
•••

User-friendly installer

The visually appealing and easy to use installer makes dual booting as easy as it can be. See More
KindNingirama
Top Con
•••

Gnome GUI only

See More
TruthfulArke
TruthfulArke's Experience
After my computer murdered by the virus known as Windows 10, this OS saved my computing experience and made some of my games run faster See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:GNOME
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:amd64
See All Specs
FlexibleEulabeia
Top Pro
•••

A separate NVIDIA version

Most linux distros seem to hate Nvidia's graphics cards e.g. Fedora and OpenSUSE. System76 have decided to be kind. They have decided to form a good relationship with Nvidia fans and Nvidia itself. By creating a separate installation media that is dedicated for providing support to Nvidia's graphics cards. Even going as far as putting Nvidia's driver updates on Pop!_Shop for users to easily access and install. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Con
•••

64-bit only

Some older PCs still have 32 Bit processors. This limitation will be a major con for those who use an older PC since they will not be able to install, run it in a VM or live media See More
FlexibleEulabeia
Top Pro
•••

Made by a hardware seller

System76 is a hardware company. It configures machines to ship with Linux pre-installed. This means its entire business model centers around delivering a quality desktop Linux experience. As a result, the company pours more attention onto the desktop. It can fix visual issues and may be able to provide a smoother overall experience than you would have installing a different version of Linux on your machine yourself. Providing Pop!_OS also empowers System76 to make certain fixes for users directly rather than having to coordinate with Canonical or the broader Ubuntu community. See More
Alex
TruthfulArke
Top Con
•••

Gnome is bloated and bad

Luckly, you can change the desktop environment with simple commands out of the box, like: Cinnamon, XFCE, KDE and others. See More
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
FlexibleEulabeia
Top Pro
•••

Pop! makes GNOME look really good

If you're a fan of flat desktop interfaces reminiscent of Material design on Android, you'll like the theme that comes as a default in Pop! OS. The desktop and title bars all use a bright turquoise theme that makes the interface feel happy and borderline retro-chic. See More
TruthfulArke
Top Pro
•••

Lutris and Steam are in the Pop Shop

Meaning no mounting PPAs or dealing with .deb or flatpaks for Lutris See More
TruthfulArke
Top Pro
•••

Optimized for modern hardware

Whereas normally, to use a brand new computer with a Linux OS, you would typically try to use unstable and sometimes buggy drivers - or struggle without hardware support until a stable release comes along. See More
FlexibleEulabeia
Top Pro
•••

Nice gnome theme dy default

Has nice gnome theme looks really good. See More
TruthfulArke
Top Pro
•••

Ready to play games, out of the box

If you still miss how easy it was to just click-install and play games in Windows, Pop! will give you that similar expectation. See More
HideSee All
75

MX-Linux

My Recommendation for MX-Linux

My Recommendation for MX-Linux

Add Video or Image
All
24
Experiences
3
Pros
9
Cons
11
Specs
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Easy to use

See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Too much customization

See More
MethodicalPicus
MethodicalPicus's Experience
It is stable See More
Specs
Based On:Debian Stable>antiX
Default Desktop Environment:XFCE
Init-System:SysV-init & systemD
Official Supported Architectures:i586, amd64
See All Specs
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Lightweight

See More
WiseProserpina
Top Con
•••

Longer boot time

See More
DecentSatanaya
DecentSatanaya's Experience
Installed on netbook for a beginner who just loved the system. See More
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Very stable

See More
WiseProserpina
Top Con
•••

Includes non-free drivers

See More
AmbitiousKusarikku
AmbitiousKusarikku's Experience
[1] MX Linux is slow. It's nothing like its speedy "cousin," antiX. [2] The UX is clunky. Test system specs: Type: Laptop System: Gateway product: NV55S v: V2.02 CPU: Topology: Quad Core model: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon HD Graphics bits: 64 type: MCP L2 cache: 4096 KiB Speed: 1690 MHz min/max: 800/1500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1712 2: 1707 3: 1738 4: 1709 See More
nanon
Top Pro
•••

No systemd

See More
WiseProserpina
Top Con
•••

10s of media players preinstalled

See More
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Based on Debian

See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Con
•••

Old software

Many software aplications are older See More
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Easy install

See More
DecentSatanaya
Top Con
•••

More than 50 tweaking softwares pre-installed

See More
EnchantingTammuz
Top Pro
•••

MX Snapshot: lets you make your own distro

Can create your own ISO (snapshot) and use it either as live-session and install back when needed. With the (pre-installed) Snapshot tool you can easily create an ISO of your running system and then save it to a USB (or other media) and use "your own" distro as a live session or install back whenever you like (even on a different PC with different specs with no issues). You can even give that customized ISO to friends (selecting "non-personal" ISO when creating the snapshot; thus resetting the accounts & passwords and Home folder etc.). Also you can save that ISO directly encrypted via MX Live USB Maker tool. Again, you can install MX encrypted during installation with just ticking a box, no matter if it's the official ISO or your snapshot. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Installer and configuration tools are different

Installer and configuration tools are different and can take some time getting used to. See More
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Supports non-free drivers

See More
Monika
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Causes overheating on some hardwares

Other Debian-based XFCE distros - Xubuntu, Debian XFCE, Devuan - leave a small footprint on system, whereas MXLinux uses too much CPU resources on the same system. See More
nanon
Top Pro
•••

Good MX Tools and Package Installer

MX Linux comes with its own set of tools called MX Tools, designed to make life easier for users. See More
Monika
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Remixed Debian testing

It's mainly a Debian stable with some recompiled/backported Debian testing packages. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Con
•••

Too much preinstalled applications

See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Only one Desktop Environment

See More
HideSee All
72

Ubuntu

My Recommendation for Ubuntu

My Recommendation for Ubuntu

Add Video or Image
All
48
Experiences
7
Pros
19
Cons
21
Specs
Laura Kyle
Event Horizon
Izem Lavrenti
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
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Canonical (author) is propertiary

Canonical is focused on making money so you can see many propertiary offers by them and the OS has built in trackers (Amazon). See More
Vaibhav Barthwal
Vaibhav Barthwal's Experience
I personally feel that it is very easy to use in both command line and mouse clicking. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)
Default Desktop Environment:GNOME
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:amd64
See All Specs
Izem Lavrenti
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
Endi Sukaj
raist356
Top Con
•••

Likes to reinvent the wheel

Cannonical tends to ignore existing solutions, tries to develop their own and in the end gives up. It is with their Mir display server and Unity desktop environment. Severe changes like that are not beginner-friendly. See More
VersatileWurrunna
VersatileWurrunna's Experience
Mint is Awesome for Beginners, VERY Intuitive Windows Type theme, but ... Ubuntu has embraced Gnome in 17.10 and 18.04 LTR and in my opinion, well worth the effort. Give it a try and watch Ubuntu get Wayland's Support speed ahead! and their embrace of Gnome 3.26 which is awesome with their Extensions. And let the Linux Convergence begin! See More
thermoplastics
Carlos Lemos
Top Pro
•••

Very well documented

It's very simple to troubleshoot Ubuntu for most computers or laptops, even on Macs as there is a plethora of documentation across the web. See More
raist356
Top Con
•••

Is known for problems with updates

Crashes often when upgrading the system to a new version. See More
IncredibleParthenos
IncredibleParthenos's Experience
I decided that because Ubuntu was the most popular Linux distro I should get it for support. This is my first Linux distro and I am happy with it. See More
thermoplastics
Izem Lavrenti
Top Pro
•••

Dedicated software store

Ubuntu offers the Software Center in their older version of the OS as well as a program called Gnome Software, in their newest release of the OS. Both use a GUI interface for installing new software, which is extremely easy and welcoming for beginners to Linux. More advanced users can also install software through the terminal, as it tends to be much faster and easier, after one is used to it. See More
Izem Lavrenti
Top Con
•••

Unity interface might be confusing for new users

Unity does not align itself with the normal desktop paradigm and thus has a bit of a confusing UI in comparison to the norm of a Windows user. See More
MemorableInvidia
MemorableInvidia's Experience
Can't upgrade without reinstallation. UI is messy. DEFINITIVELY NOT FOR BEGINER : poor support if any problems See More
Izem Lavrenti
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
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Tends to do its own thing

Ubuntu has a user interface that is specific to Ubuntu and is now working on its own display server. It also tends to have configuration that is done slightly different (and arguably more beginner friendly) than elsewhere. So while this is a great Linux distribution in its own right, it might not be the first choice for someone wanting to learn Linux itself. See More
bipul kumar
bipul kumar's Experience
it have a huge community support to help and solve any problem.i think gui is also better for begginers. See More
Izem Lavrenti
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
Izem Lavrenti
Top Con
•••

Relatively high system requirements

The default Unity 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
StudiousZaqar
StudiousZaqar's Experience
The main stock Ubuntu has had Unity desktop for awhile now. Interface is confusing for new users. See More
Kristaps
LovelyDedun
jeroen T
Top Pro
•••

Company behind it

This means that the system must run well, otherwise they will lose money. There is no better incentive! See More
raist356
Top Con
•••

Messy repositories

Managing thousands of PPAs is most definitely not user friendly. See More
CompetentEnbilulu
CompetentEnbilulu's Experience
It's great See More
Monika
LovelyDedun
Top Pro
•••

Has a clean Gnome Interface

Gnome has lot of extensions available and can be customized rather easily. See More
nanon
Top Con
•••

Includes adware

Advertisers pay to have their links or software preinstalled. Like the links to Amazon installed by default in the dock. See More
Izem Lavrenti
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
nanon
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
Gabboxl
Top Pro
•••

Stable

It‘s one of the most stable Linux Distros. See More
Alan Moore
Top Con
•••

Unity has relatively limited customization

Many users select Linux because they have heard it is customizable. Compared to other desktop environments, Unity has relatively few options to alter the look & feel. See More
IncredibleParthenos
Top Pro
•••

Looks good

Ubuntu looks clean even when running from a LiveCD. See More
ResponsibleJuventas
Top Con
•••

Unstable

Some people pointed out that updating Arch is a high risk affair. And one should carefully read forums before doing it. The same is true about Ubuntu. Making system updates (like it was with 10.04 to 11.04) that screw so many things up became a routine. Even LTS releases should not give confidence that it will work. See More
Mary Butler
Top Pro
•••

Dedicated software center

The Ubuntu Software Center offers a GUI interface for installing new apps which is extremely easy and welcoming for beginners to Linux. But it should not be used by more advanced users since the method of installing through the terminal is much faster and easier after one is used to it. See More
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

Extremely un-customizable

See More
thermoplastics
Mark Ackerman
Top Pro
•••

There are many different DEs with it's base other than Unity

Luckily Ubuntu offers full support for many branches such as Ubuntu-Gnome, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu-Mate, and Lubuntu. All of which come with a different DE than Unity. So flexibility is the word. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Random system errors may pop up

See More
jeroen T
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
nanon
Top Con
•••

Binary incompatible to Debian

Ubuntu releases are based on Debian testing/unstable, however, unlike other Debian-based distributions they are not binary compatible due to different libc versions, so you can't install Debian packages in Ubuntu and vice versa. See More
dan clark
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
JM80
Siamsami Ratul
Top Con
•••

Custom PPAs required for most software

To get the most software available, user must add several PPAs to the system. That has major problems: 1) Terminal recommended for adding a PPA, which can scare away users 2) A PPA can potentially distribute malware by creating a "newer" version of a package than available in other PPAs, such as the Linux kernel. 3) PPAs must be recreated and re-added with every major system update. See More
gottin
WiseVedenemo
Top Pro
•••

Cares about stable drivers

All distributed drivers are well reviewed and will rarely cause an issue. See More
HonorableKusuh
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
Gabboxl
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
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

Redundant

With the removal of Unity, there is no point in choosing Ubuntu over Debian anymore because everything else is imported from Debian to Ubuntu. See More
Mary Butler
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
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Systemd

See More
Izem Lavrenti
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
PleasantPolemos
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
Siamsami Ratul
Top Con
•••

Doesn't shutdown/standby properly on Lenovo laptops (b, e & g series) and desktops (Thinkcentre)

Ubuntu has some serious issue with some Lenovo laptops and desktops. Sometimes, it doesn't shutdown correctly. See More
ResponsibleJuventas
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
HideSee All
--

Devuan GNU+Linux

My Recommendation for Devuan GNU+Linux

My Recommendation for Devuan GNU+Linux

Add Video or Image
All
10
Experiences
1
Pros
7
Cons
1
Specs
WiseProserpina
Top Pro
•••

Debian without systemd

See More
DecentTitias
Top Con
•••

Difficult to install on non-free hardware

Unlike Debian, Devuan offers no unfree netinstall media, so if your system needs unfree drivers (e.g a laptop or a tablet), you'll have to download the Debian firmware on a separate USB. See More
ResponsibleTaweret
ResponsibleTaweret's Experience
Light resource usage See More
Specs
Based On:Debian
Default Desktop Environment:Xfce (KDE, MATE, Cinnamon and LXQt are available)
Init-System:SysVinit, OpenRC or runit
Official Supported Architectures:i386, amd64, arm64, armel, armhf, ppc64el
See All Specs
WiseProserpina
Top Pro
•••

Init based

Isn't based on systemd which can spread malware into your system. See More
WiseProserpina
Top Pro
•••

Stability

It is stable like Debian. See More
EnergeticMacuiltochtli
Top Pro
•••

Excellent for normal people

It is easy to use and is a good choice for beginners. See More
EnergeticMacuiltochtli
Top Pro
•••

Very secure

More secure than Debian, because it doesn't use Systemd. See More
WiseProserpina
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
WiseProserpina
Top Pro
•••

It's Debian

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

Solus

My Recommendation for Solus

My Recommendation for Solus

Add Video or Image
All
28
Experiences
4
Pros
13
Cons
10
Specs
Spencer Brown
Top Pro
•••

Provides a solid out-of-the-box experience

Multiple looks and feels to choose from, default software is useful, hardware issues are rare. See More
JM80
Seth Petersen
Khidreal
Top Con
•••

Not much documentation online

If you run into a problem, there's not much help available online. Nearly the only source of documentation you have is the Solus website. See More
Ferre Franckx
Ferre Franckx's Experience
Ex distro-hopper :) Solus is for me THE distro to go to. Although the software is not as abundant as other distro's it's MORE than enough for my everyday tasks. Modern, fast, beautiful, stable, always-up-to-date. See More
Specs
Based On:Scratch
Default Desktop Environment:Budgie, GNOME, MATE, KDE Plasma
Init-System:systemd
Official Supported Architectures:x86_64
See All Specs
Izem Lavrenti
Michael Thomas
Top Pro
•••

Good software selection

Although Solus may not have as much software as other distributions, the software selection is well curated and is quick and easy to install through the included software center. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

The default desktop environment is not very customizable

Maybe because it's a relatively new project still in its infancy and this may be fixed in the future, but Budgie is not very customizable. You can only change the theme and wallpaper. See More
ConfidentWongTaiSin
ConfidentWongTaiSin's Experience
Sehr Benutzerfreundlich! See More
Alex
Spencer Brown
Top Pro
•••

Frequent updates

Users get new software quickly and don't require proficiency to maintain their system. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Not much software

There is not much software available. See More
ChattyNinurta
ChattyNinurta's Experience
best rr distro See More
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Modern desktop environment

The default desktop environment used by Solus is called Budgie and is quite nice and minimalistic. See More
Seth Petersen
Khidreal
Top Con
•••

You rely on software center to update your applications

Solus - and therefor all the applications - can only be updated via the software center, so you will be running outdated applications until the devs update the software center, which can take some time. See More
CaffeinatedHermes
CaffeinatedHermes's Experience
Doesn't handle installation on UEFI very well. Many problems creating a working live-usb from iso. See More
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Easy installation

The installation procedure for this distribution is quite simple. It's GUI based and all you have to do is to follow the instructions given by the installation window itself. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Slow development

See More
Yoshiyuki
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Stable

The system itself is very stable. All packages in the repository seem to be carefully picked, well-prepared, and run well. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

No USB Image writer

See More
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Rolling release

See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Software a bit slower to launch than for other distributions

See More
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Responsive

System boots quickly and stays responsive. Does what operating system should do, and does it really well. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

An upgrade breaks the system quite often

See More
JM80
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Great package management

The software center makes really easy to install the latest software. Including third party software. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Forums are not very friendly

See More
abdulocracy
Top Pro
•••

Exclusively for desktop systems

See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

There is often a black screen after update

See More
CaffeinatedPerses
Top Pro
•••

Seamless Packages

It may not have the most obscure packages, but the packages it does have is a good number of everything a Linux user needs. Gamers, developers, desktop users, etc. all have the necessary packages and then some. The packages themselves are integrated perfectly and are very well updated. See More
Monika
CaffeinatedPerses
Top Pro
•••

Most stable Rolling Release distro

See More
CaffeinatedPerses
Top Pro
•••

Built from scratch

See More
HideSee All
68

Xubuntu

My Recommendation for Xubuntu

My Recommendation for Xubuntu

Add Video or Image
All
18
Experiences
2
Pros
10
Cons
5
Specs
Slimothy
Fabio Esteves
Top Pro
•••

Easy to use

Being based on Ubuntu, it's very beginner friendly. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

XFCE development is slow

The desktop environment used in Xubuntu has not been updated in over two years and is developed at a snail's pace. See More
StudiousZaqar
StudiousZaqar's Experience
Xubuntu is better than mainstream Ubuntu with the latter's confusing Unity interface. At the same time, Xubuntu as a "community project" is slightly less supported than mainstream Ubuntu (important for beginners!) This is reflected by the fact that Xubuntu is much less popular on DistroWatch than mainstream Ubuntu and even less popular than Lubuntu. If beginners require a less resource-intensive Ubuntu-based distro than even Xubuntu, then Lubuntu is easily their best choice. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:Xfce
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:amd64
See All Specs
thermoplastics
Carlos Lemos
Top Pro
•••

Great for older computers

Xubuntu is a very light OS, if one has an older computer that no longer supports a new OS, Xubuntu is the perfect fit. One great example is that on older MacBooks, Xubuntu is a good choice, when they no longer support the newest version of macOS. See More
Monika
StudiousZaqar
Top Con
•••

Somewhat unsupported as a secondary Ubuntu "community project"

Xubuntu is slightly less-supported than mainstream Ubuntu with Unity. This is reflected on DistroWatch, as Xubuntu is less popular than mainstream Ubuntu. See More
DecorousHarmonia
DecorousHarmonia's Experience
It works! I have tried just about every Linux distro that installs with a desktop from go, and this one gave me the least trouble setting it up how I like it. I refuse to use Linux on a fairly new computer, as support depends on communities and volunteers, and they are continually playing catch up with new hardware. I don't know why reviews prefer Ubuntu itself or Linux Mint, they make my computers run like dogs, and so illogical and counter intuitive to navigate. My second choice is Lubuntu. I started off with Red Hat and hated Debian but thanks to Xubuntu and its Ubuntu software availability without wasting time compiling, I am converted. Cannot understand why a destop has to look cool, functionality rules. See More
Slimothy
Fabio Esteves
Top Pro
•••

Light on resources

It uses xfce desktop, which is highly configurable, yet easy to use and very low on ram and battery. No eye-candy like unity or KDE. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Redundant

There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Xubuntu install. See More
Slimothy
Fabio Esteves
Top Pro
•••

Easiest packages to install

Uses .deb packages. These are the easiest to install for new users because you'll find instructions for them but not for .rpm packages, for instance. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

UI is pretty generic without customization

The default XFCE UI is pretty generic and sometimes ugly unless customized to suit the user's needs and liking. Customization in XFCE is easier than on Unity, but still hard for beginners. See More
HappyWhiro
Top Pro
•••

Conservative, yet modern

It comes with all Ubuntu goodness but without bloat, a perfect mix between new ideas and usability. See More
CaringNechtan
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Looks somewhat ugly

Xubuntu uses XFCE out of the box which is somewhat ugly and may not be appealing to new Linux users. See More
Slimothy
Fabio Esteves
Top Pro
•••

Works out-of-the-box

Doesn't require a lot of configuration like Arch or even debian. See More
HappyWhiro
Top Pro
•••

Great performance

Xubuntu is very fast and makes good use of resources. See More
HappyWhiro
Top Pro
•••

Quick boot time

Boots at about double the speed of most distributions. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top 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. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top 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. See More
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67

elementary OS

My Recommendation for elementary OS

My Recommendation for elementary OS

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35
Experiences
2
Pros
13
Cons
19
Specs
Izem Lavrenti
Top Pro
•••

UI design consistency

Excellent uniformity between all the stock application and an overall extremely clean design with simple animations. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

The desktop doesn't let you to put icons by default

See More
PatientMefitis
PatientMefitis's Experience
If Apple were to create an open source macOS clone of itself — Elementary OS would be it. Beautiful. Intuitive. It just works. And that's the way a PC should be. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:Pantheon
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:amd64
See All Specs
Endi Sukaj
Izem Lavrenti
Top Pro
•••

Extremely user-friendly

This distribution promises you a very tailored user experience and it does deliver on that promise. The developers provide you with a custom desktop environment and a set of neat programs. And the whole desktop looks simply gorgeous. See More
Izem Lavrenti
Top Con
•••

Old base and applications

The slow release schedule makes the applications outdated. It drags behind Ubuntu LTS (on which it's based) which itself drags behind Ubuntu which is often still quite far behind Arch for example. See More
PerfectUnut
PerfectUnut's Experience
Looks very similar to MacOS which can give new users a sense of familiarity. Based on Ubuntu, pretty fast (in my experience at least) and has a very polished feel to it. The installer is also very user-friendly. Over See More
Izem Lavrenti
Top Pro
•••

Simplicity, limited configurability

Sane defaults with less confusion for new users. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Very slow development cycle

elementary does not offer any release date for their stable releases going more with a "it's done when it's done" attitude. Making depending on newer apps a difficulty as well as a poor choice for those that need consistent release schedules for their OS. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Built on Ubuntu

Built on Ubuntu LTS with all its qualities and support. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Quite buggy

See More
Laura Kyle
OIII IIIO
Top Pro
•••

Dual boot setup is painless on a Windows 10 machine

See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Poor Linux community reputation

The devs of elementary OS feel anyone not paying for their Ubuntu respin are not worthy of using it. Which upset a good bit of people. Obviously the core dev team have issues with their community outreach and PR. See More
PerfectUnut
Top Pro
•••

If you like MacOSX the UI/UX is similar

See More
PatientMefitis
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

Heavy animations

It has some animations that don‘t run well on older hardware. Fans will spool up when the graphics and animations put a strain on the CPU if GPU support is not enabled or available. See More
Izem Lavrenti
Top Pro
•••

Lightweight & fast

Runs well on limited-resources hardware, including netbooks / chromebooks. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Outdated or bad default applications

See More
PatientMefitis
Top Pro
•••

A dedicated StackExchange site

Elementary OS has a dedicated StackExchange site where users can easily find answers to common questions. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

PPA disabled by default

See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Consistent development practices

All Elementary apps are written in Vala and hosted on Launchpad, and there are standard APIs such as contractor for applications to interact with one another. This is different from most distros, in which apps are written in a variety of languages. This design decision makes it easy to get started developing for Elementary and to understand how the various pieces fit together. See More
Kristaps
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

UI doesn't let you change anything

Every installation of elementaryOS looks exactly like the same. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Active Google+ community

There is a place where elementary users can ask their questions and usually get answers pretty quickly. Not only by the other users, but the devs are pretty active themselves, often engaging in the discussions on the hows, whys and plans of the os. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Problems with basic functions

Problems often arise with functions like keyboard layout and touchpad. See More
Izem Lavrenti
Top Pro
•••

With new tweak tools customisation is not a problem

Now the OS is amazingly customisable See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Window control button placement may be unintuitive to some

elementary OS has window controls on the left side of the window. It may be less intuitive to users coming from other operating systems that put window controls on the right. See More
Monika
Dhaval Patel
Top Pro
•••

Great app store

The new app store AppCenter that was recently released is fantastic. It has some very useful and great looking apps. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Upper panel requires extra spaces

The upper panel in Elementary OS requires more space. This can be a problem for computers with small monitors. See More
thermoplastics
Mark Ackerman
Top Pro
•••

A new approach to many old ideas.

Simple little details to user friendliness that surprise Linux/Mac/ and Windows users alike. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Not very configurable

See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Boring UI

It can be very boring. See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

Emacs doesn't work

Emacs crashes due to a partial gnome library update. See More
Joti
Top Con
•••

Doesn't support 32-bit hardwares anymore

One can install pantheon DE from new ubuntu's repo but Elementry OS is not making new ISO's nor is it supporting them. It makes confuzzled to new users. See More
Alex
Laura Kyle
Rey Karitoy
Top Con
•••

Hangs often

Crashes often, especially when using a browser (whether it is Midori, Chrome, Chromium, Epiphany or Firefox). Granted, it's still is probalby faster than running Windows on the same (especially old) machine. See More
HonorableKusuh
Top Con
•••

No proprietary driver installer

Elementary OS removed the driver installer of Ubuntu. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Limited and outdated packages

Packages can be very outdated, and many can't be installed from official repos. See More
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--

Artix Linux

My Recommendation for Artix Linux

My Recommendation for Artix Linux

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7
Pros
6
Specs
PleasantPolemos
Top Pro
•••

No systemd

See More
Specs
Based On:Arch Linux
Init-System:OpenRC, runit, s6
Official Supported Architectures:x86_64, Aarch64
Release Schedule:Rolling
See All Specs
PleasantPolemos
Top Pro
•••

Rolling distro

See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Pro
•••

runit

Artix actively supports the runit init system known from Void Linux. (Equally besides the OpenRC init system known from Gentoo.) See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Pro
•••

Flexibility

You can have a functional system in less than 10 mins using GUI installer OR you can do it "the Arch way" See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Pro
•••

Lightweight

Only the software you would need like Terminal emulator, file manager, media player and a browser. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Pro
•••

Close to bare Arch Linux

No learning curve if you're coming from Arch or any of its derivatives See More
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66

Deepin

My Recommendation for Deepin

My Recommendation for Deepin

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40
Experiences
2
Pros
27
Cons
10
Specs
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Easy to use

It's very easy to use. You can easily uninstall a program by going to the menu then right-clicking on the preferred app and selecting "Uninstall" option. See More
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

Strange development organization

There aren't any sort of improvements over Deepin v15.1, though the only changes are icons, that become better. See More
MightyEtugenEke
MightyEtugenEke's Experience
Easy to use, and looks really nice. Has a great app store. See More
Specs
Official Supported Architectures:amd64
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
Origin:China
Main Usage:Desktop, Showcase for the Deepin Desktop
See All Specs
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Easy to install the OS

The OS is extremely easy to install as it doesn't ask you about making a swap partition. Some Linux beginners doesn't know anything about a swap partition and becomes confused. See More
Monika
PleasantPolemos
Top Con
•••

The only Linux distro that can't restart normally (on a PC)

See More
ImaginativeEndursaga
ImaginativeEndursaga's Experience
beautyfull and simple to use See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Exciting applications

It has some exciting applications, such as Deepin Graphics Driver Manager which can easily change between free and proprietary drivers without any issue. See More
Monika
CredibleDogoda
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
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Enjoy the simplicity of Deepin's desktop

The desktop interface and apps feature an intuitive and elegant design. Moving around, sharing and searching etc. has become simply a joyful experience. See More
Monika
MightyEtugenEke
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Based in China

See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Excellent apps

Having Deepin installed also means you have thousands of quality apps to choose from. The apps which come with installation will suit your needs to browse the Internet, listen to music, watch videos, talk with friends, editing documents or simply any task you want to do at home or in your office. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Very slow installer

Because the servers are in China. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Very stable

Even though it is based on Debian unstable, it is still pretty stable and you will hardly ever get a dependency issue. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
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
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Company behind it

The Wuhan Deepin Technology is behind this Linux distribution. See More
Marc-Antoine Manningham
Top Con
•••

Deepin store apps not up to date

See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Well-designed in every detail, developers have a professional aproach to the system

Deepin has a sane default set of apps including custom apps of their own design that gives the distro a very consistent look and feel. By working with the community on these tools as well as custom translations there is a great sense of polish when using it that is not often seen when using such a new desktop environment. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Slow default repos

Download speed for packages from the default repos, is abnormally slow. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Rolling release

It's a rolling release. Meaning that it will get updated automatically. See More
Monika
CapableCariocecus
Top Con
•••

Rather buggy, numerous screen hangs, and Firefox downloaded in Chinese

Rather buggy, numerous screen hangs, and Firefox downloaded in Chinese. It simply seems to be a Chinese distro made by, further for Chinese. See More
JM80
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Has its own tool kit

They have their own tool kit called "Deepin Tool Kit". And they themselves uses it. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Customization is a bit hidden

GUI is not straight forward for changing GTK+ or QT themes. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Great design to the app store

The app store is gorgeous. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

VLC media player works without any issue

In some cases, VLC media player has some problems with Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based Linux distros. That isn't the case with Deepin. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Not based on Ubuntu

Some people don't like Ubuntu nor its derivatives. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Loads programs faster than other Linux distributions.

Even though there is a lot of design, Deepin OS still manages to load programs faster than other Linux distributions. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Launches programs faster

Programs load and launch faster in Deepin than other Linux distribution. It takes only about 3 seconds to launch Chrome! See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Can be made to look like Windows easily

By default, Deepin looks kinda like macOS but it can be made to look like Windows by right-clicking on the dock and changing the mode from "Fashion Mode" to "Efficient Mode". See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Quite lightweight

Even though there is a plenty amount of design in Deepin OS, it is still quite light. If there is nothing running in the background, then it takes about 950 MB of ram. Also, Deepin OS keeps becoming lighter on each release. See More
JM80
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Based on Debian

It is based on Debian which is the best Linux distribution for desktops. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Supports Flatpak

Deepin OS supports Flatpak. It also has some Flatpak programs installed by default. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Includes a lot of packages in the official repository

The official repository of deepin OS includes over 73,000 packages. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Blur and transparent design

Deepin has a blur and transparent design throughout the OS, which makes it one of the, if not the, most beautiful Linux distro. See More
Rūdis
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Includes both Windows and macOS style interface

See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Great support for graphics cards

Deepin OS includes a program called "Deepin Graphics Driver Manager" which can easily install a good driver for the graphics card. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Automatically cleans package cache

Deepin automatically cleans package cache. Cleaning package cache is a good thing as it will make the OS much faster and lighter. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro
•••

Network Managment

Deepin has the facilities to create VLAN and other configuration like Wifi Hostpot on their GUI. See More
Siamsami Ratul
Top Pro
•••

Gives warning messages when upgrading packages using apt

Deepin uses their own modified version of apt. When there is a distribution upgrade available and if we try to upgrade by running "sudo apt upgrade", then this modified version of apt gives this warning message, "DDE programs will work abnormally if run this command. Run sudo apt dist-upgrade or sudo apt full-upgrade instead." See More
Monika
ConsiderateTepoztecatl
Top Pro
•••

Seamless transition from Windows to Linux

Easy to install, comes with default packages to typical needs e.g. Chrome, WPS office, System Monitor and a bunch of multimedia utilities. It's easy to install and uninstall applications, it has a great app store and is fast. On the same laptop runs much faster than Windows 10 did. See More
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--

feren OS

My Recommendation for feren OS

My Recommendation for feren OS

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1
Specs
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu>Linux Mint
Default Desktop Environment:KDE
Init-System:systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
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--

GeckoLinux

My Recommendation for GeckoLinux

My Recommendation for GeckoLinux

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2
Pros
1
Specs
damian101
Top Pro
•••

Rolling Release edition available

See More
Specs
Based On:SLS Linux>Slackware>SuSE>openSUSE
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63

Zorin

My Recommendation for Zorin

My Recommendation for Zorin

All
18
Experiences
1
Pros
12
Cons
4
Specs
gilch
Top Pro
•••

Familiar interface

The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows, but alternative settings are available. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top 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. See More
SupportiveEnten
SupportiveEnten's Experience
Super easy to setup. Zorin connect is amazing for getting your android phone communicating with your computer like IOS. Great design and easy to setup without having to do any workarounds. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS
Default Desktop Environment:Gnome (heavily customized)
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
See All Specs
thermoplastics
gilch
Top Pro
•••

Ubuntu-based

Zorin in compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software. See More
Monika
WhiteLilac
Aziz Rahaman
Top Con
•••

Lack of customization

The free edition is packed with buil- in features but it has limited customization options. See More
gilch
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
Monika
StudiousZaqar
Top Con
•••

Free editions not that well-supported

For beginners to get the best support, they are ultimately pushed from Trying (Free) to Buying. This is eerily similar to the historical "free" crippleware software from the pre-millennial DOS and Windows 3.1 OS's/GUI period.... You either had to buy that software to continue to use it (along with getting needed SW support/manual) or else that SW would just stop working after a certain defined period of time. See More
Belle
PersistentUkanomitama
Top Pro
•••

Very easy to use

See More
SiamSami
Top Con
•••

High resource usage

Zorin OS uses Gnome 3 desktop environment which is one of the, if not the, heaviest desktop environment. See More
gilch
Top Pro
•••

Partial Windows compatibility

Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games. See More
CompassionateToutatis
Endi Sukaj
PoisedAres
Top Pro
•••

Printer-ready

The settings app in Zorin supports many different kinds of printers and readies them out-of-the-box. See More
Jo Lux
Top Pro
•••

Windows desktop style

The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows 7, but alternative settings are available. See More
Jo Lux
Top Pro
•••

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More
ClassyNanaya
Top Pro
•••

Stable

See More
CompassionateToutatis
Top Pro
•••

Installer can set up dual boot

The installer is based upon the Ubuntu installer, supporting dual boot capabilities. See More
gilch
Top Pro
•••

Accessibility features

See More
Jo Lux
Top Pro
•••

Low resources consumption

See More
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--

KDE Neon

My Recommendation for KDE Neon

My Recommendation for KDE Neon

All
6
Pros
4
Cons
1
Specs
Alex Lowe
Top Pro
•••

Works out of the box

Since it's built on the strong Ubuntu base, KDE Neon works seamlessly with a huge variety of hardware. See More
Endi Sukaj
Andy Gait
Top Con
•••

Steep learning curve for beginners

It's a really sparse, bare-bones system, no automatic driver install for example. It can be quite hard for someone not used to Linux. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS
Default Desktop Environment:KDE
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:amd64
See All Specs
Alex Lowe
Top Pro
•••

Configurability

KDE Neon uses KDE as its desktop environment, which is highly configurable, but also has great defaults. See More
Andy Gait
Top Pro
•••

The best looking Linux OS

It really is a great and stunning looking OS. See More
Rūdis
IndependentIdunn
Top Pro
•••

Works well on low-end computers

See More
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--

Fedora

My Recommendation for Fedora

My Recommendation for Fedora

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27
Pros
13
Cons
13
Specs
Endi Sukaj
Top 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. See More
Endi Sukaj
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
Specs
Based On:Red Hat Linux
Default Desktop Environment:GNOME
Init-System:Systemd
Official Supported Architectures:ARMv7 (armhfp, arm-32), ARMv8 (aarch64, arm-64), x86_64, PPC64LE, MIPS-64el, MIPS-el, RISC-V (64-bit open source ISA), s390x
See All Specs
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Integration with GNOME

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

dnfdragora needs work

As the default package installer, this piece of software needs a lot more polish. It's not explicit in saying things are installed, more granularity in package selection is needed, and the ability to move columns around to see if you're installing the correct version. See More
Jonathan
Alexander Arutinyants
Top Pro
•••

Stable

Fedora is a very stable Linux-based OS, as the developers place a lot of value in quality engineering. See More
CredibleDogoda
Top Con
•••

Focused on binary release debian and worse at source build infrastructure

Arch provide simple and effective buildpkg script and it just works. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro
•••

Backed by the biggest Linux kernel contributor

Fedora is backed by RedHat, the 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
Monika
Travis Rigg
Top Con
•••

Bleeding Edge distribution probably not good for beginners

For this discussion, let's say there are two categories of the latest and greatest software. There's cutting edge, which is the newest software that's good enough for most people. Then there's bleeding edge, which is software that's still being developed and isn't quite ready for most people yet. Fedora is a development distribution, and is in the bleeding edge category. See More
Jonathan
Alexander Arutinyants
Top Pro
•••

Supported by a lot of software vendors

For any open source / proprietary software you want to use you will be able to find a RHEL/FEDORA compatible repository to use, which is really convenient. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Con
•••

Updating to 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