The ONLY thing that has given me trouble has been managing an array of external drives as a media server running on my main PC. I know that isn’t an ideal setup- but just saying.
Honestly, the most complicated part is getting the install media ready to go.
Once the installer starts, you’re just answering prompts like the local username and password you want, language and keyboard layout, and time zone, and it does the rest on its own.
Then the computer reboots, and you end up on the desktop of a fully usable computer. Most distros will have a one-time popup welcoming you and maybe leading you to some Flatpak “store” where you can search for free apps to install.
IMO the most complicated prompt would be for the partitions scheme and the filesystem but if you don’t do anything special you could simply accept the default settings.
Remember to do this on a machine you don’t care about, or are prepared for Windows to no longer work. Windows doesn’t play nice with other operating systems.
One could try a Live version for the distros that have that feature. For those unaware, the Live version is merely the bootable cd image (or USB image). Does no harm to the underlying OS. If you like it you can then install it.
Edit to add: If you use bitlocker (copy your keys), it can have hooks in the TPM/bios settings as well. Disable bitlocker prior to attempting a live boot.
Beware of BitLocker though - I had no idea it was enabled on my wife’s windows tablet and when I came back from a Linux live image her windows drive was locked. The keys were not in her Microsoft account and we couldn’t find them anywhere else so I ended up having to erase the device. Luckily she didn’t use it for much but find and copy your keys before attempting a live Linux boot.
Good to know and thanks for mentioning it, but it is odd that this happens if nothing is done to the host’s hardware. Did you ever discover the why of it?
find and copy your keys
A good piece of advice regardless of what one is doing. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that keys weren’t found in someone’s account.
Edit to add: It appears bitlocker has hooks in the TPM/bios settings as well. Disable bitlocker prior to attempting a live boot.
Windows generally works fine alongside Linux, but then randomly one day you could log on and it boots straight into Windows and to fix it you need to learn the “fun” task of fixing your system with arch-chroot.
If Windows overwrites your EFI partition then you won’t be able to boot into grub. It absolutely happens, I’ve had it happen with my main computer within the past year.
It technically shouldn’t happen unless you don’t create a separate EFI partition for your Linux install.
It is generally recommended that you create a separate EFI partition for Linux specifically so that windows cannot mess with your Linux install when it updates.
I could see a bios update having some affect though.
People have given you good resources, so I’ll just speak to the second part: I switched a few months ago, and it has been surprisingly easy. I’m just… doing normal computer things like I used to on windows. Even gaming.
After booting, test WiFi, BT and audio functionality.
This is an important step. One time I boldly just installed without testing anything in the live session, and discovered that HDMI and Ethernet didn’t work. Woops.
Yeah, display port worked fine. It was when I plugged the second monitor in to HDMI I realized the problem. And then couldn’t get online to search for issues.
I had to tether the desktop to my phone over USB to get a network connection.
I later installed pop!_os , tested all that stuff, and it worked out of the box.
Yeah, everyone seems to use Balena. They had some controversy a while back. I don’t remember what it was, just that I found an alternative. FMW has the benefit of drop-down for official distros and it’s available on all platforms (unlike Rufus).
Balena started collecting telemetry without disclosing it to anyone, reportedly including information about what images you were flashing. Apart from a general distaste for unconsensual telemetry, I think people were concerned the data could be used for things like helping to de-anonymize TAILS users.
It’s pretty much just like installing Windows, except minus the parts where they force you to create a Microsoft account and badger you to accept spying and such.
I’m super not tech savvy and I had zero problems installing Mint recently. There’s instructions online for getting the install media set up (I used a flash drive), and once you have that it’s just following an install wizard really. The hardest part is backing up everything important before you switch.
Choices which don’t matter nearly as much as people like to pretend they do, no less.
If you’re having trouble deciding, just pick a popular (general-purpose) distro at random. Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Mint, Bazzite, even Arch – whatever, it’ll be fine, don’t worry 'bout it.
If you want the absolute easiest install possible, don’t need to dual boot, and don’t care to do a ton of gaming, Linux Mint is, in my opinion, honestly easier than installing windows. The most confusing part is typically the partition manager, but Mint has an Easy option that handles that for you as long as you’re okay with wiping your drive and starting fresh. Otherwise you’ll need to read up a bit on the partition manager on order to dual boot, but that’s the only difficult part.
Download Ventoy, use that to put the Mint installer on a thumb drive, and follow the instructions on booting to USB for your motherboard. From there it walks you through everything.
*Edit: if gaming is important, bazzite is almost as easy…
I think it’s been a year or so now since Microsoft updated Windows to be incompatible with dual boot from the same drive. When Windows boots up, it nukes grub if it’s on the same drive as your windows install. Every time.
If you want to dual boot, you basically need separate drives now. So stupid…
Yes it’s fairly simple to do, essentially the user needs to download an image of a Linux install disc, flash it onto a USB stick (or a Dvd I guess), and then reboot their PC. They may need to press a key at boot to open the boot menu and select the USB (or the bios to change the boot order).
After that, most distros offer a very easy to follow installer which will install the new OS.
Most Linux installs can be done alongside windows (on the same hard drive or it’s own drive) but windows tends to break the boot loader with updates. It’s gernallt better to only dual boot if you’re good at fixing things - otherwise a full Linux install is better.
The most inportant thing is back up all your important data, and only do this if you genuinely want to leave windows. I’d make sure your windows license is digital before doing this too as that allows using windows again if you want to go back.
I’d say anyone can use Linux, it’s user friendly and robust. In terms of installing Linux, I’d only do it if you are sure you know what you’re doing - installing any OS - including windows - can involved trouble shooting problems.
I have a PC that was originally built as a hackintosh, so if I just pull the main Windows drive and install a new SSD in it’s place, and boot to an installer USB, it should work, yeah?
Am ready to try Bazzite as I only game on the PC at this point and my OS (Win10 Pro) is constantly nagging me to update the hardware as my current kit doesn’t have the TPM 2.0 that the newer OS needs…
My experience was pretty simple. But you will have to make some decisions.
If you just want to blanket install Linux over whatever you run currently (and wipe out windows or whatever), that’s honestly the easiest way in my opinion.
You don’t need things like gparted or other utilities to partition drives or anything. You burn a bootable USB stick with the Linux distro of your choice, go into bios and select it as the boot media, and go through the prompts to install once it boots.
This has been my experience with bazzite on both a handheld and an older windows desktop PC.
There are so many helpful guides out there.
Your use case will determine a lot of things. If you just need a PC for media watching and web surfing, out of the box, simple immutable Linux distros will likely give you what you want.
If your needs are more complex (video/photo editing, sound production, CAD, or something) you’ll need to research what distro fits your needs.
You may just want to head to YouTube and look for a really dry video instructions. When I first got started on Linux like 15 years ago, videos were a lot less intimidating to me
I’d YouTube installing Ubuntu and use the YouTube filter option set to like 1 month. There’s constantly new videos for intro to Linux YouTube. I say Ubuntu because it’s a part of the most common family of popular Linux distributions
This basic tutorial explains the steps to installing a Linux distro (Ubuntu is recommended as it is easy) in detail, and plain language. Read it several times, until you feel comfortable. Ubuntu is the distro I started with, as drivers are easy to deal with and can be installed during the installation process without fuss (unlike some distros, side-eyes Fedora with slanderous intent).
One detail, Balena Etcher is the application this author refers to when mentioning “Etcher” Installing Ubuntu
I’ve migrated not too long ago from Win10 to Kubuntu which is very Windows-like, and the adaptation was quite easy.
However, I have to ask: Are you comfortable typing commands on a terminal or editing configuration files? I ask because while it’s gotten much easier to use Linux with just a graphical interface you’ll still bump into some annoyances here and there where you’ll Google how to fix and it will often tell you to ‘run command x in the terminal’
Are there instructions for the laymen? How difficult is it to install and actually use it?
The ONLY thing that has given me trouble has been managing an array of external drives as a media server running on my main PC. I know that isn’t an ideal setup- but just saying.
Honestly, the most complicated part is getting the install media ready to go.
Once the installer starts, you’re just answering prompts like the local username and password you want, language and keyboard layout, and time zone, and it does the rest on its own.
Then the computer reboots, and you end up on the desktop of a fully usable computer. Most distros will have a one-time popup welcoming you and maybe leading you to some Flatpak “store” where you can search for free apps to install.
IMO the most complicated prompt would be for the partitions scheme and the filesystem but if you don’t do anything special you could simply accept the default settings.
Remember to do this on a machine you don’t care about, or are prepared for Windows to no longer work. Windows doesn’t play nice with other operating systems.
https://bazzite.gg/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/you-can-try-linux-without-ditching-windows-first-heres-how/
Play with this first if you want
https://distrosea.com/
One could try a Live version for the distros that have that feature. For those unaware, the Live version is merely the bootable cd image (or USB image). Does no harm to the underlying OS. If you like it you can then install it.
Edit to add: If you use bitlocker (copy your keys), it can have hooks in the TPM/bios settings as well. Disable bitlocker prior to attempting a live boot.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=9145
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=430251
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/bitlocker-and-tpm-blocks-the-hard-disk-after-booting-from-usb-and-pressing-try-ubuntu/57833/17
Beware of BitLocker though - I had no idea it was enabled on my wife’s windows tablet and when I came back from a Linux live image her windows drive was locked. The keys were not in her Microsoft account and we couldn’t find them anywhere else so I ended up having to erase the device. Luckily she didn’t use it for much but find and copy your keys before attempting a live Linux boot.
Good to know and thanks for mentioning it, but it is odd that this happens if nothing is done to the host’s hardware. Did you ever discover the why of it?
A good piece of advice regardless of what one is doing. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that keys weren’t found in someone’s account.
Edit to add: It appears bitlocker has hooks in the TPM/bios settings as well. Disable bitlocker prior to attempting a live boot.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=9145
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=430251
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/bitlocker-and-tpm-blocks-the-hard-disk-after-booting-from-usb-and-pressing-try-ubuntu/57833/17
You act like the everyday user knows how to boot from alternate sources.
BIOS/UEFI/Secure Boot anyone?
Edit: I’ve been running Linux since 2011, but I’m not an average everyday user.
Doing one you actually use helps you commit
But always back up data or swap ssds
Or go all in!
Yeah. Get a new ssd for the install is a good idea
Windows generally works fine alongside Linux, but then randomly one day you could log on and it boots straight into Windows and to fix it you need to learn the “fun” task of fixing your system with arch-chroot.
That will never happen if the default boot is into GRUB
If Windows overwrites your EFI partition then you won’t be able to boot into grub. It absolutely happens, I’ve had it happen with my main computer within the past year.
It technically shouldn’t happen unless you don’t create a separate EFI partition for your Linux install.
It is generally recommended that you create a separate EFI partition for Linux specifically so that windows cannot mess with your Linux install when it updates.
I could see a bios update having some affect though.
People have given you good resources, so I’ll just speak to the second part: I switched a few months ago, and it has been surprisingly easy. I’m just… doing normal computer things like I used to on windows. Even gaming.
The end.
You need to backup any data you want to keep to another drive before installing.
Make sure there’s nothing important on the flash drive too. Writing the iso will erase everything on it.
This is an important step. One time I boldly just installed without testing anything in the live session, and discovered that HDMI and Ethernet didn’t work. Woops.
Yikes. Did you at least have a working display port or something?
Yeah, display port worked fine. It was when I plugged the second monitor in to HDMI I realized the problem. And then couldn’t get online to search for issues.
I had to tether the desktop to my phone over USB to get a network connection.
I later installed pop!_os , tested all that stuff, and it worked out of the box.
I’ve been using Balena Etcher, but now I have an alternative, thanks!
Yeah, everyone seems to use Balena. They had some controversy a while back. I don’t remember what it was, just that I found an alternative. FMW has the benefit of drop-down for official distros and it’s available on all platforms (unlike Rufus).
Balena started collecting telemetry without disclosing it to anyone, reportedly including information about what images you were flashing. Apart from a general distaste for unconsensual telemetry, I think people were concerned the data could be used for things like helping to de-anonymize TAILS users.
Easier than windows. Most people don’t actually install that, though. It’s just there when they buy their computer.
It’s pretty much just like installing Windows, except minus the parts where they force you to create a Microsoft account and badger you to accept spying and such.
It’s often easier than installing Windows with certain distros.
Much easier and faster than a windows install
I’m super not tech savvy and I had zero problems installing Mint recently. There’s instructions online for getting the install media set up (I used a flash drive), and once you have that it’s just following an install wizard really. The hardest part is backing up everything important before you switch.
It Is really easy. The only issues are related to hardware compatibility, especially with laptops. But most of them should be fine
Not especially hard, depending on your choice. But the choices tho
https://distrowatch.com/
I use a variety of distros depending on my situation, but I’d easily recommend Mint to anyone wanting to dip their toes in.
Choices which don’t matter nearly as much as people like to pretend they do, no less.
If you’re having trouble deciding, just pick a popular (general-purpose) distro at random. Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Mint, Bazzite, even Arch – whatever, it’ll be fine, don’t worry 'bout it.
If you want the absolute easiest install possible, don’t need to dual boot, and don’t care to do a ton of gaming, Linux Mint is, in my opinion, honestly easier than installing windows. The most confusing part is typically the partition manager, but Mint has an Easy option that handles that for you as long as you’re okay with wiping your drive and starting fresh. Otherwise you’ll need to read up a bit on the partition manager on order to dual boot, but that’s the only difficult part.
Download Ventoy, use that to put the Mint installer on a thumb drive, and follow the instructions on booting to USB for your motherboard. From there it walks you through everything.
*Edit: if gaming is important, bazzite is almost as easy…
I think it’s been a year or so now since Microsoft updated Windows to be incompatible with dual boot from the same drive. When Windows boots up, it nukes grub if it’s on the same drive as your windows install. Every time.
If you want to dual boot, you basically need separate drives now. So stupid…
How very Microsoft of them! All the more reason to scrub it I guess
Yes it’s fairly simple to do, essentially the user needs to download an image of a Linux install disc, flash it onto a USB stick (or a Dvd I guess), and then reboot their PC. They may need to press a key at boot to open the boot menu and select the USB (or the bios to change the boot order).
After that, most distros offer a very easy to follow installer which will install the new OS.
Most Linux installs can be done alongside windows (on the same hard drive or it’s own drive) but windows tends to break the boot loader with updates. It’s gernallt better to only dual boot if you’re good at fixing things - otherwise a full Linux install is better.
The most inportant thing is back up all your important data, and only do this if you genuinely want to leave windows. I’d make sure your windows license is digital before doing this too as that allows using windows again if you want to go back.
I’d say anyone can use Linux, it’s user friendly and robust. In terms of installing Linux, I’d only do it if you are sure you know what you’re doing - installing any OS - including windows - can involved trouble shooting problems.
I want to add that often installing Linux is easier than Windows
I have a PC that was originally built as a hackintosh, so if I just pull the main Windows drive and install a new SSD in it’s place, and boot to an installer USB, it should work, yeah?
Am ready to try Bazzite as I only game on the PC at this point and my OS (Win10 Pro) is constantly nagging me to update the hardware as my current kit doesn’t have the TPM 2.0 that the newer OS needs…
If you avoid complications like trying to dual boot or to use weird distros, it shouldn’t be hard.
My experience was pretty simple. But you will have to make some decisions.
If you just want to blanket install Linux over whatever you run currently (and wipe out windows or whatever), that’s honestly the easiest way in my opinion.
You don’t need things like gparted or other utilities to partition drives or anything. You burn a bootable USB stick with the Linux distro of your choice, go into bios and select it as the boot media, and go through the prompts to install once it boots.
This has been my experience with bazzite on both a handheld and an older windows desktop PC.
There are so many helpful guides out there.
Your use case will determine a lot of things. If you just need a PC for media watching and web surfing, out of the box, simple immutable Linux distros will likely give you what you want.
If your needs are more complex (video/photo editing, sound production, CAD, or something) you’ll need to research what distro fits your needs.
Not any more difficult than doing a fresh Windows install.
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
The verification stuff is a pain downloading files and programs, but you’ll get through it.
You may just want to head to YouTube and look for a really dry video instructions. When I first got started on Linux like 15 years ago, videos were a lot less intimidating to me
I’d YouTube installing Ubuntu and use the YouTube filter option set to like 1 month. There’s constantly new videos for intro to Linux YouTube. I say Ubuntu because it’s a part of the most common family of popular Linux distributions
This basic tutorial explains the steps to installing a Linux distro (Ubuntu is recommended as it is easy) in detail, and plain language. Read it several times, until you feel comfortable. Ubuntu is the distro I started with, as drivers are easy to deal with and can be installed during the installation process without fuss (unlike some distros, side-eyes Fedora with slanderous intent).
One detail, Balena Etcher is the application this author refers to when mentioning “Etcher” Installing Ubuntu
Edit, I forgot to include the New User Guide, based on category!
I’ve migrated not too long ago from Win10 to Kubuntu which is very Windows-like, and the adaptation was quite easy.
However, I have to ask: Are you comfortable typing commands on a terminal or editing configuration files? I ask because while it’s gotten much easier to use Linux with just a graphical interface you’ll still bump into some annoyances here and there where you’ll Google how to fix and it will often tell you to ‘run command x in the terminal’
FWIW that’s the same as Windows.