Linux

I think my biggest tip is to manage your expectations. What you are attempting is not the same as simply moving to a new version of Windows -- literally everything will be different. You've spent a lifetime learning how to perform all these tasks until they became second-nature, but now you plan to move to a whole new system. Thing will be in different places, the way you tweak settings or access content will be different, and it's going to be very frustrating because hey, this task should be easy. Don't expect to cram all those years of experience into re-learning a new system in a few weeks.

The good news is that there's a huge support community, and just about anything you want to do has already been asked and can be found through a quick search. Stick with it, and you'll discover that linux actually gives you quite a lot more control over what you can do with your hardware (not to mention nearly all the software is free). It won't be long before you're asking how you ever survived without many of these tools.

Linux mint is in my opinion the best distro for a new user, but you may personally not be fond of the UI.

I don't know how to write a guide for you, but if you have more specific questions feel free to ask them, best of luck!

Most people just use a browser these days, and they behave the same in every OS.

Steam has proton to run non native games on Linux, and works well enough for most things.

Try a few live images before making the switch.

I'd say don't over think it. Just pick a distribution and try to stick with it. The vast choices is also a curse for newcomers. It definitely delayed my journey by years going back to Windows.

Start with something well supported, I'd pick Mint.

Get games or whatever you use the computer for the most to work OK. Nvidia don't like Linux, pick AMD.

Be prepared to give up some old habits instead of forcing windows software on Linux. For example I had to give up Lightroom and as a photography hobbyist it was hard at first. Now I use Darktable and the switch back to Lightroom today seems equally hard.

So in short. Install a beginner friendly distro and get the most important stuff working and begin using the computer as much as possible.

Install Linux, get frustrated with it, reinstall windows and live with it - repeat for over a decade until you realise the last time you installed Linux you didn't get frustrated and have been using it for the past two years.

I've been using linux for over 30 years, from Linux from Scratch to Mint. Dont' pick a distro that makes you seem 1337 or anything. I must say, that for the not-so terminal-savvy user, linux Mint is a great pick, most stuff (if not all) can be done with the GUI, and the installer is a breeze.

Picking a distro is one thing, picking a desktop environment is, in my opinion, more important. With default Mint, you get Cinnamon, which is a great pick, a balance between saving resources and eye candy. You also have XFCE which is very light, but some integrations are lacking, and it's lightness shows in the basic appearance. Gnome is another beast, can almost look as slick as MacOS, but is very resource hungry. And then there's KDE. This is something your either love or hate, no inbetween.

And for every task you want to perform, you'll need to have a little selection process, since there's a lot of choices.

Steam works most of the time. I only know about NVidia cards, but with the right drivers (for which Mint has a nice tool) it works well.

As said, I've used a lot of different Linux flavours, from very hacky and compily ones to very UX oriented ones. In the end, the UX one did it for me, I just wanted something that worked. So I do recommend Mint with cinnamon.

My main tips are: get the live ISOs of a few of the most used Linux distributions, I'd recommend in particular: Debian (my current one), Mint, Fedora and OpenSUSE.

For Debian and Fedora, get both the KDE and GNOME editions. OpenSUSE is mainly only KDE, and Mint uses Cinnamon. Those are the "desktop types".

Try each live system on a virtual machine and see which one you like best. Your main choice tbh is the desktop environment you like the best (mine is KDE, also called Plasma), each distribution has it's own way of doing a few things as well.

Then pick the one you enjoy the most. All of those are long-lived, stable and well-supported and documented.

Source: me, I've used Linux since 2003 and introduced all my family it and they have been using it for years with no issue.

Be prepared to take a temporary hit in productivity as you learn. There will also be a degree of learning curve. Don't get discouraged. When you do, take the advice that someone else pointed out of having a dual boot system so you can switch back to Windows. This way you won't be tempted to nuke it and go back just to have a temporary break.

Good luck!

Step 1: Make a list of the software you use, and search online to see if they work on Linux.

Step 2: For the ones that don't work on Linux, find alternatives and use them for a few days.

Step 3: Download a linux distribution's iso into a pen drive, and boot from that. See how everything feels. (Don't install it yet.)

Step 4: Install a linux alongside your Windows (i.e. dual-booting).

Step 5: When you realise that you are no longer using Windows, you can think of removing it, particularly if you're short of disk space.

As for which distribution to use, I would suggest Linux Mint, but Pop OS and Ubuntu are also fairly beginner-friendly.

The biggest advice I can give is to start with something like, as has been mentioned, Linux Mint, but also, don't buy into the idea that you eventually need to move to a more "advanced" distro. If Mint, or wherever you wind up, works for you, and you have no compelling reason to switch, then don't. All Linux is Linux, so to speak, the only things that distinguish distros are packages/package managers, default settings/configurations, and pre-installed programs. There's nothing preventing you from eventually becoming a power-user on a "noob-friendly" distro, if that's something you desire in the first place.

I started using Linux with a dual-boot and always booted back into Windows because it worked better since I set it up right and was confortable with it. Only booting Linux and taking the time to understand how to do whatever I want to do finally made me comfortable enough to wipe that partition.

So my recommendation is don't be discouraged if things seem hard or annoying, it will definitely get better over time.

Chew

The best way to switch imo is to first to switch some of your currently installed app on windows with others that have a linux version, so you will not be entirely lost when you switch os.

For example Microsoft Office is not available on linux so maybe try libreoffice or onlyoffice, another example Photoshop doesn't have a linux version too.

Then maybe try to familiarize with the os on a vm or on a live usb, especially on a live usb so you know what works out of the box and with your hardware.

If you want to game look for you games on protondb if they work or not, for online games instead watch areweanticheatyeat to see if the anticheat work.

Last tip is to go with a know distro not something obscure like steamos or kali linux, they are not meant to be used as daily drivers especially kali and can give you problems that will not occurre in other distro!

I personally started on Linux Mint and after 6 months jumped to Artix. Mint is a very good base to learn and I recommend to just jump in and search everything you dont know how to do and eventually you will know enough to be comfortable using Mint.

You should dual boot windows and linux if you want to keep using the Oculus Rift because there is no chance to getting it working on linux.

In my opinion its better to first test out some distros in virtual box and use them for the tasks that you would usually use your computer for. I'd recommend trying out Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Debian, and Pop OS. These are solid distros that work.

Once you find a distro that you like, you should start dual booting it. I got a second drive for that, before eventually copying all the files I needed over to the second drive and wiping the first drive to be my main after a year. (you can still access your windows files this way without losing any storage to linux) (steam games do not work when on windows partitions so you'll still have to redownload games)

Please pick a rolling distro with KDE Plasma. I would recommend Endeavour OS.

A rolling distro is the most similar thing to keeping a Windows installation in terms of updates if you don't change the big version. You get constant updates, sure, but it's also really more compatible because software is not frozen until the next OS release.

In contrast, a standard release distro is more akin to macOS. You install the OS, but every X (6? 9? 12?) months, you must upgrade to the next big thing. This presents 2 problems IMHO: you have to wait that long for updates you might need, and the upgrade might break a lot of things.

And KDE is a Desktop Environment. This is the look and feel of the desktop. In my experience, I tried Gnome, Cinnamon, and XFCE, thinking they might be more aligned with the FOSS philosophy. Then I tried KDE because I bought a Steam Deck, and I immediatly loved it and haven't looked back. It's that good.

1. Install Linux Mint, whatever flavor you like the look of
2. Figure out how to install whatever you need
3. Enjoy!

Don't worry about customization, just figure out how to get your stuff installed and go from there. Once everything is working as you want, then try customizing.

You should probably try Linux Mint, or if you have an NVIDIA card, Pop!_OS

Learn by doing. Just make the switch and fix every problem you run into. Google is your friend.

Learn by doing is my best advice. Most distributions have a willing volunteer support team, but my personal favourite is Gentoo who has users that will spend hours walking newbies through pretty much anything as long as they're willing to meet them even partway.

It's a good way to learn a lot about Linux and how it works (and how to solve your own problems) but I'd recommend it mostly if you're the type that enjoys jumping in the deep end to learn!

My method was easy.

Completely removed and eradicated windows, and forced myself to adapt and learn Linux.

Used it for gaming and everything. No regrets.

There are a lot of "linux for beginners" blogs/videos/whatever. They're a good way to get an overview and learn the first steps. Don't get into a rabbit hole, though. Watch a couple and start trying it out.

You can try out Linux distros in a virtual machine (VM). You'll have to use your web-searching-skills to find a program that can run a VM as i can't recommend one that runs on Windows.

That program runs the operating system on top of the one you have now, so you don't need to reinstall over and over again while you find a distribution that works for you.

A distribution is what we call "a linux". "Linux" is just a part of the OS, and a distribution combines it with other software to make something your computer can boot. If this is a bit confusing, don't worry, it's not important, you just have to remember the word "distribution" (or distro)

I use a distro called Fedora, but between that and Ubuntu and Linux Mint you should find one that works for you. Don't overthink it. They all do the same job in slightly different ways, so just pick one and start using it for the stuff you usually use your computer for. Ubuntu is the easiest to search for help for, and Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, so 99.9% of solutions will be the same for Mint. Distros not based on Ubuntu works with the same instructions 90% of the time, but that might be too annoying when you are justvgetting your feet wet.

Note that a lot of distros have multiple "editions", "spins" or whatever they decided to call it. They mostly differ in the way your "desktop" is presented. Just look at some Youtube videos and some screenshot and try them out.

Now go use your computer with Linux. A lot of the initial friction is from having to learn stuff over again. Search the web for solutions and if you don't find them ask for help.

Your distrobution's forums are usually a good place to start, so is places like this. Try to give information you think might be relevant when asking for help and and help people help you by following their instructions and providing the information they ask for. Finding solutions to problems is like a seperate skill you need to train, so if it's confusing or you feel dumb for not understanding something, don't get discouraged, you're just getting better.

Welcome to the Linix community, we hope you like it.

Scan through some YouTube videos of each of these recommended distros and see which one you like the look of best; They are all good recommendations.

I'd like to throw Zorin in the pot, I use it on all my devices (and servers) since it's just smooth and works without fuss or tinkering. There's a Gnome version and an XFCE version, both are very nice. XFCE is a little lighter in weight of course, which you may like or need.