Hello all,
I would like to transition my GF to linux.
To make the switch easy I’ll go for Ubuntu, but what would be the most windows-like desktop ?
Thank you!
Edit : thank you everyone, I’ll go with Mint instead then 👍 Thanks for the help!
KDE plasma and cinnamon
I’d give her Linux Mint with Cinnamon/MATE instead.
KDE in my opinion but it require more resources than others like Gnome
That’s not true at all. KDE is comparable to XFCE in terms of performance.
Where is that info coming from? To my experience Plasma is even lighter than GNOME, or just a tiny bit more resource hungry than something truly lightweight like XFCE. It doesnt really need powerful computer.
Yeah on modern hardware, resource usage by the DE is negligable compared to what some applications use (for example web browsers, or chromium based apps).
300MB of RAM vs 400MB don’t make any difference on even fairly old systems. It might make difference if you try to squeeze your modern Linux distro on 512MB. In that case you might want to just use a window manager and distro with no systemd, something truly minimal like Apline. If we’re talking 4 gigs+, the desktop won’t make much difference anyway. On very old computers modern web browsers will always suck no matter the OS.
Agreed. I use older computers a lot and even use a 2008 machine for hours a day because I like the screen and I like where it is in the house.
I can say that with 8 GB of RAM or more, even older CPUs are quite usable for me. Less than about 6 GB and even basic web browsing is going I get fairly painful.
KDE used to be quite heavy. I am quite surprised how light it is these days.
Or maybe it just stayed the same while everything else got heavier.
Out of the box, KDE has the most similar look and feel as Windows. That said, I do believe Linux Mint has Windows themed DEs that go one step further
Depends on Windows version I guess.
Win XP: XFCE
Win 7: Cinnamon
Win 10/11: KDE
Though you might choose Zorin OS, Ubuntu-based and looks like Windows out of the box.
I have an XFCE box that I dressed up as XP. Honestly, if it had the XP calculator, I would get confused sometimes.
My dad also made the switch to mint cinnamon about 3 years ago and I only had to fix things once for him (which was something in partitioning/fstab he or the installer messed up), he has successfully updated and maintained the system for 3 major releases yet and is even happier with Linux on his home laptop than with windows on his work laptop
Edit: he’s not really tech savvy or something, he’s a teacher by profession
Check this distro in a VM first https://www.linuxfx.org
Not linuxfx, it’s a joke
It looks like a joke, but it’s actually scaring
Why scaring?
Cause it offers onedrive too. With latest wine it could replicate and replace win for real
As others have said, Linux Mint would likely be the better option.
That being said, does she want this or are you pushing it on her? If you’re driving this transition, stop and think. Every time she has a computer problem or is frustrated, because she can’t find how to do something she used to be able to do, or some software isn’t supported… it’s now you’re fault and you need to fix it. Even if you fix it, needing that help is still frustrating.
Unless she is driving this, it sounds like a recipe for disaster. And I’d she is driving the change, she should be the one to do the stuff and you can just be there for support and questions if/when she asks. That’s how she can learn vs just having it done for her.
Can confirm. I persuaded my wife to switch to Linux some 10 years ago. She’s still using Linux to this day, but I’ve been her tech support for all these years. On the bright side, I’ve become very good at troubleshooting
it’s now you’re fault and you need to fix it. Even if you fix it, needing that help is still frustrating.
written from experience, i assume 😅
That’s some good sense advice indeed, thank you.
I will think it through
Linux mint would be the best for windows user
KDE is more similar to windows, Gnome is maybe closer to MacOS.
But generally, KDE felt always a bit “super user” to me, and I found the amount of customizability and features more overwhelming than useful. Gnome is simple, clean, and I prefer it for that reason.
Go Kubuntu if you want Ubuntu and Windows-like. Otherwise, Mint is a solid choice for a Windows user too, I believe Mate and Cinnamon both are very similar UI to Windows. Sadly Mint only does LTS versions now, but maybe that’s for the best if your GF isn’t super into tech?
You can install the 6.2 kernel on mint through the upgrade manager gui. It’s just a couple of clicks.
On the other hand Mint has a reputation for “just works” because the defaults are indeed LTS
I’de rather go with Linux Mint Cinnamon or Nobara with their custom GNOME DE
I’d use mint instead
If you want her hooked; make it better (not like). You’re taking away Adobe, Office, Games, Topaz and other proprietary software, and you want to make it ‘like’ windows to boot? Outside of conspiracy theories about privacy and stuff, and people expecting an OS to run smooth at minimum specs; there isn’t much reason to use Linux over Windows, besides dynamic tiling window managers. I’d think you were an idiot if I were her, and you gave me the popular response here.
Glad you’re not her then 👍
Dont worry you don’t need any special compression. JPEG opens up fine in linux too.
Well cinnamon and plasma are good options, those de are widely available. Zorin os was a quick select option that lets you go from windows 7 to windows 10 to mac with a wimple click.
