linuxmemes

Well, most people don't have spare computers at home, so they do actually need to decide. It also means that they can't easily try out different operating systems, so even when they're unhappy with their current OS, they'll rarely inform themselves about alternatives.

Fuck it man, I'll take it, you can still spin that up with Linux and run a bunch of microservices on it. Not a great form factor for a server, but guess what, if these China tariffs take off, you're gonna be so glad you have a 10 year old machine to have around for extra compute power, since buying new compute will be obscenely costly. (Assuming you're in the USA of course, if you're in Europe you'll be fine)

Install Linux if you still want use your old computer

Whatever you pick, first test it by running it from a USB drive first.

First step: Decide on the so-called desktop environment. A shortlist is provided below. For a new user, this should be decisive when choosing between beginner-friendly distros.

Before going over to the next (and final) step, we need to set the stage for our contenders:

• Versions of Linux Mint. Linux Mint has (rightfully so) become the face of Linux for beginners. Stand out feature would be how crazy popular it is; it's a joy to look up your problem through a search engine and find solutions for it.
• Images of uBlue. Where Linux Mint tries to smooth the rough edges of the "traditional Linux model" as nicely as possible, uBlue's images can be referred to as revolutionary by comparison. The model strikes some (re)semblance to what you might know from your phone or chromebook. These images aren't even close to reaching their full potential, but have already garnered/amassed a wide audience for how they (at least attempt to) solve some of Desktop Linux' long-standing issues. Note that finding solutions for your problems might not be as straightforward. However, documentation is decent and they've been very helpful on Discord.

Final step: Pick the distro corresponding to your preferred desktop environment. The list found below (ordered alphabetically) isn't trying to be exhaustive on desktop environments.

• Cinnamon; Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition. This is their flagship and probably what people mean when referring to Linux Mint.
• GNOME; Bazzite's GNOME. If you don't intend to game, then consider Bluefin instead.
• KDE Plasma; Bazzite's KDE Plasma. If you don't intend to game, then consider Aurora instead.
• MATE; Linux Mint MATE Edition.
• Xfce; Linux Mint Xfce Edition.

RIP your inbox lol. Like others have said though whatever you choose test it out booting off a USB first, fwiw I'd vote try FedoraKDE, but more importantly I'll add this:

Whatever you choose it will be different and it will be an adjustment in some capacity, and that's ok! And don't be scared of the terminal, always keep back ups just in case but you really can't fuck up tooooo bad unless you're using sudo and then just be real careful. Watch a few youtube videos on something like "linux terminal basics" or "bash basics" and follow along like you're taking a class, it'll really help you get familiar with it. It's a great thing to know how to use, these days if I know how to do it through the terminal I usually will instead of puttering through a gui honestly.

I switched from Win10 to Mint, and am quite happy. You can get a lot of stuff done through GUI, so you can put off learning how to use the terminal a little. If you are worried about using it, I can recommend using ChatGPT. Helped me troubleshoot a lot of issues and learning a few tricks.