this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
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Question from a total beginner (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
31 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hello everyone

You probably heard and answered this a hundred times already but I'm a bit overwhelmed by everything when I start searching by myself online. Even more so when I'm not fully sure what I'm even looking for.

I want to switch to Linux but I don't really know where to start and also I'm a bit scared to abandon Windows which I have been using for 20+ years now. Could you recommend me sources for absolute beginners (English or German) and/or give me tips and pointers?

Edit:

Thank you all for your help!

I got it working with a dual-boot from a USB and it's way easier than I feared. Next step is to get an external drive and get serious.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)
  • Do you have a spare computer? If yes, install Linux on it. Don't touch your main PC for the moment. If not try Linux in a virtual machine (you can search about that).
  • What version of Linux? There are plenty choice. I would suggest Linux Mint, because... it's the one I am using (50+ years old, not a geek that switched after 35+ years only using Apple ;) and it works really well out of the box (heck everything was configured without anything to do on my part, even my Airpods that I never managed to get to work on other distributions).
  • Don't try to learn everything at once. In the end it's just a computer that do computer stuff only with a lot more freedom and respect for the user, aka us. What do you use your Windows computer for the most? Do the same thing under Linux and see how well it goes. But...
  • Be ok with the fact that you will need to change habits. Apps may be different, menus maybe differents, and also Linux is not a copy of Windows (or macOS), it's its own thing. Habits are hard-wired into our brain and can be very difficult to change, like really. It's not Linux's fault. It's not even a fault, that's how human brain works.

Edit (I forgot the most important!): Hi and welcome ;)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

  1. No, just this one.

  2. You're the second one to recommend Mint so I think I start with that one.

  3. I use it for gaming most of the time.

  4. Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm a bit scared.

Thank you :) I think I feel a bit more comfortable now.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I also recomend mint as a first distro and it's the one I started with.

For gaming, most games I play run perfectly fine under steam's proton.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm number four to recommend Mint, then. Definitely a great choice for beginners. I'd also recommend starting with a virtual machine. Nuking your Windows installation without a fallback is not a good idea.

[–] Jumuta 1 points 17 hours ago

five

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I use it for gaming most of the time.

I don't game much myself but the first thing I would is check if the games I like to play run on Linux.
Also, I have no idea how realistic it is to play in a virtual machine? Maybe you will have to install Linux alongside Windows in a dual boot configuration not as a virtual machine (you can search info about 'dual booting'), but not before you have made a backup of all your data on the Windows installation (worth searching more info about that too)

Thank you :) I think I feel a bit more comfortable now.

You're welcome.

It will feel uncomfortable for a while, that's the point, but as long as you're ok to accept that it's unavoidable nut normal and that it should not last that long you should be ok ;)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Almost all of my games are on Steam and from what I've read most of them work fine on Linux.

I think I'll take the leap and switch, after I backup my Windows of course.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

after I backup my Windows of course.

Your data, sorry to insist but Windows itself should be easy to download and to reinstall. Your personal files (photos, texts, passwords, and so on aka your data) not so much. Once they're gone you can't download a new copy. Installing Linux should go fine but there is always a real risk something goes wrong, even more so as a complete beginner.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 hours ago

That's what I meant, just worded it badly.