Hello everybody, I’m here again because I got a new Asus Tuf a16 and I can’t stand anymore Windows. Since I switched to linux Windows feels like a disease and I don’t want to see it or use it. This laptop has a i7 13000 and an rtx 4050. Which distro should I use? I would like to try Pop Os, I have Mint on other machines. Thank you again because this community has helped me so many times before.
Pop_OS is great, but avoid the new COSMIC beta release, which is very buggy. If you opt for it, go with the GNOME-based 22 release.
Linux Mint is also one of the most friendly and approachable linux distros. It’s default desktop, Cinnamon, is very much inspired by older Windows versions. I loathe Cinnamon, but masses of people love it. I will admit that it is one of the easiest places to get started with Linux.
If you want something more sophisticated than Mint, look at distros that include KDE Plasma desktop. It feels very familiar for Windows users, but still offers a lot of customization. Fedora KDE, OpenSUSE, and CachyOS are excellent choices. Fedora is my pick but OpenSUSE is a great alternative if you want something without corporate ties, and Cachy is more optimized for gaming, but slightly more complicated to use since it’s based on Arch.
If your machine is going to be used almost exclusively for gaming, there is no reason to look at anything other than Bazzite. It’s simple, “just works”, is preconfigured for gaming, familiar, and very difficult to break.
And as always, stay far away from anything Ubuntu/Canonical.
What distro should I use?
This always feels like a loaded question. I don’t believe there is a one choice that is “right.”
After distro hopping and trying many, I have come to a few realizations for myself.
There are a few factors to consider:
- What Desktop Environment (if any…): KDE, GNOME, XFCE, Cosmic, etc (this gets a bit more complicated depending on if you don’t want a desktop environment. You could just go CLI or with just a Window Manager like Hyprland, Sway, i3, or others I’m unfamiliar with.)
- What package manager are you comfortable with? And what style of package management do you want? Do you want older but tested and more stable? Do you want bleeding edge?
- Is systemd a deal breaker for you?
Really what I am getting at, you don’t know what you don’t know. So test out many! You can do this in a Virtual Machine with Virtualbox on Windows before switching.
Bazzite rocks, especially for gaming. I started with Ubuntu, did arch for a while (which was a great learning experience), and have been on bazzite for years now.
Pop and mint seem like great choices too if plug-and-play gaming isn’t your main focus.
I would like something in between, so I think maybe Pop could be a good choise. BTW I’m installing Bazzyte on another PC. Thank you for your reply.
I would like something in between…BTW I’m installing Bazzyte on another PC.
If you’re somewhat familiar with uBlue, Bazzite, and immutables, I’d go with Bluefin (Gnome) or Aurora (KDE). All three are uBlue / based off Fedora, so you don’t have to learn a 2nd OS while working on your current OS (Bazzite).
EndeavourOS is really good. Arch-based but easy to maintain. You’ll never have to do a major release upgrade. The only issue is to keep it updated, make sure to do little updates weekly. They have a great community and it’s a wonderful OS.
ZorinOS, better than standard Ubuntu and more modern looking than Mint.
If u want to go Arch > Garuda or Cachy. Endeavour if u are one of the “its bloat” whishy washy purists.
Haven’t tried Cachy, but can vouch for Garuda being stable and easy.
Cachy has the Garuda mindset. Make Arch user friendly. I run it on a thinkpad and haven’t had any issues. It also has snapshots enabled like garuda, so if anything does break then rolling back is easy peasy. Great distro to try out!
Whatever you land on, I hope you enjoy it.
Gaming laptops are the best.
I’m using Pop! OS 22.04, I’m happy with it. It’s a good distro for gaming, BUT… lately there have been a lot of issues with the NVIDIA driver, and the Linux 6.16 kernel. I only recommend it if you’re comfortable troubleshooting, using the TTY, and doing other stuff before giving up and deleting your whole drive. 😅
Fedora.
