I'm considering switching back to Linux on my new laptop after using Fedora on my old HP laptop. Unfortunately, that laptop had some issues and I ended up selling it. I bought a used ThinkPad and installed Fedora with GNOME. However, I ran into major problems when I updated the software—apparently, it tried to downgrade the BIOS, which I couldn't fix. Thankfully, it was under warranty and I got a new ThinkPad, but now I'm nervous about switching to Linux again. I've been using Windows 11, but it's slow and crashes often. I'd appreciate recommendations for good distros and tips to avoid the mistakes I made with updates.
3 Answers
Check out the distro selection pages and perhaps try testing a few distros in a virtual machine before going all-in. That way, you minimize the risk of unexpected issues. And remember, always back up your data regularly and understand commands before you hit 'Enter'!
Consider getting an external M.2 NVMe drive to boot a Linux distro. This way, if something goes wrong with your internal drive, you can still access your system and have backups ready. But I get it, if you're tight on funds for extra hardware right now, just take precautions with your installations and backups first!
You might want to try CachyOS! I hear it's user-friendly. But regarding your update issue, it sounds pretty strange. Just take it easy and double-check what you're updating next time.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I appreciate the advice, but I can't afford another SSD or an external drive at the moment.