I'm a Windows user planning to switch to Linux completely, and although I've tinkered with it a bit, I'm still a newbie. I'm looking for a setup that I can navigate mainly with the keyboard, has a clean and simple appearance reminiscent of older interfaces, and avoids excessive rounded corners or animations. Additionally, I don't want something so minimal that a friend would struggle to open the browser. I'd like to keep the window decorations with minimize, maximize, and exit buttons, while also having basic tiling capabilities. This means being able to split my screen into two windows, cycle through and switch stacked windows or workspaces using simple shortcuts. I'd love any advice or recommendations! Thanks in advance!
4 Answers
If you're curious to explore distros conveniently, give distrosea.com a shot! Both Cinnamon and KDE have default setups that resemble Windows. XFCE may not look like Windows at first, but you can customize it to match. Regardless, all are popular, so there are plenty of themes available to help you refine the look.
You're going to want to test a few different desktop environments until you find the one that clicks for you! It’s part of getting the hang of Linux. Check out KDE, XFCE, and LXDE. You can try most of these with a 'live' version of a distribution without having to install anything yet. Ubuntu has several different flavors, each with different desktops.
If you're looking for a smooth tiling experience, check out MATE with the Cortile plugin or Cinnamon, which has window snapping features. You can easily configure XFCE for similar shortcuts too. It sounds like you might enjoy KDE or Cinnamon, especially coming from a Windows background!
KDE checks all your boxes and is super easy to configure, so definitely consider giving it a go!
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