I'm completely new to Linux and want to install it on a laptop for school. Partly for nostalgia and partly as a fun customization project, I'd like the desktop to look as close as possible to Windows 7, including the glassy windows, Start menu, icons, and perhaps some widgets. I don't have coding experience, although I'm willing to follow a guide and do some tinkering. Which distribution and desktop environment would be the most beginner-friendly for this, and are there any useful setup tips?
4 Answers
Before spending hours on theming, get the basics working first: install the programs you need, configure your hardware, and set up Timeshift or another system backup tool. Also back up your home folder. Heavy customization can occasionally break parts of the desktop, and having a restore point makes experimenting much less stressful.
A Windows 7 theme from the B00merang project works with many desktop environments and can provide the icons, window decorations, and overall styling you’re after. Just make sure the theme matches your desktop environment, since GTK and Qt themes aren’t always interchangeable.
The distribution matters less than the desktop environment. KDE Plasma and Xfce are both highly customizable, while Cinnamon is a little simpler for a first installation. KDE Plasma can get especially close to Windows 7 with projects such as AeroThemePlasma, though setting it up takes more patience and may require troubleshooting.
Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop is probably the easiest starting point. Cinnamon already feels fairly familiar to Windows users, and you can add a Windows 7-style theme, icons, wallpaper, and panel layout afterward. There are several step-by-step guides for making Mint look like Windows 7, so you won’t need to figure everything out from scratch.
So KDE Plasma can be installed on different distributions, while Cinnamon is already included with Mint? I’m comparing Mint Cinnamon and a KDE-based setup before deciding.