Hey everyone! I'm relatively new to Linux (unless playing around on a Steam Deck counts!), and I'm currently setting up dual booting on my laptop. I decided to give Linux Mint a shot because it seems beginner-friendly, and I really loved the Cinnamon desktop environment—it felt really smooth and clean, especially coming from Windows. Everything worked right away, including my speakers and function keys.
However, I've run into some problems using multiple monitors (laptop + 2 external ones). Mint struggles with things like individual monitor scaling and recognizing the extra displays. Plus, I'm seeing some odd visual artifacts that remind me of CRT monitors, likely because I'm using an NVIDIA setup. After some research, I found out that while Cinnamon is great, its Wayland support is still experimental.
So, I'm asking if anyone has suggestions for a distro that's beginner-friendly and supports Wayland for multi-monitor setups, with a look and feel similar to Cinnamon. I tried Ubuntu but wasn't a fan of GNOME. KDE is okay, but it doesn't match my love for Cinnamon.
Would it be better to try and troubleshoot the issues with Mint, or should I explore other options? I came across CachyOS and it looks interesting, but I'm hesitant since it's Arch-based and I'm not sure if that's a good starting point for me. As a CS student, I mainly game, do schoolwork, and program, so I'd love your thoughts! Thanks!
2 Answers
For the best Wayland experience, I'd recommend looking into distros that use recent kernels like Arch, Fedora, or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. They usually have up-to-date support for features you might need with your setup.
I've had a good experience with Tuxedo OS, which is based on KDE Plasma and is beginner-friendly. A lot of people find it works well with multiple monitors, too. You might want to check that out!
I've heard great things about OpenSUSE as well. I like that it’s rolling release but maintains stability; might give it a go!