Hey everyone! I'm considering a switch to Linux and I'm not sure which distribution should be my first choice. I have an Acer Nitro 5 with an i7-9750H and a GTX 1650. My main activities are browsing (with a lot of tabs open, but I use Vivaldi since it's light on RAM) and coding, without any gaming. I'm currently torn between Zorin and Pop!_OS because I like their sleek appearances compared to Mint, but I'm also looking at Fedora. I'm after something intuitive, customizable, resource-efficient, and with good community support. Also, is it a big deal that Pop!_OS comes with NVIDIA driver support by default, or will that pose problems for other distros? I'm not very familiar with terms like package manager, desktop environment, or the difference between Debian vs. Ubuntu-based systems, so any guidance is appreciated!
5 Answers
From my experience of over 15 years, I'd strongly recommend going with Ubuntu LTS or Kubuntu LTS. They offer solid stability and a great starting point for people new to Linux. I find Kde neon to be fantastic as well; it’s lightweight and customizable while also having stable NVIDIA drivers available. Just steer clear of Mint for a first-timer, it’s overrated and doesn't challenge you to explore more of what Linux can do. Also, avoid more niche distributions like Arch or Gentoo at the start. You want something stable to ensure a good experience.
You can easily install NVIDIA drivers on Zorin and Mint by using the driver manager after installation, so there's not much hassle there. Your system specs are quite decent, so "light on resources" isn’t a big concern unless you’re running really old hardware. Cinnamon is a lighter desktop environment compared to Gnome, which is what Zorin and Pop!_OS use. If you're mainly concerned about comfort and not pushing your PC to the limit, going with Gnome won’t be an issue unless battery life becomes a factor. Also, all these distros are based on Ubuntu, so support is pretty robust, especially for Mint. Fedora's community is solid too, but it's based on dnf instead of apt, so just a slight difference in handling packages. A lot of flexibility with desktop environments too if you lean that way!
I suggest you try Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin, or Fedora. They all have good support and resources for beginners. There are some great YouTube tutorials to help you through the installation process which can really clarify things. Just look up videos on how to install Linux and you’ll find plenty!
I started my journey with Ubuntu Jammy Jellyfish and later switched to Fedora 42. Honestly, Fedora has been a blast for me and it's been great so far! All of them can cater to your coding needs without any issues.
If you're mainly focusing on aesthetics, remember that the distribution itself isn't that crucial. You can customize pretty much any distro to look however you want! Fedora is more cutting-edge, but all these options are solid for coding and will perform well for your needs.
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