I'm in the process of building a PC for work, moving on from a 10-year-old Chromebook. I have some experience with Ubuntu from my teenage years and I've got a 30-year Linux veteran on hand for support, so installation and maintenance shouldn't be too tricky. However, I'd love a setup that requires minimal ongoing maintenance.
As the most tech-savvy person in my organization, I want an operating system that's user-friendly for everyone else without needing much setup from my side. Our primary tasks will include document work, along with essential PDF handling and image editing (GIMP should cover that). We're also using Google Workspace for storage and have been primarily online due to our Chromebook limitations.
The specs of the new PC are still uncertain since it's an older mystery machine. I'll need to put a new drive in it before I can check the specs, but it's at least a decade old. I anticipate needing to make some minor upgrades, but I'm hoping for a straightforward experience since it's a basic setup.
To summarize, I'm looking for a user-friendly Linux distro that requires minimal maintenance for an older machine.
2 Answers
For your needs, Zorin OS or Linux Mint would be great choices. If the machine is over 10 years old, you might have to check if it's 32-bit, as that can limit your options. Both distros are pretty user-friendly and should work well for document editing and light image work.
True, I doubt 32-bit machines were still common after 2016. But time flies, right?
If you're looking for something based on your Chromebook experience, Mx Linux could be a good fit too. It's lightweight and has a great user interface that won't overwhelm new users.
What do you mean by Mx Linux? Is there something special about it?
Right, I'm hopeful it wasn't really old when we got it, but I have some backup builds that I can use if necessary.