Hello all,
I would like to transition my GF to linux.
To make the switch easy I’ll go for Ubuntu, but what would be the most windows-like desktop ?
Thank you!
Edit : thank you everyone, I’ll go with Mint instead then 👍 Thanks for the help!
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Can confirm. I persuaded my wife to switch to Linux some 10 years ago. She’s still using Linux to this day, but I’ve been her tech support for all these years. On the bright side, I’ve become very good at troubleshooting
That’s some good sense advice indeed, thank you.
I will think it through
it’s now you’re fault and you need to fix it. Even if you fix it, needing that help is still frustrating.
written from experience, i assume 😅
Out of the box, KDE has the most similar look and feel as Windows. That said, I do believe Linux Mint has Windows themed DEs that go one step further
Depends on Windows version I guess.
Win XP: XFCE
Win 7: Cinnamon
Win 10/11: KDE
Though you might choose Zorin OS, Ubuntu-based and looks like Windows out of the box.
I have an XFCE box that I dressed up as XP. Honestly, if it had the XP calculator, I would get confused sometimes.
Linux mint would be the best for windows user
Go Kubuntu if you want Ubuntu and Windows-like. Otherwise, Mint is a solid choice for a Windows user too, I believe Mate and Cinnamon both are very similar UI to Windows. Sadly Mint only does LTS versions now, but maybe that’s for the best if your GF isn’t super into tech?
You can install the 6.2 kernel on mint through the upgrade manager gui. It’s just a couple of clicks.
On the other hand Mint has a reputation for “just works” because the defaults are indeed LTS
Why do you want to get your girlfriend mad at you?
Keeps the relationship interesting.
I’d say KDE since it offers fully working Wayland already.
Enough about Wayland already. We knowwwww.
Wayland mfs trying not to talk about Wayland whenever Linux is mentioned
What difference would this make to a new Linux user? Basically none, right?
No screen tearing never. My laptop saw a significant battery life boost (basicly doubled) when I switched DWM into DWL but I don’t know exactly why.
And because Wayland is the future and xorg decrepatec, why you’d recommend xorg for anybody since they must swtich at some point and I doubt even the most basic user can make that transition 100% flawlessly.
Lack of screen tearing is a good point if it makes a difference on that person’s hardware.
My thought wasn’t so much about recommending xorg (or not), more about whether the user would even be aware what that meant, or care at the point when they start using Linux. Kind of like launching straight into a flame war about systemd. In theory they (or their distro) should be able to switch the backend without the user noticing
My GF is happy with Linux Mint Cinnamon! Even my parents use it :)
My dad also made the switch to mint cinnamon about 3 years ago and I only had to fix things once for him (which was something in partitioning/fstab he or the installer messed up), he has successfully updated and maintained the system for 3 major releases yet and is even happier with Linux on his home laptop than with windows on his work laptop
Edit: he’s not really tech savvy or something, he’s a teacher by profession
I’d give her Linux Mint with Cinnamon/MATE instead.
KDE is more similar to windows, Gnome is maybe closer to MacOS.
But generally, KDE felt always a bit “super user” to me, and I found the amount of customizability and features more overwhelming than useful. Gnome is simple, clean, and I prefer it for that reason.
This is my Linux Mint Cinnamon dressed up as Windows XP. How much more Windowsy would you like it ;-)
Linux Mint is the way to go. It’s by no means a clone of Windows(yuk) but has a “start button”, vertical menu with apps listed and a bottom taskbar. So it should be very easy to use and get used to.
There’s some themes for cinnamon that make it close enough to windows 10 styling.
I’de rather go with Linux Mint Cinnamon or Nobara with their custom GNOME DE
While Gnome can be shaped into something Windowslike with extensions ‘Arcmenu’ and ‘Dash to Panel’, for another user I’d suggest just using a DE that already works like that. Best choices IMO are Cinnamon or KDE.
Since you already want to use a Ubuntu desktop, I’ll stick to suggesting Ubuntu flavours. KDE on Ubuntu, you’ll want Kubuntu. For Cinnamon, there is a Ubuntu Cinnamon flavour.
KDE is somewhat more modern-feeling than Cinnamon but also uses more resources. If your GF’s system is a bit weak, maybe go for Cinnamon. Cinnamon is also a bit retro in it’s design, so it might be more comfortable for people used to older Windows versions.
I recommend downloading a live installer for both, showing her them and letting her pick the one she likes the most. (On that note, I hope you got her permission to do this…)
I am not a huge fan of KDE but it actually uses fewer resources than Cinnamon these days.
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