Choosing Your First Linux Distro

Welcome to another video from ExplainingComputers.com. Over the years on this channel, I have, so far, made 25 videos reviewing different Linux distros, including versions of Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Zorin OS, Pop!OS, and OpenSUSE. However, I've never made an entire video for beginners choosing their first distro, and so this time I'm going to focus entirely on the question, which Linux distro should you choose? Now, given that there are hundreds of distros available, there are many possible answers, and, as with all software, the best Linux distro has to depend on your application scenario, or, in other words, what you're trying to do. And so, in this video, we need to set some parameters, and so, specifically, I'm going to address the question, which Linux distro should you choose, if you have experience of Windows and are new to Linux, you want a desktop operating system that works straight out of the box, and you are a general computer user rather than a programmer or developer. The name Linux technically refers to the Linux kernel. Like a seed in the middle of a nut, this is the core component of any Linux distribution and provides the interface between a computer's hardware and software. Different desktop Linux distributions take the Linux kernel and add their own customizations and patches. They then bundle the kernel with other components that include a bootloader, which allows the kernel to boot, a display server to draw the screen, a graphical desktop environment, some pre-installed applications, and a package manager, for installing more applications. So, when you choose a distro, you're selecting how you want the Linux kernel configured and what you want included with it. If you're a Windows user looking for a desktop Linux distro that works out of the box for general computing, then many excellent options are available. In my view, these include Linux Mint, Ubuntu LTS or Zorin OS, as well as Debian, MX Linux, or PopOS. If you're a gamer, you may also want to consider Buzzight or Nabara, or even a retro gaming distro like Commodore OS. However, here I'm going to focus on these six more general desktop distros, all of which can still be used for gaming. But how can we choose between them? Well, as they all meet our earlier criteria, I would suggest that beginners need to consider each distro's look and feel, coupled with their own willingness to accept a learning curve, their attitude to free and open source software, and the nature and scale of each distro's development team. Right, let's take a look at our six distros. And to start off, here we are in Linux Mint. Specifically, we're running Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon Edition, which is the most popular version, and has support until April 2029. Although, if we go to the website, we discover we can also get Linux Mint with an XFCE or a MATE desktop. But, if in doubt, just go for Cinnamon. Back on its desktop, my default Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition provides a bottom panel, just like the taskbar in Windows, along with a left-hand applications menu. So, if you're used to Windows, you should feel rapidly at home. Lots of useful applications are also pre-installed, including the Firefox web browser, the Thunderbird email client, LibreOffice, various media players, and a PDF viewer. Moving along, let's turn to Zorin OS. Here specifically, we're running Zorin OS Core 17.3, which has support until this June 2027. Zorin OS is very sleek, and like Linux Mint, my default has got a bottom panel, like the taskbar in Windows, as well as a left-hand applications menu. And, if we select Zorin Appearance, it's even possible to select between different Windows-like layouts. However, even though a lot of customization settings exist, both here in Zorin Appearance and in the settings, the standard font controls here don't control the size of the applications menu font. And so, if this matters to you, Linux Mint is a better option than Zorin OS. From version 17.3, Zorin started including Brave as its default browser, rather than Firefox. Some of Brave's controversial features are turned off by default, but to my mind, it's still a rather strange choice. Over on the website, here we are, we can see that Zorin OS is available in three editions, the Pro Edition, as well as a Core Edition and an Education Edition. And all of these are pre-installed with the Brave browser, LibreOffice, and players for all standard media formats. However, the Pro Edition, which is paid software, has also got a lot more pre-installed applications and includes more desktop layouts. Meanwhile, the Education Edition, which, like Core, is also free, is bundled, as I'm sure you would guess, with educational software. Next, let's boot up Ubuntu. Specifically, this is Ubuntu 24.04, which is an LTS, or long-term support release, with support until May 2029. A new version of Ubuntu comes out every April and October. However, only the versions released in April, in an even year, have long-term support that provides five years of standard security and maintenance updates. Meanwhile, the other releases have just nine months of support, as we can see on the download page over here. If we go down to Ubuntu 25.04, which is a shorter-term release with just nine months of support. And so, for your first distro, I would go with Ubuntu LTS, which is currently 24.04. Back on the desktop, Ubuntu is very polished, although it does present a greater learning curve for Windows users than Linux Mint, or CERN OS, as it uses a customised GNOME desktop environment. This provides a panel at the top, with a right-hand menu for things like shutting the system down, over there, as well as access to settings, which come up like that. And then, on the left of the screen, we have what's called the Dock, to which frequently used applications are pinned. However, there is no Applications menu. Rather, bottom left, we have an Activities button, which provides access to different workspaces, as well as all of the installed applications that have not been pinned to the Dock. Exactly what's pre-installed depends on what you select under Applications when you install Ubuntu, but if you opt for Extended Selection, you get Firefox, LibreOffice, and all the kinds of stuff included in Linux Mint and CERN OS. Overall, Ubuntu is a very stable desktop distro that's popular with developers, as well as being a great choice for general users. And, Ubuntu is also the distro on which Linux Mint, CERN OS, and many other distros are based. Talking of which, let's turn to Debian, which is the distro on which Ubuntu is based. And here, we're running Debian 12. However, very soon after this video uploads, Debian 13 will be released. This will have two years of standard support, and some extended support, probably to 2030. Like Ubuntu, Debian's default desktop is Gnome, but without the customizations we just saw in Ubuntu. So, whilst we have a top panel with its right-hand functionality, the only other on-screen control is an Activities button. And this provides access to Workspaces and a Dock, which in turn has an icon for accessing all other applications, a good range of which are included. Although, if we go and open something up, for example, LibreOffice Calc, we can see that Windows don't have Maximize and Minimize control. And you can maximize by clicking and clicking again to return to the standard size, but the lack of these controls may be a concern to Windows users, although you can install the Tweaks utility to add them back in. However, because of issues like this, Debian with a Gnome desktop has a steeper learning curve than the last three distros we've looked at. However, Debian is also available with other desktops, such as KDE Plasma. And by the magic of filmmaking, here we are running Debian 12 KDE. This is very nice indeed, with by default a familiar taskbar-like bottom panel and a bottom-left application menu on the beautiful and highly configurable KDE Plasma desktop. The only downside is that getting Debian KDE can be confusing, as you either need to select the desktop in the installer or download the right image from the great many on the download pages. And so here, rather than using the standard download link, I went to Other Downloads and then selected Live KDE. Moving on, we're now running MX Linux 23.6, which is supported to June 2029. Specifically, we're running MX 23.6 with its flagship XFCE desktop. Although, as we can see on the MX Linux web page, other desktops are available. Specifically, we can also select KDE, like we were just running with Debian, or the Fluxbox window manager. However, for new users, I would select either opting for KDE or XFCE. Back on the XFCE desktop, here we are. We have a panel on the left with a control for shutting things down at the top like that. We won't shut down right now. And bottom left, we have an applications menu. Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre Office, and all the necessary media applications are also included. And overall, MX Linux has a strong reputation for being straightforward and user-friendly. Finally, let's turn to Pop! OS. Specifically here, we're running the latest version, which is 2204 and which has support until April 2027. Like Linux Mint and Zorin OS, Pop! OS is based on Ubuntu and currently has a customized Gnome desktop called Cosmic. This features a top panel with a familiar top right controls and, by default, a bottom dock. There are also controls on the left of the panel to access workspaces like that and all installed applications, which, as we can see, are arranged into folders and include Firefox, Libre Office, and various system programs and utilities. In addition, on the dock, there's also a launcher. So, if we get rid of that, we can click on the launcher and then perform a search to find an application. There we are. We can launch, for example, Libre Office so there are many means of application access. Customization options are also high and what we see here is the desktop if you accept all of the default options in the installer. This does leave Windows without a maximize icon, but if we go to settings up here, like that, and just to scroll down a bit, we can see there was a control to add it back in, like that, just like there isn't in and, indeed, overall, Pop! OS is very user and workflow focused. And so, there we are. We've now viewed the six distros I would recommend new users to choose from and, whilst I hope this has been useful, it's very important to judge the look and feel by trying several distros out for yourself. I've covered how to do this in many distro review videos, but, basically, you need to go to the distro's website and download an ISO file, write it to a USB drive using an imaging program such as Balena Etcher or Rufus and then boot from that USB drive. Or, if you want to go back and forth between a lot of distros in your testing, you can set several up on one USB drive using Ventoy, as I've detailed in my video, Ventoy Multi-Boot USB Drive Tool. In addition to look, feel and functionality, your own attitude to free and open source software or FOSS may be important when choosing a distro. The six we've just looked at are not just monetarily free, but more widely embrace the open source philosophy, which means that the software is free to run, free to study and change, free to redistribute and free to modify and distribute. However, in some people's eyes, not all distros have the same level of FOSS purity. For example, while some distros are developed entirely by their community, others are primarily developed by commercial organisations. As we've seen, Zorin OS Technologies sells the Pro version of Zorin OS, whilst Canonical charges companies for its Ubuntu Pro subscription service. And so, whilst Zorin OS and Ubuntu are most definitely FOSS, some may not consider them to be as pure as other distros. Different distros also have different attitudes to the support and inclusion of proprietary software, which may include offering non-FOSS GPU or other drivers in their installers and proprietary software in their repositories. Most distros do now do this to some extent, with even Debian, which was traditionally upheld as pure FOSS, voting in 2022 to include some non-free firmware in its official installer. Personally, I'm a pragmatist and have no problems running proprietary software in Linux. But if you have a different FOSS philosophy, this may alter your choice of distro. Many factors can be considered when choosing a Linux distro. These may include how rapidly it embraces new Linux developments and whether it's a rolling release that's constantly updated or releases fixed new versions. Here, when it comes to features, all of our distros are conservative, and the first four have a fixed release cycle, whilst MX Linux and Pop!OS are semi-rolling, meaning that they follow a fixed cycle, but with a rolling release of some new features. And all of this is as it should be, as a conservative distro with a fixed or largely fixed release cycle is what I recommend for your first distro, as it makes it less likely that you'll receive an update that will stop things working and which will require you to implement a fix. And so, the final thing you may want to consider is the size and long-term viability of your distro's development team. Sadly, finding information on this is difficult, but according to their accounts, the combined group of companies headed by Canonical Holdings Limited, the publishers of Ubuntu, had 1,175 employees in December 2024. And whilst not all of these people will work on the OS, it does indicate that Ubuntu is developed by a substantial team. And we also know that Debian currently publishes a list of 1,034 developers. In contrast, Linux Mint publishes a list of 11 developers. And as far as I can ascertain, Zorin OS is principally developed by the two Zorin brothers who founded the company, although the size of the team is not published. Similarly, MX Linux and Pop!OS do not state the size of their team. Although System76 appears to be a company with under 50 employees, some of whom will be involved in the hardware side of their business. Quite where this leads us depends on your point of view. Personally, my daily driver distro remains Linux Mint, which I recommend as a first distro. But when I finally replace Windows 10 on my laptop, it's very likely that I'll install Ubuntu or Debian with a KDE desktop. For beginners, the wonderful world of Linux presents a bewildering range of choice. And therefore, inevitably, in addition to the six distros I've focused on here, there are others that beginners could choose. And I'm sure that there are already comments on this video suggesting people try other distros, maybe Fedora or OpenSUSE. Some people may even be suggesting Arch Linux. And in this context, it's worth being aware that some of the most vocal Linux advocates are highly technical people, they're programmers, things like that, who, how shall I put it, sometimes forget we don't all use computers for the same purposes. And that for a general computer user, something that's familiar, something that's conservative, may be the best choice. But now that's it for another video. If you've enjoyed what you've seen here, please press that like button. If you haven't subscribed, please subscribe. And I hope to talk to you again very soon.