No Stupid Questions

Bazzite, Linux Mint, CachyOS

Try each of them out, see what you mesh best with, join their respective discord/matrix for further help and details 👍

Mint is beginner friendly. The Cinnamon desktop is very Windows-like. But if you want HDR support I don’t recommend Mint because its desktops are mostly on X11. It updates the kernel less frequently, so it’s more stable, less cutting edge.

Pop!_OS is also beginner friendly, gaming oriented, makes installing NVIDIA drivers easy, and since its desktops are on Wayland, you can get HDR support. Its kernel updates more frequently, so newer hardware gets support sooner.

~~gentoo!!~~

no but actually, linux mint is very good for newcomers, especially as its desktop has resemblance to windows. Pop!_os is also really good and better for gaming maybe? I would avoid ubuntu (slower and a lot more bloated) and especially manjaro (breaks a LOT without you even doing anything).

I might also cautiously suggest arch? It's kind of a meme in the community because of its own community being seen as a bit toxic, but once you've got past the install and customization process (which does admittedly take a lot of time and reading), you have a system that is entirely your own in almost every way. For example, in the case of desktop environments, you can use cinammon from mint or gnome from pop!_os or even a more lightweight one like xfce. You also tend to have a more stable system, as you won't have unknowingly have some unstable packages hidden in the bowels of your system that get relied on by 73 other packages and could break at any moment.

Pick something with a good window manager, typing into a terminal without fingers and thumbs is going to be tricky.

I'm just glad that someone FINALLY asked this question!

I usually recommend Linux Mint. Its based on Ubuntu, so when searching for help online everything that works for Ubuntu should work for mint. Another Advantage mint has is, that it has quite a lot of UIs for a lot of applications/settings. This means, that you dont have to work with the terminal that much when doing something. However, I Am highly recommending that in the long term you should try to find your way around in the terminal. A lit if help that you will find online is based around the terminal, and knowing what commands do is quite valuable.

One thing to note is that Linux can read your Windows partitions. If you have data on drives you'll still need, you can leave them and Linux can access them fine. (Windows can't read most file systems though, so the other direction of this mostly doesn't work. Windows can't read most Linux partitions).

If you're reasonably technologically competent, I'd recommend CachyOS or Garuda. These are Arch based, so the Arch wiki and Arch User Repository are available, and great resources. They come with everything you need for gaming though, unlike base Arch. You don't need to fiddle with things or set things up. They just work out-of-the-box.

If you're not really technologically competent, but want to learn, the Mint recommendations are fine. It's one of the most used distros, so there's still plenty of help available. Alternatively, and I think better, there's Fedora. For either of these, choose KDE versions, not Gnome or anything else. KDE is more customizable and closer to Windows too. (Though it can be customized to be more like anything else, or whatever you want too.)

If you really don't want to learn, Bazzite or maybe Zorin are there.

From what I hear, gaming = bazzite.

Also you can check compatibility of your games with ProtonDB.

Try this: https://distrochooser.de/en

I don't think you can install Linux on a cat. Please do not the cat

This question is useless, especially here where you're going to get a million different answers from some of the most opinionated experts on the Internet.

They are all effectively the same with very minor (and shrinking) differences. The actual biggest difference is the type of release cycle (atomic, rolling, etc) and you can find multiple of those in the same distro. Again.... It's all effectively the same.

I'm gonna recommend what works for me, but it might not work for you. I like these because (again, in my specific use case) they "just worked" with little to no problems: Fedora for a desktop/laptop and bazzite for a handheld. Again.... YMMV.

Go check distrowatch and try a few different distros until you find one you like. The more popular, the more likely you can find a community to support your questions.

They're all pretty much the same except for a couple, like nix, Gentoo, slackware, etc. maybe stay away from those. fuck around and find out is the best way.

I'm going to go out on a limb here... If you have no Linux experience, download virtualbox and a handful of distros to try out in your current machine.

CachyOS is great for gaming, I'd suggest the KDE desktop PopOS is also a great choice, their native cosmic desktop is nice. Mint with cinnamon is also a good choice for gaming and daily use Bazzite is also a popular gaming distro that also uses KDE Xubuntu is also a great choice, Ubuntu base with XFCE desktop, great for gaming and a big supportive community

Try these and maybe a handful others to play with until you find a desktop that you find intuitive and easy to find what you need. Once you play with a few of these pick one and try to stick with it as you learn Linux in a full native install.

Kubuntu is the best. It's Ubuntu with KDE tools and programs. You have Plasma as a desktop environment, which is very close to Window but that you can customize to your need.

Ubuntu is very popular so you get pretty much everything available and with tutorial, ressources and everything. KDE really push it to the most user friendly, GUI for everything kind of state.

Steam is easy to install, take charge of Proton or anything needed for your games to run.

I was very frustrated by Gnome (the default desktop environment for Ubuntu), failing miserably to make it more like Window. I guess Gnome is more for Mac users.

The only thing I recommend is deactivating Snap and installing Flatpack. It's easy to find tuto on how to do that. Both Snap and Flatpack are doing the same idea, to bundle a program and it's dependencies in a format that allows easier distribution to many distro. But Snap is not as good as Flatpack. You are free to leave it or to use both.

Either way, you can also install program made for Ubuntu or Debian. And with KDE come Discover that is like an App Store and updater.

Linux Mint is also good but I really think Plasma is the best desktop environment. Good thing to know you can always install more desktop environment then the one already installed, so don't hesitate to try other.

If you are already engaged in a very pro open source stance, you might look at Fedora.

Anyway you choose, there are community of people passionate with Linux that can help you every step of the way. LLM can also help you get the basic. Good luck and welcome 🤗

I'd love to help you, but unfortunately I can't think of a single distro that would run on a cat.

I was in the same situation a few months ago. I wanted to try Linux but had no real experience with it. To experiment safely, I built a computer from old parts and installed Linux Mint. I then swapped it with my Windows machine and committed to using Mint exclusively for a month. That hands-on approach helped far more than reading guides. I now use Mint on my primary system.

Here is what I learned along the way. Mint has excellent documentation because it is one of the most popular Linux distributions. When I ran into problems, I could generally find reliable answers through the official forums, community wikis, or by asking ChatGPT for step-by-step instructions. So far, there has not been a single issue I could not eventually fix with some experimentation.

If you are coming from Windows and want to game, there are several points worth knowing upfront:

1. Steam on Linux is straightforward

Steam has a native Linux client. Most Windows games work through Proton, which Steam handles automatically. For many titles, you simply install the game and press play. Performance can be very close to Windows.

2. Expect some trial and error

Although many games work out of the box, some require you to switch Proton versions or install small compatibility tools. It is usually not difficult, but it is different enough from Windows that patience helps.

3. Modding takes more effort

My most recent challenge involved getting game mods working. Tools like Proton, Wine, and mod installers sometimes interact in unexpected ways. It took me a few hours of reading and experimenting, but I eventually got everything running. Once you understand where games store their files and how Proton prefixes work, modding becomes much more manageable.

4. Linux teaches you how your system works

If you are willing to tinker, Linux rewards you. You learn how your files are organized, how applications install dependencies, and how to fix problems yourself. That knowledge makes troubleshooting less intimidating over time.

5. You can always dual-boot

If you are nervous about switching completely, you can dual-boot Windows and Mint. That way you can learn Linux without losing access to anything critical.

If you are starting from zero, the biggest advantage is the size and friendliness of the Linux Mint community. You do not have to figure everything out alone. With a bit of persistence, you can build a fully functional gaming setup that performs well and is easier to maintain than you might expect.

Look at zorinOS or Mint. Those are good starting points

Ubuntu is the starter distro. Start there. Figure out how this shit works and learn what you love and what you hate about it. Then you’ll be in a better position to find what you actually want.

Do not start with arch. That is not what it is for.

You don’t want kali. It solves a specific problem you do not have.

Avoid all immutable distros at first. They are great but add a layer of complexity that will fuck you if you don’t have the basics down first.

Worth mentioning that if you’re on AMD, you’re pretty much open for choice. If you have nVidia, make sure the OS you go with calls out nVidia support as a feature. Even then, your specific config may require that you try out a couple before finding the right fit.

I personally tried Bazzite and had a rough experience with performance and haven’t had issues on EndeavorOS, but have read reports from other nVidia users that had the opposite experience. All to say, your mileage may vary, and don’t give up right away if the first one doesn’t feel right.

I switched to Bazzite on my gaming rig a month ago and felt great. I managed to install and mod Skyrim effortlessly and yesterday I installed Tarkov and SPT with no problem whatsoever. Highly recommend.

But check if your favorite games are compatible, mainly the multiplayer ones: Tarkov can only be single player PvE, GTA is story mode only and forget about Destiny 2. Not a problem for me, plenty of alternatives, but you should check for yourself.

Can'tbelieve no one's said this yet, but first you should check protondb.com for all the games you play a lot. It will show you how well they work in Linux. The biggest issue are competitive/esports titles because of their anticheat systems. Most other games run fine out of the box, but some run better with some tweaking.

Fedora KDE Plasma is what I use. It's solid.

The beauty of asking a linux advice from linux nerds is that you will get as many different advices as there are comments and then will have to do your own research anyway.

Fedora KDE is what I use and recommend.

Its easy, to setup, no frills, reliable and very easy to use with a just gui if you're not into the terminal.

If, and only if, this is not your primary computer. Eg, it's only for gaming, I'd recommend Bazzite.

Bazzite is great and I use it on our couch pc for a true console experience. I call it "our better Xbox".

I recommend Mint if it's your first time. It's really easy to set up and use and there are thousands of guides online for fixing any issues you encounter with it. I do not recommend Bazzite like others are recommending because you literally can't change anything with it. That is fine if everything works out of the box and you're basically just using it for gaming, but if literally anything is wrong with your install or you have a device where the drivers that come with Bazzite don't work, you literally can't fix it. Not as in "it's really difficult" I mean it literally won't let you do it. Updating drivers on Linux is notoriously frustrating, but it's very often required especially if you have older USB peripherals you want to use.

My experience is that Linux Mint is the closest we have to a "it just works"-distro that is also decently up to date. Try that first.

I play a lot of games over steam

If my main concern is playing game with Steam, most mainstream Linux OSes should be fine. If I have to pick one... Linux Mint is very beginner-friendly, and I've heard great things about Bazzite too. SteamOS works flawlessly with Steam out of the box (owns Steam Deck, can verify), but I don't know how easy it is to set up by yourself

If you happen to also like non-Steam games: a lot of them can be added as a custom application/game via your Steam Library, which does most of the heavy-lifting: you only have to specify which compatibility layer to use & sometimes do keymapping. Setting up wine on its own is not for the faint-hearted

I personally use Arch because AUR (a user-uploaded repository, a lot of popular Linux OSes have their own versions) makes it easy to play a lot of FOSS games... but I can't recommend Arch Linux for beginners

I recommend Mint for a beginner friendly stepping stone. Works right out of the box and is really easy to jump to from windows.