desktop linux distros i recommend
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2026 7:38 pm
with Windows 11 including ads being susceptible to additional ads from connected hardware, and generally being of lesser quality, and Windows 10 ESUs going away next year, alternatives might be desired. in that sphere, you may or may not have heard of Linux. if not, now you have :)
Linux in general has existed for around the same time as Windows, and thanks to community efforts, it has nowadays even been observed to have better performance. you also gain the freedom to run whatever software you want, and customize your desktop to be however you want.
where it differs aside from its freedoms and performance benefits, however, is that manual installation is required in most cases, and Linux is available in many different "flavors" called distros, maintained by many different people across the world. each distro has different software bundled in, some newer than others, and may support different drivers. these choices can be overwhelming at first...
this post goes over my personal recommendations. they aren't the end-all-be-all and shouldn't be seen as such. if you prefer different distros, i'd like to see them :)
first, setting expectations
Linux is not Windows. you should therefore expect a different experience than you are used to, and be open to learning new things. it took you effort to learn Windows when you first started using computers; it will similarly take you effort to learn Linux. read documentation. follow tutorials to the letter. don't be afraid to look up things you don't know; if you find something online is wrong, that's okay, you now know the real answer. at the worst case, it may help to learn how to use the terminal, which i promise is not as scary as it seems!!
this is also where i would say, "you should expect things to not be as polished as on Windows, as Linux is not backed by a multi-billion dollar company," but as we've recently seen with Windows 11, that doesn't really matter, does it? :p
still, bugs will not magically disappear. you will almost certainly still run into them, if not now then later downn the line. that is okay, as long as you report them so that developers can fix them :)
if you have a laptop that came with Windows, driver support may not be all the way there. make sure that when you go to install Linux, you use the live installation media to test your hardware. make sure WiFi, Bluetooth, sound (including input and output), your keyboard and mouse, and anything else you absolutely need works, BEFORE you hit install and erase Windows. you don't want a system that doesn't work, with no fallback.
you may pick the wrong answer at first. that is okay!! i first started with Linux Mint, then jumped around and eventually settled on EndeavourOS. you can always change your mind later, as long as you keep a backup of your important files and are able to set aside time to make changes.
Bazzite
Bazzite is a gaming-focused distro based on Fedora (listed later). as you can see in the video above by ExplainingComputers, installation is on the easier side. you don't need to mess around with Nvidia drivers or anything like that, this is all set up for you.
different from other distros is that Bazzite is image-based and immutable. this basically just means that you are restricted from editing system files without jumping through hoops, and updates are effectively patches to those files - this is similar to SteamOS on Steam Deck/Machine. the emphasis is placed on ease-of-use and known-good settings.
Bazzite has its own Bazzite Portal for easily configuring important things. the included Bazaar store contains apps from Flathub, where most popular apps are.
out of the box, Bazzite includes Steam and the Lutris game launcher, as well as emulators for playing games meant for older systems.
if you are just starting out and mostly use your computer to play video games, Bazzite is a great choice. however, do keep in mind that it is immutable - if you need to do anything that modifies system files, you will need to jump through many hoops to do this successfully, and those changes probably won't stick after an update. for this reason, if you are a developer, or generally wish to run anything not on Flathub like the Archipelago software suite, you probably want to use something else.
Fedora
Fedora Linux is a popular "traditional" Linux distribution maintained by the eponymous Fedora Project. it benefits from recent software and drivers, so it's a good gaming choice - this explains why Bazzite uses it as its base.
that said, Fedora does not handle Nvidia drivers as seamlessly as Bazzite does. when i helped one of my sisters install Fedora, i needed to help her use the terminal to install Nvidia drivers and enable Flathub support. it should be said that we forgot to check a checkbox for third party repositories during the installation, so make sure you do that! but, user-friendliness is still not 100% there in this case.
if you can navigate the terminal, or are willing to learn the basics, Fedora is an excellent choice.
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a popular "traditional" Linux distribution maintained by the eponymous Linux Mint Team. based on Ubuntu LTS, it will not have recent software or drivers, but its base is solid and Flathub can be used to install other apps.
because it doesn't have very recent software out of the box, i don't recommend it for workflows that require that, like gaming. but, if you only use your computer for basic web browsing or document editing, Linux Mint is an excellent and stable choice.
Arch Linux / EndeavourOS / CachyOS
DO NOT USE THESE AS YOUR FIRST DISTRO IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO LEARN HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR SYSTEM.
i included these distros on this list as a trick. EndeavourOS and CachyOS are easy to install, but they are very faithfully based on Arch Linux, which is a do-it-yourself distro. by not having you install the system yourself, you do not choose or learn about the software that makes your computer work, and so you can't deal with any updates that require you to go in and fix something, or otherwise cause your computer to misbehave.
if you're willing to learn and are okay with tackling these things, that is ok, and in that case i encourage using these distros! but, if you aren't, i wouldn't even begin to consider these until you're more confident later on.
previously.
specific use cases
i've been thinking about specific use cases for various distros. i'll list them here for ease of access. this will include distros i didn't mention above, which may not be nearly as user friendly.
Linux in general has existed for around the same time as Windows, and thanks to community efforts, it has nowadays even been observed to have better performance. you also gain the freedom to run whatever software you want, and customize your desktop to be however you want.
where it differs aside from its freedoms and performance benefits, however, is that manual installation is required in most cases, and Linux is available in many different "flavors" called distros, maintained by many different people across the world. each distro has different software bundled in, some newer than others, and may support different drivers. these choices can be overwhelming at first...
this post goes over my personal recommendations. they aren't the end-all-be-all and shouldn't be seen as such. if you prefer different distros, i'd like to see them :)
first, setting expectations
Linux is not Windows. you should therefore expect a different experience than you are used to, and be open to learning new things. it took you effort to learn Windows when you first started using computers; it will similarly take you effort to learn Linux. read documentation. follow tutorials to the letter. don't be afraid to look up things you don't know; if you find something online is wrong, that's okay, you now know the real answer. at the worst case, it may help to learn how to use the terminal, which i promise is not as scary as it seems!!
this is also where i would say, "you should expect things to not be as polished as on Windows, as Linux is not backed by a multi-billion dollar company," but as we've recently seen with Windows 11, that doesn't really matter, does it? :p
still, bugs will not magically disappear. you will almost certainly still run into them, if not now then later downn the line. that is okay, as long as you report them so that developers can fix them :)
if you have a laptop that came with Windows, driver support may not be all the way there. make sure that when you go to install Linux, you use the live installation media to test your hardware. make sure WiFi, Bluetooth, sound (including input and output), your keyboard and mouse, and anything else you absolutely need works, BEFORE you hit install and erase Windows. you don't want a system that doesn't work, with no fallback.
you may pick the wrong answer at first. that is okay!! i first started with Linux Mint, then jumped around and eventually settled on EndeavourOS. you can always change your mind later, as long as you keep a backup of your important files and are able to set aside time to make changes.
Bazzite
Bazzite is a gaming-focused distro based on Fedora (listed later). as you can see in the video above by ExplainingComputers, installation is on the easier side. you don't need to mess around with Nvidia drivers or anything like that, this is all set up for you.
different from other distros is that Bazzite is image-based and immutable. this basically just means that you are restricted from editing system files without jumping through hoops, and updates are effectively patches to those files - this is similar to SteamOS on Steam Deck/Machine. the emphasis is placed on ease-of-use and known-good settings.
Bazzite has its own Bazzite Portal for easily configuring important things. the included Bazaar store contains apps from Flathub, where most popular apps are.
out of the box, Bazzite includes Steam and the Lutris game launcher, as well as emulators for playing games meant for older systems.
if you are just starting out and mostly use your computer to play video games, Bazzite is a great choice. however, do keep in mind that it is immutable - if you need to do anything that modifies system files, you will need to jump through many hoops to do this successfully, and those changes probably won't stick after an update. for this reason, if you are a developer, or generally wish to run anything not on Flathub like the Archipelago software suite, you probably want to use something else.
Fedora
Fedora Linux is a popular "traditional" Linux distribution maintained by the eponymous Fedora Project. it benefits from recent software and drivers, so it's a good gaming choice - this explains why Bazzite uses it as its base.
that said, Fedora does not handle Nvidia drivers as seamlessly as Bazzite does. when i helped one of my sisters install Fedora, i needed to help her use the terminal to install Nvidia drivers and enable Flathub support. it should be said that we forgot to check a checkbox for third party repositories during the installation, so make sure you do that! but, user-friendliness is still not 100% there in this case.
if you can navigate the terminal, or are willing to learn the basics, Fedora is an excellent choice.
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is a popular "traditional" Linux distribution maintained by the eponymous Linux Mint Team. based on Ubuntu LTS, it will not have recent software or drivers, but its base is solid and Flathub can be used to install other apps.
because it doesn't have very recent software out of the box, i don't recommend it for workflows that require that, like gaming. but, if you only use your computer for basic web browsing or document editing, Linux Mint is an excellent and stable choice.
Arch Linux / EndeavourOS / CachyOS
DO NOT USE THESE AS YOUR FIRST DISTRO IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO LEARN HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR SYSTEM.
i included these distros on this list as a trick. EndeavourOS and CachyOS are easy to install, but they are very faithfully based on Arch Linux, which is a do-it-yourself distro. by not having you install the system yourself, you do not choose or learn about the software that makes your computer work, and so you can't deal with any updates that require you to go in and fix something, or otherwise cause your computer to misbehave.
if you're willing to learn and are okay with tackling these things, that is ok, and in that case i encourage using these distros! but, if you aren't, i wouldn't even begin to consider these until you're more confident later on.
previously.
specific use cases
i've been thinking about specific use cases for various distros. i'll list them here for ease of access. this will include distros i didn't mention above, which may not be nearly as user friendly.
- "console PC", like Steam Machine: Bazzite or Nobara
- ditto, but with an old CRT display: Batocera (IMPORTANT: see the CRT Script docs)
- basic web browsing: Linux Mint
- regular PC for gaming: Bazzite, Nobara, Fedora, or a DIY distro like Arch
- software development: a DIY distro like Arch
- regular PC for basic web browsing: Linux Mint
- servers: Debian or Arch