Highly recommend Fedora over Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Server and Desktop has some dumb defaults that look measly next to Windows, but still annoying next to Fedora.

Fedora also generally has more solid documentation without a bunch of LTS slag threads with outdated answers.

Bazzite on my gaming machine, Bluefin on my other machines. Both are Fedora Atomic based (meaning read-only kernel). Secure, stable, amazing. Apps are installed via Flatpak, and cli tools using Homebrew.

I've been a full time Linux user for 25ish years now. I'm currently happy here, but have tried most of them

I had a great experience with Fedora on my thinkpad, it's almost as if they're made for each other. It's basically the testing version for Redhat. If you want something more stable and still enterprisey, Rocky Linux or Almalinux are both basically RHEL rebranded.

I've abandoned Ubuntu, even though it was what I started on and used for over a decade. Canonical is kind of like the Microsoft of linux right now, a bit hostile toward the rest of the community, but still an acceptable choice. I would recommend Linux Mint instead, though.

Keep in mind that the look and feel you'll experience is all the desktop environment, so if you don't like it, trying using a different one instead of looking at a new distro. I highly recommend using a few live USBs of what you want you try before installing to get a feel for what you like.

Fedora. Better than Ubuntu in pretty much every regard.

Debian for the overwhelming majority of everything. With KDE, I don't do gnome.

My thinkpads both run arch, you may want to look at endeavouros for a simple approach to arch.

The update last month somehow both moved every single file I have back into one drive (I've had to remove them and turn off one drive multiple times now) and then a few hours later delete EVERYTHING. Windows help said there was no options, once it's gone it's gone.

Thankfully I had just backed everything up recently. I had been meaning to dual boot this computer for awhile all I just installed Mint and haven't looked back. Screw windows.

For a new user - Ubuntu LTS. In a few years move to Debian.

Not Ubuntu. Mint or Fedora.

You like Gnome (how everything looks in Ubuntu)? Use Fedroa Workstation, or use Mint and install Gnome yourself.

This is only my opinion. After all, this is your computer; do what you want.

I'd recommend Linux Mint Xfce. It's the closest to an "it just works" situation while being open to tinker and quick to respond, this last part as the micro delays from Linux Mint Cinammon for most things being what pushed me away from Windows in the first place.

Both Mint versions are made by the same people and found in the same site.

I am a Debian man myself for servers. I don't want any Canonical bullshit to break mid LTS.

While I am still running win 10 I am undecided which desktop to switch to. CachyOS and Fedora are the front runners but man do I hate Gnome.

I didn’t want to program shit; I don’t care about command line; I love a good gui and didn’t want to fuck with finicky drivers. Moving to Ubuntu from Windows allowed me to continue to use my mostly browser-based computing existence without having to learn to use a new tool. I may not use Arch but one less Windows victim must be a step in a better direction.

Fedora, mainly because ubuntu is putting ai into it's release in the coming months. Which is fine if you're visually impaired, but afaict that's not why they're putting it in.

I'll be switching to Cachy once I'm forced to switch.

and sorry for the ragebait. I'm just a little bit frustrated and had to write it down

Mint all the way for me. Mint's based on Ubuntu unless you're adventurous and choose LMDE which is based on Debian instead (Ubuntu is also based on Debian, so it cuts out the middleman.)

And the Cinnamon desktop, which is the default, is very Windows-like and native to Mint. Perfect for refugees. I was one when my Win 7 SSD died and I thought that that was a perfect time to switch.

I can't speak to Fedora (I still haven't forgiven Red Hat for what they did to CentOS), but Mint has honest-to-goodness old-school forums where you can ask for help if you get stuck.

Edit: typo

If those are the only two options, I'd go Fedora.

But honestly I'm trying really hard not to distro shame anyone - whatever gets you off windows is a win imo. I don't want to end up like that grounds keeper willy meme about the scottish.

Ubuntu and Fedora are both great choices.

I will also recommend OpenSUSE Leap (NOT tumbleweed as it's a rolling release vs long term support model) and Linux Mint.

Give mint a try just to start. It's ubu-based, super polished and great for a first distro. That being said, don't think Linux doesn't have those update/dependency hell horror stories. If you go into it with realistic expectations, you'll have a great time with it.

Fedora all the way.

I moved to Fedora a few years ago. Spent a week or two orienting myself, like going to a new town and not knowing how to get around. So glad I did. I choose when and what to update.

Not perfect though, it lost keyboard connection yesterday. Reboot fixed it.

Over the decades, I've tried Ubuntu, mint, arch, fedora in that order. I would rate my experiences arch > fedora > mint > Ubuntu.

Endeavor os would be my first recommendation, Cachyos then fedora. If you want that classic windows 7 experience and very solid support, I recommend mint. If you need the latest drivers endeavor.

Obviously, the best solution is to just move to Linux, yes.

But...

Today, lovely Windows 11 installed an update. And since then I don’t have internet access because Microslop Wincrap 11 can somehow magically no longer connect to the DNS server - to any DNS server. No other device in my network has the same issue. I’ve been bugfixing for over an hour and haven’t found a solution. setting the DNS manually, resetting the network adapter, flushed all DNS entries (I used the commandline tool on Windows!). nothing works.

I have the exact same issue occasionally on my Windows gaming PC. The only way to resolve it is to restart the computer and restart the internet router at the same time. Restarting either one alone isn't enough.

(Yes, it's mind-boggling that the router needs to be restarted, given that all my other devices (phones, Linux PC) can still access the internet through that same router just fine. But that's what works.)

I 🎮 on Bazzite

Wait till you learn about Distrobox and Distroshelf.

Make a Fedora and Ubuntu box to install .rpm and .deb apps to your Bazzite host, when you need to install things not available as flatpak or homebrew. Since layering apps with rpm-ostree can get messy/ugly.

Have all three. 🤯

For various ways to install apps on an atomic image based OS:

• https://docs.bazzite.gg/Installing_and_Managing_Software/software-intro/

Also checkout Project Bluefin and Aurora.

It is some years since I ran Fedora. Ubuntu is still predominant at work. But I run Debian on my ThinkPad and all my laptops for many years. I think this ThinkPad is my third laptop that I have installed Debian on: they don't last forever. Before that, I was running Mint. They all run well, so there's not much to choose between them, from my perspective. Neither Fedora nor Ubuntu would be a bad choice.

I’ve generally found that while there is almost always package equality between deb and rpm distros, when there isn’t I’m more likely to find a deb. I’d recommend Mint for you, followed by Debian Stable.

So far I've only tried Pop!_OS and Mint, and I much much much prefer Pop!. I even got my wife to start using it.

Edit: Pop!_OS is also Ubuntu based.

I didn't really like Mint at all.

Delete and reinstall your nic. Check your firewall. Test connectivity over port 53 to your dns server.

If you have any 3rd party software that messes with dns, disable or remove it.

I’ve just installed Fedora on my older plex server that was previously running a very old version of macOS, I really like it. My past experience has been with Ubuntu and other Debian-based distros, but I really like Fedora. For one, dnf is much friendlier than apt, and I far prefer Flatpak to Snaps. BTRFS has some cool built-in features that you don’t get with EXT4. Overall, I really liking it.