Say a friend is looking for a new system, and said person is not particularly savvy with technology, what system would you point them toward?
At this point genuinely linux. For everyday shit like browsing, mailing, whatever, for sure.
Apple is just… Apple. I guess. Windows is an ad.
Linux is the new “it just works”.
Mint and no shit.
i just erased windows 11 and replaced it with Linux Mint Cinnamon- not easy for me as I haven’t used anything but apple ecosystem since forever, but I’m extremely happy with it, and the upgrade in privacy is worth it to me even if it weren’t an excellent OS, which it definitely is. you just have to be willing to learn new things
The amount of people who spend thousands of dollars on MacBooks to just open up Safari makes me want to believe the average person could just have a ThinkPad with Mint or regular Ubuntu and be just fine. But the reality is if you run into a solvable issue on Windows or a MacBook, usually the degrees of separation from someone (friend or family member) who can solve that issue is much, much, much lower. I just seriously doubt most people can conduct the bare minimum of troubleshooting to be able to even search the internet for easy solutions. Can people learn? Absolutely! Are they going to go through the trouble? Probably not.
But who knows, as personal computing becomes more expensive and system requirements stop people from updating. Maybe more people look to Linux as an alternative and perhaps we’ll reach a critical mass where my previous statement doesn’t matter.
thousands? the browse-the-net macbook air is $999
Whole lotta MacOS recommendations here, so I’m gonna say:
Bazzite.
… you can actually play games on it, and its an OS too!
More technically:
Its a Linux distro, an atomic version of Fedora, with many tweaks and pre built in utilities to make gaming work better and more easily.
If you have no idea what that means, it means that its fairly cutting edge but also very stable version of linux, where the core OS yells at you if you try to muck with it, and highly encourages you to use the various sandboxed containers it helps you use you run all sorts of applications.
The simple version of the above is: Just use the app store, Bazaar, and things will pretty much ‘just work’.
You can do more intense / power user / expert type stuff if you like, and it does take a few extra steps compared to just like, straight Fedora or Debian, but, Bazzite is much, much more noob friendly and much harder to break.
They all suck in their own unique ways, and I use them all, so I feel uniquely qualified to say that.
To be honest, I’m ready for the hate, but about 90% of the people I know looking for a recommendation are not the type of people for whom any flavor of Linux is well-suited. Apple is too much of a closed system and likes to do things its own way in contrary to everybody else, forcing users down their one and only path of truth regardless of whether it makes sense to do so even though it’s completely different/opposite of nearly all best practices, which makes them a hard sell. Plus, they lost me with the “it just works” when they in fact do not “just work”. So, just to make my life easier, I usually find myself suggesting people stick with Windows. I hate it, but it saves me time and sanity in the end.
It’s funny to think about, because I have the exact opposite experience. I think it really comes down to the type of person though.
Most of the people I help (with IT) is people who is not that comfortable on a tablet and would like the next step up. A cheap laptop, with bigger screen and a physical keyboard. Used for banking, writing, browsing. Nothing that really can’t be done on a tablet as well.
All of these people use Linux. Mostly Mint or ElementaryOS, depending on their preference.
If we add gaming into the mix, it becomes a little more “complicated”. This really depends on the person. I have family/friends who game on Linux, but I also know one who didn’t last that long using Linux, because it simply didn’t fit their needs.
Windows is the most common, and most people are more accustomed to that OS.
So there is a big bar for the typical person. Can they boot off an image and press ok. I know that sounds sarcastic but some folks just can’t handle do anything more than using the system that came with their device. I mean someone my age should be plenty use to installing a system but, well, you know. If they can’t handle installing a system and does not have someone who can do it for them (keeping in mind those sorts will view every hiccup as the fault of the person who did it for them). Then buying a mac with apple care is the best way to go. If they have an issue they can go to the genius bar or call support or whatever. If they can handle installing a system but not much else then I recommend zorin which is an out of the box linux distro based on ubuntu lts and uses gnome by default. The main thing here is that its about as stable as a linux system is going to get with ubuntu lts, then it comes with any software someone could reasonably expect it to have. so stuff for doing pretty much all office and audio video stuff along with a browser of course and a fair amount of other things like disc burner software and an rdp client and playonlinux allowing many windows thing to be run or installed with a right click. Lastly most downloadable software has a debian option which will work fine although they can find most things they need in the software center. then to it will look for updates and nag them to get them installed automatically.
An immutable Linux system. Especially if there a total noon.
If they won’t be doing any modern gaming (like 2025/6 new releases), then Linux Mint.
If they want to do modern gaming, I highly recommend Fedora (KDE Spin for most, GNOME if you really like Mac’s UX).
If you want to do mostly gaming only (not heavy work, dedicated gaming setup), then Bazzite which is a downstream of Fedora.
Mint is a bit easier for a new user, but Fedora arguably gives you the latest Linux has to offer at excellent stability. They also have some nice defaults like BTRFS, zswap, SElinux that you don’t have to worry about configuring manually in any way.
EDIT:
I should add that you probably shouldn’t listen to the average random youtube video on this topic, because a metric ton of them fail to highlight the issues of many distros, desktop environments, software, etc because they provide a dumb tier list based off of their personal interests or something that they read from each distro’s description without actually taking the time to thoroughly test.
ZorinOS is not a real answer just because they advertise parity with Windows. There are plenty of distros that achieve the same thing, better, and for free.
The best thing about linux is that you can try it out first without installing. Really play around with it and make sure it suits what you want.
I’ve been using Zorin for a couple of years and recently installed it on my desktop. It’s free.
Gentoo Linux :p Nah if they’re an average user, Mac OS is actually quite decent (especially on the M series Macs) and doesn’t have all the bs Windows does while it’s actually quite secure with lockdown mode.
I’m a Windows hater, but I can’t in good conscience recommend Mac because of the vendor lock-in, and I’m not going to recommend Linux to someone just needing a computer to use when they need it.
Let’s not joke ourselves. I would, however, offer to install Enterprise LTSC and disable as much of the telemetry as possible. After that point, their privacy is in their own hands, but I’ll offer as many tips as I can.
If they are even slightly technically inclined and I know them enough to know they are capable of any level of troubleshooting, I’d recommend Mint.
In what way do you define “just needing a computer to use when they need it”?
I have several family members and friends who know absolutely nothing about computers. They all use Linux and the amount of IT-support needed has never been lower.
Widespread application compatibility is there for Windows devices. Whatever they feel like they need to install at any point in the future, there’s an unequivocally higher chance that they’ll be able to get it if they’re using a Windows device.
If they’re specifically looking to get a PC, I’m assuming they’re wanting more capability than what their phone can give them. So whatever that thing is, they will more than likely have more options using a Windows machine.
Without more information, I’m not recommending a Linux system in an absolute manner. I’m glad things worked out in your anecdote.
Linux mint
I love mint, have you tried a KDE desktop though?
Yes, they’re terrible because you can’t navigate through their settings without a mouse. Tab only goes so far in KDE. I couldn’t stand it.
I respect your opinion, but it’s not one that will be held by average users.
Mint is not run by professionals. It has been pwnd more than once. It’s pretty, slightly better run than manjaro and has no reason to exist when ubuntu, fedora and suse exist.
Please stop pointing to mint as a starting place. Every level user is going to get a more secure and reliable experience avoiding mint.
Ubuntu, fedora, suse and spins of those 3. I wouldn’t put a normal user on anything else without extenuating circumstances.
From what I can find, the Linux Mint website was breached once, in 2016, for a short duration and during that time the download link for the ISO referred to a site that was hosting a version that installed a backdoor.
Meaning it was short in scope, the dev team reacted to it, handled it, and then were open and transparent about it, and it only affected people who downloaded the ISO at that exact span in time and also installed that version instead of replacing it when the announcement came.
The harsh reality of IT security isn’t that it’s a question of if you get hacked, it’s a question of when, even for multi-billion dollar companies.
They got hacked a couple times before that though it may not be widely published. Mint originally existed as an “easier” and prettier unbuntu run by volenteers. They would be extremely unlikely to figure out they had been compromised by an APT. And before you say it, look up the 2016 hack, it wasn’t an APT.
Besides what other people said, manjaro breaks regularly.
Yup. Manjaro is infamous. Mint is dolled up ubuntu by volunteers
Stupid fucking answer.
I love Linux. I use it on multiple machines daily. It’s not for an average user.
Correct, I wrote a decent comment about the actual issues with Linux for the average user in this thread
If they are not savvy enough to do troubleshooting themselves or have no one to ask for help, I think macOS would be the best (assuming money isn’t an issue). Otherwise, Linux Mint.
There’s a rule you should learn. Never ever recommend Apple shit to people.
I generally wouldn’t, but I do have a iPhone for work and got a good price on a M2 a couple of years ago.
The hardware is better than most laptops and the battery life way out preforms my work Win11 Dell of the same age
“Your opinion is wrong”
Absolutely, that’s par for the course for anything Apple.
You’re a good little Genius™.
TempleOS
Yeah, the average user must commune with god.
This guy gets it.
The only real choice!
What do you like about it?
Its Jesus approved.
