Linux Mint is probably your best choice for the Windows like experience. I don’t necessarily like it but it has the “feel” of Windows.
You’ll need a program called Balena Etcher to write a bootable usb, download the version of Linux you want by going directly to the site. Most casual users like Ubuntu, smaller percentage use versions like Mint.
Balena Etcher will do all the work of getting the usb ready. Then back up all of your important files.
You can dual boot but there are some issues with that.
For gamers, last I checked Nobara is still one of the better distros for plug and play though any game with an anticheat will likely screw you over unless they explicitly whitelist Linux. Another option is what it is built off of, Fedora or Bazzite. Bazzite seems to be more up and coming in this space, as it seems to do a better job handling what Fedora sets out to do (as it is also built on Fedora).
All of these work for workstation use, although the inclusion of gaming related software (Steam, Lutris, etc.) would just be bloat if that's your main use case.
I'm not personally team Balena Etcher though, I tend to prefer Ventoy since I keep OS backups for Windows, Linux (especially SteamOS) etc. on it and Ventoy is a simple drag and drop process, and lets you use the stick for things outside of being a bootable disk.
For Mint vs Ubuntu though, a lot of prevailing opinion seems to generally be that Mint is flat out better for most average users. It's been a minute since I looked in on those conversations, but a quick search seems to yield basically the same sentiments.
I don't think average users can go wrong with Mint.
I can say that Mint, from a zero experience Linux person was really easy to kick off and install on an older Thinkpad. All drivers were there for every day functionality. I was able to load and specialty driver for one of my printers as well. Overall, mint for a newbie installed and functioned with ease, highly recommend. I have been on windows since the 3.0 / 3.11 days.
Note- this experience is solely based on a stand alone PC, no 3rd party apps other than a zebra driver.
I just have to add, almost any linux distro is good for gaming. I‘m gaming on Mint, with an nVidia GPU, and thanks to the in-built driver manager of Linux Mint, setting up the GPU was a breeze.
For windows games, just install Steam from the Repository, or Heroic for Epic and GoG games, and lutris for the rest.
And you can also run most (not all unfortunately) windows programs with WINE, a compatibilty layer that „translates“ between Linux and the programs. There‘s an application called „Bottles“ which makes setting up WINE pretty easy.
As a previous SLES and Mint user I have been championing the HOLO iso steam OS for gaming PCs. It's an arch linux distro that steam uses for their steam deck and runs amazingly on PC hardware. It has a familiar windows feel to the desktop, full nvidia support built in and it's extremely easy to install from a thumb drive. I cannot recommend this enough.
Mint Ubuntu Etcher Ventoy Bezzite Fedora Nobara....Call me cynical, but I'm thinking yah really are going to lose most the public that has a hard time understanding the difference between USB-A and USB-C. Although it does sound like a good time to rework my network & passwords right now for some reason, no matter how bad I cringe at the thought.
SWITCH TO LINUX!
How do you fo this?
I am not real computer savvy.
Linux Mint is probably your best choice for the Windows like experience. I don’t necessarily like it but it has the “feel” of Windows.
You’ll need a program called Balena Etcher to write a bootable usb, download the version of Linux you want by going directly to the site. Most casual users like Ubuntu, smaller percentage use versions like Mint.
Balena Etcher will do all the work of getting the usb ready. Then back up all of your important files.
You can dual boot but there are some issues with that.
Linux Mint is pretty mint for sure.
For gamers, last I checked Nobara is still one of the better distros for plug and play though any game with an anticheat will likely screw you over unless they explicitly whitelist Linux. Another option is what it is built off of, Fedora or Bazzite. Bazzite seems to be more up and coming in this space, as it seems to do a better job handling what Fedora sets out to do (as it is also built on Fedora).
All of these work for workstation use, although the inclusion of gaming related software (Steam, Lutris, etc.) would just be bloat if that's your main use case.
I'm not personally team Balena Etcher though, I tend to prefer Ventoy since I keep OS backups for Windows, Linux (especially SteamOS) etc. on it and Ventoy is a simple drag and drop process, and lets you use the stick for things outside of being a bootable disk.
For Mint vs Ubuntu though, a lot of prevailing opinion seems to generally be that Mint is flat out better for most average users. It's been a minute since I looked in on those conversations, but a quick search seems to yield basically the same sentiments.
I don't think average users can go wrong with Mint.
I can say that Mint, from a zero experience Linux person was really easy to kick off and install on an older Thinkpad. All drivers were there for every day functionality. I was able to load and specialty driver for one of my printers as well. Overall, mint for a newbie installed and functioned with ease, highly recommend. I have been on windows since the 3.0 / 3.11 days.
Note- this experience is solely based on a stand alone PC, no 3rd party apps other than a zebra driver.
I just have to add, almost any linux distro is good for gaming. I‘m gaming on Mint, with an nVidia GPU, and thanks to the in-built driver manager of Linux Mint, setting up the GPU was a breeze.
For windows games, just install Steam from the Repository, or Heroic for Epic and GoG games, and lutris for the rest.
And you can also run most (not all unfortunately) windows programs with WINE, a compatibilty layer that „translates“ between Linux and the programs. There‘s an application called „Bottles“ which makes setting up WINE pretty easy.
As a previous SLES and Mint user I have been championing the HOLO iso steam OS for gaming PCs. It's an arch linux distro that steam uses for their steam deck and runs amazingly on PC hardware. It has a familiar windows feel to the desktop, full nvidia support built in and it's extremely easy to install from a thumb drive. I cannot recommend this enough.
Mint Ubuntu Etcher Ventoy Bezzite Fedora Nobara....Call me cynical, but I'm thinking yah really are going to lose most the public that has a hard time understanding the difference between USB-A and USB-C. Although it does sound like a good time to rework my network & passwords right now for some reason, no matter how bad I cringe at the thought.
Thank you.
This is way over my pay grade.
I am friends with our IT guy at work. I asked him to navigate through this with me.