As much as people whine about it as a trend, “/s” goes a long way. 😂

There’s no winning… I get you, though. And you’re right, they do think they know best… Which is why I won’t use GNOME. I left Windows for the same reason. And I’ll catch a lot of hate for it, but IMO GNOME is far too opinionated about how the end-user “should” interact with their PC for my tastes.

Honest answer: I’ve never had need of cutting edge repositories in Linux Mint, so I’ve never looked or tried. I would doubt that adding cutting edge repositories to Mint would be a good idea for system stability – there’s a reason “bleeding edge” distributions have a reputation for being a tinkerer’s playground. Look at the stability reputation of, say, ArchLinux as an example.

I love Arch, and have used it extensively over the last decade or so, but I would not recommend it or nearly any other rolling release to a newcomer to the space; if you aren’t comfortable getting your hands dirty in the terminal, it’s only a matter of time before you end up with an unstable system that may or may not boot without the confidence to fix it.

My one exception to the rule above, if you aren’t afraid of configuring some repositories for non-free software: OpenSUSE Tumbleweed was a wicked stable rolling release last time I tried it due to the way the organization behind it runs it. It tends to be a little heavier than what you’re asking for, but as far as graphical options for system configuration you can’t really beat OpenSUSE, IMO. YaST (their system configuration platform) has a tool to configure… Well, damn near everything, honestly. Even if the UI/UX feels a bit “dated”, everything you need is there.

Depending on how mission-critical your PC setup is, I might recommend doing a little “distro-hopping.” Back up your data, wipe your drive, install a distro and trial it for about a week or so. If one feels like it “fits,” just stay there.

I would not say Fedora is hard to install and maintain. The biggest issue by far is a setup hurdle for getting “non-free packages” enabled – Fedora (and a few other distros) is a “FOSS-only” distribution, meaning they don’t include anything by default that is not “free, open-source software.” That means media codecs for playing popular audio and video file formats, web browsers like Chrome (I would recommend migrating away from this platform if you’re using it) and anything else that’s “proprietary software.”

There are ways to enable access to this software, but it requires configuring your software package repositories to point to them. It’s not hard, just something to keep in mind.

Linux Mint is a great choice for newcomers to the space – it includes access to non-free software OOTB, has sane default applications on all of its “flavors” with their separate desktop environments, provides decent utilities for configuring your system graphically without blocking you from learning how to do so by config file or terminal should you want to learn. It stays decently up-to-date with packages, you won’t be on the bleeding edge but that’s not a bad thing. If you aren’t doing intense activities (gaming, video editing, etc) having the absolute latest packages won’t really matter to you. It still gets security updates, so you’re good there. It’s a well documented distro with a friendly community and forum if you run into trouble with anything. All around a really solid choice, and would be my first recommendation for someone not looking to do any heavy gaming or other specialized work on their PC.

XFCE is my desktop environment of choice. Not only is it lightweight, it also comes with some of the better desktop environment defaults, in my opinion. Linux Mint will theme it nicely upon install, but it’s a long-standing DE that has a huge backlog of support for customization and “beautifying” your install however you like. Lots of themes and cursor options for those who care, all without pushing your resources. It’s a traditional desktop paradigm, so it won’t try and force you to interact with your PC in new and unusual ways (looking at you, GNOME, you weirdo). It just… Gets out of your way and lets you use your PC the way you’re used to.

Linux Mint + XFCE is my recommendation, for sure.

I have the sneaking suspicion this was supposed to be sarcastic, but the Internet doesn’t carry “tone”… Am I correct? 😂

Doesn’t work so well when it’s your wife you’re telling “no, I won’t help you,” to. 😂

I’m not gonna coerce her into using Linux, lol. That’s a surefire way to make sure she hates it and blames any little hiccups on Linux, even if it’s not the OS’s fault.

I got tired of the subscription while I was still Windows-bound, so I trialed CaptureOne Pro. It didn’t even have a subscription plan at the time, and I loved it so much I bought a perpetual license. I love the software, it’s my favorite photo editing software period. They do offer a subscription now, as well as perpetual licenses, but you can’t even begin to get it running under Linux so… Major bummer.

Just be sure to research your must-have titles on ProtonDB. It’ll tell you pretty much everything you need to know if there’s any tinkering to be done for your titles… And don’t make the same mistake I did! 😂

I upgraded from an AMD Radeon RX580 to an Intel ARC A750… Works perfect, except the specific setup of Linux + Intel ARC can’t play Halo Infinite… It worked fine (if subpar performance) on the RX580, but there’s some software issues between Vulkan and Intel that means certain DX12 games that make a very particular graphics call will NOT work with an Intel GPU… Otherwise I love it!

I’ve been gaming on Linux for a loooong time, lol. I follow Proton’s progress pretty closely since the beginning as it pertains to the Linux space, I just wasn’t sure if it was considered a “solution” in the MacOS world or if it requires some finagling…

Thanks for the insight! I’ll have to do a liiiittle more research, but I’m feeling more comfortable about it now.

Very compelling. I’m guessing Steam’s Proton work doesn’t do much if anything for Mac? I’m familiar with gaming on Linux, so I’m not afraid to get technical to get it all working, I’m just trying to get a feel for viability… It sounds like Sims 4 is the only thing up in the air, lol.

I need to find someone with a Mac willing to let me try it… 😂

This is, again, an atypical use-case. Despite that, it’s not hard to find the answers. Googling for “Linux Japanese keyboard layout” comes up with an easy-to-follow guide in the first 5 search results, literally on the Ubuntu forums. Understand I’m not saying the use case is particularly RARE, but it’s not the norm either. And honestly, Snap sucks anyway. 😂

It could certainly be better supported and better documented, but you’re looking through the lens of your specific experience, not realizing your experience is not that of the every day, average PC user.

Put up a dart board of the most widely used KDE distributions and throw a dart. You’ve got a KDE distro that actually meets the needs of a non-technical user. Kubuntu, Linux Mint’s KDE edition, Fedora, OpenSUSE, hell throw Manjaro with KDE on. The desktop environment has zero bearing on a distro’s ability to act like a computer, it’s only the paint on the walls. If a distro “fits the needs of a non-technical user” by your definition with, say, GNOME or Cinnamon or XFCE or Budgie or whatever else, it’ll do it with KDE too. Desktop environment != distribution.

The one everyone always drones on and on about is Darktable… Don’t get me wrong, it’s a powerful piece of software. But… It’s lackluster compared to the competition. I used it for a long time, figuring if I just made myself keep using it I’d get used to it… And then I actually stopped and thought about that sentence, lol. I shouldn’t have to Stockholm’s myself into liking a piece of software.

Lol! I’m fine with GIMP, actually. As a matter of fact, I prefer it to Photoshop. That’s likely due to GIMP being my first introduction to photo manipulation though, and so I’m used to its paradigm.

Photo EDITING, though? There’s no competition on Linux for the likes of Lightroom or Capture One Pro (my preferred RAW editing software). I gave up photography for a while because I hated editing my photos on Linux so much. I tried EVERY alternative Linux had to offer, and they all suck. Eventually, I started carrying around a USB-C SD card reader and just transferring photos of my camera to my phone to edit them in Snapseed of all things, I hated editing on Linux so much.

Really? MacOS? Why’s that? I’ve never had the pleasure of working with a Mac, but I’d be open to trying it.

Actually, I’m thinking about picking a previous gen MacBook for my wife, I just need some confirmation on how it handles The Sims and Minecraft… 😂

I’d argue that for the vast majority of users, a stable, modern Linux distro will meet their needs perfectly. Web browsing, watching YouTube, checking e-mail, looking at pictures of cats on the internet…

It’s special/professional use-cases that are still lackluster. Try doing professional level photo editing on Linux… It’s a nightmare. Integrating with corporate cloud solutions? Nah. Are these things doable? Absolutely. By the majority of users in that specific use-case? No.

But day-to-day, general use PC stuff? Yeah, absolutely. Even gaming is more accessible than ever. There’s exactly one game in my Steam library that doesn’t just work… To be clear, it doesn’t work at all, but that’s just because of my hardware setup. (Halo Infinite + Intel ARC + Linux = Game can’t even launch. Worked fine with an AMD card, but when I upgraded late last year it borked. Known problem with Vulkan, DX12, and ARC)

Yeah, that’s fair. Linux has been my daily driver for like… 8 years now? And I dabbled with it for some time before that. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m MUCH more comfortable doing things the Linux way than I am doing things the Windows way. I also have to admit I don’t do much modding for my games, and the little bit that I do is often either a.) Supported/managed by the game itself, or b.) Because I still install the majority of my mods by hand rather than through a mod manager.

As someone who dailied Linux for years and years and whose primary use of my PC is to game… I have to disagree with you. The only title in my entire Steam library that doesn’t work is Halo: Infinite, and that only because I’m using an Intel ARC card which has a known issue running Infinite on Linux due to an incompatibility between a specific set of DirectX 12 calls and Vulkan. If I had chosen to upgrade to a new AMD card instead, I’d still be running Linux. But I wanted to support Intel, so here we are. When I’m done playing around on Infinite, I’ll switch back and never think about Windows again.

Hell, some of my library runs BETTER on Linux than on Windows with the ARC card. The only game that runs better on Windows is Halo: Infinite, and that’s only because it literally doesn’t run at all on Linux. 😂

My typical recommendation for anyone new to Linux looking to get their feet wet would be Linux Mint. As long as you keep the system updated, it should be a decent choice for gaming.

The following is not to discourage you, but to help keep expectations in check. Gaming on Linux is not perfect. It’s not comparable to gaming on Windows. A LOT of games (with the assistance of Steam’s Proton) “just work,” but things are not to a point where that’s ever a guarantee. I would recommend looking up your staple games on to review Linux compatibility, if the games run or need additional run options.

I say all this as someone who runs exclusively Linux, and is a gamer and occasionally streams. It’s perfectly doable, but expect to have to get your hands dirty at some point in the venture. And don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Glad I’m not the only one with this question. Feels like it’s difficult to find up-to-date information on the performance of these Arc cards on Linux; I’d like to support Intel’s move into this space but it’s hard without knowing how drastically it’s going to affect my gaming performance. 😅

I’m glad to hear the situation seems to be rapidly improving. I may pick up an A770 yet.

Much better! Less aggressive. Your initial comment had a sense of reprimanding the OP for not posting in the “right place,” and I’m certain you didn’t mean to come off that way, just that you thought they might get a better, more specific answer from a more specific community, is that right?

I appreciate the civility and willingness to discuss. :)