From Windows to Linux
date: 2020-01-12
For many years, I've been thinking about what is the best version of Linux (distro) to recommend to people who are familiar with Microsoft Windows. Now that Windows 7 is no longer being supported, I have put a considerable amount of time and research into finding answer.
In the past, I have recommended Ubuntu. I no longer think that's the best recommendation, as the interface in the default Ubuntu environtment with Gnome 3 can be jarring to people coming from Windows. It's fairly easy to learn, but I have been looking for alternatives.
For a while I used and recommended Ubuntu MATE. Also a good choice, as it runs faster on older hardware than default Gnome 3. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, though.

What I eventually came to conclude was the best Linux distro to recommend to people familiar with Windows is Linux Mint Cinnamon.
Here's Why:
- Start menu is in bottom left corner
- Good default application choices
- Familiar keyboard shortcuts
- Intuitive file manager
- Based on Ubuntu (good community support)
tags: #linux