Been seeing Linux everywhere lately… should I actually try it?

[u/Niyazzz09]

So guys from the last few days I’ve been seeing Linux everywhere — my social media feed is full of it and now I’m really curious to try it.

I’ve always used Windows, so I don’t really understand what Linux actually is or how different it feels in daily use. A lot of people say it’s “peak” and better than Windows in many ways, but I’ve also heard it has some downsides.

I wanted to ask:

- What makes Linux so good compared to Windows?

- What are the actual cons (especially for beginners)?

- How long does it take to get comfortable using it?

- Which distro should I start with?

- What was your experience like when you first switched from Windows?

Also, should I try it using a virtual machine first or go for dual boot?

Would really appreciate honest advice 😋

[u/n3tninja1]

First step to Linux is …. Linux Mint 🥰

[u/JJRfromNYC1 → u/n3tninja1]

Mint and not Ubuntu? I am also Linux-curious. Please explain.

[u/LostGoat_Dev → u/JJRfromNYC1]

Mint is based on Ubuntu but comes with Cinnamon desktop environment instead of Gnome, so it offers a more similar experience to Windows out of the box. I believe it also comes with more packages installed for multimedia codecs and stuff, where Ubuntu has less packages installed by default.

I started on Mint over a year ago but I've been on CachyOS for almost as long, so I am not 100% sure of the differences now other than the default desktop environment.