I’m resetting windows 10 on my Thinkpad T580 for work but would like to create a partition for linux. It’s an older laptop and really chugs through games like Minecraft or RuneScape but I enjoy playing relaxing games while I listen to audiobooks at night. I grew up using windows which is why I’ve mostly used Ubuntu and ZorinOS in the past but I’d like to expand my horizons to something like kubuntu. I value good UI/UX design and something lightweight for my old potato. Any recommendations on Linux distros?
** Thanks for all the input! I tried Fedora first but it felt kind of clunky to me. Then I tried out Mint xfce and it’s right up my alley! I can run a separate Firefox profile right off the task bar that runs outside of my VPN which is perfect for Netflix and other sites that have issues. So far loving how customizable it is. Minecraft runs ok off GDLauncher, and lutris is really cool. I forgot I had a boat load of old GOG games that are perfect for this laptop. I really fucking love Linux 😆
IMO one should never recommend manjaro. To suggest an easy arch endeavouros should be the way to go, why? Because the manjaro devs make way too many mistakes and a mistake or two can happen to anyone, but when it happens often it becomes a pattern, one where I wouldn’t want someone to deal with if it can be avoided.
Yeah, I had seen some of the criticism but figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a whirl. I haven’t tried endeavor yet, maybe I should.
Definitely try it. I started Linux with Mint since it’s the closest to Windows I could find. Later on I wanted to try bleeding edge but vanilla Arch was too complicated for a noob like me. Until I found EOS. The transition was smooth and painless. I learned more about Linux in a few months with EOS than years on Mint, but that’s a me problem. Now I have vanilla Arch on my VM and EOS on my laptop bare metal. It’s pretty stable, and that one-time Grub issue was the only hiccup I ever experienced that was not due to my stupidity. Lol.
Now I want to try Gentoo, but man it’s even more complicated.
Thanks for the encouragement! I’ve been reading up and thinking about making it my project for the weekend. The question still lingers, do I need sexy Linux, when regular boring functional Linux does everything I need it to very smoothly? I game browse the web on it. I don’t code or make content, and my day job keeps me so busy that I want my shit to just work when I feel like booting up a game my steamdeck or switch can’t handle. Is the feeling of running it successfully worth it?