I do not have the skills to work-on/repair OSs alternative, if something goes wrong. Are there any top alternative Computer OSs that have IRW computer repairpeople that was work on computers that use their OSs? If the answer is yes, then around what USA cities?
Thank You, for everyone seriously trying help me. Which is most the replies:)!
If you can’t even click next enough to get a disto installed Linux is not for you
I am brandnew to Linux & alternatives to Windows & not a programmer. What is disto?
I am assuming you are from the Apple/Android ecosystem.
A “distro” is short for “distribution”.
Same as iOS on iPad and Android on other tablets have an App Store, Linux distributions have an App Store like thingy. It is called a repository (different name, similar job).
The difference between an App Store and a Repository is that while app stores will only have Application Software (i.e. the stuff that you directly use), a repository will have everything that makes up the Operating System. So, System Software and Application Software.
How it affects you? Well when you do a system update, all apps including Linux and every base component can updated at the same time. This makes sure that everything works with each other, properly. The problem with this is that it gives you the power to install something that doesn’t work well with other things and if you don’t read the prompts before pressing “Yes” or typing “Y”, then you might cause some headache.
Now, the repository lies on the servers of those who build the software from their source code and provide binaries to you.
To access that, you have a program on you computer called a package manager.
If you find it hard to use a terminal, I suggest going with something like Ubuntu or Linux Mint and using the GUI (Graphical User Interface) package manager, which might be named something different you can easily get used to. The experience will be kinda similar to using the app store apps on tablets/mobiles except that it won’t go around giving you cash-grab notifications.
You can use the GUI package managers to install and update software as and when required.
Different Linux Distributions (distros) are geared towards different kinds of people and some of them don’t even come with a GUI from the start, for which you get to decide exactly what GUI software you want to install. This is better off left for when you have gotten privy with whatever default is available on the beginner-friendly distros and have the time to research all the available options and match them with your preferences.
The reason it is hard to find anyone to do this for you, is because you yourself are the best judge of what you like.
Not I
A distro is the variant of linux you choose. Some are optimized for servers, some are optimized for general desktop use.
For beginners, Linux Mint is where I would suggest starting. It feels familiar to a Windows user and is specifically designed to be beginner friendly.
There is a detailed install guide here. But the short version is:
Download the iso
Put the iso on a USB drive
Boot to the USB drive
Click next a bunch on the installer. If you don’t have anything on the computer already, choose to have it wipe the drive and install Mint as the only OS. That greatly simplifies things.
Thank You, been so focused on Mint, ignored the rest.
Mint is one of the more “Windows-like” versions of Linux. The deal breaker for Linux usually isn’t the OS, but what software you’ll run on the OS, and often a crucial one will be MS Office and compatibility with the proprietary junk that comes with it. If you need just a spreadsheet and word processor and they don’t have to be 100% MS compatible, then LibreOffice will work fine (even ON WIndows). If it’s other types of software, then see if they have a Linux option, or if there’s success in using Wine or Lutris to run it on Linux.
Linux won’t be without some learning curve, but it’s not nearly as steep as it used to be. I spent years occasionally playing with dual boots of different distros but not really using them, but last year found some things that would run better on Linux (I started by using WSL on Windows but it’s so slow because of what it is). Now I’ve all but completely remove my Windows partition, everything important is now moved over to my Ubuntu and I do not want to go back now.
Just keep using windows
Stop being a dick to OP. If you don’t have anything nice to say, you don’t have to say anything at all.
I will not because the OP hasn’t even done 5 minutes of reading before running to social media looking for answers.
On the plus side, it’s a good sign for Linux that even people like this want to run the fuck away from the monstrosity that Windows has become.
You should not assume, just ask me! I have, just this is the only social media I use. Really hate social media, but boards are dead & tech. corporations no longer do customer services.