Many distributions were tried, yet each came with issues and lacked key functionalities.
Many distributions were tried, yet each came with issues and lacked key functionalities.
Through further research I discovered that all Gnome editions rely on 100% scaling only. The rare ones offering fractional adjustments had to be modified with extra effort, sometimes causing blur or artifacts. KDE appears to handle modern scaling more effectively. That led me to rule out the Gnome variants. Online discussions reveal many users complaining about missing fractional scaling or pixelation. Since Windows introduced true fractional scaling in W10, I wasn’t aware it was something I needed to verify. Possibly my old machine had compatibility issues. I lost access to the bootloader; with it I only reached GRUB without any selection options. So I had to manually switch the boot device to USB in BIOS. For Mint, this still opened a screen where I could choose compatibility settings, but the main menu just displayed a blinking line. Even after recreating the USB image on another drive, it didn’t work. I realized if fractional scaling isn’t available, I’d avoid it. Then I made the Fedora USB image, which did support fractional scaling. That was encouraging. However, there was no audio output. A forum member suggested installing these images, but it didn’t resolve the issue quickly. I tried updating Fedora (with 5GB of updates) hoping that would fix it, but I doubt a live update could help. After restarting (if possible in live mode), it crashed with errors. When launching a browser, it took about 12 seconds for the icon to appear, whereas on the same hardware W11 opened instantly. Perhaps installing Fedora directly instead of just from USB would work better. But I hesitated because my current W11 setup was fully functional and working. I’m not sure if risking it would be worthwhile, given the potential sound problems. Maybe I’ll test Linux on a machine without an active OS and see. For now, I continue using W11. Every few years I invest time trying Linux only to face simple frustrations. Edit: FWIW, if the situation remains unchanged, next time I’d lean toward KDE distros. Edit 2: I decided not to give up before exploring another KDE release. openSUSE seems like a hands-on option. Then I revisited KDE Neon, Kubuntu, and Fedora again. I actually identified the audio issue—setting the output device in sound settings didn’t help. For display resolution, the system didn’t recognize the native 4K and defaulted to around 2K, requiring manual adjustment. Also, it took me some time to figure out that network folders and shared resources were accessible across devices. All three—Fedora, Kubuntu, and Neon—looked similar, so I had to pick one for dual booting now. The decision became clearer since Kubuntu was notably slow, and I couldn’t reach a web address in Firefox (which was straightforward on Fedora/Neon). The only real difference between Fedora and Neon appeared during the live session: Fedora offered the ability to remember login data for network PCs, while Neon seemed more of a prototype. Based on this, my next move seems to be installing Fedora and attempting a dual-boot with W11.**
I attempted to reinstall Mint just to experience its appearance. However, after several tries with updated ISO files and various USB drives, it failed to load into the live environment. Other distributions like Fedora, Kubuntu, and Neon worked immediately. It seems my outdated hardware might be incompatible with Mint. I also considered testing Debian and Manjaro KDE, but research suggested Manjaro isn't as stable as Fedora. I wasn't sure about its reliability compared to Fedora. Then I planned to try Debian 13 in a virtual machine to see if it would suit me better. But I gave up after struggling to locate the ISO on their site. According to the information available, Debian appears to be designed for MS-DOS. It looked like a setup a 1995 administrator would have used internally. I suspect they aim to restrict access for regular users. Perhaps Debian could be a good fit for someone curious but inexperienced. I worry about limited community support for beginners if I can't resolve these issues. I chose Fedora initially, intending to dual-boot with W11. But when I checked the disk manager, it showed partitions I needed to remove, and W11 generated chaos. I opted to wipe out the Windows partition to start fresh and avoid further BIOS confusion. It's working well so far. This isn't my primary machine, and over the coming days I'll set everything up. I believe this could be a more pleasant alternative to Windows.
The site is designed for quick access, with a prominent download button and an "Other downloads" section offering various options, including a live version. While the interface isn't the most contemporary, it remains practical and functional. As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. Debian stands out as one of the first Linux distributions and boasts a strong community, making it a solid foundation for many others. A good decision overall. Keep in mind that Fedora focuses exclusively on free software, excluding patented code, which may affect multimedia compatibility—consider updating packages if needed. Performance can vary on older hardware, but modern systems typically handle it smoothly.
functional, maybe in 1995. Nothing is a button, it is jsut hyperlinked text. and nothing seems to link to an iso, you get directories with the single files. and they refer to live image installations, and a calamares installer (apparently they also have files with old school installer). Every other distro has a downlaod button with the iso and that comes with installer, and can be used for live or installation. and who is still using CDs? I realize a system admin and or Linux expert knows what netisnt is. OK, i found it . You have to go from the Debian installer page to the Trixie page and one of the hyperlinked "amd64" will get you an iso. but some of those very same "amd64"hyperlinks just brings you to more text. ...scratch that, that was only the netinst CD image. is that the one i can use? the other AMD64 links just bring me to more directories with single files, but no iso-file. i saw reviews and Debian looks like the other Linux. but the person who maintains the website apparently has zero ability to think from the user perspective, or purposefully wants to filter out regular people. They should make a single iso per architecture, and one button that says so and directly downloads a useable iso. Basically like everyone else. And every youtuber that reviewed and praised Debian had the same complaint about their site and the installer. and these guys also agree If i ever find the iso, i can look at it in a VM... and i hope the programmers have a different attitude towards UI than the web page person has. As for Fedora: - the only problem i still have to resolve is to make my wireless microphone be audible. I have a Fedora forum question with more detail - I currently have updates set to daily (and had a Kernel update this morning). Probably will set it to weekly once I'm done setting everything up - Sound settings are all in one place (unlike Windows) and look more straight forward - Mouse settings also are in one place (unlike Windows where you can set pointer size at multiple locations, and only some work) - setup is faster than windows since windows takes me an hour to de-bloat. And some things in windows also require groupeditor, registry, CMD etc. i think overall having to use terminal every once a while isn't worse than what windows makes us do - i have to learn to search for help for KDE specifically since many answers refer to Gnome and that seems extremely different how to change things - installation of Fedora takes some more setting than Mint (not hard, though). But once installed, i don't see how a noob would have more problems with Fedora vs. Mint. - I'm really happy with KDE layout. More logical to me and i like the taskbar idea. if you come from classic Windows, you should have zero problem adapting to Fedora. - I still have to google for settings, but it gets easier to find them myself (and for windows, i also have to google for things i need to do, probably even more) I think this can be a real good OS and in many aspects the UI (settings etc.) is much more organized than windows. windows spreads settings out over CP, settings, GP and so on. i say that as someone who actually loves W11 and find Windows was really great starting with XP and (except Vista and W8) got much better with every new version. And the one big thing that most likely will be better than Windows, after major updates, i don't have to re-do all my de-bloating settings.
I bought a "fuckin' around" computer because it lets me install any operating system easily without dealing with partitions or boot menus on the devices I use regularly. It’s not very powerful—just an i3-6100 with 4GB DDR4—but it works fine for basic testing across Linux distributions. The price was only $35 with shipping, which made it a good value.
I own five computers, with four currently active. One serves as a backup should either of my two home PCs (my wife and I) encounter issues, allowing us to continue working while I address the problems. The remaining ones are in the living room. My backup and living room machines consist of two i7 6700 series and one i7 7700k with 16GB RAM. It’s not ideal, but it’s manageable. Deploying Windows 11 isn’t a priority for me right now. In Linux, you save time on troubleshooting, though initial setup can be lengthy. On Windows, the process usually succeeds, but you often need to adjust settings repeatedly. After certain updates, you end up having to reconfigure W11 again. This situation could worsen with AI advancements. (Because we really want local AI support.) I previously used an i3 6100 with 16GB RAM. It’s frustrating when you’re not using a GPU or doing anything demanding. I wouldn’t try this on another machine, since it wouldn’t accurately reflect how my applications perform on my specific setup. So I was hoping to test directly on the device I’m using. The VM environment gave me some insight into whether I prefer the Linux experience, and my past struggles with installing Mint in VM (even though it worked fine there) reinforced that only real-world testing on the actual PC matters. YMMV. Anyway, with my current setup—VM, live sessions, and eventually using Fedora KDE—I’m hoping the distro selection didn’t cause too much hassle. It was eye-opening to see how Mint didn’t install properly in practice, and how Kubuntu ran very slowly on my hardware.