s
s
I like mint with cinnamon, but using multiple desktops in Windows 10 makes me feel productive on both sides. It's been a while since I've tried Linux. How to set up most programs on Linux: Are they available in standard repos? 1. Launch package manager 2. Look for the software 3. Click install. If not: 1. Get the .tar.gz file 2. Extract it 3. Double-click the rpm/deb file. Generally, about 90% of programs work this way. Installing isn't a big problem unless you're using the command line (still manageable), otherwise it shouldn't be too hard. Plus, most apps include setup guides, so it should be fine.
Absolutely, most things include a wizard. The biggest problem you might face is incorrect file permissions, but you can also set the file as executable within the interface.
So many different Linux flavors. Linux Mint is my distro of choice. It's quick, snappy, feature-rich, and--my personal favorite thing about it--it lets you choose how much and when you want to interact with the system. You can delve right down into the nitty-gritty bits and manually alter everything, or you can do a lot of tweaking through menus, or you can just ignore all that and use whatever programs you need. It's an OS that generally gets out of your way to let you do things, but still makes it very easy to have whatever more intimate interactions you might want. I also like the Cinnamon desktop a lot. Ubuntu is the other big one people praise, but I can't make myself get used to the Unity desktop environment and its lack of configurability. But since you can download Ubuntu with different default desktop environments or just plain install different ones, that's not necessarily a problem. Debian is always an option if you want one of the big daddies of the Linux world, but I've been told it requires a bit more technical know-how than its derivatives like Ubuntu and Mint. Fedora is the other big one, but is mostly for people who want the bleeding-edge software. It has pretty short release cycles, too, which might be irksome, and is less geared towards long term support releases like Ubuntu/Mint are. Then there's always Arch, if you want a nearly completely configurable system that's also pretty lightweight, but has a very steep learning curve. Or there's Gentoo, if you think "not having to compile your Kernel and software packages" is for losers. As for non-Linux, there's FreeBSD (or some of the other BSD flavors, but FreeBSD is the most-used for desktop computers by far). The development model is very different from Linux distros, since all the software that comes with it is designed--from the ground up--to be part of a single, cohesive system that works because every piece was specifically built to work with the others. Contrast that with Linux, where distributions are more like cobbled together sets of software from all over the place, glued together to make sure there's a working whole. (There are pros and cons to both approaches--neither one is strictly "better" than the other). FreeBSD requires more techincal computer knowledge than most of your normal Linux distros to fully configure and get working, though. On the plus side: it's extremely stable, extremely secure, and just overall regarded as a fantastic piece of software design and engineering. But it's not for the faint of heart.
Ubuntu is my favorite choice, elementary version seems better than OS X. Kubuntu offers a chalet aesthetic with a light feel. ZorinOS supports multiple Windows setups. I’d explore different distros to find the one that suits you best.