Recommended OSes

There are countless choices when it comes to alternatives to Windows. Here are my personal recommendations to help you avoid decision paralysis if you decide to do it yourself.

Beginner Friendly

I believe these make the most sense for anyone looking for a general purpose OS. Beginner friendly distros should have a simple app store and actively encourage users to keep the system up-to-date.

• Linux Mint, Cinnamon Edition
• Manjaro with KDE Plasma
• ChromeOS Flex

Advanced Users

These are my picks for those who aren't afraid of using or learning the command line.

• Fedora Linux
• EndeavourOS

Gaming Focused

Before migrating from Windows to Linux, please consult ProtonDB to verify the games you want to play run in Linux. If you play competitive games that utilize anti-cheat, Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? is also a handy resource. Compatibilty is quite strong these days, but since it's not 100% it's better to know ahead than to be blindsided when your favorite games won't start up.

For gaming-focused PC's, of course most general purpose distros will do. However, there are a couple options worth your consideration.

If you want an experience similar to SteamOS on the Steam Deck, Bazzite has you covered.

CachyOS is a distro based on Arch that specializes in optimizing for speed.

• Bazzite
• CachyOS