Hello!
I’m interested in moving my personal computer to running Linux but I’m not sure where to even begin. As background, I am a casual user and have a desktop with hardware from around 2014 running Windows. I am hoping to setup a NAS drive as a media server in the next year or so, offloading all of the files currently on the Windows desktop and have been interested in open source software such as Jellyfin. I also mostly game on an Xbox and Nintendo Switch, but have used the desktop in the past for gaming such as with an Oculus Rift Headset and some Steam games so not huge on getting games working on the computer. But, I do sometimes torrent using the computer so don’t want to lose that capability (especially with upkeep for the media server).
With all of that said, I didn’t know how to get started with choosing what Linux OS to use, setting it up, backing up my files to make sure I can use them with the new OS, etc. Making the switch seems to have great options for customization and “choosing a distro that works for you”, but I don’t know what would work for me or what will be user friendly for a beginner.
Any tips or pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Step 1: Make a list of the software you use, and search online to see if they work on Linux.
Step 2: For the ones that don’t work on Linux, find alternatives and use them for a few days.
Step 3: Download a linux distribution’s iso into a pen drive, and boot from that. See how everything feels. (Don’t install it yet.)
Step 4: Install a linux alongside your Windows (i.e. dual-booting).
Step 5: When you realise that you are no longer using Windows, you can think of removing it, particularly if you’re short of disk space.
As for which distribution to use, I would suggest Linux Mint, but Pop OS and Ubuntu are also fairly beginner-friendly.