Top 5 Linux Distros for beginners - 2012
By hasben
UPDATED - 04/28/2012 (rev.4)
There are plenty of Linux Distros out there but there's only very few that is truly for beginners. So I have picked 5 distros that suit the category. You might be curious about the factors that I considered when picking the Top 5. Well, out of the box support is very important in picking beginner distros. Other factors include: User friendly UI, easy installation and great online support. The Distros below are well-known for excelling in those areas.
1. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Ubuntu is the #1 and the most popular distro out there. Even though Linux Mint appeals more to new users Ubuntu has a rigorous release cycle and tends to have more features implemented in each release. Ubuntu does not come with a load of software and codecs pre installed like Linux Mint. So new users may have trouble playing certain media formats and may require a few command line installations but due to the excellent community support they can be sorted out within minutes.
EDIT: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS was released in April and I only have great things to say about it. Unity is now VERY stable and polished. There have been significant improvements to the interface since 11.04. So I highly recommend that you try out 12.04 if you have not used unity since 11.04.
2. Linux Mint 12
Linux Mint is known as the second most popular linux distribution simply because of its user friendliness. It comes with loads of software carefully picked by the team, media codecs and drivers. The distro works so well out of the box you will not be spending any time trouble shooting. The Distro always focuses on what is best for its users and provides what the mainstream linux users demand. Linux Mint 12 was released with Gnome Shell as the main Desktop environment and it is currently one of the few distros that provide a great out of the box Gnome-shell experience. Linux mint is based on Canonical's Ubuntu. Even though Mint is a polished Distro its default wall paper and artwork collection is not very impressive.
The Linux Mint team has also introduced a new DE called Cinnamon. It is a Modern, Gnome 3 based alternative to users that prefer Gnome 3.2. And next version of Linux Mint will include cinnamon by default.
3. Pinguy OS
Pinguy OS is an Ubuntu based distribution that comes with A LOT of software preinstalled. It is great for users who want to explore the extensive software that Linux has to offer. It is also very convenient because it includes almost all the software that a user may require. Pinguy OS is a fairly new distro but it is gaining popularity quickly. Pinguy OS includes a Dock by default and the overall look of the desktop leans toward OS X.
4. Zorin OS
Zorin OS is optimized for users who are transitioning From windows. It looks quite similar to Windows 7 and comes with "zorin look changer" that can make your desktop look similar to older Windows versions and Mac OS X. Zorin OS also offers four premium versions (Ultimate, Business, Multimedia, Gaming) which are available upon donating. There is also a free version that does not come with as much software preinstalled.
5. Joli OS
Joli OS is a one of a kind distro and it is a very interesting one at that. Its interface is built from HTML5 and installing apps is a piece of cake. Joli OS is a cloud based OS that encourages the use of Cloud applications. You can browse your application launcher from any computer using the web browser so you can access your cloud apps even if you don't have the machine that has Joli OS installed. Its interface is very interesting and appeals to a lot of new users.
EDIT: 04/28/2012
Joli OS seems to be a dead project. There have not been a major update for more than a year. The OS is incredibly outdated. They are currently focusing on other projects. Let me know what you think in the comment section below.
What is your favourite beginner friendly Distribution?
See results without votingIf you don't see a distro that you believe should be a part of this list leave a comment. I would love to see more suggestions.
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Comments
Thanks. Yea Mint is a rock solid distribution.
Not that I really disagree, but the poll is a little on the narrow scope considering it consists of nothing but Ubuntu and Ubuntu derivatives.
yes. I see what you are saying. But most of the beginner distros are Ubuntu based. Thanks for the comment.
While they aren't my particular cup of tea, both MEPIS and PCLinuxOS are considered to be quite newbie friendly. I would personally still vote for an Ubuntu based distro, but a little more variety would be nice (especially since they are all Gnome based as well).
If I made a top 10 list they would both be in it. Thanks for the comment.
still ubuntu is rocks!!!
I use zorin, pinguy and joli on my comp all 3 run smooth, i like them all so i made 3 partitions and my computer and i are very happy, i all wish you happy linuxing......
I have systematically worked my way down the distro watch list burning through a rather large stack of cds/dvds and the one disto that works first time everytime without having to tweak the os to death is Pinguy. LM 11.10 didnt work properly on my toshiba and neither would ubuntu. Forget Fedora and Suse they would only boot on one of the four pc's i maintain for my family.
All have their benefits but for easy of installation and having every program you need preinstalled I think Pinguy is the best OS on the market bar none. Even my 65 year old mother in law fell in love with her old celeron based laptop again once pinguy was up and running (no effects though as it is only a celeron.
A lot of guys miss the point - for linux to work it has to be better and easier than both windows and mac. people lead busy lives and dont want to spend hours customising their os so that it works properly, they want an "it just works" experience so that they can spend more quslity time with their family and less time geeking.
From and Ex fedora, arch, pclinux, suse, mint, puppy mandriva etc trialist bravo pinguy os for the easiest OS experience I have ever some across (i mean pre configured samba, de ve de, libreoffice, 2 web browsers banshee brasero etc - magic.
Linux Mint is the Best
I started using Linux several months ago. After reading several articles, and talking with people I knew who used Linux, I decided to go with Fedora. I chose Fedora for two reasons. [1: While at the time, I did not have an extreme desire to handle everything from a command line, I did have an interest in the way Linux worked, and the power the user has, to truly customize any level of their machine. 2:I did not have a need for a "think free" environment. Doing a little work to customize and have my machine work the way I wanted to was okay.] I'm no genius, the truth is that using the terminal, and tweaking certain parts of the system was not that hard at all. Especially when you take into account that you can use Google to solve almost any problem you could ever run into. Over all, I really enjoy Fedora, and I have even noticed, that in my opinion, it runs much more efficiently than Windows. You also have to take into account the hardware a beginner might be working with. Many other desktop environments other than Gnome provide a much smoother atmosphere for lower end machines. I think all those aforementioned distros are great (I think I'm actually going to give Joli a try, it sounds really interesting!), but in the end the beginner will benefit the most if they have a clearer understanding of why they want to try Linux, and they take the time to figure out what will run best on their platform.
I have used Linux Mint since Mint 10, and tried Ubuntu 11.10, Mandriva 2011, Mint 11 Gnome and Kubuntu 11.10. In my opinion, the best and most stable is still Mint 11. It has the good ol' Gnome 2 which is much better than Gnome 3 Shell. It is also as stable as a rock and some more.
Kubuntu 11.10 is by far the best desktop out there, and the KDE 4.7 desktop is light years ahead of Gnome 3. I can access either the Plasma Netbook interface (which also has a Desktop layout built i) as well as the traditional KDE desktop.
However kernel 3 seems to have some issues with stability with my Samsung Laptop, while kernel 2.6.38 is stable without issues.
So I'm back to Mint 11, and have installed Libreoffice 3.5 manually since Mint 11 repositories only upgrade to LibreOffice 3.4.3.
Installing some of the Bisigi themes and additional software was good,and there was also a patch for the Elan touchpad which was identified as a PS/2 mouse (Windows also does the same for Samsung mind you).
I'm sticking with Mint 11 for the next year at least, till kernel 3 is stable enough. Then maybe I'll move to KUbuntu 12.04 or 12.10.
I'm trying to transition to Linux (from Win7) and a lot depends on whether a particular distro will run on my HP Pavilion g7 laptop. Since I have a preference for speed, tried both Puppy and CrunchBang. Neither worked. Each had problems with specific hardware.
Next up was Zorin and everything worked in LiveCD mode. Very impressed. Movies, Music, WiFi worked perfectly. These guy even put in a CBR/CBZ reader:-) Tested a couple of 'portable' windows apps and they also worked with the built-in Wine. Right now I'm leaning heavily toward the Zorin OS since I don't want to do a lot of distro hopping.
Currrently downloading SimplyMepis, Pinguy and Mint. I figure I should at least take a look at these based on the many glowing reviews before I jump in full-time. Still... really like what the folks at Zorin have done in terms of ease-of-use and support software for transitioning users.
Currently using Ubuntu 11.10, and honestly, it's FAR buggier, more unstable, and WORSE across the board than XP, XP pro, or even Vista. My CD/DVD won't eject when I close the media player, every 1-2 days I'm on the forums trying to find a command-line to perform a BASIC function (such as connecting the wireless that was connected and behaving FINE 1-2 hours earlier), and at this point, I have to reboot every 2-3 hours or a driver/basic functionality somewhere WILL stop working, for absolutely NO reason.
This is even after "Downgrading" from the horrid "Unity" GUI to the more limited "Gnome Classic", which simplified style was working at least somewhat okay for about 2 days.
I bought a new laptop /toshiba/ and installed pinguy os. I was unaware untill i saw it on distrowatch. I am pretty happy with it because it is customized gnome 3 and stable enoguh than ubuntu. KDE is buggy, it crashes a lot may be more than ms windows. I previously used archlinux and i am an arch fan. But after working in pinguy i just dont want to switch to any other distros though pinguy isnt that simple as arch. I just hate the plain new unity ubuntu (wtf).
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I 'm big fan of pinguyos..it is very easy to use those who has transition from windows..i hav changed my pinguy os in mac os x leopard style by using macbuntu..now desktop look like mac os leopard...really linux helps to learn about working mechanism of os and hacking.
from a linux lover, all those distro suffer from many bugs. Some are very annoying. I still have to find a killer distro.
I have tried Linux Mint with no success. Two different machines, a 64bit & 32bit. Nothing but locking and crashing. I was excited about Mint. Everyone says how awesome it is, but it just seems like it's hype. I grabbed an old Dell D600 40gb HDD 1.5gb RAM for the sole purpose of running pandora. Mint has constantly crashed. Any recommendations for a distro?
I have installed many different distros and all are pretty much hit and miss depending on the hardware you have. For example... I installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my Dell Vostro 1500 and have absolutely no problems with it. It runs smooth, fast, never crashes, its awesome. I installed 11.10 on an older Sony desktop and I have nothing but issues with it. Same for Mint, Fedora and lots of others. I notice that Gnome 3 doesnt really like old hardware and that Unity is a little more cooperative with older desktops. There's not one ideal scenario unless you're installing it on a brand new machine and are sure it works perfectly fine with all the hardware.
I'd been running Ubuntu quite happily for a few years and decided to give Joli OS a go on my Inspiron 1525 yesterday. I'm used to losing my wireless functionality with every major update, but it was fixable in Ubuntu with a bit of a hacking. The post-installation scripts for bcmwl-kernel-soure cannot run in Joli OS and after hours of faffing I'm giving up and going back to using web-based Jolicloud and looking for another OS to try. Not that there's anything wrong with Ubuntu, I just fancied a change.
i'm newbei. i try ubuntu but i can't do anything with it. bansee music player doesn't run.
lalieur nu aya ah!
Of all the Linux Distors available, I believe Zorin and Ubuntu are worth trying for the windows Users.
Yeah I have installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in my PC . its cool.
unity was fixed a lot as compare with the previous releases. One more thing what i have got in my observation is 12.04 LTS is not much RAM eater as compare with the previous releases . so what i am thinking is now need to go for other flavors of Ubuntu for Low Memory system .
Pclinuxos full monty. i think it tops pinguy os as the 'All in one' linux desktop.
i used pinguy os 11.04 after ubuntu 11.04 and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
pclinuxos = which one to use. very impressive and quite fast for 32 bit.
very close call
Installed Ubuntu 11.04 - crashed. Ubuntu 12.04 - crashed. Linux Mint 12, it crashed everything on PC. Kubuntu did not worked. Fedora is empty. OpenSuse is not friendly. Only Pinguy OS 11.04 is very good right from beginning. But! Time to time it has issues, need to be restarted. I want stable OS and I do not care about how it works. So, Pinguy 11.04 OS!
Zorin for me .
Brett.Tesol 12 months ago
Good article. I hadn't heard of Zorin, so might take a look now. Presently I like Mint the best for its ease of use and stability. After 3 years using it (quite heavily), it has not crashed or had any issues yet!