Hello all,

I would like to transition my GF to linux.

To make the switch easy I’ll go for Ubuntu, but what would be the most windows-like desktop ?

Thank you!

Edit : thank you everyone, I’ll go with Mint instead then 👍 Thanks for the help!

    • merde alors@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      it’s now you’re fault and you need to fix it. Even if you fix it, needing that help is still frustrating.

      written from experience, i assume 😅

  • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Out of the box, KDE has the most similar look and feel as Windows. That said, I do believe Linux Mint has Windows themed DEs that go one step further

  • boonhet@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Go Kubuntu if you want Ubuntu and Windows-like. Otherwise, Mint is a solid choice for a Windows user too, I believe Mate and Cinnamon both are very similar UI to Windows. Sadly Mint only does LTS versions now, but maybe that’s for the best if your GF isn’t super into tech?

    • abrasiveteapot@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      You can install the 6.2 kernel on mint through the upgrade manager gui. It’s just a couple of clicks.

      On the other hand Mint has a reputation for “just works” because the defaults are indeed LTS

  • danielfgom@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Linux Mint is the way to go. It’s by no means a clone of Windows(yuk) but has a “start button”, vertical menu with apps listed and a bottom taskbar. So it should be very easy to use and get used to.

    • DSX@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      There’s some themes for cinnamon that make it close enough to windows 10 styling.

      • Yuumi@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Wayland mfs trying not to talk about Wayland whenever Linux is mentioned

      • Certainity45@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        No screen tearing never. My laptop saw a significant battery life boost (basicly doubled) when I switched DWM into DWL but I don’t know exactly why.

        And because Wayland is the future and xorg decrepatec, why you’d recommend xorg for anybody since they must swtich at some point and I doubt even the most basic user can make that transition 100% flawlessly.

        • AlpacaChariot@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Lack of screen tearing is a good point if it makes a difference on that person’s hardware.

          My thought wasn’t so much about recommending xorg (or not), more about whether the user would even be aware what that meant, or care at the point when they start using Linux. Kind of like launching straight into a flame war about systemd. In theory they (or their distro) should be able to switch the backend without the user noticing

  • al4s@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    KDE is more similar to windows, Gnome is maybe closer to MacOS.

    But generally, KDE felt always a bit “super user” to me, and I found the amount of customizability and features more overwhelming than useful. Gnome is simple, clean, and I prefer it for that reason.

  • joel_feila@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Well cinnamon and plasma are good options, those de are widely available. Zorin os was a quick select option that lets you go from windows 7 to windows 10 to mac with a wimple click.

  • gataloca@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If you must use ubuntu, you’ll ultimately be tied to the desktop environments that ubuntu offers. Personally I don’t think ubuntu works well, especially outside of their gnome offshoot Unity DE. If you must use ubuntu I would say install kubuntu which has KDE Plasma on it. KDE Plasma is highly customizable, quite pretty and pretty easy to use.

  • madthumbs@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If you want her hooked; make it better (not like). You’re taking away Adobe, Office, Games, Topaz and other proprietary software, and you want to make it ‘like’ windows to boot? Outside of conspiracy theories about privacy and stuff, and people expecting an OS to run smooth at minimum specs; there isn’t much reason to use Linux over Windows, besides dynamic tiling window managers. I’d think you were an idiot if I were her, and you gave me the popular response here.