Linux for everyone

Our recommendation #

Zorin OS takes the crown as the all-around best distro for anybody getting started with Linux. Out of the box, it’s designed to feel similar to Windows, while the paid Pro version gives you additional desktop layouts to mimic macOS or ChromeOS. Plus, Zorin ships with support for some Windows apps via Wine. Finally, since Zorin is based on Ubuntu, it’s fully compatible with the thousands of third-party Ubuntu apps.

Others #

Pop!_OS is a rock-solid distribution from Linux computer manufacturer System76. Even if you don’t own a System76 computer, Pop!_OS is a great distro for power users who want to make use of its productivity features.

Linux Mint has been widely recommended as a good starter distro for years, and for good reason: it has a very user-friendly interface and plenty of software support.

Ubuntu is one of the most popular and stable distros available today. In fact, it serves as a base to all the other distros recommended on this page. With that being said, its user interface is quite different from Windows and macOS, so you’ll experience a learning curve. If this sounds scary, stick to Zorin OS.