Since Windows 10 free upgrade, our customers have complained about the sneaky tactics used by Microsoft to install their latest OS. They’ve complained about further updates breaking their systems. They’ve complained about the lack of various driver support for wifi, printers, bluetooth and more in Windows 10. They’ve complained about the abstracted ways to use the PC becoming confusing and unnecessary! It doesn’t seem like Windows 10 is winning many hearts!

For most PC users, all they require the machine to do is enable basic document editing, internet browsing and media playback. All these tasks are very simple and can happily be handled by Windows, or any other operating system. Perhaps, now is the time to join the Linux revolution.

Linux is a free, open-source operating system!

I have been a Linux advocate and user for getting on ten years now. Besides only a few small issues, mostly with programs I want to use that are OSX/Windows only, I have enjoyed every second of it! Once upon a time, you needed to be a high-end technical user to get on with Linux, from using the terminal to execute commands and install software, to understanding updates and essentially learning the technology stack which builds up the OS. Nowadays it is not like that at all! There are several Linux OS distributions which are very simple to use and graphically pleasing for beginner and non-technical users.

Below are my personal suggestions:

Linux Mint - This is by far the best of all worlds. It is a wrapped up version of Ubuntu, a Debian distro, and includes pretty user interfaces which are more similar to Windows than OSX. It also has a more understandable updating system and pretty much the full range of abilities any user could want.

ElementaryOS - This distribution was Linux’s answer to an OSX style graphical user interface. It is simple and pleasant to use. It does come with certain restrictions however, which may be a blessing or not, depending on how much of a power user you are.

Ubuntu - The go to Debian distribution, this was the first Linux OS I ever used and it remains closest to my heart. It is easy to get on with for all users, though if you have a less powerful system, you might want to try Mint instead! See this article for info on where Ubuntu and Mint differ.

SteamOS - The gaming solution. If you have a steam account and are a big time gamer, you may have heard of Steam Machines. Well, any machine can be a Steam Machine if you load on SteamOS.

There are many, many more distributions than that (Tails, Kali, Nix to name a few) and I am more than happy to talk about them! But start off with something listed above and progress as and when you need.