No Stupid Questions

Let me put it this way, decide if you want to fuck around for hours to get everything working as you want it (and yes, that will most probably involve the terminal or trusting random people's suggestions) or if you prefer to keep using something you know just works.

I DO NOT want to be forced to use a terminal just to get the most outta my operating system. I like having some kind of UI to use.

Hmm... I want to ask why you feel this way and if you have tried using a terminal at all, but it sounds like your mind is already made up on this. You can definitely use Linux without ever opening a terminal, by using modern desktop environments like KDE or GNOME (or many others). I think you'll have the best experience if you keep an open mind and accept that there could be times when the terminal might be the easiest way to go. Disclaimer: I am biased towards using the terminal and prefer to use it instead of GUIs.

I'd encourage you to try a LiveUSB. The way this works: you copy a full, working Linux system to a USB flashdrive (this will overwrite all data on the drive) and boot directly from it, so that you can play around with it a bit like a trial without modifying anything on your computer. If you don't know what distro to go with, personally I recommend starting here: https://fedoraproject.org/spins/kde/download This will have the KDE Plasma desktop environment which should feel pretty familiar to Windows. If you don't instantly fall in love but still are curious, you can always overwrite the USB again and try a different distro or even Fedora with a dfferent desktop environment (the official "default" desktop environment for Fedora is GNOME, but PERSONALLY I am not a GNOME fan, and its workflow will be slightly different than what you are used to from Windows). One caveat to this is that running from a USB drive will likely be pretty slow, so keep that in mind and try not to worry about the performance/speed during this trial. Linux can be extremely performant, and is used to power the world's fastest supercomputers. If you decide you want to stick with it and install Linux to your hard drive, it will be a lot snappier than running from USB.

There are a lot of distros out there, and that is understandably overwhelming. So basically what is going on here, with Linux there are many many options and choices for different software for everything from system tools, desktop environments, package managers, text editors, whatever. It's like how you can choose from Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Brave, etc for your web browser on Windows, except with Linux, there are potential choices for every single little piece of the system.

Each distro will have already made a lot of these choices for you, so that you can just get started using it out of the box. If you don't know much about Linux, then you probably really don't have an opinion or care about these choices yet, for example, which package manager the system is using. If you want to be making some choices now, I'd focus only on choosing a distro that comes with a desktop environment that appeals to you, as this will be the most visible difference between them to a new Linux user.

Some distros are geared for specific use-cases, like Kali Linux is for hacking/security testing, so comes pre-packaged with a lot of tools that hackers and security professionals would use. Some distros aim to be very stable and offer a system that you can rely on to JustWork™️. Others are cutting edge with the latest, brand new versions of software, but this is not as stable or reliable. Some require you to build much of your system and make most of these choices for yourself. More recently, there are some gaming focused distros. There is something for everyone and every use-case, from datacenter servers to embedded devices, personal desktop/laptop computers, mobile phone/tablet touch screen devices, gaming devices and handhelds, IoT and "smart" devices, routers/networking gear, virtual machines or containerized systems, the list goes on and on...

I linked Fedora Linux above, which is a good balance between stable and cutting edge IMO. Mint is another that is great for your first time trying Linux. A lot of people love Mint, but my personal opinion is that I do not like it as much as others, but I'd still take it over Windows.

Choice and freedom to do things in your own way is fundamental to Linux, and I'm sure you've noticed that with all these choices come strong opinions and heated arguments. Ignore it, most of it is trivial, and pretty much everyone arguing about this stuff would probably agree that its all better than Windows 😁

The reason why people talk so much about the terminal is:

1. It's easier to tell newbies "input this command" than to guide them through a GUI.
2. The terminal gives you a lot of flexibility to customise stuff.

You'll probably want to learn the terminal for any serious customisation. However, you don't need to deal with it in your everyday usage.

I'd suggest you to use a Live USB, like other users recommended. Linux Mint, plus plenty other distros, can run straight from the USB. It'll be better for you to judge if you could/should be using Linux this way.

About the thousand distros, most of them don't matter. And if you're a newbie, stick to Mint and you'll probably not regret it.

I DO NOT want to be forced to use a terminal just to get the most outta my operating

Just walk away. Plain and simple, there's no tinkering with Linux from the GUI.

If you want to run apps as they come from the distribution it'll work fine, usually stable as hell. But you're not going to be doing anything you're going to consider interesting from the GUI.

Linux mint doesn't require the terminal for almost anything. If it is required anywhere, there will be step-by-step instructions, but even then there is likely a better solution specifically for linux mint that doesn't require the terminal.

Use the software manager and update manager and you're set. Don't install applications from the terminal, it will be easier to let the manager applications keep track of it all.

For super advanced stuff, sure, you might want the terminal, but you don't need these things. If anything, it will be a good opportunity to learn.

Get a USB, put linux mint on it and boot from it just to try out. It can run without being installed on your computer.

I switched to Linux mint maybe 6 months ago and it’s been great. Just a bit of adjustment for which programs I needed to get some things done. Also turns out some stuff was WAY easier to get running such as my JavaScript twitch chat bots, I didn’t even need a tutorial and I got it running in terminal. My wife also using mint at the same time I switched and she has been liking it too. Good luck and know there’s a ton of people here that can help you out.

As a casual user of Linux (no strong inclination or skill in coding), I tend to veer towards distros that minimize the Terminal usage in favor of graphical user interfaces for accomplishing most changes. Modern Linux distros are a lot friendlier in terms of installing Software from a distro store and graphic drivers via a graphical interface. You won't ever fully be able to eliminate the terminal usage, as it's inevitable for certain tasks like adding PPAs on Ubuntu for example. It was honestly word salad for me during my first foray into the Linux world; but now I have a basic understanding of the Linux kernel and how it functions on a very surface level. I know enough to string commands together and understand the reason why it's necessary to do things in a certain order.

I'm not sure if you'd have a good time with Linux, I'm hesitant to tell you to take the plunge because you will have to faff around with the terminal and use commands at times to accomplish certain things. That requires both focus and patience, something which is naturally difficult for those with ADHD (unless a hyperfixation is quite strong). I'd give yourself time to think about switching for a while, ultimately you might be better sticking with the current OS that you're using.

You can install Ubuntu (or many other Linux distros) to a bootable USB drive. Restart your computer, press F2 or whatever it says to open your boot menu, and then boot from the USB drive. This will let you run a full version of Linux, which will let you experiment around with it so you can get some experience and see if you like it or not, without having to uninstall your current OS or repartition your drives and mess around with dual-booting. It'll run a bit slow since it's gotta come off a USB drive for everything, but that should at least give you a good estimate on whether or not Linux is right for you.

Just by reading the first sentence I can tell you that you will enjoy Linux. Don't worry about all the technical stuff it seems complicated because you don't know it. Just install Linux and use it and you will learn what all that stuff means. Since you're building a new PC you got nothing to lose from trying out a few different Linux distros.

You will get comments both ways on this, but I have put lots of people on Linux Mint and they never once had to use a terminal unless they wanted to. Make no mistake, what you can do in a terminal is magic compared to what you can do without it, but you can survive just fine without it. I would suggest also looking at Zorin, and if you really want something different I strongly recommend Bodhi. Most of the distros which are easy for new users are on a Debian or Ubuntu base (Ubuntu is on a Debian base, but a lot of people forget that).

Oh don't worry. There's not 40 different distros........there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of distros!

As for terminal? Linux is terminal. There is no getting around it.

Now I'm sure SOMEONE will chime in, and say "Uhm actually, I set my 90 year old grandmother up with linux, and she's blind. It's not hard to use."

And they'll claim you don't need terminal. But the SECOND even one little thing goes wrong? The online tutorials all start the same way.

Step 1 - Open terminal.

Maybe there is a way to do the thing without terminal. Maybe technically that's true.

But if you don't know how, and the tutorials all resort to terminal as step 1, then functionally speaking? Linux requires word code diarrea that is terminal.

I've only used Linux in a virtual environment to mess with, also Mint as you've been suggested before and re-suggested here, and I don't think I've touched the command line yet. I don't have much familiarity with other distros but if you're just wanting to start messing with Linux, I'd add to the pile of people suggesting Mint.

I think I know where you're coming from on this. Linux is very cool in a lot of ways, and it is very flexible and fun to play with. But it does require an investment of learning and time to get more familiar with it. And that can be frustrating/overwhelming to face. And like you, I find the whole cult-like vibe around it annoying.

I first got familiar with Linux many years ago, mostly out of curiosity. But also because I liked the ideas of using it and the idea of having another OS option other than Windows/MacOS. While I am still not a Linux expert, I feel like I can get around the OS competently. And in hindsight I think it was worth the time I spent getting familiar with it.

Also, like you in not a pursuit when it comes to terminal use in Linux. Give me a nice UI option any day if the week. And to be fair, many Linux distro have come a long way with their UIs in the last 20 of so years.

If you just want to tinker with a solid distro that has a decent UI, I recommend either Ubuntu or Zorin. Also, I recommend trying to pace yourself with learning it. Only pick the parts that interest you, and take your time learning about them. There's no rush. Good luck.

ETA: Also, if you want to play with a couple of different Linux distros, I recommend using a virtualization app like VirtualBox. You can just spin up virtual machines and install a distro on them. And if they don't work out or you don't like them you can just delete the VMs. And virtualization is a fun little rabbit hole in and of itself.

It does sound like you'd really enjoy the tinkering. When I switched (also to Linux Mint at the time), I spent the first few days figuring out how I could hide the window titlebars, because I realized I could set keyboard shortcuts for minimize/maximize/close.

That was kind of dumb, but no regrets. 🙃

I will give somewhat of an unusual recommendation for the distro, based on what you wrote: openSUSE with KDE

KDE is a desktop environment (basically the OS GUI), which has a ton of customization options, certainly more than the default desktop environment on Linux Mint.
KDE is probably going to be overwhelming at first, but on the other hand, hiding those window titlebars on KDE would've been a matter of minutes rather than days, because it's just a built-in feature, not something I need to achieve with weird workarounds.

And openSUSE, because it works well with KDE and because it comes with a system settings GUI, called "YaST", which covers a lot of the settings that you'd usually need to crack out the terminal for.
openSUSE isn't as mainstream as Linux Mint, and not often recommended to newcomers. There's certainly more guides and such for how to do things on Linux Mint. But yeah, I do think it's a fine choice for newbies nonetheless and you do get that extra GUI.

To conclude my autistic ramblings, one more point, you could totally throw Linux on there for now and if you don't like it, then buy the Windows license and go that route.

I'm both experienced and know jack shit because there is just too much to learn. I just started using it (1998ish) to make cool looking UIs. Its been my daily driver for 15 years now.

You will never learn it all. Over time you may become more familiar with the terminal or you may not. Doesn't matter. You do you.

Its pretty easy to test drive. Grab a distros "Live CD" version, put in on a thumb drive, reboot and play around. This wont be persistent. When you're ready, install it on an external SSD. Play around some more now that your edits will be persistent. You'll mess up. Take notes. Start again once you've hosed your system.

Personally, I would not recommend diving into Linux headfirst by installing it as your only operating system. If you can afford an additional small drive (128GB should be plenty), I would suggest buying one and installing something like Linux Mint on that, while putting Windows on your main drive.

That way, you can switch between them whenever you want to (when you turn on your computer, you can just use a menu to choose which drive to boot to), and get somewhat familiar with Linux before deciding if it's worth your time to really dive in.

(There's a way to put both operating systems on the same drive, but it's really easy for something to go wrong and end up with one of the operating systems inaccessible. Since you're inexperienced, I would avoid going that route for the time being, and just keep both on separate drives.)

Don't over think it, Mint will be fine. Modern Linux is very user friendly, and you can do almost everything with some form of UI.

If you do decide to do it, use an LLM. That shit will turbo charge your learning curve.

As side note, you can start learning now or later, choice is your. This is just an opinion tho