I'm fairly new to Linux but would like to get more into it as I'm just sick of OSX and Windows- I need more customisation.
I'd also like to use the command line a little more but still be able to do things through the GUI if need be.
What would the best distro be for me as almost a 'beginner' user?
There's a lot of them, personally I use CentOS due to a lot of the software I use officially supports it. However most of the Ubuntu spins are pretty user friendly, and have a lot of support out there, so personally I'd look at one of the Ubuntu spins.
If you want to learn something, you could try Arch. I found setting it up fun - and you are not going to have anything installed you don't need (Since you need to install everything by hand).
That being said, Arch may not be suitable for beginners. You can start with Arch, if you want to learn something though. (The same could be said about Gentoo, but I haven't tried that myself)
Afaik the most user friendly Linux distro should by Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is a great new user distro - as is Mint. Both are debian based.
Opensuse Leap 42.1 has the best range of system tools and is very VERY stable.
Fedora Workstation is also very good, but does not come with any of the usual 'media' support - you will need to install mp3 support etc - if you like Fedora but want all the candy included by default try Korora
Manjaro is the most user friendly Arch derived distro but is not as newbie friendly as the above. Being Arch based it does have fantastic documentation though.
Another newbie friendly distro is Elementary OS - looks a bit like a Mac environment.
Have a good look on http://distrowatch.com and watch a few reviews on youtube - then dive in and begin learning.
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SOme will say ubuntu, some will say opensuse or cent, I'm going to put my cash in on Netrunner. Its based on manjaro and debian and has a completely trimmed and modified version of KDE. I've been a user for years and you have a choice between a Rolling distro (manjaro) and standard release (debian). Packages are easy to install and it has it's own package manager like ubuntu does. Rolling will be easier to learn the command line on and standard release will be easy to just play with. With rolling you learn the basics of arch and how to build stuff from the AUR. You also can shoose your kernel, modify GRUB (though I think they both have that), have easy HW detection with MHW and can choose drivers as such, and if something doesn't have a dependancy that you can't get from the normal repositories you can retrieve it very easily from the Arch User Repository (AUR) and build it yourself. It comes with some solid software preinstalled such as steam or KDenLive and is a very solid OS all around. For linux, it is my gold standard for a Desktop User OS.
Two friends of mine use Opensuse and are very satisfied with it and - just like Arch - it has a rolling releases.
I'd recommend ubuntu for a new linux user. mint is more like a windows interface so it might suit you better. just try them out on a usb and see what you like.
Elementary OS. no ugly ubuntu ui, still based of it so most apps works with it just fine
Well its basicaly ubuntu with different design
The reason they are referred to as "flavors" cause you need to try several to see which one you like. Cheaper then ice cream and less fattening. Personally I like Mint But I plan on trying PClinux,netrunner, openSUSE and Debian on my messin around rig (7850k)
Currently using Manjaro, love the Steam-Native package, amongst a few things.
Would like to use openSUSE Tumbleweed because of their methodology/morals/how they go about things, but the way you need to get apps with repositories can be a tad awkward.
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Deepin is beautiful and functional :D
Mind if I ask what software you are referring to? Business stuff?
I have not use linux much, when I was looking for one to try I got the image for ubuntu mint and a few other burned them to disk and just ran them from the cd or usb stick. When I found one that I thought would be nice to go with, do an install and go from there. Mint is the one that I am using right now. When I have the desire to play with it turn it on and see what I can learn, and if it breaks take usb reinstall and go from there. I find linux easier to deal with when I know that it is not my main machine that will break.
Have a day
One could easily be overwhelmed with the amount of desktop environments out there. I guess you gotta ask yourself what backend you want (how things are installed / handled) and how things look. I see allot of Ubuntu based distros going the Windows look, not really a fan of that approach.
I use Ubuntu MATE atm. AMD drivers seem to want to be released as DEB files first, then a month or two later they come out for other platforms. I don't feel Ubuntu is overly stable, but then again that could be my stupid motherboard giving me shit.
I've been using manjaro with cinnamon DE on my laptop (which is ostensibly my main computer) for a couple of years now and I really like it.
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Basicly there isnt realy a "Best beginners" distribution.
Its realy a matter of personal preferences.
Aside from a favorite distribution of choise, there is also a DE of choice.
Which is realy a matter of personal preference.
My suggestions for starters.
Debian based distro´s.
- MX15
Ubuntu Based distro´s for beginners.
- Ubuntu Gnome DE
- Xubuntu XFCE DE
- Ubuntu Mate DE
- Kubuntu KDE DE
- Lubuntu - for older systems.
- Chalet OS - Windows 7 styled OS based on the Latest Xubuntu 16.04
Fedora / Redhat based distro´s for beginners.
Korora - Has support for non free repo´s.
Fedora - Down side of Fedora is that it doesnt have support for non free repo´s, so you have to add them manualy.
This makes it a bit less user friendly from the get go.
But adding non free repo´s can be learned quickly.
The people who choose for Fedora mainly do this for reliability and stability.
Arch based distro´s.
Manjaro - Best choice for a rolling release distro based on Arch imo.
I would say, just download a bunge of distro´s trow them in a Virtual machine and start playing arround with them.
You could also take a look at some of the better reviews on certain distro´s.
As soon as you found a distro of your liking, you could install in realtime.
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Autodesk Mudbox, Maya. The Foundry Mari and Modo. And also Unreal 4. Their releases are officially supported by CentOS and Red Hat as CentOS is a complete Red Hat rebuild, just without Red Hats software support. As I use this programs for creating 3D content I need a system that is super stable and will just work no matter what. That's why CentOS + Quadro, amazing for my work, never ever have issues.
I'm a big fan of Manjaro. I prefer Arch based distros (I say based because I can't/am too lazy to actually install Arch), and Manjaro is the most user-friendly and quickly deployable imo. Anecdotal experience, I installed Manjaro Cinnamon on my desktop over my old Linux Mint partition, and I was up and running within an hour. I installed ArchBang on a tablet, and I was forced to get just about everything set up by myself, and it took me multiple days (great distro, it is just very minimal, and really follows the Arch philosophy).
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I'd recommend Ubuntu Mate, as it starts with a very handy welcome screen, which allows quick navigation to a graphical app store, and being Ubuntu has the benefit of lots of Google search support
And iirc, the welcome program can be installed on most Ubuntu flavours, with the app store as well