I will be doing a new installation on a new build from a USB Flash Drive so I would also like advice on which method/tools to use for this. I just noticed the title, I don't use Android, my question is for PC, am I in the right thread?
There is no simple answer but I'll try.
You know when you look too closely are a thing it becomes more and more complicated, but if you pull back a long way it can become simpler?
All of these different distros are just the Linux kernel with a desktop and some bundled software. Because anyone can make their own distro people do. Heck, there was a Hana Montana distro! Anyone can make one but no one asks the questions should they?
So how the heck should a new user pick the right distro for them? It's like going to an all you can eat buffet. How the to you figure out what to go with? Well, you pick one, give it a go, then try another. Rince and repeat until you find something you like. There is even a name for this behaviour, it's called "Distro Hopping"
I have been using Linux on the desktop since the mid-nineties and here is what I have learnt from Distro Hopping. Some distros have a steep learning curve. Something maybe a noob should avoid, unless that is you like a challenge and want to learn all the things. Gentoo or Arch.
Some distros are designed for noobs and hold your hand. Ubuntu, Mint would fit in this group. That's great but I guess you are leaving Windows because you have had enough of handholding.
There are the big three Fedora, OpenSuse and Debian. These are leviathans of the Linux world. You are expected to know your shit but they are deliberately being nasty about it. (just ask for help on the Arch forum!)
Then there are the small distros that have a particular personality. I run one of these called PCLinuxOS but there are a great many others. SolydXK very stable a bit boring. Solus, new shiny and very exciting, one developer let's hope he knows how to keep away from buses. And the list goes on and on.
So this is all as clear as mud, there is no right answer. Flip that on its head, there is no wrong answer either! Just pick one, give it a go. See if you like it. No problem if you don't like it this buffet is so big you could try a new distro a month for years without repeating yourself.
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I'd rather not have to relearn the OS again and again, hence why I'm asking.
I'm not totally abandoning Windows, I want to run a VM. The reason I want Linux is I'm sick of the disrespect and spying since Win10 was released. Also, now that they say they are withdrawing update support if you don't adopt it.
There is no consensus, because we are all individuals and we all have different needs, expectations and priorities and we all have different degrees of tolerance for obfuscation. With Windoz, for instance, it is difficult to see what's going on behind the curtain. On the other hand, with Arch and Gentoo, which you have to manually build up from components, not only is nothing hidden, but you have to be expert in and regularly engage with those otherwise typically hidden items. They are great distros, don't get me wrong, but they are strictly for experts.
Here are some generalities:
Someone new to Linux should choose a popular distro, which has a large user base. That way, you'll always be able to find help, if you encounter a problem. Many large distros will also typically have better documentation and tutorials.
Many larger distros will also tend to have a more polished installation process, which will simplify disk partitioning and do a better job of recognizing your hardware and selecting the correct drivers.
The more popular, larger distros will also typically be more polished, with fewer rough edges to cause problems and confusion.
Typically, a rolling release will be more difficult to manage, because there will be many more opportunities for a problem to creep in, requiring diagnosis and repair.
So, with that in mind, here are a few recommendations (for which I will no doubt be criticized):
Linux Mint / Cinnamon - few distros are as polished, or as easy to get along with. It typically just works and needs little intervention.
Linux Mint / Mate - an alternative to Cinnamon, which requires less in the way of hardware resources.
Ubuntu / Mate - the lead developer specifically set out to build an easy distro for his non-techie friends and family - this is it.
Linux Lite / XFCE - another distro with low resource needs. They do a good job of presenting relevant documentation to the new user.
But you didn't mention ...
Fedora - the last few iterations of Fedora have been brilliant, but this is Red Hat's proving ground and based on history, problems should be expected. Even fans will typically wait a week, or two before installing a brand new ISO, so that the bugs can get worked out. Recommendation - intermediate to expert.
Manjaro - this is Arch made easy (easier). It is a rolling release, so it's more prone to software conflicts. I installed Manjaro / GNOME last week and right out of the box, it would not perform software updates! : ( Recommendation - intermediate to expert.
Solus - it's a rolling release and it is undergoing significant changes and revisions. It has a responsive albeit small community. The documentation isn't quite where it needs to be, but this is being addressed with a new wiki. Once the dust settles, however, this could be a great beginner to intermediate experience.
openSUSE - this distro is indeed a chameleon. It can be what ever you need it to be, from user friendly, to full blown workstation, to server. Recommendation - intermediate.
Debian - not quite as hard core as Arch and Gentoo, but it's still not suitable for the beginner.
As a beginner, you don't know what you don't know, so the important thing to do is to just to pick a distro and get your feet wet. Don't obsess about finding the right distro for you, that comes later, after you have a better idea of your needs and what is available. Download three, or four ISOs that interest you and learn how to flash them onto a USB stick. Boot the live ISO and look around. Is your hardware recognized? Can you find your way around? Is their support forum active and friendly? Pick one of the four ISOs and install it to your hard disk. It's much more responsive running from the hard drive, eh? Try to live with it for a week. If it turns out that you hate it, even after tinkering with customizations, then by all means download a couple more ISOs and rinse and repeat.
One suggestion - if you can dedicate an entire hard disk to your new Linux install and allow the installer to handle the partitioning, you'll have a much better introduction to Linux. Learning about partitions, boot loaders and boot flags can come later.
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Antergos is a much more competent manjaro if you still want easy arch, for future reference.
Is there a version that recognizes and works well with Ryzen yet?
As to allowing Linux to format a dedicated SSD, how much space will it use? I would like to have certain files besides the OS on this drive.
I understand that Antergos have ZFS support out of the box too, so my Manjaro install isn't long for this world.
But still, I'd be reluctant to drop someone into a rolling release and have them worrying about the AUR and whatnot, when they've never so much as downloaded and booted a Linux ISO before. Arch-based distros are brilliant, but I think that newcomers need to have a smooth, uncomplicated first impression. I'd feel better about recommending these great distros, after the newcomers have had a few months of Linux experience under their belts, unless of course they are an enthusiast, or they are coming from BSD.
I wasn't recommending it to them, but to you since you hadn't listed it (and may not have been aware of it)
this is my case, and arch is by far the most tolerable for me.
I recall reading somewhere that Ubuntu is the most adopted, should I get it on that rationale?
Well, I figured out the Manjaro dilemma. I only mentioned that as an example of the kind of experience that will sour a newcomer. Manjaro isn't my daily driver, so it won't be around for much longer and I am looking forward to giving Antergos a go.
Strangely, I also intermittently had problems back when I was running plain vanilla Arch. it wasn't unusual for me to have issues with new kernels. I recognize that my experience was atypical, but the ongoing maintenance of Arch can prove to be a lot of work.
Yeah, BSD is brilliant. I've deployed a couple of FreeBSD boxes and the more I tinker with them, the more I like BSD. Only, IMHO, BSD wouldn't be my first choice for a desktop, except for full-time BSD admins. Next to Arch, I think that FreeBSD has the best documentation in the business and Michael W. Lucas' BSD reference books are second to none!
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I wouldn't recommend this either unless you're experienced with the system. That said, TrueOS is coming along nicely, and I think once they get the wrinkles ironed out it'll be way closer to "just works" than a lot of linux distros.
@Ungari it depends, it's mainly the blind leading the blind over there. When something breaks, you still basically get the windows hearsay and conjecture style responses. They have their own internal spins of everything and very little of the knowledge you'll get will be transferrable to other linux systems should you decide to switch at a later date.
I'd say opensuse, solus or fedora are your best bets. OpenSuse ships with KDE, so it should feel very familiar to you as a windows user.
As for your SSD question, a linux system typically only needs a few tens of GB for system stuff -- you can mount swap or a folder in /home to the rest of the space on the disk easily during installation.
Ryzen works fine with any kernel verisons even approaching recent.
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... particularly on a laptop. At least not just any laptop, due to hardware compatibility concerns.
I tried it back in the day, with KDE, but honestly I've never really been a big KDE fan. Yeah, I'm THAT guy. Thanks for mentioning it, though. I should give it another look to see how their new desktop environment is shaping up.
I've got TrueOS or freebsd running on all of my intel laptops, without so much as a hiccup on installation. compat is getting much, much better.
you should really try lumina. It's quickly becoming my favorite slim DE. all it needs to build/run is xorg, qt5, and a c compiler.
only real pain point is amd gpu drivers atm, but there's work being done to port their linux drm/dri iirc.
IIRC you'll need version 4.10 of the Linux kernel, so for the most part, only the rolling releases and the very latest version of Ubuntu will be compatible with Ryzen, right now, today. Hardware support is provided by kernel modules which are compiled into the kernel, or dynamically loaded by the kernel, as needed.
The beauty of Linux is that there is nothing stopping you from downloading the latest kernel and installing it on your system. Although that is not a project that I would suggest for a newcomer.
@tkham mentioned Solus, which is currently my favorite distro that I run on my primary laptop. I find it to be particularly user friendly and although it is a rolling release, the repos are curated. Bottom line, in spite of the heavy rewrite that is going on, I haven't had a moments trouble with it. We are currently on kernel 4.9.20-12, but we are expecting an upgrade literally any day now. To cut to the chase - Solus could just be a good option for a newcomer, who is sporting Ryzen hardware.
Plan on an absolute minimum of 40GB for a Linux install. The more the merrier, or course. If you can spare100GB, that would be awesome.
Ubuntu is doing away with their Unity desktop, but as I mentioned before Ubuntu Mate is a solid place to start out. Their most recent release uses kernel 4.10.10, so it would be suitable for your Ryzen hardware. Mint and many of the other popular dstros are based on Ubuntu, so when they release their new versions over the next few weeks, they should also have the 4.10 kernel.
This will be for a new installation on a new Ryzen machine with no previous OS installed.
Ok, I have like 4 choices for downloading opensuse 64.
I have no idea what to get, kiwi, tumbleweed, OBS...etc.
I am out of my depth and haven't even begun.
Is Solus more straight forward? I'm just trying to ready the Flash Drive today and that is all. Once installed I can look at other distros to see what i like best.
tumbleweed for up to date software, leap for stable, the rest is just bundled in software.
download the iso from the download page of the version you want, then burn it to a usb using rufus, boot to the usb by going into bios and selecting it as a boot device to install.
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I would second the vote for Mint Cinnamon, its look and feel is almost windows.
Not a fan of Gnome3 as everytime you go near the top left corner of the screen the whole desktop jumps up and down like a jack russell terrier
I looked at Lumina at v0.9, or some such. It definitely looked like it had potential, but it was still a bit rough around the edges. I'm currently a Nvidia guy, so no worries.
I don't much care for plain vanilla GNOME3, either, but it is remarkably flexible. Budgie, Cinnamon, and Mate (and probably others) all use a GNOME3 foundation and they all couldn't be more different than each other.