NEXT-GEN DISTROS

Time to ditch Windows and try Linux

TAKE A MOMENT to cast your mind back 15 years to that pre-credit crunch optimism of the mid-2000s. Windows users were appalled by Windows Vista, and a new Ubuntu operating system was claiming that it could displace Windows—despite being based on the fiendishly inaccessible Linux, and thinking that orangey-brown was a good desktop color.

Well, Windows may not have been wiped out by Ubuntu, but Linux has developed in leaps and bounds since then. It’s more usable than ever before, and key industry players take it much more seriously now. Thanks to Valve and Vulkan, we can play thousands of Windows-only titles on our Linux boxes. More companies than ever are shipping Linux on consumer hardware, too—your wireless hardware probably works with it.

Best of all, there’s a fine range of distros to choose from. Ubuntu has always been a great place to start, but it’s not to everyone’s taste. Here, we present our pick of the next generation of distros, which is sure to ruffle a few feathers. Since making Linux easy is very difficult, we’ve got a section on usable distros, including our long-time favorite for beginners: Mint.

Next, we’ll explore some of the best-looking distros out there that will give you a truly modern desktop. In particular Elementary OS, through its Pantheon desktop, is doing the unthinkable by making Linux simple, powerful, and—dare we say it—at least a little bit Mac OS-like.

Finally, we’ll look at distros that are leveraging the latest in open source technologies. You might not want these technologies (or so it seems by the number of complaints about Wayland, Systemd et al), or you might not be able to use your favorite software with them easily, but these will shape desktop Linux in the years to come.