That really depends on what you use your PC for. Are you deep into Microsoft Office suite? Do you play games such as PUBG, Battlefield 6 or other multiplayer games with a particular infringing anti-cheat? Maybe you use software from Adobe? Then no.
Otherwise, installing Linux is easy, if you know how to create a bootable USB-stick.
I used some EoL laptops around our warehouse with Mint installed so people could search stuff they needed, that was mostly web-based, and nobody really complained about anything not working. A few figured it out pretty well, a few said “it looks different” without really understanding what they’re using.
imo its not that hard, but if its your first time with linux i’d suggest starting with a linux mint/fedora vm or install it on a spare laptop if you have one. this way you could learn it a bit before making the switch
Is arch Linux now the “new” free/federated version?
Not sure to understand the question. There are many non-corporate owned distributions, starting with Debian, not just Arch.
And on what non-US laptop can I run it?
Any non-US laptop is supposed to run just fine. One needs to set the correct locale (generally it will be the first question asked by the install assistant: what country are you in and what keyboard layout do you want to use)?
I run Mint and prior to it I was running Debian (and prior to that it was Arch) on my French Azerty layout laptop without any issue (the same with the desktop and it’s azerty keyboard)
The only potential issue will be disk encryption at boot but I can say it works flawlessly with Mint (and did so with Debian too, as far as I can remember)
You could also start with a dual boot windows-linux, and then slowly slowly transition to Linux.
That’s how I started and I never booted windows after.
![Some tech apps/services I personally use instead of their American/Big Tech counterparts [Updated]](https://feddit.nl/pictrs/image/c618c0c7-f37c-4336-a776-f7de4d9ccb3d.png){kind=link}
How easy is it to switch completely from windows to Linux? Usability, feautures, costs?
That really depends on what you use your PC for. Are you deep into Microsoft Office suite? Do you play games such as PUBG, Battlefield 6 or other multiplayer games with a particular infringing anti-cheat? Maybe you use software from Adobe? Then no.
Otherwise, installing Linux is easy, if you know how to create a bootable USB-stick.
As a beginner, I would recommend Linux Mint.
I second Mint.
I used some EoL laptops around our warehouse with Mint installed so people could search stuff they needed, that was mostly web-based, and nobody really complained about anything not working. A few figured it out pretty well, a few said “it looks different” without really understanding what they’re using.
imo its not that hard, but if its your first time with linux i’d suggest starting with a linux mint/fedora vm or install it on a spare laptop if you have one. this way you could learn it a bit before making the switch
I used it 20+ years ago. Is arch Linux now the “new” free/federated version? And on what non-US laptop can I run it?
Not sure to understand the question. There are many non-corporate owned distributions, starting with Debian, not just Arch.
Any non-US laptop is supposed to run just fine. One needs to set the correct locale (generally it will be the first question asked by the install assistant: what country are you in and what keyboard layout do you want to use)?
I run Mint and prior to it I was running Debian (and prior to that it was Arch) on my French Azerty layout laptop without any issue (the same with the desktop and it’s azerty keyboard)
The only potential issue will be disk encryption at boot but I can say it works flawlessly with Mint (and did so with Debian too, as far as I can remember)
You could also start with a dual boot windows-linux, and then slowly slowly transition to Linux. That’s how I started and I never booted windows after.