Best Garuda edition for ex Windows user?

[Terrorizer]

… hi @all,

what, in your opinion, is the best Garuda-Edition for an ex Windows user with an older Laptop to give him the best experience to feel home; I’ve advised a colleague of mine to change ?

[nepti]

It’s impossible to give a general answer.

Personally, I mostly recommend Linux Mint (Cinnamon) to Windows refugees with no Linux experience (they can always switch to something else later). If it has to be Garuda, then Garuda Cinnamon or Garuda Gnome – if the hardware is too weak, then Garuda XFCE. With the KDE spins, it doesn’t really matter, as KDE is quite similar to Windows in terms of look and feel and can be customized almost infinitely to suit your own preferences. Ultimately, however, I would let the colleague in question test the different DEs themselves and choose the one that suits them best.

Hardware specifications for the laptop in question would be helpful.

[Terrorizer]

… i’ll try to get the hardware specifications.

[Terrorizer]

Dell Latitude 7440:

… it is not so old

[SGS]

@Terrorizer

it is not so old

@nepti

I would let the colleague in question test the different DEs themselves and choose the one that suits them best.

[andr]

If you were an ex MAC user, I would have suggested Mokka, but your old hardware is not Garuda’s style. Garuda flavor distros focus on user experience and discarded the lightweight concept. I would recommend you using Linux Mint like @nepti recommended, or Fedora(ballance of stable and bleeding edge).

[Apocalypticus]

@andr

your old hardware is not Garuda’s style

Depending on the applications to be used, this computer can easily perform well with any Garuda spin. The NVMe is a bit small but still sufficient.
I´m using a similar system but with an older Intel U-CPU with only 2 cores and SATA SSD. For daily use like surfing the web, mailing, watching videos etc. it´s sufficient.

@Terrorizer should have described his application scenario. That determines whether sufficient performance will be provided.
The system itself will not cause any performance problems with this hardware.

EDIT:
Btw… I don’t understand why, in 2025, people switching operating systems still need to be recommended Mint. The word itself drives me crazy
If people are willing to invest a few hours and learn, there’s nothing wrong with an Arch-based distribution.

EDIT2:
Maybe you have to remove your like now cause of the 1st edit text @nepti

[nepti]

Too late, the action cannot be undone!!11!1
To compensate, I won’t like your next 100 posts.
I wish Discourse had a dislike button.

[Seimus]

Mokka,

When I am migrating family or friends I just show and give them Mokka. There are several reasons why:

1. It creates a wow effect, a nicely done and themed DE makes them want to give it a try and reason to explore
2. Arch based, all my DEs are arch based so if they have a problem I can replicate and fix it esier
3. It’s basically KDE, means a lot of features work like HDR, VRR. Settings are simple enough for them
4. Cute logo, yet it still fulfils the power fantasy

Overall I didn’t had a chance to explore any other distro. Garuda has RANI so if an unskilled users wants something like additional essential software for RGB or GPU control (openRGB, LACT) they can easily find it in there.

[elite]

Just go with any kde version of garuda go into settings, click on Colors & Themes, Click global themes and set it to any breeze theme. Then to make sure everything is all right.

@VonKreskin

Open ~/.config/kwinrc in your favorite txt editor (Kate) and look for BorderlessMaximizedWindows=true. Set this to false and logout and back in.

@dr460nf1r3 Maybe this could be a option in rani or some other tool down the line. The “BorderlessMaximizedWindows=true” part. Though maybe it would have to be aware of the underlying DE

[dr460nf1r3]

Yes, I’ve been planning such functionality for a while to be honest, also to select a specific theme when a specific Garuda edition is detected for example.
I hope I’ll be able to work on this soon.

[Xernok]

@nepti

It’s impossible to give a general answer.

Personally, I mostly recommend Linux Mint (Cinnamon) to Windows refugees with no Linux experience (they can always switch to something else later). If it has to be Garuda, then Garuda Cinnamon or Garuda Gnome – if the hardware is too weak, then Garuda XFCE. With the KDE spins, it doesn’t really matter, as KDE is quite similar to Windows in terms of look and feel and can be customized almost infinitely to suit your own preferences. Ultimately, however, I would let the colleague in question test the different DEs themselves and choose the one that suits them best.

Hardware specifications for the laptop in question would be helpful.

I donno I’m very new to linux but it seems that I make great strides by just throwing myself iinto the thick of it and trying to figure things out. Right now with my experience with Garuda, I don’t think I want anything “simpler”, it’s grown on me even the “sweet” theme I had not liked at first. What’s fun is accidental discoveries that prove helpful or just relatable programming knowledge that seems to apply across the board. I have the Zorin OS (closest thing to Win 11 that even executes exe files natively!) but will be for giveaways and Strelec when worst comes to the worst which was in my first days after trying out Endeavour OS. I’m really loving how ultra efficient Garuda is with resource management across the board so much I deleted Win forever.

[Xernok]

@Terrorizer

… hi @all,

what, in your opinion, is the best Garuda-Edition for an ex Windows user with an older Laptop to give him the best experience to feel home; I’ve advised a colleague of mine to change ?

Mine is the dr460nized gaming
It’s alot of fun!