New to Linux? 4 things to focus on before you switch

Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET After using Linux for a while, switching from one distribution to another becomes a fairly easy task. You know the landscape, and you understand the choices and how they are pieced together, so the decision becomes second nature. Also: The best-looking Linux desktop I've seen so far in 2025 -- and it's not even close But those early days can be filled with confusion, especially when trying to choose a distribution. The list goes on and on and on. In fact, my best guess is that there are over 1,000 Linux distributions available to use. That is a massive choice. Now, before your eyes jettison from their orbits, many of those distributions are so niche that you would never consider them, and some of them are built for servers, routers, and embedded systems. That still leaves a lot of distributions. Even if you narrow it down to only the main choices, you are still looking at 10 to 20 options. What do you do? Well, I have a suggestion. The ... Read full article.