I'll second Linux Mint Cinnamon. My understanding is it is designed to look/function as close to Windows as possible to help people transition away from Windows.

It was my first Linux distro migrating from Windows, and overall it's been a fairly decent transition.

1. Linux Mint Cinnamon
2. About 2, maybe 3 years. Time's a bit fuzzy.
3. There was some, I'll leave some tips below.
4. Nothing specific.

-Check out Protondb.com. It's a website where you can search for games to see their compatibility rating with Linux OSes, along with any tinkering/troubleshooting tips other users have done.

-Once you install Steam, go to the Settings menu, select Compatibility, and select an option for "Default compatibility tool". This global setting means you would not have specifically select a Proton version for each game you play.

-I found that sometimes Steam would not launch from the toolbar. I have no issues launching it from the terminal window (literally launch Terminal, type the word 'steam', and hit Enter)

I am very non-technical and I have ended up with Linux Mint Cinnamon which was the first thing I tried, with Steam dealing with the few games I have played the past four years or so. It has been mostly non-Steam Fallout 4, No Man's Sky, Baldur's Gate 3, Guild Wars 2, and Steam version of Lord of the Rings Online. Stability varies but I think it is mostly my hardware being old.

Overall I have used Mint for maybe eight years, at first only for internet browsing. I still played LOTRO and Guild Wars 2 with my trusty (well okay, the games started to be rather crashy) WinXP around 2020. Hm... a year or two, here or there. I don't actually remember when they started to drop support for XP. I originally tried Steam on Linux for LOTRO.

Just as a background info I'm going to be a little bit dramatic and claim that I don't like Linux, I use it out of necessity. Even if I am generally fine with it, as far as I can manage it.
I just don't like the command line at all. I also don't like the program "shop" like system. I think I can see it on my current Mint as Software Manager, now that I check but I don't want to start it. It is that I don't like them "calling homes" or managing things which is how I see the command line and the manager being like.
I can download a Steam installer from the website and then it sets itself up, with command line type window, downloading what ever it likes from somewhere, managing things... fine, I have to deal, I want to play games. For general computer use I can download Firefox and some other Linux software from websites, they start when I click the executable and that's the way I would like things to work way more. I do let the driver manager set graphics drivers when I make a new Mint installation as I can't even begin to understand other options.

My favorite thing would be the possibility to easily set up a Linux computer for offline games without ever connecting it to internet.
Once, maybe 4 years ago I did somehow install wine on Debian which I think I didn't connect to internet in the process. The one game I tested did launch but didn't really display well because no graphics driver.
Another experiment, on Mint last year, was to install wine with command line (the horror!), I could launch the non-Steam games I installed but didn't try playing them. I can't remember for sure but it may be that the games just didn't run as well as they did on Steam's Proton on that same Mint installation. Based on when I sometimes read about Linux, wine does seem to need plenty of config which I really don't want to do.

If you've used a Steam Deck, you've used Bazzite (for all intents and purposes). If you can use a game console, you can use Bazzite. That's pretty much the entire purpose of SteamOS; making PC gaming stupid easy.

Caveats:

1. if you want to use anything other than Steam, it quickly becomes more complicated.

2. If you want to play competitive multiplayer games, many of them block Linux users.

3. If you want to use any peripherals besides KBM or controller, such as flight sticks or steering wheels, that also can be complicated.

Linux Mint, Wine Bottles/Steam, 3 years, never had any issues, but I mostly run older games. I cant speak for newer games or competitive multi player games

Just.... don't. Non-technical people should consider consoles, not PCs. Not even with Windows (which is actually harder to use than some Linux distros). If you want to game together with them, just get them an Xbox. It has much more games with cross play than a PlayStation

@grueling_[email protected]

OP! Please don't do this! Someone who doesn't even know how to change their TV input will definitely not survive on Linux for a long time! Also they only use their PC for very basic stuff like checking their emails. Gaming on Linux will need to work compability programs like Proton and Wine. You'll get calls from them everytime! Please just install debloated Windows 10 21H2 LSTC IOT version for them!

What distro are you using for gaming?

Gentoo

How long have you used it?

Nearly 2 years now

How often have you had issues that require Linux knowledge and/or searching the web to solve?

Pretty often. I often need to go to Gentoo forums for help.

Have you had any other minor/annoying complaints?

Gaming drivers are the biggest issue in Gentoo

a gaming system for the kind of person who needs help if their TV is set to the wrong input.

Definitely Bazzite. It’s almost impossible to break, it’s effortless to roll back if something does theoretically go wrong, and KDE Plasma is like the most user friendly version of Windows you’ve never seen.

Bazzite is awesome!

• => Documentation <=
• => Frequently Asked Questions <=

On it since Beta ~2+ years. It's "Dad Linux". It's "Chromebook-easy Linux." Like a smartphone it keeps 2 OS images at all times. If an update ever goes bad, just rollback to the previous image.

Also let's you roll with bazzite-testing more confidently, without worrying about your system breaking.

You can even install Kinoite and Rebase to Bazzite alternatively!

JayzTwoCents:

"I FINALLY listened to you and tried Linux... Why did I wait so long?" GardinerBryant: "Bazzite just had a HUGE UPGRADE! (And more Linux Gaming News)"

Checkout the new Bazaar Flatpak Store app! Super easy to manage applications.

No more messing with Gnome Software or KDE Discover.

My son, 14, is on Bazzite now after using Pop!_OS for 5 years. He specifically requested it after using it at my office and seeing how well the Logitech steering wheel he uses works in Forza Horizon 5. He’s decent with tech, to the point that his teachers called on him to help with their problems during middle school, so maybe not the best example.

My daughter, 11, is on Pop!_OS. She’s currently at the tech level you describe, though sometimes she forgets to turn the power strip on, making me think she may be slightly below that. Her PC has been on that distro for a good 2 years, though she really only plays Minecraft, watches YouTube videos, and does her homework with OnlyOffice. Zero tech-related complaints from her, once she’s logged in she’s able to do what she needs with little to no assistance.

After stints in EndeavourOS and AlmaLinux I’ve settled on Kubuntu 24.04 LTS. I needed something stable with zfs in its official repo, so I don’t risk losing access to the big volume that contains all my raw video footage after a kernel update. The experience has been about as unremarkable as possible, which is exactly what I was looking for.

All three of us are using nvidia GPUs, and have had no trouble with drivers in the slightest. I use mine for gaming and video editing using DaVinci Resolve Studio, and while I was looking for as unremarkable an experience as possible, I’ve been using Linux since around 1996, so my tech experience doesn’t align with what you’re looking for; however, if this means anything, I’d switch my 85-year-old father with dementia to Linux Mint without worrying that he wouldn’t know his way around.

I've been using Linux Mint for the last....eight years? I think? Anyway, it's been great for gaming and if you want a minimum of fussing about, I would just install Steam and use Proton for compatibility. It's by far the easiest and most tinker-free gaming experience for Linux - at least in my experience. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to really research and tinker with any annoying issues. protondb.com has been extremely helpful in checking the compatibility of a certain game for Linux and even offers tips and tricks to make the fussier games work.

I would recommend Mint over PopOS if that ends up being the choice, but Bazzite is probably the safest choice here. Both Cinnamon and Plasma should be pretty easy to navigate for someone used to Windows. Nobara is great, but personally I would stay away from distros with so few maintainers (only GE?). GE is an amazing dev and has done some great things for gaming on linux, but the chance of having to switch distros sooner or later is fairly large. If you don't mind helping them with that, then I don't think you can go wrong with Nobara either. Personally I currently run CachyOS with KDE Plasma and it's been super solid for my use case including gaming, but I would not recommend any Arch-based distros to "the kind of person who needs help if their TV is set to the wrong input" even if it is quite beginner friendly and stable. But I also keep Windows around on a separate drive regardless for the times when Linux isn't the right tool for the job, most notably because a lot of competitive games do not run on linux as they require kernel level anti-cheat (https://areweanticheatyet.com/). If the person you are referring to have no interest in those kinds of games, then that becomes a non-issue, but if their favourite game is something like Valorant or Fortnite then Linux simply isn't a good choice for them yet. That is also true for some Windows-exclusive applications. Most applications have good alternatives or can run fine through something like Bottles or Lutris, but some don't.

Otherwise, most games typically work fine (https://protondb.com/). Some work flawlessly without having to do anything. Some only require minor tweaks like setting a launch parameter or selecting a specific proton version. Those I believe would be acceptable, if not perhaps a little frustrating for such a person, but there are also a lot of games that run but can have issues of varying degrees that you can't do anything about. They are almost always good enough, but sometimes those issues can be significant. What I suspect would be a killer is that some games may stop working after an update which requires further tweaking or simply staying broken until either the game devs or proton devs fixes it.

I distrohopped for a long time, usually because I got fed up with something not being available for that distro and having to compile from source, and usually failing that despite following the instructions to the letter...

Until I ended up on Nobara.

I've used it for a couple years now, been relatively painless for gaming. Everythings compiled/installed/ready for show time from the start. Honestly the gaming experience on linux in general, thanks to proton advancements, has been so smooth that the rare time I have an issue its usually because of a game bug and nothing to do with linux.. I do make a point of avoiding games that have excessive anti-cheat though.

I've had two issues in as many years of using it that required hitting the Nobara discord, which had the solutions already pinned, and the solutions were little more than a command to copy into the terminal. Folks in the discord are wonderful, helpful people to the not-technical, too.

I don't have any real minor/annoyances with Nobara the OS, or really even Linux as a whole. my only real ongoing complaint (and this isnt a linux specific issue at all) is a combination of discord being used as a support medium/knowledge base for everything anymore, and the enshittification of search engine results from SEO.. So now you cant ever find the solution for any problem, no matter what its about, because half the answers are locked away on discord where search engines cant index, and the other half a buried and unfindable due to a billion AI generated Search Engine Optimized websites/pages that bury any relevant, valuable information so deeply as to be impossible to find without a pith helmet, torches, and long expedition.

I started with Bazzite but didn't like that it was immutable. I broke the permissions on my drive and had to reinstall trying to force it to let me change the login screen background.

After that I switched to Garuda and have had it about a year.

The most painful part was figuring out what Linux uses as app stores and how they work. Bazzite just released Bazaar and I haven't tried it yet but I hear it works on other distros too. Software installation and management is the biggest hurdle to easy use and that gap is closing fast.

The most common problem I have had is that a Windows app stops working and I try a different version of proton and the problem goes away.

I have only ever had to use the command like when doing weird stuff. Most people won't need to.

Garuda also has a great helper app that lets you choose common starting software with check boxes, has buttons for updates, firmware, and other common settings, tweaks, and troubleshooting tools. It makes it pretty painless to get started.

Garuda also comes with KDE, Gnome, or Xfce (your choice) so you can get the desktop experience you like.

go through their list of games on protondb to see if linux would be a good fit, it might not be, depending on their library.

you've got a nice 'short list' of distributions to evaluate. i'd recommend setting each up yourself on a spare system to see how 'point and click' they are in setting-up, running, and updating the games they play.

also keep in mind the more hoop-jumping and manual configurations you need to do, the greater the chance of something breaking--like during os or wine-related updates. those kinds of issues are the ones your friend will be relying on you to fix for them so you definitely want to minimize the chances of that happening.

I've been on Pop_OS for 4 years and I've used Bazzite and Endeavor on my other computers for a few months. My only issues have been with nvidia drivers (not so much of a problem anymore) and some of the propriety hardware in my laptop being funky. I'd say, honestly, if they can handle Windows they can probably handle any mainstream distro. If all they use is Steam and a browser, anything will suffice. I'd personally lean toward Bazzite as I doubt they can break it and it comes set up for gaming already. If they game with anything outside Steam, teach them how to use Lutris. The Bazzite forums and wiki pages are also great, albeit some are a bit technical, although I doubt they'll need it if they are very tech illiterate anyway.

Linux gaming has gotten really good and continues to get better. Currently, I’d agree with what most of the other responses here have been and say Mint or Pop!_OS

This doesn’t help for the current build you’re setting up and I’m not suggesting to wait for it, but for the future I’d suggest also to keep an eye on SteamOS and when Valve eventually releases it for people to just download and install on whatever machine, it’s likely going to be the best option for this kind of scenario

I set up Ubuntu for my somewhat non-technical brother (not as non technical as you mentioned, but not someone who will ever open CLI), and they used it happily until their laptop got too old and they had to change (5-7 years, even upgraded to next LTS once)

So, I will vote for something stable and mainstream like that. Set up steam on that, and they should be good to go.

I've been using Zorin OS for about 6 months (first on my laptop and now on my newly bought gaming desktop) and I'm very happy with it! Didn't really have any big issues (so far) with compatibility. I also find it very user friendly in terms of Windows lookalike. Gaming wise, I've been using heroic games launcher for non steam games and steam for steam games and I have to say I didn't expect it to be so easy and straightforward

Personally I'd say none of the above for newbies. I have had experience with Nobara and it's OK but I literally had problems with GPG certificates for updates for the second time in 3 months, and yesterday the update engine crashed during an update and my plasma desktop only showed a black screen with a cursor on it when I logged in.

I can problem solve that but it's annoying as hell and not suitable for someone who doesn't want to do that.

Pick a more mainstream distro and not something that is rolling release. They don't need that - they need something that is rock solid. The gaming modifications on distros are overrated - they only matter if you really want to push things to the limit.

I'd probably go with Mint for your scenario. It's stable, and the 22.1 is a long term release up to 2029 - so it's unlikely to break with a major update.

I'd personally go with KDE over cinnamon - it's user friendly but its slicker than the default desktops in Mint and will make the machine feel more high end as a gaming machine. There is also scope to customise it if the person using that wants to go down that route or has something they're already familiar with (KDE very flexible - feels like a nicer version of windows GUI by default but can make it look like MacOS or even Gnome, or whatever you want tbh). Cinnamon and Mate have flexibility too but KDE has a whole ecosystem of software to draw on and doesn't suffer from Gnomes rather marmite design philosophy.

In terms of games - use Steam where possible. It'll "just work". There is almost no configuration required and personally I have a huge games library and haven't had to troubleshoot anything so far. I don't play competitive games or the highest end fps games though. But I've just completed cyberpunk 2077 on my desktop, which is a 3070 and had no issues.

Some popular games like Minecraft have their own clients and set up but it's not difficult to set up once and leave it going.

Lutris is a good games client if they do have games in other stores like GOG or Epic, and it works well with steam too. Heroic is also a good multi store client - slick and easy to use if that's preferred, good for gog, Epic and amazon.

Whatever you chose to do, keep.ot simple. I'd honestly avoid the gaming distros and go for something stable and widely support like Mint. Definitely avoid pure Ubuntu, and avoid rolling releases of anything and you should be fine support wise.

I would genuinely not recommend Linux at all for someone who "needs help if their TV is set to the wrong input". Just being completely honest there.

But if you're absolutely set on it, probably Mint.

Edited to add:

1. Currently using Cachyos.
2. Few months.
3. Very often.
4. Too many to list. I'll put it this way, I've started an ongoing library of issues and how I fixed them.

I think what matters more for a beginner is the desktop environment (DE). For someone coming from Windows I recommend using KDE Plasma for a DE. Ever since Plasma 6 it has become one of the best DE out there.

I've used:

• Mint : Solid, easy, but runs Cinnamon as a DE, which is OK and looks nice but lacks functionality for multiple displays. You can switch it to KDE Plasma but it is unofficially supported and can only run Plasma 5 which is was not a mature version IMO. It is glitchy and lacks the functionalities that makes Plasma 6 complete. Ultimately if you are using a single monitor Mint is a great choice, just stick to Cinnamon.

• OpenSUSE Tumbleweed : It runs Plasma 6 out of the box. It also allows you to easily set up BTRFS Snapshot (a solid and easy to use recovery mode should something break your install) and encryption right at the install setup. If I remember well, Mint also has that support. It was remarkably stable for a rolling release distribution but I did have to use the Snapshot rollback a few times, mostly because NVidia kept messing up its driver updates. It is also a slightly oddball distro so you might sometimes encounter something that needs a minor workaround or require slightly different commands to work, something I always found a solution to with a quick internet search. The rolling release also means there are tons of updates coming out almost every day, which gets annoying after a while. Their package manager (zypper) is also relatively slow, not supporting parallel downloads yet. They are currently testing a Slow Release version (as opposed to Tumbleweed which is the rolling release version) that would tame it down but it's not officially released yet.

• I'm now running Fedora KDE and I'm happy with it. It is easy to install and it just works. It is relatively mainstream so things work better. It is also very stable. The caveat being that the installation process doesn't include any support for easily setting up BTRFS snapshots and encrypted home folder. There is however a very solid step by step instructions video on YouTube on how to set it up and explaining what and why you are doing at every step that I used to set it up for myself. It is quite the process however and the installer has changed slightly since the video was made so there was a bit of hunting around.

They all work relatively easily with their own pros and cons.

I haven't tried it personally, but I think that Kububtu could also be an option for you . It is the KDE Plasma version of the most popular Linux distribution.

IMO as long as you don't pick something like Arch and don't mind doing a few quick web searches when you have questions it should be fine.

I'm using ChimeraOS after using Bazzite and running into crashes a lot. It's been about 2 months but no issues so far. I still search the web for stuff fairly often just because there's so much you can do, like set up Emudeck, modding games (I've been playing FF7 after setting up Seventh Heaven and it's been pretty fun), and I've also added a YouTube TV shortcut that runs in Firefox with uBlock for no ads. At this point I don't have any complaints about it and it really does feel like a console-like experience.

I've been on pop!_os for 4ish years now, and in that time I had like.. 3 issues with it, which is way less than I had with windows lol

Honestly if you're picking one bazzite, mint, pop! and any of the others that are considered beginner friendly will probably be equally fine ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯