Help, Should I install Debian OS 7 or Ubuntu 13.04?

Question

I am sick and tiered of windows, it simply does not work! I will save up and by a mac and be DONE with microcrap! but until then i want to put one of these two as my one and only operating system. I am currently loading hundreds of gigabytes of all my stuff onto a 1tb external drive and when that's done i will instal Linux! hooray! Which one is more intuitive and be good for someone who isn't to good with messing with numbers and settings. And most importantly which is smoother and works better? Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Most important things you need is Patience, Willingness to learn something different, An ability to search the internet for help...almost all the problems you will encounter have been solved already.



Linux is not windows, and if you have specific applications that do not have Linux euivalents that you are happy to use you should not change.



OK Plain vanilla Ubuntu is

1) Different significantly from Windows that you are used to

2) In a state of flux (lot of changes happening that may make you experience glitches)

3) But has the most comprehensive support and is the most widely used distro

4) It is intuitive but still a big culture shift.



Debian

1) Is stable...crashes are very rare

2) Things are tested thoroughly so unless you are on the unstable branch apps tend to be slightly out dated



Linux Mint is closest to your needs for Ubuntu and familiarity

Zorin OS as another poster has mentioned is alos good if you are person who would have difficulty changing from Windows like environments

Answer 2

Okay first off don't listen to those that say Linux won't work for you. They clearly either have never used it, or don't know what they are doing.



There isn't anything you can do in Windows that you can't do in *nix. Even gaming (while I admit it is lacking compared to Windows, you still can thanks to Steam and playonlinux).



I actually would recommend Linux Mint. It is a Ubuntu derivative and will come with a nice driver manager and all the codecs you will need out of the box for playing videos and such. And works well on lower end hardware.



Now if you're having hardware issues, then no OS is going to help that.

Answer 3

since you not a linux expert.

i would say install zorin-os.

its based on ubuntu 13 but has the UI of windows, ubuntu, mac etc.

so while it is linux, you will still be familiar with it and you can get practice on mac UI for when you get your mac.

also, its based on ubuntu so any problems you have may already be solved.

but if debian and ubuntu is your only options, ubuntu 13.04 since you dont like tinkering under the hood.

Answer 4

if you are finding windows doesn't work you will have zero chance of running any linux distro. they are still not for general use and are still too close to unix for most people to operate easily and ANY problem genrally needs expert advice and text input , even worse on laptops which have custom drivers you may have to create yourself