(Guide) Best Linux Distro for Windows 7 Refugees: Manjaro KDE

[Karlston]

Best Linux Distro for Windows 7 Refugees: Manjaro KDE

With the impending destruction  of Windows 7 (read: loss of official support) looming in the horizon, many users may find themselves in the debate of moving to Windows 10 or jumping ship to an alternative such as MacOS or Linux.

 

There are hundreds of Linux distributions to choose from, but I’d like to personally throw my two-copper in and suggest Manjaro KDE.

What is Manjaro? And KDE?

 

Manjaro is based off of Arch Linux, but I like to describe it to people as the “Ubuntu of Arch” for its user-friendly design choices and its particular attention to helping new Linux users to learn what they are doing. Another great perk of the Arch foundation underneath Manjaro is the use of the Arch Linux Wiki.

 

The Arch wiki is easily one of the largest resources of help, information, and know-how for all Linux users— regardless of distribution, many of the articles found can be applied.

 

Back in the spring of 2017 I wrote a series of articles discussing various Desktop Environments for Linux systems, such as Cinnamon and KDE just to name a couple, and overall for Windows users who have decided to take the plunge, I’m recommending KDE.

 

Regardless of distribution, KDE is filled with eye candy, is highly-customizable, one of the most powerful file-browsers available (Dolphin), and is deeply documented with a long-standing history (KDE was created in 1996).

 

However, KDE is not without its downsides too:

• Arguably the most resource-intensive desktop environment
• Very in-your-face customization access can be jarring to Windows users not used to having such broad customization in their UI setup.
• Arguably more geared towards power-users than some other environments
• Some feel that KDE is too cluttered

Looking at this list, with the exception of the increased resource usage compared to most of the other Desktop Environments, I personally find the other downsides to really be ‘benefits’, but that’s to each their own.

 

Looking back at Manjaro as the choice of environment, I want to note that I really looked at:

• Ubuntu
• Linux Mint
• Debian
• Fedora
• OpenSUSE

In the end, I felt that Manjaro held the best combination of user-friendliness with raw-power. Yes, any of the above-listed systems will work and run pretty much the same software; but Manjaro makes everything simple, easy, organized, and smooth, as well as featuring some great built-in tools such as Pamac/Octopi depending on environment chosen (though I always uninstall Octopi and install Pamac), the Settings Manager Kernel changing option is simply spectacular, and I’ve enjoyed many of the software choices by the Manjaro team (including Steam by default, Firefox, Thunderbird, Yakuake).

 

 

 

Source: Best Linux Distro for Windows 7 Refugees: Manjaro KDE (gHacks)

[Karlston]

Leaving Windows for Manjaro KDE: Post-Installation First-Steps

Previously I wrote an article where I recommend Manjaro KDE Edition for Windows 7 Refugees and I felt like I should follow-up with some changes and first-steps that I think would make the transition for Windows users who followed my advice much easier.

 

I’ll skip the fluff, and just assume that you’ve completely wiped Windows, and have installed Manjaro KDE Edition. This article will not touch on the actual installation process as I feel that for someone to be a “Windows 7 Refugee” they must have fully left Windows and moved to a Manjaro KDE system in this scenario, fully.

 

The installation process of moving from Windows to most modern Linux distributions is very simple, and can be found and covered in thousands of articles elsewhere in great depth based on many situations and hardware setups.

Manjaro KDE: Post-Installation First-Steps

With all of that out of the way, let’s get Manjaro a bit more Windows-user-friendly.

 

1. Change single-click activation to double-click

 

 

Windows users will be thrown off-kilter pretty quickly I’d bet, by the fact that KDE by default in most systems uses a single-click to launch method rather than double-click like in Windows.

 

To make this change:

1. First, click on the application menu in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and navigate to Settings followed by System Settings.
2. Next, Click Desktop Behavior.
3. Next, if not selected by default, click Workspace.
4. Lastly, in the Click behavior subsection, choose Double-click to open files and folders (single click to select), and then click Apply.

2. Remove Octopi and Install Pamac

 

 

Personally, I find Pamac to be far-superior to Octopi when it comes to being the main package-management tool for Manjaro. It’s easier to navigate, better organized, more attractive, and over-all a nicer user-experience.

 

To install Pamac:

1. First, click on the application menu in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and navigate to System followed by selecting Octopi.
2. Next, search for Pamac, and it will find multiple results (5 at the time of writing this). Right-click pamac-gtk and select Install.
3. Enter your root password when prompted.

 

Pamac is installed along with any dependencies automatically. You can check out my guide on installing Pamac in Arch Linux for a GUI like Manjaro.

 

To Remove Octopi

1. First, click on the application menu in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and navigate to System followed by selecting Add/Remove Software.
2. Next, click Installed
3. Click the Magnifying Lens icon in the upper-right corner, and type Octopi.
4. Next to Octopi click Remove and then click Apply in the bottom right corner of the window.

You may also have something called alpm-octopi-utils 1.0.0-3 installed. This can also be removed.

 

3. Change KSysGuard hotkey

 

 

Windows users have become so used to using CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up Task Manager that I'm unsure if one could ever totally be trained to use something else, save maybe over many years of practice. So, although you likely won't have too many applications freezing or needing to be killed, to make it easier to do so I advise changing the keyboard shortcut for accessing the application KSysGuard which serves as a sort of Task Manager alternative.

 

To do this:

1. First, click on the application menu in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and navigate to Settings followed by System Settings.
2. Next, click Shortcuts in the menu on the left.
3. Next, under Component: click KDE Daemon.
4. Click Show System Activity and select Custom.
5. Click None and press CTRL+ALT+DEL to enter the new combination.

A warning may appear, notifying you that the binding CTRL+ALT+DEL is currently used for something else; click Reassign to change this; the other binding is for logging out quickly.

 

Conclusion

 

From here you have a lot of learning, exploring, and fun ahead of you! Things in the Linux world can be both complex but also amazingly simple, and will surely teach you more about computers, and your own habits! Welcome aboard!

 

 

 

Source: Leaving Windows for Manjaro KDE: Post-Installation First-Steps (gHacks)

[halvgris]

don't think any linux os is is easier coming from windows.

with distributions like mint and ubuntu you get ALL software
pre-installed and you're probably looking at using 10 at most.

i have settled with mxlinux which is in my mind a more sleek
version of linux, not as polished and nice looking hood as
ubuntu or mint but it runs on my old laptops and have the
software i need to use it right away.

what i like with linux is that:
-i chose when it's updating or not. i'm not fooled by popups to restart update.
-it updates but doesn't force a restart.
-in my +20 years of playing with linux i have never had it froze so that i needed to physically power it down.
-copying even with usb 2 seems much easier since you can actually use the computer for surfing while it's copying.
-makes an old pc work as new.
-works fine with minimum memory too.

the negative:
-remember codes and logins and root for gods sake or you're out. some linux versions will force you a superduper strong password.
-wifi bluetooth might not work with your newest hardware out of the box. maybe needs some googleing.
-the obvious not all games or programs are here but there are others.

for me personally i use my pc for tv/movies/spotify/mp3/youtube/internet and communicating so
linux is well suited for me. started using iptv a few days ago and are blessed with the share contents
and the different commercials on global networks etc.

[coromonadalix]

Zorin os  is a very good alternative

[mp68terr]

There is probably no best linux distro, users have different tastes/needs/feelings. The good thing is however that most (all that I know) distro come as live distro that the user can try/test as long as wished. Then the decision is up to the user according to the computer age/configuration, the apps coming within the distro, etc...

[pc71520]

https://elementary.io/

[mp68terr]

6 hours ago, pc71520 said:

https://elementary.io/

Did I miss something or is it necessary to pay for the elementaryOS?

[debebee]

It is PAY WHAT YOU WANT you can put ZERO and you are still good

[mp68terr]

44 minutes ago, teodz1984 said:

PAY WHAT YOU WANT

Good! Might give it a try, so far fine with mint though.