Linux

First of all Linux isn't a company, but the name some dude named Linus gave his code he put for free on the internet.

Most modern Linux distros are still not run by companies, that's why they don't force the data collection, ads, ai etc down your throat.

That said: Linux is made from thousands of interlocking programs, scripts, services and libraries, made mostly by some guys or gurls in their free time. So with a lot of stuff you need to fit it to your needs, as granular customization is to troublesome to have working out of the box for every different usecase there could be. So with most stuff you should not be afraid to learn the basics of terminal commands (packet manager, editor, foldermanagment)

Some OS like Ubuntu and manjaro do a lot for you, but if you have weird double monitors, you may need to manually do some stuff.

If you want as much as possible easy install options I would go with manjaro - then you can install everything where users made an AUR (arch user repository) package. Check if they have all programs you want, if not look for alternatives.

If you want a more stable system but with a bit less possibilities, go for Ubuntu, debian, popOS or something like that.

Some things may never run, for example for my music daw(ableton) with low latency and not native support on Linux or the htc vive wireless (where there isn't a driver for the PCI card for Linux) I keep a win machine around. Day to day use is on debian on my side

If you want to test several Linux distributions Ventoy can be useful. You can have 10 or more different Linux distributions on one USB stick depending on the size of the stick. This will also save you time "flashing" an image iso to the stick each time because with Ventoy you'd simply copy the image iso files to the stick, quick and easy.

https://www.ventoy.net

Yeah, well just go ahead and see if it works for you now. I doubt much has changed, but some bits are probably more polished these days.
Most distros support some kind of LiveCD, so you can try it out without having to reinstall your machine, it's painless and quick to evaluate before you take the plunge.

zenbook duo pro

A quick search reveals this. Might be helpful. https://davejansen.com/asus-zenbook-duo-and-fedora-linux/

Edit: the linux-company thing is just for triggering people, sorry I didn’t know it was this effective.

Errrr... why would you try to trigger people, especially while asking for their help? Don't you think it's plain rude?

Linux is not a company lol I hope that was a joke. Also Linux is not new.

Now to the software: it will likely run everywhere. Davinci resolve is a bit picky but also fine.

You have quite some Windows-only software. Check https://alternative-to.net or try running it through WINE with Bottles

To the Distro: this is complex. Many people will recommend Linux Mint and it is easy to use but very restricted. I dont think it is great really.

There are many many parallel efforts, so on Linux Distributions (Linux + packages + desktop + ...) you can get very different software.

For a painfree experience running Windows software and Davinci Resolve I recommend to try Bazzite

It is very different from others:

• it updates automatically in the background. But completely different from Windows. Updates always work and are efficient and stable. No 10 times rebooting
• updates finish and you can reboot any time to apply it. Literally a week later, nobody cares
• the reboot takes just as long as any other reboot, no downtime

The system is way better and more stable than "traditional" ones. This is quite complex but lets say while on Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora etc. you will have an indivudual system, with individual packages and in the end some strange errors only happening on your setup, with Bazzite you will have exactly 1:1 the system that the developers create.

It is based on Fedora Atomic Desktops which are pretty great. But for your use case I dont recommend them.

I recommend the Bazzite Desktop version with the KDE Plasma desktop. This will be Windows-like in a very good way, but incredibly more efficient, faster and also more powerful. Like a Filemanager with tabs and extensions, that is not written in whatever bloat Microsoft uses (their Win11 stuff is so slow...).

To sum it up, on Linux you have to decide:

What Desktop environment?

• I recommend KDE Plasma a lot
• GNOME is also good but veery opinionated and minimalist
• I dont recommend others like Linux Mint's Cinnamon yet, as they dont support modern standards (Wayland)

What Distribution family?

• Debian, Fedora, Arch, OpenSUSE
• they are all a bit different but basically doing the same
• Ubuntu stems from Debian and became popular as "the beginner Linux" but they do very controversial stuff nobody else does (like the Snap store) and have tons of bugs. I used it a lot with bad experiences and dont recommend.
• Linux Mint and others also use Ubuntu or Debian under the hood
• Arch is very manual and difficult for new users, dont use it
• OpenSUSE does whatever they do, not recommended
• Fedora is pretty modern in their software, has a nice community and a big variety of options. They are not allowed to ship restricted media codecs for stuff like h264 video though
• uBlue (Bazzite, Bluefin, Aurora) is a project using Fedoras versions and adding nice stuff to it, making them usable out of the box. This is their goal, and they do it really well.

Try Kubuntu as a Distro. Any KDE Plasma Distro would be good as well. -Sincerely The Linux Company

For people coming from windows i think linux mint is the best choice.

Gimp, blender and vscode works well on linux

U can code dart/flutter with no problems on vscode on linux, android studio also works fine if you need to export to android.

For file manager i use nemo (default on mint cinnamon).

Other software mentioned i have no idea.

Edit: the linux-company thing is just for triggering people, sorry I didn’t know it was this effective.

So you’re a dick. Got it.

Isn't Google dismantling the flutter team?

Visual Studio is not available on Linux and not really working in Wine, sadly. You can use IntelliJ IDEA as a good alternative, it supports Linux officially and has a Flutter plugin.

For a beginner, Linux Mint is perfect. It is based on Ubuntu which is based on Debian, so you can follow most tutorials written for either distribution (like the installation instructions for IntelliJ IDEA or other software that is not available from the APT package manager).

Try Linux Mint.

I heard about this new company called Linux

I thought it was funny at least, so you gave me a good laugh.

I'd say Linux Mint or Ubuntu (you're familiar with this one) would be good "Out of the Box" options. They run an environment known as "Debian" so they're super similar and are pretty similar to what Windows offers in all honesty. You just burn them to a USB, run them from your desired computer's BIOS, and the rest is through a GUI interface you can follow along with. I have no experience with a touchscreen as I'm running Linux Mint XFCE (lightest weight version) on a laptop from the early 2010's with an Intel N2820 in it, but I'm assuming some workaround can exist to implement that. You also seem somewhat familiar with the alternative programs for different purposes, but rest assured both Ubuntu and Mint come with file explorers (Mint XFCE uses one called Thunar which is pretty effective) and you can easily swap out/install a different file manager to get jobs done as needed.

Plus - any programs you used with Windows which may not have Linux alternatives or versions - can be run through Wine. I've encountered a few hiccups when doing this (like a program I needed for school which was unable to pass the initial installation and actually run the program).

I've run Linux Mint XFCE as my daily driver for work and school tasks on my laptop for about 2-3 years at this point and it's been pretty great. Full disclosure: I still run Windows 11 on my main PC at home and have Windows 10 on a HTPC/Server with docker on it (though I've been debating switching to Ubuntu for this as well) so I still know there are benefits to a Windows system (while working to remove any and all advertising and AI garbage) but if I were to recommend someone a distro it would be as I've said above.

Good luck! Hope you find one that works for you!

Linux is not a company! Its a community driven open source project made by people like you who don't want to be under a corporations thumb!

There are many such open source programs, and they should be your first choice when looking for alternatives.

I suggest trying the Fedora OS, and using the site alternativeto.net to find open source alternatives to any programs you need.

Don't forget to always use the packge manager to install sotfware!

https://zorin.com/os/ its an out of the box distro that specifically tries to emulate the windows feel. In particular it has play on linux installed by default making running windows programs when needed as easy as it can be. the out of the box is office type stuff really though so you will have to install blender and such.

Why is no-one recommending pop-os? Works fine for me in all aspects. They even provide hardware, but that's not needed, you can just use the OS.

Edit: the linux-company thing is just for triggering people, sorry I didn’t know it was this effective.

Heh it really was wasn't it? Been on Linux for near to twenty years now and I'm still surprised to see it. :D

I'm not sure which distro would work with your laptop. I would suggest experimenting with live USB images. Maybe using something like Ventoy which enables you to try out multiple live images from one USB stick. But as far as applications go:

• GIMP is native to Linux and should work fine. You might also want to give Krita and Inkscape a whirl. Also, massive props for ditching Adobe. I hate that company as much as it hates their customers.
• Blender works on linux.
• So does Davinci. Allegedly. Haven't used it, but their website says Linux support is available.
• I don't code so, um, no idea. Sorry. Hopefully someone else will weigh in.
• Good news, Linux has working file explorers!
• No ads, at least for the most part. Ubuntu had Amazon's search integrated into their search bar a while back, which caused quite a kerfuffle. Later, they added a toggle to turn this off, but this was years ago. Might want to check just in case.

Gimp and Blender are Linux software

DaVinci Resolve has a Linux version

Code OSS (or VSCode is you want Windows telemetry included) works

a working file explorer

Not an issue, you can use Dolphin on Windows if you wanted

NO FUCKIN ADS

That’s easy

Now unfortunately, ready or not, I need to switch.

Try Mint

The things I missed are ones I know nothing about

Linux Mint although X may not work with touch screens.

The other option is Fedora Workstation but you will need to update to the latest release every 6 months as it ships brand new packages.

For graphics stuff you will be using Gimp, Inkscape, and Krita. No adjustment layers, or cmyk, sorry. If that is enough for you, good, if not, you're out of luck.

For 3D modelling, only Blender.

For video, DaVinci only works sometimes, depending on distro, version of the app, drivers installed etc. It's a bit of a crapshoot. A good alternative is kdenlive if you don't need hardware acceleration, proper color grading and film emulation, or compositing.

Google laid off most Dart/Flutter developers just a week ago or so.

Thunar for file manager, not Nautilus. Nautilus crashes in folders that has hundreds of svg files in it (e.g. a theme folder), or when you're trying to copy a 30 gb folder to a new folder on the same secondary drive (it only copied 9 GB out of the 30, all files were owned by me). Both bugs bit me just the other day.