Thinking about leaving Windows? Apple hardware too expensive? Not quite sure what is available out there? Good news, desktop Linux has become really good in the last few years. Not to worry, I've got something to make your transition a little bit easier.
Backstory: I switched 100% to Linux about 5 years ago after getting frustrated with Microsoft and Apple. It took a solid year to go from distrohopping every few days to understanding what I liked and what branch of Linux I was going to call home. With the recent shenanigans of Windows 11 and the ever increasing encroachment of privacy by the surveillance state, I decided to try to help anyone who is "Linux curious." There is no proprietary software here and I'm not trying to hide anything. All this is, is Ventoy (an open source utility which allows you to create a bootable USB drive and store multiple files and OS's on it at once. Supports .iso, .wim, .img, .vhd(x) and .efi files) with a modified GRUB menu (created by YEYUSHENGFAN258 from pling.com).
I think I have a pretty good mix of distros and desktop environments. I did not include any distros that include a tiling window manager (Sway, Hyperland,etc.). If there is a distro that is not included, simply download the .iso, drag and drop it onto the drive and you're ready to go. The hardest thing about switching to Linux is finding our what works best for you.
Included is a high quality PNY 64GB USB 3.0 drive preloaded with the latest versions (at least latest version as of posting this) of the most popular Linux distributions I think a beginner should try out. I included as many LTS (Long Term Support) versions available to ensure a stable base for new users. The worst thing for beginners is inadvertently breaking your system and not knowing how to recover.To use:1. Ensure that Secure Boot is disabled in BIOS (google how to enter BIOS for your specific device)2. Insert USB Stick and select it in the Boot options in BIOS.3. You will be presented with a GRUB Menu. Simply select the desired OS.4. Try in LiveCD environment or install to disk.
Note: For Vanilla Arch the preferred method is to ensure you have an internet connection and run 'archinstall' from the command line. This will download an Arch helper script that will make the, once rather difficult, installation process much easier and more user friendly. Just follow prompts, make your selections and install. (I would go to the Arch website and follow the tutorial to ensure a successful installation)
Gaming centric distros - Garuda Dr460nized Gaming and Bazzite are two gaming focuced distros. Garuda is based on Arch and Bazzite is based on Fedora. I have a Bazzite Gaming PC in my living room and its awesome. Its the closest thing to a SteamOS console (until Valve releases SteamOS for the desktop, that is.) I included both verions with AMD driver support and Nvidia driver support. (goto Bazzite's website if you have Intel Arc graphics. They have a version for that as well.)
Long story short. I'm not out to make a fortune, I'm not some foreign malware factory. I'm just a guy trying to get as many people to swith to Linux as possible. The more the user base grows, the more interest there is for developers to develop software specifically for Linux. The happier we all become.
**If anyone is wondering, I settled on Garuda for my desktop, EndevourOS for my Laptop and Bazzite on my Living Room gaming PC.**
Vanilla Linux (base distros)Debian 13Arch 2025.05.01
Ubuntu and Ubuntu Based distrosUbuntu LTS 24.04.2Linux Mint LTS 21PopOS LTS 22.04ElementaryOS 8.0
Arch Based distrosEndevourOS 2025.03.19Garuda Dr460nized 250308
Fedora and Fedora based distrosFedora Workstation 43Bazzite stable (AMD graphics support)Bazzite stable (Nvidia graphics support)
Lighweight Linux Distros (good for older or lowend hardware)Q4OS 5.8Puppy Linux 10.0.10Linux Lite 7.4
Other distrosOpenSUSE Leap 15.6
Privacy and Security based distrosKali Linux 2025.1Tails 6.15
If you would like more variety in distos to explore, check out my other listing containing 33 isos. Do an search for listing number 197765396357.
Or check out a 64GB version with the ANTI-AGE VERIFICATION Linux distros. Search for listing number 198246255003.
