A beginner's map for any spare laptop or desktop: which distro fits the specs you actually have, what it feels like, how you'd use it. Then the switch checklist. Ticks save on this phone.
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How much RAM does the machine have?
What do you want out of it?
Don't know the specs? Read them first — one line per system.
Press Win + R, type msinfo32, Enter. Read System Model, Total Physical Memory, Processor. Or Settings > System > About, same three.
Apple menu > About This Mac. Memory and Chip are right there. For the disk, About This Mac > More Info > Storage.
free -h for RAM, lscpu for the CPU, df -h / for disk. inxi -Fz if it's installed gives you the whole card in one go.
Same commands. The one difference: the boot key comes from the motherboard (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock), not the case, and Wi-Fi on a desktop is usually a USB dongle or a card, which some distros want a driver for. Wired is the safe bet for the install.
Come back with the RAM number and answer the question above. The two answers pick the distro; nothing else on this page needs your model.
Under 2GB: antiX. 2 to 4GB: Xubuntu or Mint XFCE. 4GB+: anything here. A 32-bit-only CPU means antiX or Debian 32-bit and almost nothing newer.
someone leaving Windows who wants a laptop that just opens and works
4GB comfortable, runs at 2GB
Windows-shaped. Menu bottom-left, taskbar, a settings app you can read. Built on Ubuntu, so every guide online applies.
Update Manager, import bookmarks, install Chrome or Steam, done. Least thinking of any option here.
a machine that is genuinely old, hot, or short on RAM
2GB fine, 1GB struggles but boots
Plain. Fast. No animations, no gloss. It is Ubuntu with a lighter desk, so the software store and the fixes are the same.
Looks dated for ten minutes, then you stop noticing because nothing lags.
you want five years of updates with zero surprises
4GB comfortable, heavy at 2GB
GNOME: dock on the left, no desktop icons, gestures. Feels like a different OS, not a Windows cousin. Every tutorial assumes it.
Install, update, and it fades into the background for years.
security work, CTFs, learning pentest tooling. Holds ~600 tools.
2GB boots, 4GB to run tools well
Debian with the toolbox already in it, XFCE desk, rolling updates. Its own makers say it is not a general desktop, and they mean it: tools break, updates move fast, everyday stuff has less polish.
Live session logs in as root with password toor. First real move: passwd. Tools sit in the menu by category (Information Gathering, Web, Passwords).
dev work, or wanting this year's software instead of two years ago's
4GB, 8GB happier
Modern GNOME, clean defaults, six-month releases. Bigger jumps than Ubuntu: an upgrade every half year, and the odd thing needing a fix after.
Flatpaks and Toolbx are set up out of the box. Reads as friendly if you're technical, fussy if you're not.
set it and forget it, or a machine that should never surprise you
2GB fine
Older packages, zero drama, and a couple of things you have to add by hand (Wi-Fi firmware especially). It's the base under Mint, Ubuntu and Kali.
Add the non-free firmware before install or the Wi-Fi may not appear. Not the friendliest first install.
a laptop from 2008 you refuse to throw out
256MB works, 1GB is plenty
Runs from RAM, boots in seconds, looks like 2005. Modern sites will stutter; it is a typewriter, not a browser machine.
Feels like cheating on old hardware. Expect to fight the browser.
Open the folder that holds everything
On Windows that's your user folder: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures. Go through it once and drag anything you'd be sick to lose onto a USB drive or into cloud storage.
Photos and videos first, always
They're the only files with no second copy anywhere. Sort by size and take the big ones first.
Export the browser
Bookmarks and passwords, one file each. Chrome and Edge: Settings → you can export bookmarks as HTML and passwords as CSV. Firefox has the same two under Settings. Do this even if you think you remember them.
Write down the license keys
Any paid program on that laptop. Screenshot the About/serial screen. Linux can't read those for you later.
Take two screenshots of the desktop and the Start menu
Sounds silly. In a month you'll want to know what was where.
Note the machine model and the RAM
Sticker on the bottom, or Settings → System → About. That one line is all I need to make the rest of this page exact instead of careful.
Any USB stick, 8GB or bigger, that you can empty
Whatever's on it gets wiped. That's the point. 16GB if you want more than one distro on it.
Install Ventoy on it (Windows, on the machine you have now)
ventoy.net → Ventoy2Disk.exe → pick the stick → Install. One button, about a minute. Ventoy makes the stick a normal drive that also boots, so you drop installers onto it like files instead of burning one.
Download the ISO for your pick and drop it on the stick
Copy the file across. No extra tool, no burning. Your pick downloads from its own site. Add a second ISO only if you actually want to compare.
Eject it properly, then set it somewhere you'll find it
Visible spot. This is the step that eats a whole evening otherwise.
Charger in, stick in, then power on and mash the boot key
Tap it repeatedly, don't hold it. If the laptop boots straight to Windows, shut down and try the next key.
| Dell / Lenovo | F12 |
| HP | F9 or Esc |
| Asus | Esc or F8 |
| Acer | F12 |
| Sony / Toshiba | F11 or F2 |
| Any Mac | hold Option at chime |
Pick the USB, then pick the live / Try entry
This runs the whole system from the stick and writes nothing to the drive. Windows stays exactly where it is. Nothing you do here can break the laptop.
Spend ten minutes in the live session, checking the boring things
Wi-Fi connects. Sound plays. Brightness keys move. Screen resolution looks right. Touchpad two-finger scroll works. If one of those is dead here, it'll be dead after install too, and it's worth knowing before you commit.
Start the installer
Desktop icon, or the Install entry in the boot menu. Language, keyboard, then the install type.
If you backed up, choose "Erase disk and install"
On an old laptop with a small drive this is the cleaner path: the whole disk belongs to Linux, no half-and-half weirdness, no Windows repair partition eating space. Choose "Install alongside" only if you still need Windows on that machine.
Tick the third-party drivers box
Wi-Fi chips often need it. It costs nothing.
When it finishes: pull the stick and restart, don't just click Restart
The laptop will try to boot the stick again otherwise, and you'll think the install failed.
Update it once, then leave it alone
Update Manager, or sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade on Kali and Debian. First one is big, later ones are small.
Import the browser file from b3
Bookmarks and passwords, same menu you exported from.
Copy your backed-up files home
Into Pictures, Documents, wherever they lived before. Same names, no cleverness.
One distro-specific habit
Pick a distro above and this line becomes the one thing worth doing on day one for that one.
Check suspend once
Close the lid, open it. Old laptops are the one place this genuinely misbehaves. If it wakes black, tell me, there's a small fix.
Don't wipe the installer stick for a month
It's your undo button and it costs one drawer.