Hello everyone

You probably heard and answered this a hundred times already but I’m a bit overwhelmed by everything when I start searching by myself online. Even more so when I’m not fully sure what I’m even looking for.

I want to switch to Linux but I don’t really know where to start and also I’m a bit scared to abandon Windows which I have been using for 20+ years now. Could you recommend me sources for absolute beginners (English or German) and/or give me tips and pointers?

Edit:

Thank you all for your help!

I got it working with a dual-boot from a USB and it’s way easier than I feared. Next step is to get an external drive and get serious.

  • dwindling7373@feddit.itEnglish
    21·
    15 hours ago

    Linux has never been the hard part of linux. The biggest hurdle of linux

    Is storage, especially when migrating / dual booting from Windows.

    There’s absolutely exoteric stuff in there that you will need to run once and then never again, so this knowledge will be lost for years, until you need it back.

    Especially if you want to keep your old data.

    • dustyData@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      13 hours ago

      dual booting from Windows

      Well, you see, that right there is your main problem. Today dual booting with Windows is highly discouraged. Windows is simply not meant for that and will actively fight you the whole time. Dual booting several Linux distros, on the other hand, simply trivial.

      Now, if your data was a disaster on Windows (all dispersed across C:, no backups, not organized) then there’s nothing linux can do about that for you. But, linux does offer other cool storage options like btrfs which permits deduplication, snapshots, automated backups, and other features out of the box.