I am considering upgrading my Desktop. It's a Dell that is 4-5 years old and when I got it, I just installed a Linux Distribution and in the process overwrote Windows. If I go buy a basic desktop at an Office Store, can I blow Windows 10 away by just installing my favorite Linux Distro or will the UEFI stop me.

Is there certain brands of desktops to avoid.

Usually any computer that's been available for about 6 months should be OK, if it's newer you may get some driver problems.

There are plenty of distros that will install to UEFI equipment these days, so just try a live version before installing it.

Since you were so happy with your old Dell, why not purchase another Dell, and save a few dollars by choosing Linux preinstalled? If you go to the Dell Business website (choose "For Work," not "For Home") you will find they have several models available with Ubuntu Linux, for about $100 savings vs. Windows.

For example, check out the Dell Precision 3420 Small Form-Factor or 3620 Mini Tower. Either of these options starts at only $539, with Ubuntu 16.04 preinstalled, and the CPU/RAM/HDD/SSD/GPU/etc. can be highly customized according to your needs!

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/pr...n/pd?ref=PD_OC

Why not just turn off the UEFI feature in the BIOS?

Ok, I wasn't sure you could. I have never owned a computer with it. I didn't want to brick a computer over it.

I don't think you can now. Being able to turn it off was a temporary intermediate feature and Red Hat/MS have stuffed the home computing market.

There are stubs available that are bootable under UEFI that will simulate the boot process for other OS's

UEFI is fantastic - all the major distros handle it fine. Secure boot can be a different issue, but just make sure you can turn it off.

A bigger concern these days is the Lenovo "Signature Edition" fiasco late last year. Not that I'd buy a Lenovo even with somebody elses money ...

get a computer from System76

the prices are VERY reasonable
https://system76.com/

ubuntu is preinstalled but that is no issue if you need a different os

as syg200 said "UEFI is fantastic "
it is the bastard monster child of Microsoft called "secureboot" that is a problem

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System76 doesn't manufacture their own hardware (Meerkat is an Intel NUC, the larger desktops are mainstream components inside Lian Li cases, their laptops are rebranded Clevo, etc.) so you can save quite a bit of money by figuring out what hardware they use, shopping around for the best price, and installing Linux on your own.

That said, I am perfectly happy with my System76 desktop. At the time, I was perfectly willing to pay the 20-30% premium to have someone else do the "build" for me. No complaints.

Also I saw a recent announcement that they plant to start developing some hardware in-house. But it sounds like it will be 2018 at the earliest before these machines are available: http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=ne...stem76-Phase-3