[SOLVED] Is there a FREE virtual thing to try various Linux distros?
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You could try them in VirtualBox but perhaps the easier way would be to use a Live image and boot that from USB stick. A Live image will run from the USB stick and not need installing. It's great for testing.
Here is a good tutorial for burning a USB stick for use with Ubuntu:
Those are the two main beginners' distros. The primary difference between various distros is which set of defaults have been chosen. Know that by adding or removing programs and / or changing their configuration you can morph one distro into another. So try a few out and keep notes on what you like and don't like. Then go back an install the one you liked best and tune it accordingly to make it "perfect".
well VirtualBox had to go back to 5.2 from 6.0 and still gave nothing but an unsolvable error with Ubuntu KDE so I went back to Ubuntu Gnome to take advantage of Gnome Boxes
You may still be best served by using a free virtual machine. Not sure what the problem is but if you wish to save any data on this host you may need to make a full backup before you attempt any dual boot install.
There are a few ways to install the USB installs and they tend to be somewhat safe they would be less safe than a VM to a new user.
Gnome Boxes failed miserably here
further Windows host of VirtualBox almost fried my windows 7
not sure what you're saying there, but virtualbox works well for many, many users.
as a Linux user, you should make a habit of doing a few online searches to solve your problems.
rule of thumb: you are not the only one, it has happened to thousands, and a few of them most certainly wrote something about it online.
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