Hi, Guys!
I have been exploring Linux for little over a year now. I have used LinuxMint and then switched to ZorinOS and have decided that instead of continuing to ignore our incompatibility (of course, it helped me decided to jump when my partner actually bought their Ultimate version to support them and had to spend 2+ hours "updating" after the initial download for it to suddenly lose his wifi card and then to receive no support from them when he contacted them) and thus, I started my search again for a new Linux 'love'! I have done research and created my new short list and hope that some of the more tech savvy and experienced Linux users will provide me specific feedback about the following listed distros (only, I am not looking for my list of 5 to become 25, I am sure that I can find a suitable fit from this current list) .....

In no real particular order;
PCLinuxOS
Manjaro
Sabayon
Chakra
Solus

PS I am running a little Toshiba Satellite C55, that is about 4ish years old.

Thank you for your time and feedback.

UPDATE:

So I spent 2 days downloading and live testing more distros than I can count.....and I now have a new short list.....so again, please if you have anything about any of the following distros that you think is important for the world to know about please share with me

Antergos
Peppermint
Linux Mint 18.3
OpenSUSE Leap

Thank you all for all your help!!!!

I've only ever tried the first three. PCLinuxOS and Manjaro were nice, although I think PCLinuxOS is a little more reliable. Sabayon always had problems. I remember one reviewer saying that the developers wer better at having new ideas than making sure that they actually worked.

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WOW! Okay, that is good to know about Sabayon, as I really like the look of their desktop! Could I ask, is Manjaro terminal/command line heavy? I am not scared of terminal, but I also do not have huge confidence in my terminal skills.

PCLinuxOS - Used it for a while, seemed like a good distro.
Manjaro - Again, used it for a while, it worked OK.
Sabayon - Tried it, but it wasn't for me.
Chakra - Never tried it.
Solus - Tried it a couple of times, wasn't particularly impressed.


I've been using Debian based distros most of my time, since 1999, so I may be a little biased on my opinions.

My personal preference is for AntiX, been using it for years, ever since the demise of #!(crunchbang).

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Hi Cassi,

Welcome to LQ.

Good to see that you had started off with mint and zorin. Also, it warms my heart to see that you have done some homework and narrowed down your choice to 5 distros.

I had used PCLOS, sabayon n chakra, but that was more than 5 years ago, so no comments.

But, I'd like to encourage you to visit distrowatch. Then search for your distro and read their reviews a bit.

Another important thing which you'll realize soon is the choice of distro is very very personal. So, don't limit yourself to your list.

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I'd recommend you download all of the distributions you mentioned and live boot each one. You can see pretty quickly if you'll like the os.

I've tried both Manjaro and PCLinuxOS, Both good. Both have graphical installers. But I don't use them because my current distro(Void) hasn't given me any reasons to do so.

You might also benefit from reading the first link in my signature.

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Actually, I have! I found it informative and useful.
And yes, I will more than likely create liveboots for them, however, I thought it prudent to see if there were any major yays or nays that might eliminate or elevate one or more first....such as stability or community support or learning curve for newish types, etc.

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PCLinuxOS does have a clearly defined target: the family computer rather than the hobyist or the expert. It's also the only distro with a magazine!
https://www.pclosmag.com/index.html

OMG What a way to start my Monday......got up opened my browser...typed up an update (not super long, but long enough) hit post reply .....sorry, your reply cannot be posted cause your token expired!!! NOOOOOOOOO! Please hit the back button.....and is my text in the back button.....of course not! sigh!

Okay try #2 (will not be as good as the first, but pretend, cause you didn't see the first anyways)

After live testing several versions last night on 2 different laptops I have almost wiped out my initial list and learned a few things about me being a Linux girl......
1) I prefer debian OSes
2) I do not like KDE environment

Of the versions that I tested last night that did go past my initial list above (why, I didn't want others to add to it, I knew I would do that myself ) what has survived the trash bin.....

PCLinuxOS MATE
Sabayon MATE
Sabyaon XFCE
Mint 18.2 MATE (Sonya)

Others not listed in the OP that I tried and trashed

Chalet
Elementary
various KDE versions

So, if any wise one has any suggestions for a non-KDE debian based OS that they think I might like, please suggest with at least one good reason, besides, "I really like it"

Thanks for the feedback and help so far and the suggestions to come!

Mentioning KDE in your choice for a distribution is fairly meaningless, since pretty much ANY distro can run XFCE, Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE, or any number of other GUI environments. Those are just window-dressing on top of the OS.

For me, I prefer openSUSE, and have been happily using Tumbleweed for over a year now. I like the amount of hardware that's supported out of the box, and a host of other technical-reasons, along with how its kept up to date, and its stabilit. I want to use my computer, not have to tinker with everything to get it/keep it working. You will get as many opinions as their are people...*YOU* have to decide, and the best way (as others have said), is for you to try them. You say nothing about your hardware specs, which can determine which distros you may be able to load, but any fairly current hardware should have no problems.

Thanks for your time....in the quote I do list KDE as an environment (not a distro, it was to provide the information that that specific "window dressing" does not appeal to me, thus distros with only or primarily KDE for their interface would not feel right to me) for the reason that some distros have limited environments.
I also realize that with Linux there seem to be MORE distros than users, however, I do believe that one can gain useful and reliable insight from the opinions and experiences of others and do value such insight and opinions.

And as for saying nothing about my current hardware...my OP does state what my laptop is...do I now remember the specs of each and every card inside.....uh, no......sorry about that.

I have been looking at OpenSUSE as an option, but have not tried it as a live test yet. So I am grateful for your personal input concerning your use of that distro. Thank you

happened to me a few times, then i installed an addon that remembers what i type.
there's a few, currently: Form History

...now back on topic.

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@Cassi,

Why not debian itself ?
[Too mainsteam ? ]

Actually, I have looked at that line and it seems that everything that I read/hear/watch points out how long it takes for them to release updates and that causes issues with software that is current.....am I missing something or not understanding, cause that seems to me that there are performance issues......I thought you could 'always' use older software on newer OSes but you ran into problems when you want to use new software on older OSes????

Thanks

PS I am going to Update the OP with a NEW list....

Debian has several branches (stable, testing & Sid). Development happens on all 3, but the most "bleeding edge" stuff is on Sid aka unstable.
Testing is a nice step up and usable by most (that I know of anyway).
Stable(currently stretch) is the most conservative and gets updates that come through Sid & testing. (So multiple scrutiny/revision takes more time to implement).. Here's the link.

Having said that, I hope you realize that sooner or later an update will break something and u'll have to fix it , find a way around it, or go to another distro (pretty severe case though). This is true for any distro (and for an average Linux user )

Also, an older kernel doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing. Take CentOS for example.. Rock Solid and runs on 3.10.0.862.x.x kernel. Do I see difference/ advantage with a newer kernel ? Yes. Is it old(that is to say less secure/unusable) ? No.

Also, as I said earlier, one can only lead a horse to water. You can ask opinions and most of us will be happy to help you. But distros are personal choice. 6 years ago, I found a great distro called Pardus which had a very small userbase. It was a personal favorite. But the powers that be, decided to snooze it for 4 years, so had to jump ship.

Go nuts with live iso, create (k)VMs and distro-hop to your heart's content till u find ur one distro to rule them all.

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