She is often complaining how her windows computer gets bogged down and clogged up every so often. She will sometimes end up just doing a refresh and repeat the process when it slows down again.

I tell her to use linux. She is reluctant due to seeming complexity and fear of trying something she is not used to and her only knowledge of it being none user friendly.

This most recent time she was moaning about windows I suggested it again and she said if I set it up for her she will try it.

I said I would get a livecd for her to try it out.

I am an archer so obv that is not for her. I know classically ubuntu is the user friendly linux flavour although I have read there are other contenders, some geared towards ex windows users, though know nothing of them except having come across the names here and there. Just reading an article which says so though interested to put it to the forum for opinions.

So is ubuntu the best bet or another one to get her over her windows withdrawals?

If she does begin to use as her main OS I could envision the update process may cause her problems. I remember ubuntu has an autoupdater like windows so should it be a fairly smooth transition?

May depend on computer specifications. I would also try Mint.

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If she has unusual hardware or likes to watch videos, Mint would probably be better than Ubuntu. It is very similar but has no moral qualms about making proprietary drivers and codecs available to users. If her machine is old, AntiX is the goto distro.

You might also want to consider a suitable desktop environment for her rather than just using the distro default. Some DE's are more Windows-like than others.

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If you keep in mind that Linux is not Windows, then go for it and both of you will have fun.

You'll get different answers from everyone here regarding distro recommendations, but I would recommend putting Zorin OS and Linux Mint at the top of the shortlist.

The most visible customizable part will be the desktop environment. Cinnamon or MATE might be the best to try at first. Even with those, docks and panels can added, removed, or moved around to suit personal workflow and ease of use preferences. The big thing to remember is that everything can be changed around and mixed and matched a la carte. If there are things she likes in one distro but otherwise finds another overall better, usually those good things can be added in.

It is likewise with the applications. Since there will be changes anyway, it might be a good excuse to explore a little. For browsers there are Chromium, Brave, and Firefox to name three. She might appreciate Brave. Then for productivity suites, there is Calligra in addition to the more well known LibreOffice. Both can be on the system if she prefers parts of each. I presume she is stuck with web mail but once she is settled on a distro and desktop environment, you might set up a proper mail client like Thunderbird or Claws.

A metaphor is that it is like having tailored clothes rather than unmodified, off-the-rack. Choices have to be made but the result is something which fits much better and is ultimately more comfortable.

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I always suggest MX Linux for a newbie, lots of very helpful info & videos by the people who created the distro.

https://mxlinux.org/

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PCLinuxOS is my recommendation. Comes in many different DEs and a few WMs. Low resource usuage, easy to configure and work with and it just works!

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You use ARCH.
I agree that is not likely to be the best option for someone sliding over from Microsoft, but you might consider Manjaro. IT is like ARCH, but without the manual labor and bleeding edge risk. Most of what you know transfers over so smoothly it will be easier for you to support her. Having been there, this also matters!

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You might want to check out this LQ post: Linux Newbies - How To Choose A Distro

Frankly, I don't think the distro is as important for Linux-curious persons who want a relatively easy transition from Windows as the Desktop environment. I recommend avoiding Gnome or Gnome-like environments as being just too different. Any mainstream distro with a DE that user finds comfortable would be a good choice.

I'd suggest you get three Live CD/USBs, one with MATE, one with Cinnamon, and one with Plasma. Spin them up and ask her which one she feels most comfortable with. And, yes, Mint is a nice piece of work.

For what it's worth, the folks at Going Linux lean towards Ubuntu MATE for new users.

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Mabox Linux would be a fairly decent choice as well. Spin off of Manjaro and has openbox window manager. It is my main goto distro on all my laptops and is also Arch based.

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That's a useful link, yet hard to find. It's mostly been kept up to date but the second item in the list there, "Several Things To Know Before Switching To Linux", is a bit dated. Perhaps it confuses familiarity with ease of use. However, GNU/Linux has been easier to use and especially much easier to maintain than Windows for a Very Long Time.

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linuxuser371038,

Your mother will not go far wrong with my default recommendation for new Linux users, namely Linux Mint MATE (or Xfce), assuming hardware is not bargain basement spec.

I do not recommend the Cinnamon version because of potential video problems.

MX Linux is also pretty good, but for total newbies I would stick to Mint, since its Calamares installer is one of the most user friendly.

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Thanks for the responses so far.

Hmm no consensus here .

MATE with either mint or ubuntu sound like a good idea.

Manjaro is a good idea, however I have some familiarity with debian based systems and lesser so some ubuntu with my little dalliances with pi. Found the differences trivial for updating and such so will probably pick one of the two mentioned above.

I might want to mention I don't want to get too involved in this where she is bugging me all the time with questions but a bit is obviously expected. I will give her a livecd and see how she finds it so and go from there.

I would teach her how to not let Windows get that way. Defrag, secure browser, etc.

A 'mild' interest in Linux is not enough to power someone through learning a whole new OS unless she's doing next to nothing on the computer or has easily accessible tech support. Being continually frustrated using a familiar OS does not bode well for her experience learning a new one.

Personal experience shows that, other than needing to get to know which programs work the same, older people are quite capable of the change.

(I finally converted my sister, who was still using XP in her 70's, to Linux, several years ago, without much problems.)

It depends on who you're calling old. People of my generation (the baby boomers) often worked in offices where computerised systems were used, and there were no GUIs then. You worked on the command line. Young people today are spoiled.