Recommended Linux version for beginners

[rfe777]

Hello everyone

I'm considering to begin learning to use Linux, and from what I can tell there are three recommended versions(called "distros"?) for beginners: Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora.

Any recommended one from those three?

TIA

[jayd512]

Hello and Welcome!

All 3 of those are highly recommended for new users, and for good reason.
All of them offer a wide selection of software that is installed by default, including email programs, games and multimedia programs.
I started out with Fedora, so I can say that it is fairly newb-friendly.
However, Mint does something that might make the transition a little easier... it includes many plugins right out-of-the-box, so there won't be any issues with Flash or most types of MP3/DVD playback.

All of them offer a LiveCD that you can download and run. This would let you try them out and see which one you might like best, without the need to actually install anything to your hard drive.
So I'd suggest trying them all, and deciding afterward.

[oz]

I'm considering to begin learning to use Linux, and from what I can tell there are three recommended versions(called "distros"?) for beginners: Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora.

Any recommended one from those three?

Hello and welcome!

If possible, I'd recommend trying all of them, and the order in which you've listed them would be fine. Otherwise, I'd recommend Mint. If you should find that you don't like Mint, try one of the others. If you end up not liking any of them, OpenSUSE is another popular option with new Linux users.

The main thing is to have fun with Linux!

[MASONTX]

Mint would be a good place to start. If you want more choices, go to distrowatch.com and browse their 600+ listings, or do a search on their site for beginner distro's. Have fun and explore, I started out burning about 30 different live distro's and trying them out, finally settling on ubuntu 10.04 (old gnome).