im more concerned with things like Internet not working or drivers or w/e since it’s my first time trying thats all I know the actual os would be better!
You’ll probably be fine unless you’re using apple hardware or some weird ultraproprietary thing. An Ethernet to USB adapter will get you connected if you need to manually download your wifi drivers, but this is extremely unlikely in 2025.
I used liveboot for debian and it worked great! obviously didn’t save anything on reboot since it’s just a USB but I connected to WiFi, got my browser, used 1password, and even found a Linux openvpn app for openconnect for work that actually works. just need to check so my cam and microphone works for zoom :)
Assuming you get a OpenVPN config file for work or know the credentials: OpenVPN is integrated in most distros, no app needed. Just go to your network settings and add a new connection. Either add an OpenVPN connection if you want to configure it manually or if you have a config file, there is an option to import it.
Doing it this way adds a simple toggle like turning on/off your wifi. Pretty neat.
hmm, i’ll check that; i found this which works well since the actual linux client of globalprotect is locked behind a paywall. i didn’t have a config from work, just a url to connect to and then i log in via 365.
If you need screensharing capabilities, I recommend installing OBS to use it’s desktop capture feature as a virtual camera. This is because screensharing features often don’t work on Linux (this is a good thing for privacy reasons)
have you found any negatives that would potentially turn an average user off of linux? i’m strongly debating moving to mint, so i don’t want to accidentally overlook something that might be a dealbreaker
so far things have gone well; i haven’t replaced windows at all yet but everything i could do in windows i could do in debian 12 (using gnome). except for fork :(. heroic, steam, and lutris can run plenty of games though.
i think the only thing that didn’t work was when i tried it on my desktop which has two aoc monitors.
edit: deciding to go with mint actually because it looks nicer and i like the community. also the dev is irish :]
Unless your laptop uses some obscure networking hardware, should work out of the box. Never used Mint, but it looks like it uses NetworkManager by default, which I haven’t had any major issues with.
I doubt any version of Linux would run worse than Windows
im more concerned with things like Internet not working or drivers or w/e since it’s my first time trying thats all I know the actual os would be better!
You’ll probably be fine unless you’re using apple hardware or some weird ultraproprietary thing. An Ethernet to USB adapter will get you connected if you need to manually download your wifi drivers, but this is extremely unlikely in 2025.
I used liveboot for debian and it worked great! obviously didn’t save anything on reboot since it’s just a USB but I connected to WiFi, got my browser, used 1password, and even found a Linux openvpn app for openconnect for work that actually works. just need to check so my cam and microphone works for zoom :)
Assuming you get a OpenVPN config file for work or know the credentials: OpenVPN is integrated in most distros, no app needed. Just go to your network settings and add a new connection. Either add an OpenVPN connection if you want to configure it manually or if you have a config file, there is an option to import it.
Doing it this way adds a simple toggle like turning on/off your wifi. Pretty neat.
hmm, i’ll check that; i found this which works well since the actual linux client of globalprotect is locked behind a paywall. i didn’t have a config from work, just a url to connect to and then i log in via 365.
Ah, didn’t know GlobalProtect has a different way to authenticate. Should be fine to use the application you linked then.
If you need screensharing capabilities, I recommend installing OBS to use it’s desktop capture feature as a virtual camera. This is because screensharing features often don’t work on Linux (this is a good thing for privacy reasons)
have you found any negatives that would potentially turn an average user off of linux? i’m strongly debating moving to mint, so i don’t want to accidentally overlook something that might be a dealbreaker
so far things have gone well; i haven’t replaced windows at all yet but everything i could do in windows i could do in debian 12 (using gnome). except for fork :(. heroic, steam, and lutris can run plenty of games though.
i think the only thing that didn’t work was when i tried it on my desktop which has two aoc monitors.
edit: deciding to go with mint actually because it looks nicer and i like the community. also the dev is irish :]
edit 2: oh also disable bitlocker first :^
10 years ago up you’d be doing some “devops” to get going. These days it’s actually easier than windows on many dostros
Unless your laptop uses some obscure networking hardware, should work out of the box. Never used Mint, but it looks like it uses NetworkManager by default, which I haven’t had any major issues with.