330
I'm Officially a Linux User! (lemmy.ca)
submitted 3 days ago by NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.ml
38 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I was initially waiting for Windows 10 to be officially unsupported before I switched to Pop_OS, but today, I just got sick of looking at the Windows 10 UI and decided to jump the gun.

As a complete normie, I am so glad I didn't fuck up my computer because my laptops settings to get into the BIOS was completely different than how most videos instructed.

I've been playing around with it for a bit, and I most say that using this distro is a lot easier than I expected! The Pop Store is a lifesaver! I'm not sure if I could've made it if I had to manually install my browser and all that.

I feel like my laptop is now a bit slower and the graphics look a bit lower? Maybe I missed something when reading the rec specs. Oh well...

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[-] NeoPunk@lemmy.ml 77 points 3 days ago

Sorry to break it to you, but going off your wallpaper, you're in fact not 'a complete normie'

You do you tho

[-] NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Lmao

I was referring to how I have never used anything but Windows and have only seen a BIOS screen when I called HP for tech support. I guess having a Miku wallpaper made nobody think that was the case lol.

[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

a complete normie

a total non-entity

‎(somebody with that wallpaper might get the reference)

[-] Resplendent606@piefed.social 47 points 3 days ago

Welcome to the GNU/Linux family! Your desktop setup is lovely! I highly approve of the use of Librewolf. Pop_OS! is a great choice choice for a new GNU/Linux user. As for your system feeling slower, you might be missing something. Can you share some of the basic specs, like cpu/ram and/or brand/model of the laptop? What feels slow, the internet or the actual loading/power of the system?

[-] NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 days ago

I think is more of the loading power of my computer, sometimes there's a bit of a delay when I open an application or try to close it, opening some setting will have more loading time than others. Although now that i think about it, I most likely had this problem with Windows, so its probably a hardware thing. My laptop is "old" by today's standards (or at least, that's what HP thinks lol). I have an HP Pavillion x360 2017 model. It has 8GB Ram, Intel Core i3 7th Gen processer, Mesa Intel® HD Graphics 620 and a 1TB SSD.

[-] Resplendent606@piefed.social 22 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

That is an older laptop. I run an even older HP laptop on Arch that still feels zippy, even compared to my gaming desktop pc. One thing to remember is POP_OS! is designed for newer computers as it is built by a company who sells them. There are known issues with POP_OS! and Mesa drivers. The Mesa driver might not be efficiently handling the graphical demands of the default POP_OS! desktop. I'm not suggesting to switch your distro, just keep in mind going forward that it is made for newer systems.

Some further troubleshooting you can try:

  • Check for Driver Updates: Ensure the system is fully up-to-date by running sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade in the terminal .
  • Use a system monitor tool like htop, btop or the built-in system monitor to see if the CPU or RAM is maxing out when opening a program.
  • Check for Overheating: Check if the laptop feels unusually warm. This could indicate a need to clean the cooling vents and fan.
[-] Tundra@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 days ago

In regards to your last point, this is something I always overlooked and couldnt understand why my laptop was severely underperforming (thermal throttling)

Ive never seen a distro utilise any form of fan control that works with my hardware, but utilising NBFC and its GUI has completely fixed the issues that have been plaguing me for the past few years.

[-] NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca 10 points 3 days ago

I'll try that out, tysm!

[-] adarza@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 days ago

you definitely encountered similar performance in windows. the processor isn't speedy, by any stretch. kaby lake u-series i3 is slower than a desktop 4th gen i3.

[-] RogueBanana@piefed.zip 6 points 3 days ago

How many ms do you think it usually is? Those specs aren't that bad for Linux but given it is an old laptop, maybe needs some maintenance work. Run some hardware tests and check.

[-] chellomere@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

If it is possible on your laptop model, I recommend upgrading to 16GB of RAM.

[-] hobbsc@lemmy.sdf.org 25 points 3 days ago

if by lower graphics, do you mean fonts and such are larger or your resolution is off?

if so you might have window scaling at 150% or 200%. this has happened to me with GNOME in the past. it might be worth checking your display settings.

[-] dan@upvote.au 5 points 3 days ago

I use KDE at 150% and it looks great. I'm glad Wayland and KDE have gotten fractional scaling to the point where it's working well. The last major bug I was following was https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=479891 but that was fixed in KDE Frameworks 6.9.

[-] hobbsc@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 days ago

sure. i'm not saying fractional scaling looks bad but if they came from no scaling, suddenly having scaling can be a little jarring and can feel like a "lower" resolution. i regularly run fractional scaling in GNOME and it looks just fine. it's a pretty solved problem at this point for the major desktop environments.

[-] 1XEVW3Y07@reddthat.com 13 points 3 days ago

Congrats!

As a quality of life upgrade, I'd recommended downloading the COSMIC app store. It's still made by the developers of Pop!, but is significantly better than the Pop Shop.

[-] seraphine@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I think you might enjoy the company over at unixporn

[-] asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 11 points 3 days ago

!unixporn@lemmy.world

[-] seraphine@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 days ago

doesnt my link work?

[-] asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

The link does work, but it isn't the preferred way to link to communities in lemmy/piefed (and I think Mbin too).

Instance agnostic links look like this:

!<comm name>@<instance.tld>

For users:

@<user name>@<instance.tld>

The problem with linking to comms like the way you did is that it won't be opened in the user's instance (unless they use some client that does support resolving it).

[-] seraphine@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 days ago

oh okay, didnt know, thanks

[-] ADTJ@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago

In my client, it opens as a page in an embedded browser instead of just opening the community

[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 17 points 3 days ago

I have been on linux for awhile but my distro uses gnome by default. So today I installed kde. So I too finally did something. So far liking it better.

[-] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

One of us! One of us!

Different desktop environments have different speeds for graphics.

Pop-os is currently making one in-progress so you might be essentally using an unreleased DE for developers to test and optimize?

You can install some other ones and switch to them from login-screen to test their speed. Tiling window managers blew my mind when I first saw them.

Check out unixporn they have lots of WM/DE setups over there. i3/sway for instant and efficient work or hyperland for lots of animations etc. KDE is practically windows but improved.

Tho might also be pop-os being made for new computers.

[-] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 12 points 3 days ago

Welcome to your new life! It's nice having such a lightweight OS that isn't constantly trying to send your data to every advertiser on earth. I love the peace of mind. Pop_OS is a good choice too! Even as someone that has been using Linux for years, I still go for the it-just-works-out-of-the-box distros.

[-] NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca 13 points 3 days ago

Thanks! I'm so happy I'm free of seeing Copilot, Cortana, or Bing results each time I try to search for something on my computer its very refreshing.

[-] Admetus@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

AI should be an add-on, not built in. Microsoft is constantly bulldozing their AI product into Windows. I always hated that.

Gnome is introducing embedded AI but that is an actual add-on despite the AI hate. So there's nothing to hate about gnome giving features to the users who do want to embed AI.

[-] HouseWolf@pawb.social 8 points 3 days ago

One of us! One of us!

[-] danciestlobster@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 days ago

I also just switched last weekend! My city was hosting an install fest, made it very easy

[-] NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago

I heard about this on Lemmy a couple weeks ago. I'm so jealous, I wish my city would host something similar.

[-] Auth@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

Waow (Based Based Based)

[-] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 days ago

Can you link that wallpaper? It's amazing!

[-] Object@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)
[-] NeedyPlatter@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 days ago

I'm glad someone got the reference for my wallpaper ^-^

[-] GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago

Have fun!

[-] lay@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago

Love to see you have Pixelorama down there.

[-] jaypatelani@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago

For newbie i would KDE neon or LinuxMint cinnamon. PopOS environment is still not stable

[-] asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 2 points 3 days ago

KDE Neon? Why would you recommend that to a newbie?

this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
330 points (92.7% liked)

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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