My MacBook finally died after 5 years (got it when I was 14). Looking to get a non-Apple replacement for windows/Linux dual boot. Any suggestions? Also, any Linux distro suggestions for a n00b?

I *heard* that the Dell XPS 13 or 15 are rather powerful ultrabooks and have good Linux support, and concerning distros for noobs, I would recommend Xubuntu, Debian, or Linux Mint

Dell's got some Linux laptops. Otherwise, I like the Zenbooks

Don't start right away with linux as newbie. You will probably reinstall a couple of times while playing around.
Take a distro which is largely supported and get started. No GUI. Now follow some guides about setting up thing X. Repeat.
I personally prefer debian, but others are good to go too. Don't stress yourself out about that. It doesn't really matter

I've had my Lenovo for 4 years already and still 1 hour battery and rocking like a best with an SSD, no dual boot for me but a Linux VM works as good as dual boot

I think Ubuntu is great for noobs. I know, not the most original, but it's decent in terms of speed and reliability, and its wide usage makes it well supported. As a bonus, most tutorials are written with Ubuntu in mind, so that's me headaches when trying to debug something that diverges from a tutorial.

As far as hardware: ASUS, Lenovo, or Toshiba.

As far as Linux distros, I recommend Korora (http://kororaproject.org/) and Antergos (http://antergos.com). Honorable mentions are Manjaro and OpenSUSE.

You can do everything in the terminal, so make it a rule to at least do everything administrative in the terminal, no copy pasting.

Also use tab to autocomplete terminal input

I would get a Lenovo, they have quite reasonable prices.
When it comes to Linux, I'd suggest to start with Ubuntu, as there are the most tutorials/howto/whatever online.

Bonus: Nvidia is a Pain in the ass, if your CPU has a graphic chip too. So if you don't need it for gaming or graphics intensive work, get one without a dedicated GPU. Nvidia doesn't play that nice on Linux, so if you are unlucky your GPU won't have good suport. Plus without a dedicated GPU you'll probably save some energy too.

I recommend against dual booting. I've been there and I almost always just boot one os on each machine.

Question the use case of your machine.

My PC at home is play, hence Windows 10. My laptop is for work, hence Linux.

I'm new to linux as well but i've heard Ubuntu is user friendly.

Thinkpad!

Thanks everyone! <3

Thinkpad seems to be the way to go. But which series? X, T...?

Ubuntu over all for newbies

@MissDirection what you can afford and fits your needs.

I personaly have a Lenovo Thinkpad E540 from 2013 and put an ssd inside. This works well for me, but as I said, your computer must fit your needs.

ThinkPad x1 for mobility, T for mainstream, W for power

I am thinking these minimum specs:

8GB ram
512 gb SSD
8+ hours battery life
Small (because I'm tiny and don't want to lug around a big heavy machine)

My budget is about $1500

@MissDirection Hmmk I think that the Dell XPS 13 is roughly in that range, but don't know about the battery life though

As someone who has recently converted multiple people to Linux, I can say with reasonable certainty that, at the moment, Ubuntu Gnome is the best distribution for people who are new to Linux.
It combines a modern-looking UI with an intuitive control flow and a mostly stable system.

These are exciting times for Gnome on Ubuntu, because with Canonical's new help there seems to be some rapid progress.

XPS 13 for Linux. XPS 15 is hard to get working with Linux due to the Nvidia GPU, I have one. I settled for Linux in vm

@Letmecode thanks. It's actually because I give horrible directions when people ask me how to get somewhere lol

Honestly I've had a liked my MacBook for a long time but if I were to get a new computer right this minute, it'd be a windows box. Check out the new Dell XPS laptops. They are very nice.

@chilledfrogs I have one. It came with Linux installed from Dell. They have project Sputnik which is their team building out linux support on devices. I would only get one after it's been out for a while though because they will release with hardware bugs and issues and fix them later.

@MissDirection xps is within that price range but you'll get maybe 6 - 8 hours on a charge. I don't know what it is exactly but my XPS has better battery life than my MacBook pro. It's a solid machine though and I've had no problems with it other than Linux not liking my track pad (now resolved).

Oh edit: don't buy the one with super high resolution. It's pointless. You can't tell the difference because in order to see anything you'll need it to be in 1080p anyway.

Laptop suggestions : Get something with a good keyboard, screen (at least 1080p) and decent battery life (or what's the point of a laptop) regardless of what you choose in the end.

People have already mentioned the Dell XPS and Lenovo Thinkpads and I would as well

Regarding the distro :
If you're a n00b - go with Ubuntu

Why Ubuntu :
1. When you're switching a major thing like an OS, you'd like minimum downtime with regards to look, feel and functionality. The default Ubuntu should provide you all of that.

2. You may have used the terminal on MacOS, but here you may need to use it more often - from basic things to endless configuration. Get used to it. It'll be a blessing. Plus, the endless support for Ubuntu will make sure you're not lost.

3. If you get bored, tonnes of distros are based on Ubuntu so you get a new look with different apps but your base remains the same - same terminal and same commands. Go experiment!

Good luck!

@luminousnine Manjaro is my daily driver but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's new.

Till they've used Ubuntu for a year or so with a few reinstalls.

@MissDirection keep in mind, that you can upgrade to a (bigger) ssd or more ram. Well at least with a proper laptop, if the manufacturer isn't a FUCKING ASS HAT, LOOKING AT YOU MICROSOFT WITH YOUR NICE FANCY, SHINY SURFACE! FUCKERS! Where was I? Ah yes. Look at CPU, GPU and batery, if the laptop you're getting is upgradable!

@Wack Apple too with their hipster glasses and "oh but I ordered my latte at 145 degrees not 150" yuppie attitude

I have a workstation at home, laptop at work — and would gladly trade the laptop for a full system. I probably will soon.

I built a fresh Ryzen 7 system with 32GB memory... for less than €1k, compared to my €2.4k MacBook, which is fucking slow in comparison. I realized how fast a 16-threaded desktop CPU is when I ran parallel unit tests for the first time...

And when you buy parts, many will last multiple upgrade cycles, which saves further on costs. I would really only buy a laptop again myself if mobility is key.

In that case, fuck it, I'll work in my cave, I drink coffee at the coffee shop, and stare blankly out of the window in the train — maybe flirt with a girl even. Fuck this work everywhere all the time mentality.

(if you need/want a laptop, don't let me discourage you. This was just a spontaneously erupting comment-rant, and no criticism on laptop owners)

@bittersweet lol it's cool, I get it. A laptop will suit me more until I get my own place. But once that happens, I'd like to build my own rig.

@MissDirection Ah yes! My parents hated that my bedroom was full of fat monitors, electronics and smelled like soldering flux.

They told me that once I got my own place, I'd become normal and buy a couch, a TV and a rug.

I'm halfway through life, and my living room is now just bigger walls of flatter displays. The house has so many rooms, but I still don't have this rooms thing down either... The cat loves all the empty space though.

@bittersweet i think that is a bit the dream of every it guy!! Personally, every person I know that works in IT says it.
Of course I also have a laptop, and I couldn't work without it cause I'm still studying and I don't have a cave to work (yet!!!) But I won't die until I've built my own awesomely pc too! xD
Just for you to know that you're not alone trying to flirt with girls on the train.

@MissDirection, I don't know shit about those laptops that they told you, but my first Linux was (is) Ubuntu. And I'd recommend you, cause it has lots of tutorials and forums over the web. It WILL be important. I've been there (I'm maybe still there...) xD
Anyway, good luck with that!

Recommending mint! Also feel. Free to mention me with any linux related questions!

Get a Chromebook. It's super cheap and super effective for the price

Solus is a really nice distro, moved to it from Windows and had no problems at all.

@linuxxx thanks! I will.

@Bernarnold thanks for the info. Both look really good, so I think we've narrowed it down for me. 🙂

@gitpush are you using a X1 Carbon? I'm using that for my coding and the adaptive function keys pisses me off.

Apart from that it's rock solid, performance and keyboard is really good.

OT - dell xps 15 if you can afford it. It's incredibly well built, beautiful, powerful and stylish.

@MissDirection a few awesome users recommended some to me with their justifications as to why. Ubuntu was on the list, as was debian. Don't remember the others. I'm also going to play with Kali because of tools that are already loaded on it...

@taylorviktorya yeah it seems like Ubuntu will be my first distro. Maybe I will just do it in a VM

@MissDirection that's what I'm doing for now until I decide.p

@MissDirection ohh so the cool username has a reason, ohh and btw Linux Mint is a good and stable distro for a beginnner

@linuxxx @jckimble @matsaki95 @sam0 and everyone else, want to atate ur opinion?

You betrayer! 😱

Dell XPS and all the Thinkpads are one of the only brands that won't die after a year or two.
Stay away from Lenovo Yogas, they are horribly made (hardware + driver support).

Regarding the distros:
1. ElementaryOS is a good looking Ubuntu based distribution that reminds of MacOS. Also very noob friendly.
2. Ubuntu is always very comfortable and noob friendly.
3. Linux Mint - looking good and has tons of features while being easy to learn.
4. Manjaro - Arch based, very comfortable (imo) and also looks good. Tons, tons of features.

Anyone know about the Dell Inspiron 7000 series? I am seeing good reviews, and I can get in with an I7, 16gb ram, 256 SSD for under $1000...

To be honest I'd go with Ubuntu for first time users, simply because the support and community is quite strong.

The repository for Ubuntu is quite mature, so you wouldn't run into weird stuff that requires you to compile stuff on your own.

@nik123 elementary or solus are really cool.

@MissDirection
Manjaro as os
https://manjaro.org

For how to info or anything else:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.ph...
The arch wiki is imho the best resource for Linux. Somethings are specific but for the most part it isn't.

@Zennoe