Any time you try to engage with the Linux community as a newcomer, you'll hear a flurry of opinions on what you should install, what's best as a beginner, and so on. Discussions these days tend to gravitate towards options like Ubuntu or Fedora, and maybe even Arch if you talk to certain groups.

But another popular option, albeit a little understated, is Linux Mint. This Linux distro is often aimed at those who want to play it safe and be a little more conservative with their PCs — keep a familiar experience that just works without doing anything too crazy. It's not on the bleeding edge of development, but after spending some time with it, I'd say it's still great at being the safe, effective option.

Get your bearings right away

Mint guides you to all the essentials

As great as many Linux distros are, it's very easy to feel lost when you first get started. Sure, a lot of the basic desktop paradigms are understandable enough to us by just looking at the screen, but for someone switching from Windows who might not be very tech-savvy, even a small hurdle can become an unnecessary headache.

The first time you boot into Linux Mint, it immediately welcomes you to the operating system with an overview of all the essentials. You can get into customization, check for updates, manage drivers, and go into the system settings. All of these things are optional, but they're all shown and explained to you so you know where to start if you want to.

This means that, right off the bat, you can customize Linux Mint to look and behave the way you want, ensure all the apps are up to date and have the latest features, and even set up system snapshots for recovery, just in case. You can skip any of these things, but you have no excuse for running into any surprises later on; you set things up the way you want them from the very beginning.

Exactly what you'd expect

Windows users are welcome

Linux Mint is also great for Windows converts because it comes with familiar desktop paradigms that aren't overwhelming like others can be. The latest versions of GNOME look and feel far too different from the traditional Windows experience, which can make them alienating and confusing at every turn. When the foundation is so different, things are going to feel more difficult than they actually are.

You can say the same for others like COSMIC, but even KDE Plasma, which is already more Windows-like, has some quirks. Accidentally drag your mouse over to the top left corner, and you're transported to the Workspaces view, which isn't something you can trigger accidentally on Windows.

Linux Mint keeps things simple and very similar to Windows in this regard. You have a taskbar with an application launcher, pinned apps, and system tray icons, all of which look and feel like Windows for the most part. Even the application launcher itself has a degree of familiarity, particularly compared to older versions of the Start menu on Windows.

A strong foundation

Slow and steady wins the race

Another reason to go with Mint it's built on a solid foundation and it includes all the things you need for a system that essentially just works. It does ship with a slightly older kernel than some other Linux distros, but that means it's usually a time-tested core that's had a lot of time for polish and to be extremely stable. Updates as a whole take a little longer to come out, but they're always rock solid.

That can come with downsides if you install it on the latest hardware, to be fair. I've had issues with certain drivers not working because I was using a computer too new for the included kernel version, but for the majority of PCs, this isn't really a problem, and the stability you get in return for the slower updates can't be understated. Plus, there are often optional kernel updates if you do need updated drivers for certain hardware.

Apps just work

Well, for the most part

Finally, Linux also wins because it's packed with everything you need to get just about any app you want without much trouble. For native system packages, you get access to the same repositories as Ubuntu, and since that's still one of the most popular options, that means you have a very large repository of apps right out of the gate. And if you're not sure what that means, don't worry: these apps are just available through the included Software Manager, so it's just like a typical app store. The Software Manager also automatically serves packages from Flathub, meaning yes, Flatpak support is included by default and you have access to the primary source of Flatpak apps.

Plus, if you're downloading apps using a web browser, DEB packages are also supported (as with any Debian-based distro), and AppImage files also work out of the box. The only downside here is you need to manually give AppImage files permission to run as executables; Mint still doesn't automatically prompt you to do it.

All of that is a roundabout way of saying that if an app supports Linux, there's an extremely high chance that you'll easily find a version that works on Mint specifically. With all the sources and formats it supports, Mint is well covered, so there should be no unexpected shortcomings.

Mint is the safe option, and that's a good thing

Ultimately, everyone approaches their computer in a different way, but for many of us, the safe option is the best option, and Linux Mint fills that role perfectly. It's exactly what you expect of a computer, and everything just works, while also being lightweight and great on older or more underpowered hardware. While it wouldn't necessarily be my personal pick as someone who's become more familiar with Linux, it's very easy to recommend to a newcomer.