Assuming you don’t know anything about Linux desktop or server:

• Be patient.
• Linux has Desktop Environments, for short “DE” like GNOME and KDE, whose purpose is to provide a graphical interface and useful utilities.
• Software on Linux is mostly installed through package managers, so you don’t search the web for an installer, you search the web if you need to figure out what software you want to install (alternativeto.net is a good place to start if you already know a similar software), then you install it through your package manager. Some applications won’t be in your distro’s repository, you may want to try installing a flatpak, on KDE you use Discover for that, on GNOME you use GNOME Software. As a last resort you can use AppImages, those are downloaded from the web, ideally from the developer’s GitHub or whatever.
• Linux has excellent hardware support but it’s a good idea to do a web search when you’re buying new hardware, especially peripherals; manufacturers often don’t write drivers for Linux, so the community has to pick up the slack, usually it’s no problem, but sometimes it is.
• Linux users can be very opinionated… Think with your own head, only you truly understand your needs.
• The terminal can be scary but it’s very useful. Once you’re settled in, try to learn a bit about it.
• Conditional on the previous point: if you have more than one computer, learning ssh can be very useful to control one from the other, exchange small files, etc.
• ssh and rsync especially are excellent for transferring files safely and without errors, but they’re encrypted, so they have overhead. File shares on Linux are mostly NFS, which is complicated and not widespread, or Samba (SMB/CIFS), which is Microsoft’s protocol reimplemented, this one is easier and usually integrated in DEs, but it has caveats sometimes, so maybe try to set one up before you need it, it’s not fun to deal with in a hurry.
• Most DEs have system managers to check resource usage and processes (programs), but most people prefer to use terminal utilities like htop, or more recently, the snazzy btop, they can be installed through your package manager.
• Linux doesn’t have drive letters, it has a file structure that starts at “/”, different mass storage devices can be mounted in arbitrary locations in this structure. For example your personal files will be under /home/yourusername, this could be the same partition as everything else, or it could be a separate one, or a separate drive. If you have a non-removable drive where you store only let’s say Games, you could very well “mount” it under /home/yourusername/Games. This is very useful in some cases, and something that Windows I think implemented but still doesn’t use. Removable drives are usually mounted by the DE and end up in /var/run/media or whatever.

I landed on KDE and I don’t worry about it matching my Mac desktop, though you certainly could. The thing I miss most is the Finder, oddly. There’s not much in Linux world that gives Miller columns, unfortunately.

I’ll mention that if you like your Mac keyboard, or just want to keep using the familiar shortcuts, check out Toshy. It remaps the keys so that command still does what you expect it to do.

Jumped recently. I was old Mac. It reminds me of when Mac used to be basic. I like it. Less fussy…if you want it to be.

Don’t.

You like the user experience, you like the hardware, you don’t need to switch to linux to become independent from big tech.

Even if you needed to switch your operating system, what computer are you gonna use it on that isn’t under the control of big tech (however you choose to define that)?

Even if you had a computer you understood the hardware of and ordered in a group buy from a small manufacturer, and therefore wasn’t under the control of big tech, the linux operating system has thousands of core components maintained or developed by people who are in the employ of big tech to do just that! Are you really out from under the thumb of big tech when they’re paying the people that do the lions share of work in key components of your operating system who just so happen to always seem to make choices in that role which align with their bosses needs?

What might be better than switching from mac to linux would be considering exactly what big tech you’re trying to get away from and why, then doing so on the system you already understand and feel comfortable with.

Ignore the guy who said that you don’t have to use Gnome. Gnome is the most Mac-Like, and so is Elementary OS (that is directly copying MacOS). So I’d suggest either Debian 13 with Gnome, or Elementary OS. Elementary OS, by being based on Ubuntu, it has more stuff ready to go (Debian might still need manual adding of repositories, e.g. non-free, if you want to have an accelerated video encoding driver with your video editor).

I’d also recommend installing UTM on your Mac and paying string with different distros in a virtual environment.

I’d recommend Fedora KDE Plasma.

Its really quite easy, if you own an intel mac, just install debian on it, maybe carry some data over, if you must. I would recommend a usb stick. Install a good looking desktop environment, and look up a few starter tutorials. Easy, and quick. Linux isnt hard at all, if you dont want it to be.

dude, you need to narrow your query way, waaay down. are you ditching the mac and getting a PC? are you gonna rock them side by side until you transition? desktop? gaming? laptop? converting an existing macbook to linux? which one? intel? pre-T2, post? which wifi? what’s your daily software stack you depend on?

all the listed things are possible, some easier, some less so, but, respectfully, nobody’s gonna write up an all-cases guide for your lazy ass. so, hop to it, state your use case and ping back.

I grew up using macos, still use it on my work laptop, and use elementary os on my home machine. For the most part, it’s great. I like

• The intuitive UX and the clean, consistent and beautiful UI
• Good default apps and settings
• Flatpak out of the box, no snap bullshit.
• Generally you can get away with quite a bit without resorting to the terminal

Unfortuntalely, there are a few big issues with it, mostly due to the small number of developers

• Updating the OS to a new major version (that they release every 1-2 years) is a hassle, there is no direct way to do distro-update like on ubuntu for example
• The mail and calendar apps don’t support Oauth, and by now, google doesn’t seem to support password+IMAP anymore. So no google calendar or mail integration. Also a hassle to set up anything that uses Oauth by default.

If those aren’t dealbreakers, I can recommend eos. But do check out the other options as well.

What’s different between Mac OS and Linux besides Apple’s cloud walled garden? You can bash your way through both file systems. Windows is the outlier.

You should probably start by listing the programs you need. Everything else such as gaming/customization is distro specific.

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I think you just have to make the jump and install a distro on your computer while accepting that it’s not because you don’t like the first distro that all of them are the same.

Once the first step is done and your old OS isn’t around anymore, you’ll be forced to find something suited to your needs.

Do you plan on installing Linux on your Mac? If it’s Intel based it’s easy, but if it’s an M model your choices are more restricted…

Ignore people telling you you have to use GNOME. Use whatever looks good to you. I actually have a KDE Plasma desktop with a Mac-like layout. The DE doesn’t matter much though.

Appreciate what you are doing. You made the right choice