dual booting linux?

[u/No_Stretch5024]

im very new to laptop/pc stuff and i bought a used laptop specs are shown in picture
I primarily want to switch to linux because it looks better and it eats up less ram
Windows takes up 4.8gb while idle
I have c drive which only has windows

And d drive which i mainly use for games
My use case is mostly games on steam
Roblox studios and ai tools
Which one do i choose i heard mint is easiest but i know nothing about linux
How and where do i start
And maybe i can fully switch to linux if it doesn't have restrictions for me use case?

[u/Cradle2GraveChief]

If you’re COMPLETELY NEW to Linux, try using it on something else or run from a USB live disk. While EVERYONE seems to have great opinions about Linux and how it’s THE thing to do, you need to figure that out on your own. Yes, Linux is a great thing and has been part of my network since 2001 or so. But, in my experience, some people are expecting to install Linux and get their Windows environment back just on a more efficient, free platform. Things will NOT be the same and you will need to find workarounds for most things and those “ways” of doing things that you are used to will not be the same.

I would NOT recommend placing Linux on the same disk as Windows until you have experience with grub and such. Separate them. Windows 11 is especially predatory to anything else around. If you do put it on the same computer (not recommended to start) then do whatever you can to keep them apart. Backup what you have on Windows first (don’t forget settings of programs).

I cannot stress enough: learn Linux before switching completely off of Windows. This is a fatal mistake that I have seen for a long time. While free is free I agree, free is not free of problems, frustration and a new learning curve. Also, make sure to learn how to run things from command line (terminal) because you will need it. Linux is actually a better OS without the UI. It’s “new” to the mouse point and click market. Linux is open source, so not paid professional developers creating it. The new versions of GUI Linux are 25 slow years in the making through multiple distributions.

That said, Yes, move to Linux. Just don’t jump before you look.

[u/No_Stretch5024 → u/Cradle2GraveChief]

Thanks a lot for ur info do u recommend a video where i can watch and learn the basics and get to know beginner stuff? Because rn unfortunately i dont really get what half of the people are saying in the comments

[u/The_CreativeName]

1, dont use ai.

2, what do you want from your os? If you want windows but linux, go for mint.

If you like configuring things and have a "i will do it myself" attitude, use arch(the wiki is goated).

There is some more distros that do something inbewteen and even more technical then arch(arch aint really that technical tbh).

Ive heard people like cachyOS for gaming, but i havent tried it, or know much bout it, so you gotta do your own research.

[u/Regular-Option6067]

Do you have an Active Ai subscription ? like Gemini/ChatGPT/Claude ?

[u/No_Stretch5024 → u/Regular-Option6067]

Not rn but i will

[u/TapApprehensive8815]

Start with Linux Mint. It's easy and stable.

[u/Pandamaster_finland → u/TapApprehensive8815]

Yeah. The only hard part of the setup is probably choosing the correct partition to install the thing because they sometimes have weird names

[u/Aurosence]

Just do it. I'm doing it right now with Mint. Go to Disk Management and create free space. Plug in your usb to install. Remember to test everything, your keyboard, cpu and gpu, mic, audio, webcam, bluetooth etc. Also you mentioned RAM. I think it's not that simple, windows reserve idle RAM for caching, not wasted.

[u/DannoXYZ]

Those are just volumes & partitions, not physical disks.
Run Disk Management and post screen show of what it shows

[u/No_Stretch5024 → u/DannoXYZ]

Sorry man cant send ss for some reason and the video quality is ass