You can keep your Windows 11 and macOS Ventura on your PCs. On my desktop, what I want is open-source Linux. In particular, I want Linux Mint. Why? Because, it's free, easy to use, and far more secure than its proprietary rivals.   

The latest version, Linux Mint 21.1, Vera, is better than ever. If you don't know it, let me introduce you. 

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Linux Mint 21.1 is a comprehensive desktop operating system that includes everything you need for home and office work. It comes with LibreOffice 7.3.7 for office productivity, Firefox 108.0.1 for web browsing, Thunderbird 102.4.2 for email and calendering, and GIMP 2.10.30 for graphics editing. None of this will cost you a thin dime. 

See also

• How to install Ubuntu Linux (It's easy!)
• How to run a Windows app on Linux with Wine
• How to get started with Git on Linux
• How to kill a process in Linux

Mint gives you your choice of three interfaces: Cinnamon 5.6, MATE, and Xfce. For me, the Cinnamon interface is the easiest to use. I recommend it to anyone who wants to move from the Mac and Windows world to Linux. It's very simple to pick up. 

Experienced Cinnamon users will notice that the default theme features more vibrant colors. It also uses the blue Aqua theme by default, instead of the more familiar mint-green color. Rather use the old one? No problem. Choose the "Mint-Y-Legacy" option in the theme options, and you're good to go. You'll find this and all the other desktop customization choices under the System Settings panel. 

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The desktop itself has also been cleaned up. Now, by default, there are far fewer icons. The Home, Computer, Trash, and Network icons are all missing. If, like me, you still like icons, you can easily add them again via the System Settings panel. Mint gives you all the control you could ever want over your desktop to set it up in whatever way makes you happy. 

The interface is also just snappier. There have been many changes under the hood to make the display much faster. I noticed this immediately on my main desktop. The new Mint ran like a top on my 2020 Dell Precision 3451. This PC is powered by an Intel 8-core 3GHz i7-9700 CPU. It also includes 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. 

This is far more computer than Mint needs. Linux Mint will run on pretty much any computer. If your PC has 2GBs of RAM and 100GB, any graphics card, and a monitor that supports a 1024