Before Windows 10 goes EOL, I'm testing three alternative Linux distros to save my 6-year-old laptop from the landfill

Support for Windows 10 is set to end on October 14 2025, and that means your old PC will no longer receive any software or security updates, nor will it enjoy any technical support. So we just throw these PCs into the landfill and buy a new Windows 11 PC?

No!

If your PC meets the minimum requirements for Windows 11, then you should be able to upgrade for free. For reference, this is what Microsoft considers the minimum system requirements for Windows 11.

In reality, those specs won’t get you a great Windows 11 experience; you’d need a better CPU, more RAM, and more storage to even start using Windows 11 in a productive manner. You’d need something like an Intel 9th Gen CPU-based system and 16GB of RAM, along with 512GB of fast storage as a comfortable minimum.

But what if your PC doesn’t meet the spec? Now, do we throw it into the trash? The answer is still a firm no! Linux is the alternative, but which version of the OS is the best?

There are a plethora of Linux operating systems, you’ll probably know a few key names, Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora. These names are often touted as alternatives to Windows, but I’ve scoured the Internet and spotted three other alternative Linux distributions that I will be installing on my now out-of-date Lenovo X390. Which Linux distros have I chosen?

CachyOS

This Arch-based Linux distro claims to be “designed to deliver lightning-fast speeds and stability,” but will it be easy enough for a Windows user to pick up and use?

Linux Mint

This popular alternative to Ubuntu is often touted as the best choice for those wishing to move from Windows to Linux. Based upon Ubuntu (or Debian if you prefer), Linux Mint comes with a choice of desktop environments, with its own “Cinnamon” desktop environment offering the most relatable interface for Windows 10 users fleeing EOL.

ZorinOS

Claiming to be “the alternative to Windows and macOS”, ZorinOS also claims that it is designed to be easy to use, with no learning required. ZorinOS is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, so it is a little older than the latest Ubuntu 24.04 LTs, but it should fly on any machine younger than 15 years old.

The test criteria will be

• Ease of installation
  • Creating the USB stick.
  • Installation process.
• Hardware compatibility
  • Does Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Webcam, Sound work?
• Ease of use
  • I don’t want to use the terminal, everything has to be in a GUI.
• Can I install these applications?
  • Google Chrome.
  • Slack.
  • GIMP
  • Inkscape

So, follow along as I live-blog the ups and downs of choosing the best Linux alternative to Windows 10 for my "aging" Lenovo laptop.

2025-06-25T17:05:45.912Z

The CachyOS installer is beautiful, if a little tricky

I love the CachyOS installer. It feels premium and it is a joy to use. Most of the time. There were a couple of times during the install process where I got a little lost.

The first is when I was asked about which Bootloader I would like to use. Typically I would select Grub, but Systemd-boot was selected by default. Why? I used Grub in the end, but a Windows user would have an issue here.

The second issue was the additional package installer. It was like going into a restaurant and being offered a surprise menu of tasty treats, but with little knowledge as to what they are.

But the installer progressed and I was soon ready to boot CachyOS from a fresh install.

2025-06-25T11:31:59.090Z

I remember when installing Linux meant grabbing a load of blank CDs, downloading multiple CD-ROM ISO images and then hoping that none of them were borked during the multi-day download (25 years ago! I am old!). Once, when downloading Mandrake Linux, I had a corrupt ISO image and that lost me a fair few hours!

Now, and for the last decade, we just download the ISO image and write it to one of the many USB sticks that we strewn across our desks. But, if you have never done it before, how do you write an ISO image to a USB stick?

For this you will need some software. Personally, I use Rufus. But I have been known to dabble with Raspberry Pi Imager and Balena Etcher.

Rufus is a simple application that asks us to identify the target USB drive, and the ISO image that we want to write to it. Click Start, answer the questions and you will soon have a USB stick with your chosen Linux OS.

So far I've created a Live USB for CachyOS and I am using that to install the OS on to my Lenovo X390 laptop with 8GB and an Intel Core i5-8265U.

But wait! What is a Live USB?

Remember back to my days downloading ISO images? Those images would boot, but directly into the installer. A bit like Windows 95/98/XP did in the day. You couldn't test anything out before commiting to an install. Live CDs were a hybrid of a bootable test version where we could check that our system worked before clicking on install. Over the years, as ISO images got larger, they needed DVDs and now USB. The Live USB gives us a chance to "try before we buy" and they can also be used to fix a broken system.

Live USBs are a Swiss Army knife for fixing broken computers, retrieving data and yes, for testing out new distros without breaking your hardware.