Hey, so I just put this part up first because this is the one I urgently and importantly need answered even tho I wrote that hideous text block first (sorry English isn't my first language ).
1 So the question is I have live booted mint from a USB and everything is working like I can use internet on it , play YouTube video , the sound is working etc . But I'm afraid if I wipe windows and install mint as the main OS and the WiFi stops working I'll be fucked as I don't have a second machine except a phone to even fix it . There is no repair shop near and the ones I have to travel to go to charge very high for services and all the people I know are " just phone people" . Is it guaranteed that everything that works on a live USB will also work as the main OS ? Also is there a chance that updates could break the functionalities like WiFi, sound , rendering etc ? Cause I'm a layman and idk how to go about installing the correct kernal manually or some shit . And if its something like WiFi that got fucked I'll be extra fucked as I don't have a second device and can't even do it manually . Also as I said I can't afford servicing now . Also how do I switch back to windows lol ? I'm just running mint of the USB o don't know how to go back to windows, do I just pull the USB out ? Then what ? What are the steps on BIOS ? Shit I should've probably searched all these up before bit oh well as long as I'm making a post do feel free to answer idk if I should close my lap or not .I read a post on reddit of a guy whose WiFi stopped working after he made it his primary and he said that it worked on live USB . He was running mint too I believe, same as me with no other device .
Do try and reply to 1 (1 is the most important ) , 2 and 3 importantly and 4 you can do or not according to your free time .
2 Also what is the message on mints website talking about having to do something else for newer devices ? I now use an old thinkpad and it isn't an issue but I'm planning to do an upgrade real soon
3 Also how does the process vary with RISC-V architecture ? Is it there yet ? Any laptop to lookout for or is PC the only way ? I was thinking about switching to risc-v when upgrafing if any company manufactures components or laptop which they do fully as Foss . I am open to building a PC for RISC-V if I can buy full open source parts and if the Linux support is good .
4 I was thinking about switching to Linux for a long time cause I'm paranoid as fuck and always thought I should switch to mint as I'm a layman of all layman and recently got enough time to make it . But then I came to know of zorin OS which too seems to appease to begginers and the conseus between mint and zorin online vary a lot so thought I should just ask here as Lemmy seems to be crawling with Linux users . I mainly just want the drivers or hardware or kernal and all to just work perfectly all the time and not break after updates . I have also heard of some people having kernal issues and having to do it manually in which case I'll be fucked as I'm not savy . I mainly want good privacy and security . Zorin seem to have a paid version and I'm afraid devs will cut back on other version to promote that more and I have no plan to buy premium as i'm just getting into Linux and don't wanna make a big commitment maybe if I used it and settle on it I'll buy to support devs . Also mint is more popular and here to stay kinda shit right ? I don't care much about looking like windows or running window compatible apps and games I'll be just happy with the OS I'm choosing running all Linux shit . Also which appstore is better ? I heard mints software repo holds closed and outdated apps and don't have much idea about Zorin's . fdroid is one of the reason I grew to love android a place for all the good apps with no blobs and have everything I could ever need from galleries to browser . I would also like a that kinda app store supported distro with similar focus and policies on keeping apk updated , and building without proprietary blobs (like fennec ) and only foss .etc .
Sorry for the block of words , mistake grammer etc . English isn't my first language.
Grab a bunch of ISO's from some of the more well known distros. Drop them on a removable drive and try each of them live.
Best way to do this if you have a larger drive is to install Ventoy, it lets you simply drop ISO files on it and it will make a menu and let you boot any of them.
During the live run check that everything you want works. If wifi works during live it will probably work when installed. Browse the web, play youtube, see if you can access shares on your LAN, play music, movies, check if it sees all your peripherals, run a graphics benchmark etc. This is how I landed on Manjaro a few years back when looking for a new distro.
My line of reasoning is that if a distro can do all this stuff in its live version (an has put enough care in it to make it work that well) it's a strong indicator that the actual distro will be good too.