Key Takeaways
- elementary OS is an alternative to Windows and macOS that prioritizes ease-of-use over customization.
- Installation is relatively easy with support for Secure Boot and a straightforward setup wizard.
- elementary OS is user-friendly but power users or tinkerers may want to look for a different distro.
Spend enough time looking at lists of "beginner" Linux distributions, and a name you'll notice frequently is elementary OS. Despite reading many of those lists, I hadn't tried it before, so I decided to spend a month with elementary OS as my daily driver desktop. Here's what I learned about the project and how I felt about my experience.
What Is elementary OS?
elementary OS is an operating system you can use on your PC in place of something like Windows or macOS. It's one of many, many iterations of the Linux desktop experience you can find out there. What sets elementary OS apart is perhaps its clean, minimalist interface that has an unmistakable macOS flare. While the majority of Linux desktops emulate the Windows layout or try to reinvent the desktop in new and unique ways, elementary OS is going to be most comfortable for you if you're used to a Mac. You'll find a dock full of launchable icons at the bottom of the screen, for example, and quick access to some settings on the righthand side of a top panel, much like a Mac's Control Center.
Another unique aspect of elementary OS is its selection of custom-built and curated apps. While many distros come with a hodgepodge of assorted third-party apps popular with the open-source community, all of the essentials are covered by the elementary OS team with an in-house web browser, email client, music player, and more. More apps are available from the software store that are certified by developers to integrate well with elementary. You aren't limited to these, of course, but they do contribute to creating a cohesive feel that many distros lack.
If you're curious about the guts, elementary OS is based on the Ubuntu Linux distribution. All that means for you practically is that most applications, if they can run on Linux at all, will likely work on elementary OS. You can thank Ubuntu's widespread popularity for that, and for the same reason, troubleshooting is relatively easy; if a solution works for someone in Ubuntu, you have a good chance of using it in elementary OS because the distros are mostly the same "under the hood."
Installing elementary OS Is as Easy as It Gets
I installed elementary OS version 7.1 (the latest at the time of writing) in two different ways. I first spun it up as a virtual machine using VirtualBox, which was easy enough, though the installer noticed and warned me elementary isn't meant for use as a VM and may not work properly. I didn't do any intense benchmarking with it, but I didn't notice any issues just clicking around in the VM either. Later I installed it directly onto a hard drive, wiping an installation of Ubuntu that I'd made so many tweaks to it was becoming unwieldy.
elementary OS is provided as a pay-what-you-want product, meaning you'll be prompted to pay any amount for it, including zero, when you download it. Once you have it, you need to go through the multi-step process of installing it, involving some tasks the typical PC user likely hasn't attempted, like burning an ISO file to a disk. Alternatively, retailers like Laptop With Linux and Star Labs will sell you a laptop or PC with elementary OS preinstalled for you like you would expect to find Windows with a regular computer purchase.
I've done a fair share of Linux installations over the years, and elementary OS was certainly on the minimal side. elementary OS supports Secure Boot, which means you don't need to bother with the technical and potentially risky process of disabling Secure Boot beforehand. You have a few options in the installer itself, like encrypting your hard drive, but so long as your needs are simple, you can safely click through the process agreeing to the defaults. The installer also comes with accessibility features like a screen reader to help if you have a visual impairment, extending the ease of use to even more people.
Like most Linux distros, you have the option to simply try it in demo mode rather than erase anything on your device. If you like what you see, you can proceed with the installation, or if you run into problems, shut down and regroup.
Settling in Is Elementary
Getting started with an alternative operating system like Linux can be intimidating, depending on who you are and what specific distribution you're using. If your distribution is elementary OS, though, you can look forward to a relaxed learning curve. It's clean and polished in its appearance, and things are generally where you expect to find them—so long as you're familiar with the macOS experience. At your first startup, a wizard will walk you through making the desktop your own, like connecting your email account and choosing a color scheme.
Once you're done with that, you need to do a system update and reboot. I overlooked that task when I first ran elementary OS, and the web browser didn't work at all until I updated. Speaking of updates, I did note that unlike most of the Linux distros I've used, updating elementary OS with the default profile configuration does not require entering the root password. You should be updating frequently, and frequently reentering a password can be a pain, so I appreciated that small bit of streamlining.
By default, the AppStore is limited to elementary's curated apps. If that's not enough for you, and you need third-party software like Steam and LibreOffice, you'll need to enable Flathub support first. The reason for this extra step is that all that extra software hasn't been checked by the elementary team to integrate fully with the desktop and abide by its privacy and security guidelines. That said, I didn't personally experience any issues with the software I installed that way.
Generally, the experience was far cleaner and more cohesive than most Linux desktops I've used. Navigating the desktop in general was a pleasant experience, without the endless subpages of settings and extravegent context menus some distros come with. I didn't experience unexplained freezes or mysterious blank screens on wake. I was able to connect a second monitor generally hassle-free, which isn't always the case for Linux.
Tinkerers Need Not Apply
I did have issues with elementary OS, but I can safely describe most of them as a "me" problem. I could intuit what the elementary OS developers are trying to accomplish and who their intended users are. I also intuited that I'm not one of them. I've been using various Linux desktops for years, from Garuda Linux to Linux Mint modified to look like Windows. A learning curve doesn't scare me, and I've also developed a preference for specific desktop environments, namely KDE Plasma. I have my own curated collection of apps I've integrated into my workflow, so I feel more comfortable sticking with those rather than relying on elementary's software curation.
As a journalist, I also have specific needs (especially in testing and documenting) that aren't quite met by the basic elementary OS installation. Since there's no task tray, I was a bit annoyed by the fact that bringing background-ed apps like Discord and Nextcloud to the foreground usually required finding it in the application launcher again. When I wanted to check how my hardware was performing or scope out what app was consuming my resources, I had to go find a system monitoring app because elementary OS doesn't include one by default.
KDE Connect doesn't work with elementary's "Pantheon" desktop, which is somewhat of a deal-breaker for me and my entrenched workflow. I did some research and found there are some workarounds in development, at least. The workaround was going to be fairly involved, and since it was in alpha I couldn't expect to rely on it for work like I normally do. KDE Connect is meant for power users, so not prioritizing its functionality for elementary OS is understandable.
Use the Operating System That Works for You
Despite some frustrations with it not matching my workflow, I could appreciate what elementary OS works toward. It creates a comfortable space for anyone who just needs an operating system that works and lets them work. It's like finding an office space that's free and has just the essentials to do what the average worker needs to do their job. Tinkerers and power users will probably feel boxed in, but that's fine because other spaces like Ubuntu and Void Linux exist for them. That's the beauty of Linux: there's something out there for everyone.
If elementary OS sounds like it's for you, download the image file from the elementary website. You can then follow our guide to installing Linux on a computer, or use one of the many ways of trying Linux before a complete install.
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