Trying Out Linux in a Virtual Machine
HOW CAN I TRY OUT LINUX?
I got some feedback from some readers that while they like my articles on Linux, they really would like to know how they can try out Linux themselves before making the commitment to switch? How do they try out Linux on their Mac or Windows without losing their current system? So here is my helpful guide to get them (and maybe you) started.
My recommendation is to try out Linux on your existing computer using virtualization software. That means if you are Windows or Mac, you stay on Windows or Mac and run a “machine within your machine”. The Linux VM doesn’t touch any of your files and you can start it and stop it when you have time.
PICK YOUR VIRTUALIZATION SOFTWARE
The first step is to pick your virtualization software. There are a lot of options out there, especially since we trying out software and not running our business on it. VMWare and VirtualBox have "free for personal use" licenses and run on Windows and Mac. Mac users also have an additional open source option called UTM. If you install UTM yourself it costs nothing, but if you can install it from the Apple App Store for $9.99. Here are the links:
PICK YOUR LINUX DESKTOP
You would think that picking your Linux distribution would be next, but no! We want to pick the desktop environment that runs on top of the Linux, because most of us aren't command line experts (yet) and we're going to want something that feels right. The desktop is where most of us “live”.
The biggest and most common two Linux desktops are Gnome and KDE. These are always good choices. Gnome hides the apps out of your way, but hitting the Super Key (aka “Windows Key” or Apple's "Command Key") it shows you your applications. You can modify this with Gnome Extensions. You can see my article about that here.
If you are coming from Windows, the Cinnamon desktop is very similar. New users also like Cosmic which comes with Pop!OS Linux. For Mac users, the Pantheon Desktop is very minimal and has a Mac-like feel. I liked Pantheon, but I ended up liking Gnome with customizations more.
There are also Linux desktops for low powered machines. These include Budgie, XFCE, and LXQt. I would recommend exploring these after you are comfortable with the bigger ones. There are many desktops to explore when you are more familiar with Linux.
Can you try out multiple desktops? My answer would be "yes, but don't run them in the same VM". I would recommend that after you decide which distribution you want, download each desktop "spin" or “flavour” separately. Installing "two desktops" on the same VM creates duplicate apps and confusion for new users.
NOW PICK THE DISTRO
My recommendations are to start with the bigger ones. Every distro has a personality, and you can read up on them to figure out which one meets your needs.
Fedora - Default Fedora comes with the Gnome desktop, but in Fedora Spins you versions with the following desktops: KDE, XFCE, LXQT, Cinnamon, Mate, LXDE, SOAS, and i3. I am on Fedora with Gnome currently.
Ubuntu - Ubuntu also has Gnome as the default, but you can look in Ubuntu Flavours of KDE, XFCE, Budgie, and Kylin.
Debian - The Debian Net Installer will let you pick your desktop as you walk through the install. It has Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon, LXQt, Budgie, and many more.
Linux Mint - This comes with the Cinnamon desktop and has been known as a new user friendly distro for a long time.
Pop!OS - This is by the computer maker System76, and their Cosmic is supposed to be an easy desktop for new Linux users. A lot of their systems come with NVIDIA cards so they do extra work to make sure NVIDIA works properly.
Elementary - Elementary is the only distro that features Pantheon as their main desktop. If you use it a lot, they ask that you donate, but for trying it out you can just put in $0. If you do that, I would recommend downloading it with Brave using the torrent link to save them some money.
DOWNLOAD THE ISO(s)
An ISO is a disk image that contains everything we need to run and install the distro's operating system. Think of it as a "virtual CD". If you are trying out multiple desktops, you can download multiple ISOs. The links to the distros I provided above should let you find the ISO easily enough.
CREATE A VM USING THE ISO
Now it is time to go into the virtualization software and create a new VM. I won't go to much into the details here since each software has slightly different ways of doing it. As for the VM details, try to keep them fairly small, as we're only experimenting.
20-40 GB hard drives for each one should be more than sufficient. Keeping them small should allow you to try out a variety. After you figure out which desktop you like you can always make a new VM or add more virtual disks. If you decide you don't like the desktop, you can delete the VM.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO INSIDE THE VM?
Try living inside it for awhile. Use the provided Software Stores and install software that you want to use. Try web browsing and instant messaging.
For email and calendar, try to get an email client set up with an IMAP provider and make sure the client leave the email on the server. That way you can check your email on your Windows/Mac and inside the Linux VM. Most web mails like GMail, Apple Mail, Outlook, and Yahoo are IMAP email providers.
You can share your music and photos folders with the VM and try out music players. The only caveat I have is to pick a Linux player that doesn't mess with the files. I personally like the Tauon Music Box. As a bonus, Tauon actually has a Windows build, so you can use it outside on your Windows and in the Linux VM.
Try to do as much inside the VM that mimics your current personal usage of Windows or Mac. You can even "full screen" the VM to get the feeling on how it would be to actually use Linux as your desktop. The closer you make it to your actual usage, the better you will be able to judge if you are ready to switch.
The one thing I would recommend against doing in the VM is running recent games using Steam or another gaming service. There are probably ways to make sure your graphics card is used by the VM, but that is beyond the scope of this article.
CAN I DO THIS WITH A SEPARATE MACHINE?
Do you have an older desktop or an old laptop? For some people this is a better choice. For me, I actually launched virtual machines more than I booted up a separate physical machine. You may be different. You can use my steps above by skipping "Pick Your Virtualization Software" and by using either "Balena Etcher" or "Rufus" to put the chosen ISO onto a USB stick. Then reboot the old machine off the USB stick.
PREPARING FOR THE MOVE
If you find a Linux you like, how can you prepare for the move? First, list all the programs you like using on your current OS, then look for what you would like to use on Linux.You can also start looking at cross platform apps that will make your OS change easier. Some “Linux only” programs are superior, but for the migration here are the cross platform ones I find "good enough" or "excellent":
Browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi
Email, Calendar, Contacts: Thunderbird, Betterbird
Chat: Microsoft Teams, Discord, Rocket.Chat, Franz, Ferdium
Conferencing: Zoom, Brave Chat, Big Blue Button, Jitsi
Office: LibreOffice, OnlyOffice, Collabora
Notes: Joplin
Security: KeepassXC, VeraCrypt, Cryptomator
Audio Creation: Audacity, Denemo
Music Listening: Tauon Music Box
Video Creation: Open Broadcast Studio (OBS), Handbrake
Video Watching: VLC
The second thing I would say is that backing up all your important data is needed. You should be doing this anyway. You don't want to lose your data if your machine crashes. It would be good to have it on a second machine or a portable thumb drive or hard drive with your data. There are cheap 2 TB thumb drives that you can buy and use for this purpose.
AFTER THE MOVE
So you decided to take the plunge and installed Linux. Congratulations! Do you still have need for Windows? How about if I told you that you can run Windows at almost native speed on a VM on Linux? The software to run VMs on Linux virt-manager is free. Chris Titus has an excellent article here.
The biggest performance gains running Windows in a VM on Linux comes from using a full hard drive or a hard drive partition instead of letting the VM use a virtual file for the hard drive. The "virtual hard drives" for Windows can cause fragmentation and slowness.
CONCLUSION
It is my opinion that trying Linux in a VM is the best way for a person to get to know Linux. The more you try it out, the less scary it will be. There are rough patches in Linux. However, it keeps getting better all the time too. I made the switch and I enjoy it. I hope this article let’s you try it out and see if Linux might be for you.