0

I have a notebook running RHEL 7.1. I have been tinkering with various desktop replacements but am afraid my nephew needs something very "Windows" like. Any suggestions? I cannot change the distro.

Rui F Ribeiro
  • 56,709
  • 26
  • 150
  • 232
Nicholas Gerasimatos
  • 11
  • 1
    Quick and short recommendation avoid anything from Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell HP and Compaq. http://goughlui.com/2014/08/02/laptop-wireless-card-whitelists-an-upgrade-nightmare/ Reinforcing the Lenovo (anti)recommendation https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150812/11395231925/lenovo-busted-stealthily-installing-crapware-via-bios-fresh-windows-installs.shtml – Rui F Ribeiro Dec 28 '15 at 09:47
  • 1
    Well, I think this is primarily opinion-based, even with the criteria "has to be windows feel". You'll probably collect various personal and contradicting options. Best IMHO is try and find himself ones he likes, possibly with your assistance, which I'd recommend if you're an experienced GNU/Linux user. –  Dec 28 '15 at 10:08
  • From my experience, the most comfortable DEs are KDE and Enlightenment. Enlightenment is pretty, but the last time I tried it (a few year ago), that was unstable. I am not sure, what is supposed to be «Windows like», but KDE is pretty neat — the only big difference with Windows, I can think of, is that instead of «shortcuts» you have «widgets» on the desktop. Also, KDE's apps, like dolphin (file manager), Konsole (a shell), etc, are usually better than the ones shipped with Unity (the last time I tried that). Oh, yeah, don't try Unity, there're little peoples who like it. – Hi-Angel Dec 28 '15 at 14:35

2 Answers2

1

Each distro has a standard interface, such as KDE or Cinnamon for example. I was soliciting input on an interface that might be more simple for a newbie who is coming from Windows. I personally do everything from shell so I am not good with UI and therefore wouldn't know what a good UI would be for a teenager.

Nicholas Gerasimatos
  • 11
  • Please don't post answers unless you're actually answering the question posted above. You can edit your question to add additional info at any time - there's an edit button right below the tags. – Mat Dec 28 '15 at 10:02
  • Sorry. I meant to add comment but selected answer instead. Using the mobile app – Nicholas Gerasimatos Dec 28 '15 at 10:03
0

Use the "native" interface for the distribution (Gnome, in RHEL's case). There is just more polished documentation and help available for that than for some more exotic alternatives. A new user will require handholding, and the more common alternative just has more potential helpers at hand. Any "Windows-like" interface will be similar to Windows, but infuriatingly different in details, making smooth work a nightmare. In my experience, it is better to do a clean break and learn a different way of working.

Consider adding the EPEL repositories for access to extra software, not RHEL official but developed under the closely related Fedora umbrella.

Note that RHEL is geared towards servers, so it is rather drab. In the same line I'd recommend Fedora, as it is more geared towards end users and being a showcase for new software. In short, more bling.

Keep in mind that for various legal and other reasons, RHEL (and Fedora) are strictly open source only, which leaves out often required functionality like MP3 players and most viewers for videos, even through the web. You can find software for this from third parties for Fedora, I'm not so sure about RHEL.

Disclosure: I'm a long time Fedora user, and Fedora Ambassador for Chile.

vonbrand
  • 18,253