Microsoft Windows
The desktop, with telemetry and a Microsoft account requirement.
The distribution is the easy part. What keeps people on Windows is rarely the OS itself but everything bolted to it: Office with working macros, Adobe, industry software with no Linux build, a bank's signing tool, an employer's device management. If your day is a browser, mail, documents and media, Mint or Zorin will do it and you will barely notice. If one irreplaceable application is Windows-only, no distribution here changes that — and it is worth identifying which application that is, because it is the actual dependency, not the operating system.
What you are replacing (1)
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Microsoft Windows ↗
The desktop, with telemetry and a Microsoft account requirement.
European alternatives (5)
Suggest another →-
Ubuntu ↗
Canonical's London-run distribution; the most common Linux desktop.
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openSUSE ↗
German-rooted distribution with the excellent YaST admin tooling.
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Zorin OS ↗
Dublin-built and deliberately designed to feel like Windows.
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Linux Mint ↗
The friendliest landing spot for someone leaving Windows.
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Manjaro ↗
German-run Arch derivative with rolling updates made manageable.
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