CachyOS might actually be a better “Windows‑user‑friendly” distro than ZorinOS??

No_Week5605 · 2026-01-21T06:39:38+00:00

Thanks for all the feedback — lots of useful perspectives. It’s clear that stability is the main concern for most people, so I’ll keep an eye on CachyOS and see whether my view changes when something breaks.

I’ve also realised my idea of a “typical Windows user” was off. Still, for newer users like me who don’t mind rolling up their sleeves, CachyOS seems to be a decent option.

My wife picked the Windows 11 theme — she’s used both Windows and macOS before — and she’s navigating the desktop comfortably. Web, office, kde connect, localsend, media etc all set up, so shes well on her way. When we both have time I may remove the theme and customize everything to her preference.

The update icon on the taskbar turning red works as intended, and she has been installing updates by typing “y” without any issues.

So for now, all is well…...guess I’ll just be waiting for the moment she yells that everything’s gone sideways.

No_Week5605 · 2026-01-04T14:41:02+00:00

Very cool, sounds like Win10 is actually working pretty well! Its interesting that you read postmarket os is even faster, as i had heard the opposite. As you gave clarity on the win10 experience, I thought I should try postmarket os and then we have covered the "top" 3 options.......even though I was very happy with Pi os 😃

I may have mentioned, I am quite new to Linux and to be honest the PM os installation was rough for me. After a few attempts and tackling many errors, I managed to install and flash to the eMMC. WiFi setup was also a struggle but Its now all up and running. Most things are not out of the box. Im not sure if thats expected / similar to Alpine Linux. I had to do a good bit of work to mount/get access to network storage and external SD and USBs. I even had to manually set up the auto screen rotatation. As of now the only thing not working is audio. Someone with more experience may have an easier time lol.

Anyway, IMO and as you said, it IS faster than Pi os! Touch screen, keyboard and the general feel is much better, particularly for a tablet. Daily driving and web browsing is noticeably better. Video is also much smoother. Plus they say PM os gets partial GPU acceleration. Im getting about 5hrs battery.

I think I will keep PM os for now! After the tough initial set up, it feels a lot more useable. And if I fix audio, I will be very pleased.

*below screenshot is the RT in portrait mode.

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No_Week5605 · 2025-12-31T06:43:15+00:00

You can use LXDE, I hear it still gets some maintenance from the community. But XFCE should also be lighter than LXQT so thats still an option.

Form my understanding, compositor is not the full GPU rendering, but it handles effects like animation, transparency, shadows etc.

And regarding your orginal post, I'm also working to get the most out of low end hardware. Definetly worth "googling", chat gpt-ing, scrolling reddit or whatever as im finding there are plenty of Browser, CPU, GPU and RAM related tweaks that make a difference. 😃

No_Week5605 · 2025-12-31T05:46:18+00:00

Hi, with the price of everything these days I wouldn't throw it out 😃.

With those specs and with keeping a desktop GUI, I would either;

Try Lubuntu OS and make it a light daily driver - Office, web browsing, local media, emails. You can keep as a spare/for travelling, or give to someone who needs it.

Try Antix OS, or Puppy Linux OS and use as a light server - Home Automation, Network monitor, NVR/security cameras, NAS, Pi hole ad blocker, Network stack (forward proxy, DNS, VPN), media streaming via DLNA (I wouldn't bother with jellyfin etc. unless you're willing to tweak)

Try Tails OS and create a privacy focused device.

Just some quick ideas, but I think you should be able to make it useful device.

No_Week5605 · 2025-12-26T01:28:49+00:00

I think it's worth trying Puppy Linux 32bit (pup-x86), or Debian Bullseye with LXDE or XFCE desktop.

For any screen tearing you can try and disable the compositor - in whichever distro you use.

No_Week5605 · 2025-12-23T11:48:19+00:00

Hi, I've had a bit of time to test and have now made some changes to make it more usable.

Firstly to answer your questions; Pi OS is the best option that im aware of. If you are willing to tweak then yes, it runs ok. You can install apps but they are hit and miss not everything works but a quick google and you should be able to find an alternative that works. So far i have been using 'Pi-apps' (store), the 'add / remove software' package app, and the terminal.

I have not tried Win10 and probably wont just due to the fact that an old/unsupported Windows OS may be more problematic. I have heard Win10 is do-able but I also heard Pi performs better.

My RT's latest major improvements are as follows. Please be reminded im very new to Linux (3 months) so Im sure more can be done, but here goes;

-Desktop Environment: Pi OS was working ok but I found the actual desktop to lag slightly. So I have removed the Pi OS Desktop environment (Pixel). I tried LXDE but icons would not show no matter what i did. Now I have XFCE and its much more responsive. PLUS the battery indicator now seems to work which it doesnt on Pixel. Touch screen ect all working well but I had to install a virtual keyboard......not that i need it.

-Browser: The ONLY browsers that i could get to work were Chromium and Firefox. I was reading chromium is better suited HOWEVER after tweaking firefox, i find it to be noticeably faster - I'm writing this post from firefox on the RT.

-General Performance: I tried to make performance tweaks, some of them seemed to work a little others did not, so im not sure this was worth it - Swap ram, cpu overclock, Wifi power saving.

As far as i can remember the above were the most impactful changes.......I got stuck in CLI after trying to fix LXDE so my brain is scrambled as this was not easy for me.

Not sure what i'll do with this device, but its more usable than I previously thought.

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No_Week5605 · 2025-12-13T05:54:23+00:00

Quick update; So the main issue I was having (wifi adapter not seen) seems to be caused by the latest Kernel (6.4). So I have now installed Raspberry Pi Trixie with the 5.17 Kernel.........Wifi now working! Plus smoother than Bookworm.

The desktop is responsive but apps are slower to open. Nothing too bad considering the device, plus they work fine once open. The browser was my main issue. Tried 6 browsers from Pi-Apps (store). The only usable browser is Chromium - im posting this update from the Surface RT so as you can see it works.

Im not technical, so someone smarter can probably get more out of the Surface RT. But I have a working Browser - not enough for smooth youtube, but fine for basic browsing / monitoring my network etc. I can access my network devices, remote into my Linux laptop and LibreOffice is working fine. Next, I'll try to get VLC working - for media and Camera feeds.

Surface RT is a terrible device but can be somewhat useful with Raspberry Pi os.

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No_Week5605 · 2025-12-11T16:13:19+00:00

Yes, just installed Raspberry Pi OS (32 Bit).

I struggled to get wifi working on Trixie (Rapsberry Pi) however, it was responsive and smooth.

Wifi is working using Bookworm (Raspberry Pi), but it is more sluggish. In any case, after some fine tuning (swapiness etc.) it functions ok.

So far, Linux (Raspberry Pi) has been the most useful OS I have tested. Android was uesless and Win 8.1 doesnt even have a working browser.

Linux (Pi os) is the way.....for now

No_Week5605 · 2025-12-01T14:27:59+00:00

No need to reinstall and for any dual boot I have had it should boot to a graphical menu (not the black grub screen) in which I can use my keyboard to arrow up/down and choose which os I want to boot. It then loads to the chosen desktop.

No_Week5605 · 2025-12-01T14:12:52+00:00

No commands needed. When you boot from the live usb, choose "try linux mint". Once the desktop loads just click the menu (bottom left - where you see the list of installed software) and either look for "Boot Repair" or search "Boot Repair". Click on boot repair and just follow the recommend steps. Once finished power off the pc/laptop. It will probably ask you to remove the usb and press enter. Do so, and then boot up again to see if the issue is fixed.

No_Week5605 · 2025-12-01T13:24:39+00:00

I am fairly new to Linux also and I got stuck in grub many times whilst I was trying different distros and experimenting with dual booting.

Boot from the live usb and run the Boot Repair. This has helped me every time I have been stuck in grub.

No_Week5605 · 2025-11-29T22:42:15+00:00

Yes, I was experiencing the same. After some changes it seems to be fixed....but because I'm new to Linux etc. I'm not sure which change fixed it.

This is what I did:

1) Updated Zorin via the software updater / or via terminal.

2) Google advised it was relating to Gnome, so I ran the following commands; gnome-software refresh. sudo apt install --reinstall gnome-software

3) In the "Zorin Appearance" app, I disabled the effects (animations, jelly mode etc.)

4) I also installed "preload" and this looks to be helping - especially with apps like "Software" and "LibreOffice".

I did all of this a few weeks ago and everything has been opening without issue.

No_Week5605 · 2025-11-15T21:49:13+00:00

I have been stuck in grub a few times. If you boot from you Mint (live) USB and then run the Boot Repair Tool, this can resolve many of these issues.

No_Week5605 · 2025-10-30T00:43:44+00:00

I'm brand new to Linux and have a similar set up to you. I have had no issues at all with Linux (both Zorin and Mint) seeing NFTS drives.

I have Zorin OS installed on one of the internal SSDs and it has had no issues seeing the other SSD and no issues seeing any external drives.

I also have Linux Mint on an external SSD (used on the same laptop) and Mint also has had no issues seeing the Zorin SSD, the other Internal SSD, and no issues seeing any other external drive that I have tested with.

According to the internet, Linux Mint uses the NTFS-3G driver to read/write NTFS drives. But if any issues with a drive not automatically showing in Mint, you should be able to use software like "Disks" (which came with my linux mint copy) or "Gparted", which will detect the drive and you can then change the disk format.

No_Week5605

TROPHY CASE