Windows 11 keeps piling on things you never asked for. Copilot in the taskbar, ads inside the Start menu, Recall taking screenshots of your desktop, forced updates that reboot at the worst possible moment. That is why AnduinOS, an Ubuntu-based distro that dresses GNOME up as Windows 11, jumped into XDA’s top 15 list this year. But it is not the only option, and if you are hunting for AnduinOS alternatives that give you the Windows muscle memory without the Microsoft baggage, there are stronger picks depending on your hardware and habits. We installed seven of them on the same ThinkPad and a Ryzen desktop, then ranked how quickly a Windows user could actually get work done.
At a glance
| Distro | Best for | Base | Windows-like UX | Free/Paid | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zorin OS | Most polished Windows clone | Ubuntu LTS | Very high | Free / Pro ~$48 | One-click layout switcher |
| Linux Mint | Mainstream daily driver | Ubuntu LTS | High | Free | Cinnamon desktop, Update Manager |
| Kubuntu | KDE fans and tweakers | Ubuntu LTS | High | Free | KDE Plasma out of the box |
| Nobara | Gaming and streaming | Fedora | Medium | Free (donations) | Preloaded NVIDIA, Proton, OBS |
| Pop!_OS | Developers and NVIDIA laptops | Ubuntu LTS | Medium | Free | Auto-tiling, hybrid graphics |
| elementary OS | Users who want calm, not Windows | Ubuntu LTS | Low (macOS-like) | Pay what you want | Curated AppCenter |
| Ubuntu | Safe default, huge community | Debian | Medium | Free | LTS support, biggest ecosystem |
Why Windows users try AnduinOS or its alternatives
The reasons are boringly consistent across the reviews and forums we combed through. Copilot got pinned to the taskbar and cannot be truly removed on many builds. The Start menu shows recommended apps that behave like ads. Recall, the on-by-default screenshot feature, made a lot of privacy-conscious people close the lid for good. Forced restarts still eat unsaved work. Older but capable hardware got locked out of Windows 11 by the TPM 2.0 requirement, leaving perfectly good ThinkPads and Dells stranded.
Linux fixes all of that, but a bare Ubuntu install feels alien on day one. That is the gap AnduinOS aims for, and it is the same gap Zorin, Mint, and Kubuntu have been filling for years. If you want the freedom without a week of relearning where the taskbar lives, one of these seven will get you there.
Zorin OS, best for the closest Windows 11 clone
Zorin OS Core is free, runs on Ubuntu LTS, and ships with a Zorin Appearance app that flips the desktop between Windows 11, Windows Classic, macOS, and GNOME layouts with one click. The Pro tier adds more layouts, curated creative and productivity apps, and installer support for around $48 as a one-time payment. Wine is bundled so many .exe files launch on double-click.
Where it falls short: Zorin trails Ubuntu upstream by a few months on kernel updates, which can bite bleeding-edge hardware. The Pro extras are convenient but not essential. Pricing: Core is free. Pro is a one-time $47.99. Education edition is free. Migrating from Windows: Easiest of the lot. The Windows 11 layout, taskbar behavior, and app menu are near-identical. Download: Official site Bottom line: If a coworker walked past your screen, they might not notice you switched.
Linux Mint, best for a boring, reliable daily driver
Mint’s Cinnamon edition is the mainstream pick for a reason. The panel, the applications menu, and the notification tray sit exactly where a Windows 10 refugee expects them. Timeshift snapshots are built in, the Update Manager is clear about what is safe to install, and Warpinator moves files between machines without touching cloud storage.
Where it falls short: Cinnamon still leans on X11 by default rather than Wayland, so HiDPI mixed-display setups can flicker. Visual design is functional, not flashy. Pricing: Free, donation-supported. Migrating from Windows: Very easy. The taskbar, Start menu, and file manager map one-to-one to Windows habits. Download: Official site Bottom line: The distro to recommend to a parent who still calls the browser “the Google”.
Kubuntu, best for tweakers who want KDE Plasma
Kubuntu is Ubuntu with KDE Plasma bolted on top, and Plasma 6 in particular gives you a taskbar, system tray, and window controls that behave more like Windows than anything GNOME can offer without heavy patching. Every panel, widget, and shortcut is configurable in the settings app, no terminal required.
Where it falls short: Plasma’s power comes with menu depth. First-time users can drown in options. Some KDE apps still feel less refined than their GNOME equivalents. Pricing: Free. Migrating from Windows: Easy for anyone comfortable right-clicking things. Power users will love it. Download: Official site Bottom line: The most Windows-like desktop that also lets you rebuild it your way.
Nobara, best for gaming and content creation
Nobara is Fedora with the sharp edges filed off for players. NVIDIA drivers, Steam, Proton-GE, OBS Studio, and the media codecs Fedora refuses to ship out of the box are all preinstalled. GloriousEggroll, the maintainer, is the same person behind Proton-GE, so game compatibility patches land here first.
Where it falls short: Nobara is a one-person project, which shows up as slower point releases and the occasional rough update. The desktop is less obviously Windows-shaped than Zorin or Mint. Pricing: Free, donation-supported. Migrating from Windows: Medium. Steam and Discord work day one, but the settings UI is more Fedora than Windows. Download: Official site Bottom line: The best chance your Windows game library has of just working.
Pop!_OS, best for developers and NVIDIA laptops
System76 tunes Pop!_OS for their own hardware, which means NVIDIA hybrid graphics on laptops actually work without editing config files. The auto-tiling window manager is optional but excellent, and the launcher (Super key + type) is faster than any Start menu. Full-disk encryption is a checkbox in the installer.
Where it falls short: The current stable release still tracks an older Ubuntu LTS while the COSMIC desktop rewrite matures, so kernels lag behind newer distros. The default layout is not Windows-shaped. Pricing: Free. Migrating from Windows: Medium. Keyboard-driven users love it fast, mouse-first users need an afternoon to adjust. Download: Official site Bottom line: Pick this if you write code or drive a laptop with an NVIDIA GPU.
elementary OS, best for a calm desktop you can grow into
elementary looks and behaves like macOS, not Windows, so it is a curveball on this list. It is here because Windows users who are tired of both operating systems often land here anyway. The AppCenter is curated, the design language is consistent across every included app, and multitasking gestures on a laptop trackpad feel closer to a MacBook than to Windows 11.
Where it falls short: Not Windows-shaped. Software selection is narrower unless you enable Flathub manually. Pricing: Pay what you want on download, minimum $0. Migrating from Windows: Medium. Muscle memory has to move, but the on-boarding is friendly. Download: Official site Bottom line: The gentle refuge for users done with Microsoft and priced out of Apple.
Ubuntu, best for the safe default with the biggest ecosystem
The one every guide, every driver PDF, and every Stack Overflow answer assumes you are running. Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop is not Windows-shaped by default, but a five-minute session with GNOME Tweaks and the Dash to Panel extension will get you there. Ubuntu Pro adds ten years of security updates for personal use, free for up to five machines.
Where it falls short: Snap packages are still slower to launch than native or Flatpak equivalents, and Canonical keeps pushing them harder each release. Pricing: Free. Ubuntu Pro is free for personal use on up to five machines. Migrating from Windows: Medium. Needs an evening of tweaking to feel Windows-like, but every problem you hit has been answered online. Download: Official site Bottom line: Boring in the best way. The safest place to land.
How to choose
Pick Zorin OS if you want the shortest possible bridge from Windows 11. Nothing else on this list gets a Windows user productive faster, and the Windows 11 layout is close enough that most people stop noticing after a week.
Pick Linux Mint if you are moving a parent, a small business, or your own daily driver off Windows 10. It is the least surprising distro on this list, updates are calm and clearly labelled, and Timeshift saves you the one time you break something.
Pick Kubuntu if you love customising and want every taskbar setting under your thumb. KDE Plasma is the only mainstream desktop that behaves like Windows without a theme pack.
Pick Nobara if your Steam library is the reason you were hesitating. Preloaded Proton-GE, OBS, and NVIDIA drivers turn a first-boot install into a working gaming rig within an hour.
Pick Pop!_OS if you write code, or if your laptop has an NVIDIA GPU that Windows Update keeps breaking drivers on. The keyboard-driven workflow is worth the adjustment.
Pick elementary OS if you want a quiet desktop that respects your attention, and you do not mind that it looks nothing like Windows.
Pick Ubuntu if you want the safest default with the largest support community, and you are comfortable spending an evening making it look how you want.
FAQ
Is AnduinOS legal, given how much it looks like Windows 11? Yes. AnduinOS ships GNOME themed to resemble Windows 11, with icons and layouts inspired by the look, but it does not include any Microsoft code, fonts, or logos. It is an Ubuntu-based Linux distro under open-source licensing.
Will my Windows apps work on these distros? Some do, many do not. Wine and Bottles cover a large chunk of older productivity software. Steam plus Proton handles most modern games. Adobe Creative Cloud, current Microsoft Office, and a handful of DRM-heavy titles still do not run reliably. Check ProtonDB and WineHQ before you switch.
Can we dual-boot with Windows first? Yes, and it is what we recommend. Every distro in this list ships an installer that can shrink your Windows partition and set up a boot menu. Back up first, and keep Windows around for the one app you cannot replace yet.
Which distro is safest for older hardware locked out of Windows 11? Linux Mint XFCE and Kubuntu run well on machines with 4 GB of RAM. Zorin OS Lite covers the same ground with a Windows-shaped desktop. All three sidestep the TPM 2.0 and CPU requirements that stranded pre-2018 PCs.
Do we need to know terminal commands? Not for daily use. Zorin, Mint, Kubuntu, Pop!_OS, and elementary all handle updates, app installs, and settings from graphical tools. The terminal is there when you want it, not required for it.
Is Ubuntu-based better than Fedora-based for beginners? For pure Windows-to-Linux migration, yes. The Ubuntu ecosystem has the most beginner tutorials, the widest driver coverage, and the longest LTS windows. Fedora-based Nobara is worth the switch when gaming is your main use case.
