For years, I’ve been a huge fan of Linux Mint. Clem and the team have worked tirelessly to build an operating system that is free, easy to use, and genuinely helpful for people transitioning from Windows to Linux. Much the same can be said for Zorin OS.
But I’ve been off Windows for several years now, and I no longer feel the need for a traditional, Windows-like desktop experience. Two things kept me on Mint for a long time: everything worked (OS, hardware, and accessories like printers) and Mint defaulted to the X11 (Xorg) display system. That last point mattered because it kept VirtualBox and a few other applications working smoothly.
Over time, though, I grew a bit bored with Cinnamon’s look, despite having deep respect for the Mint team and their work. I also became more aware of the privacy and security limitations of X11. So I began searching for a new main workstation OS – something more modern, without sacrificing stability.
Rethinking Corporate-Backed Linux
When I first left Windows, I wanted nothing to do with anything that resembled Big Tech. To me, “corporate” was synonymous with data harvesting, privacy invasion, corruption, and bad politics. Even Linux Mint felt like too much of a compromise, since it’s based on Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is owned by a corporation called Canonical. For a while, I ran Debian directly, then Mint’s Debian Edition (LMDE).
That line of thinking changed this year as I learned more about how GNU/Linux systems actually work—especially how security updates and bug fixes are handled.
Bugs and vulnerabilities are discovered daily on any popular operating system. Large, well-established distributions like Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL/Fedora, and Mint have teams that track these issues closely and push timely patches through their update systems.
By contrast, if you’re running a distro that’s essentially a passion project maintained by one or two people, you’re placing a lot of trust in a very small group to keep up with security issues—and to do so quickly. Even if such a distro is based on Debian or Ubuntu, patches don’t automatically flow downstream unless the maintainers actively integrate them.
That realization reshaped my priorities. I wanted a system that was stable, secure, and backed by a large, well-resourced team.
Narrowing the Field
With that in mind, my strongest contenders became Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora. All three are well-supported, widely used, and available with multiple desktop environments. They also fully support Wayland, the newer display protocol designed to replace X11.
After researching and experimenting with each one, I ultimately landed on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
Why Ubuntu 24.04 LTS?
Ubuntu 24.04 is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, meaning it receives five years of standard updates. I also signed up for Ubuntu’s free Pro tier, which extends security updates out to 2034. That’s a generously long support window – one that gives me confidence I won’t be forced into major workflow changes anytime soon.
Ubuntu ships with the GNOME desktop environment, one of the most popular desktops in the Linux ecosystem. While GNOME isn’t as endlessly customizable as KDE Plasma, it’s stable and polished. And with extensions, I can tweak it just enough to meet my needs.
LTS vs. “Latest” Releases
One major reason I chose Ubuntu 24.04 over newer, non-LTS releases (e.g., 25.10) is flexibility around display systems. Ubuntu 24.04 allows you to switch easily between Wayland and X11, which matters if you still rely on certain applications that are not compatible with Wayland.
I run Wayland by default for its security and privacy benefits, but if the need arises, I can quickly switch to X11. Being able to switch between the two in seconds gives me the best of both worlds.
Like Fedora, recent Ubuntu releases have moved fully to Wayland, which offers me less flexibility. 24.04 gives me years of security and stability – until 2034 – before that transition becomes mandatory. By the time I’m required to upgrade my OS, my needs (and technology itself!) will have significantly evolved anyway.
A More Modern Desktop Experience
From an aesthetic standpoint, Ubuntu with GNOME feels modern without trying to imitate older versions of Windows. It doesn’t feel like an updated Windows XP (as Cinnamon sometimes does to me), it runs smoothly, and it’s customizable just enough without becoming a distraction.
I spent much of the past year distro-hopping on a spare machine, looking for something that looked good, worked well, and took security seriously. Ubuntu consistently checked all three boxes.
Ubuntu Criticism and the Snap Debate
Spend any time on Reddit or Linux forums, and you’ll quickly encounter criticism of Ubuntu. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has made some missteps over the past decade, and some of that criticism is well-earned. That said, most of the serious complaints today tend to focus on past decisions rather than the current state of the OS.
The most common present-day criticism revolves around Snaps.
Snaps are a packaging system designed to make software distribution easier and more consistent across Linux systems. Some major vendors—including Microsoft—distribute certain Linux applications using Snap packages.
Snaps are criticized mainly for two reasons. First, while the Snap runtime itself is open source, the Snap Store infrastructure is proprietary, which raises concerns in parts of the Linux community. Second, Snap-based applications can take slightly longer—often half a second to a couple of seconds—to start the first time they’re launched (they’re sandboxed for security, and the sandbox takes a moment to build).
In my experience, Ubuntu’s performance with traditional (non-Snap) packages is on par with Mint and Fedora. Some Snap applications can feel a bit slower on first launch, but with my modern Intel i7 processor, the difference is minor and I rarely notice it in day-to-day use.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a fast, secure, and visually modern Linux desktop, Ubuntu is well worth trying. A large portion of Linux desktops either run Ubuntu directly or are based on it—including Mint and Zorin. That means documentation is plentiful, community support is massive, and most problems you encounter have already been solved by someone else.
For me, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS strikes the right balance between modern features, long-term stability, and practical flexibility.
You can download it and give it a try here:
https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop