If you’re ready to move on from Windows 11, I recommend this distro for new Linux users.

Key findings from ZDNET

• SDesk is available now for free and can be installed on any number of computers.
• SDesk is a fast and reliable Linux distribution with a user interface that everyone is instantly familiar with.
• I had some minor issues during installation that were easy to resolve.

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I wouldn’t normally suggest an Arch-based Linux distro to new users, but every now and then I come across a distro that challenges my perceptions. I recently discovered an Arch based Linux distribution called SDeskand there couldn’t be a clearer use case.

Firstly, SDesk is quite basic and doesn’t really differentiate itself from the ever-growing list of Linux distributions. Sometimes that’s good. I wasn’t sure what to expect after installing and logging into this desktop distribution, but once I did, everything immediately felt familiar.

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SDesk chooses GNOME desktopwhich is configured to resemble the “standard” desktop familiar to both Windows and MacOS users. In the interface, you will find panel, menu, top bar, favorites and desktop icons. The top bar has a Workspaces button (far left), Time/Date (which opens notifications and a calendar when clicked), and the system tray.

The list of pre-installed applications is also quite standard, including:

• LibreOffice (office suite)
• Giri (email)
• GNOME Music (music player)
• GNOME Video (video player)
• Octopi (GUI package manager)
• GNOME Maps
• Vortex (web browser)

Of course, if you don’t find the application you need, you can always install it using Octopus or Flatpack.

The only curious thing I came across was Swirl, which is not based on any of these. Chromium or Firefox. In fact, I couldn’t find any information about this web browser at all. I can tell you that Swirl is pretty minimal and has very little customization. It works fine, but I’m not ready to recommend a browser that I can’t find much information about. You can always install Chromium or Firefox from Octopi. I installed Firefox and it works quite well.

What I liked

I really like how the developers have created a GNOME layout that will appeal to the vast majority of users. It’s clean, easy and looks pretty good. It’s also useful that the distribution includes most of the tools you need (the main ones are a web browser and an office suite). However, I would advise you to install Firefox or Chromium (as I mentioned earlier).

Performance is also quite good. I found that apps responded instantly, nothing froze, and apps installed quickly. This is pretty typical for Arch-based distros, so I wasn’t surprised at all.

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There is also window snapping, which SDesk handles well. Most Linux desktops have this feature, but some limit the basic configuration to half the screen. SDesk goes even further and allows you to drag a window to any of the four quarters of the screen.

What I didn’t like

I should note that SDesk is a fairly new distro, which means it can be a little rough around the edges. Let me explain.

After the usual testing (app installation, configuration, etc.), I ran the update and rebooted the machine. After rebooting I logged in and the desktop froze. This happened after selecting the default user that appeared in the login window. I did a quick test (after a hard reboot) and clicked “Not Listed”. After entering the password, I was able to login successfully. I’m sure this is a bug that the developers will fix soon.

Also: This Linux distribution requires no installation and remembers where you left off.

Another problem was media playback. SDesk does not come standard with codecs for playing MP3 or MP4 files. Luckily, this problem could be easily solved by installing VLC media player like this:

Once I installed VLC, I could play whatever I wanted.

Bottom line

Those two caveats aside, I think SDesk is a version of Arch Linux suitable for almost any user. As with any Linux desktop OS, there really wasn’t much I could do. After installing a few simple applications, I found that SDesk can serve almost any purpose.

It is a beautiful, simple, fast and reliable OS. What more do you need from a desktop operating system? You might even prefer it to the Windows desktop. You can Download ISO for SDesk here.

Since this story was published, SDesk has released a new version, 19.1. I’ll dive deeper into this in the near future, so stay tuned to ZDNET.