Linux

To be honest you are in the right place already. If you take the first step and install Mint, Fedora Kinoite or something similar on the laptop, there are many people here who would be willing to offer you support for free here on Lemmy.

You won't find a lot of support IRW/IRL though as many companies are still sleep-walking in the Windows world.

You will however need to take some steps for yourself. If you're willing to get over that first hurdle, you will almost certainly find someone here to help you with any problem you have (including installation).

Just checking: are you aware that you can try Linux on your machine without installing it? You can use Balena Etcher to write a disc image (.ISO) to any flash drive (that's the one catch: you must own a flash drive), and plug it in, have the PC boot from the flash drive instead of its own internal parts, and test-drive Linux entirely in it.

Alternatively, you could run it in a virtual machine via Oracle VirtualBox, which is free, last I checked.

You said you have a Framework PC, their support pages already have a list of supported Linux distributions and install guides for them

https://frame.work/linux

Yes, you can install other Linux distributions if you like and in fact most should work fine. But since you seem to be new to everything it is probably best to stick to the Linux distributions Framework themselves offer support towards.

Beyond that may just want to contact Framework support directly since you're using their hardware.

You don’t really need a computer repair person for a Framework. It’s designed to be trivially repairable: if something breaks, buy the part from their website, unplug it, and change it yourself.

If your operating system breaks, here’s what you do:

• Put anything important on a USB drive. You should always do this anyway.

• Hit “refresh my PC” in Windows. This will reinstall Windows for you.

I’m not directly answering your question because it’s kind of unanswerable. We have no idea if there are local “computer repair people” that can work on Linux (which is what you are talking about); only you would know that based on phoning up people around you where you live. Ask them “do you guys fix Linux stuff?”

You can install Linux yourself easily, and get a system that’s basically not going to get a virus on it anyway. You can even do it and keep windows: it’s not either/or.

Sorry but this is very difficult to understand.

Are there any top alternative Computer OSs

The only other one you can put on that machine is Linux.

that have IRW computer repairpeople

No idea what this means.

This is a really hard post to parse, but literally just install mint. Look up a how to. It isn’t difficult, this isn’t rocket science, you just need a flash drive. The worst thing you can do is wipe your drive… which you’ll need to do anyway to install another OS.

You get to learn some basics of computer troubleshooting, or stick with windows, take your pick.

Any computer repair shop worth their salt can fix a computer regardless of OS. After all, 90% of computer repair is searching for stuff on the internet.

When you give a gift, just make sure it's using what you think they would most want. If they would benefit most from Linux, give them Linux. If they would benefit most from Windows, give them Windows.

There are different Linux distributions that do offer paid support, as far as the OS goes. So if you're interested in professional paid support for the OS, something like Zorin OS or Ubuntu may be an option. I've seen others recommend Linux mint, and that's my go-to for someone not familiar with Linux. It's popular and even if whatever repair shop you're taking it into isn't familiar, they can find the resources online to fix whatever problem you may have. But being totally practical, even if you dislike windows, if it's able to do what you need, and the people that you know are familiar with it, is it worth the effort to swap for you and your use case?

If you can't even click next enough to get a disto installed Linux is not for you

Some computer repair places specialize in Mac and windows, but there are many who don't have those restrictions (and they're usually more competent). You'll just need to do some searching.

You're bound to have problems no matter what OS you run, but some are more complicated and higher maintenance than others. If you want to switch to Linux then I'd recommend Linux Mint or Ubuntu usually, but maybe something like Fedora Silverblue (or any other immutable distro) if you value stability and safety; particularly for workstations. Those sorts of distros do 'atomic updates' and let you roll back easily if anything fucks up, opposed to a traditional Linux experience where you can get screwed by a partial or corrupted update.

However, while Windows is terrible, it may be better to stick with it if you just need something that works, particularly for work, or if you need to use software which might not work (or work properly) on Linux.

But if you're feeling bold, take the plunge and try something new. Just remember to keep backups of anything important and maybe keep a few installer USBs handy (maybe one for windows and one for your chosen Linux) just in case something goes wrong and you need a fresh start, or wanna run back to what you're used to.

So Linux is a collection of different software, companies and volunteers. If you think of cars Linux is basically a paper design of an engine that anyone can use for free. Then Ferrari, Toyota, ford and all the other companies build their own physical engine on top of that. Some of the companies have "dealerships" or support but they primarily cost a lot of money and cater to companies, not people. There's no Linux store the way there would be an apple or Microsoft store.

The comments here are right, in that most computer repair shops should be able to figure it out the same way you can take almost any car to almost any general mechanic. There might be some complicated issues that requires someone who's good with that specific brand, but a basic install isn't super complicated in the same way changing the oil on a car should be straightforward for all mechanics.

Since you're in a rural community you can either do it yourself, try to find another computer repair shop, or ask a friend/family member nicely in exchange for food, money, whatever (please don't assume this person wants to be your dedicated support person). Linux is great and it can be pretty straightforward if you dedicate some time to learning.

If you do it yourself or have a friend do it:

1. buy 2 flash drives that are at least 8GB
2. go to windows website and download the windows 11 media creation tool.
3. run the media creation tool, select one of your usb drives and go through the steps to create a "bootable USB for windows 11". This is your failsafe if anything goes wrong. Label the usb and put it somewhere safe.
4. find a "brand" aka distro that you like. Visit their websites and look at the pictures, themes etc. Friendly options are zorinOS, Linux Mint, and Ubuntu. Framework's website has some options and instructions.
5. follow that distros instructions or the instructions on framework's website to create a second "bootable USB". Don't use the same one you used for windows.
6. The next steps will erase everything on the framework laptop including windows 11/10. Follow your specific guide.

no but I really think this is a missed opportunity for microcenter as they are well positioned to do something like this in the us.

No?