I am on the verge of buying a new desktop computer with Windows 11 “Home” as the default OS. That’s no problem because as soon as i get my hands on the new machine i will completely remove the windows os and install a linux distro as of now i am undecided which distro to choose. I am leaning towards openSUSE Leap but i am afraid that this distro may just be a step to far for someone of my Linux experience. I was hoping that Its Foss may have done an introduction to this distro like they did for Fedora. Any and all help and advice is really appreciated. Thanks Hawkeye
At the risk of touching off an explosion, I’m still of the mind that Mint might be among the easiest distros for you to try. Just remember two things: you can flush it and start over any time you like; most install routines have an ‘erase disk’ option and also an ‘install beside’ option. And, two, get a large capacity USB stick (32G, maybe) and use it to back up any files you want to keep, then unplug it when you want to install a different distro.
I don’t have an openSUSE tutorial because I don’t like it. But try the search function in the upper right; you’ll find something.
Welcome, Hawkeye!
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I second @berninghausen recommendation. Easy install and you have 3 flavors of DE (desktop environment) to choose from. Cinnamon, Xfce, and Mate. If nothing else, a good learning experience.
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One of the early distros I used much was Mint running Cinnamon. It’s a pretty safe choice.
These days so is Ubuntu Gnome or Pop!_OS.
I have a recent VM running openSUSE Tubleweed. I thought it’d be interesting to play with. The only SUSE I’ve used is older and of the server variety. openSUSE is a bit different on the command line for me mostly because it doesn’t use apt or yum to update. Looks like zypper is the tool name.
I agree it’s easy enough to nuke it all and start again if you’re unhappy. As long as you have some sort of external backup, which you should have anyway.
Good luck. Have fun.
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I can’t think of any Linux that will make that machine any better that W11!!! Your
machine, your money, you better give this a little more thought.
I have both, and I’d throw the Win11 machine over the side in a heartbeat. It only serves as a game console. All my important work and files are done on my Linux machine.
Now you see both sides of the discussion, Hawkeye. Linux offers choice and Windows (and Apple) offer you none.
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So do I, but the only way Linux will touch my W11 machine, is through a VM. If @Hawkeye wants
to do this, then buy a case, mobo and necessary parts and build a Linux machine, or have
it built.
He asked for a Linux distro, not for your personal opinion and love for Win11.
I agree with the guys above trying Mint. Wonderful distro!
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Never said it wasn’t, so is W11!!!
There is an Opensuse Leap beginners guide here
https://opensuse-guide.org/
I think you should be brave and try Leap. It is always better to go with your feelings.
Just be prepared for a bit of learning.
As, Bill said, you can always wipe it and try something easier like Mint or MX.
I haven’t tried Suse for years… IT was my default goto Linux distro over 20 years agao SLES… Desktop and Server… This was after starting with Slackware, then Red Hat 5 and 6 (not RHEL, just the plain old free Red Hat Linux). I found SLES easer than both (nearly anything’s easier than Slackware, I think only Gentoo’s “harder”).
But then around 2004 I found Ubuntu… and I’ve distro hopped in the interim over that 19 years, and up till around 2012, I used to dual boot…
But I stopped dual booting, and nearly every time I distro hop, I end up back on Ubuntu… Right now I’m on Pop!_OS and really enjoying it - but it’s really kinda/sorta just some icing pasted over the top of Ubuntu (which is essentially just some filling inserted in Debian).
I reckon go for it - dive in at the deep end with OpenSUSE Leap!
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If it is really new, I’d double check wether all (or at least the most essential) hardware components have proper Linux support. According to my expereince, especially video card’s proper support can be a doubt.
I’d check if it is possible to get that machine without Windows: if you don’t plan to use it, why to pay it for?
If you get that new machine that has Windows preinstalled you already paid $140 (or whatever amount) for MS for an OEM licence, which you won’t use…
Isn’t this wastage?
Maybe you could build your own PC: get a case, a power supply, a motherboard, CPU, RAM, videocard, HDD and/or SSD, assemble it and you’ll be fine…
Such a DIY machine is way more easy to upgrade later.
That’s your feeling, if you fail with a distro, you just can go for another…
If you are a beginner, I second the recommendation for Linux MINT.
Because of my own preferences I’d recommend Mint MATE, but try XFCE and Cinnamon as well, and decide which you like better. 
If you need that machine for work, and it already has Windows preinstalled, maybe keep it for couple months… until you get really familiar with your chosen distro.
You can install Linux alongside Windows, o you can boot up Linux, experiment with it, do some work, whatever, but “just in case” there will be the possibility to boot up Windows.
Just shrink Windows main partition to a size, so that there’s enaough space on the drive to experiment with a Linux. (For this to accomplish I recommend Easeus partition master free from under windows, if you resize Windows main partition with GParted, it may get unbootable).
Later you can wipe Windows completely if you whish.
Regarding dualboot: you may think about disabling “fast boot”, or whatever it is called now in Windows. Doing so, it will be possible to mount the Windows partition on Linux, so it’ll be possible to move data around…
I do. Assuming, the hardware components have proper kernel support, almost any Linux distro* will be more frugal on resources, hence will work faster with less power consumption - I consider all this “better”.
*: Except Ubuntu with its lots of snap-installed-crap.
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I was working at a conference wednesday this week. (I’m a video-guy on such events). The main presenters laptop just got some update in the morning approx. 20 minutes before the start of the presentation. Yes, it’s still Windows 10. So there was a fullscreen popup notification that Windows 11 is very nice and he should install it.
Saying this in a top-most modal window, no option to close, or move away with alt-Tab… 
Well visible big button for start to install, but nothing like “cancel”. As he was confused, asked for help towards the nearest “technical guy” which was me.
I noticed a small note on the bottom of the screen about keeping Windows 10, and somethink which looked like a link, so seemed to be clickable… I’m a hero, nothing can get worse, so clicked that something. I temporarily won, no installation begun, but still there was at least 4 questions wether I’m sure I don’t want Win 11? At the end it reminded us it will be later still possible to install Win11, then it covered up…
If something propagates itself so violent, thinking about it “wonderful” is not the word that comes to my mind.
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On my W11 machine fast boot is disabled but if secure boot is disabled, W11 will not boot. If @Hawkeye must try Linux, then use VirtualBox, it runs well on my W10 and W11 machines. Why break a W11 machine with a Linux install when a VM is much safer and practible. If @Hawkeye cannot build a machine, then get the parts and have it built, it will be a much better machine and not filled with the garbage of an OEM install. You cannot fix what is not broken, without breaking it first.
I don’t mean a BIOS setting, but there’s a setting in Windows under energy management, switches behavior or such… (I didn’t see english version of Windows for a very long time)
By default if Windows shuts down, it doesn’t relly shut down, but gets into a half way hibernated state. In that state Windows filesystem in gracefully stopped, the filesystem is in an incosistent state, so mounting it from Linux is not possible, or at least not to RW, just RO.
Avoiding this is possible to disable this feature of Windows.
I’m not sure I recall the correct english name of that option.
Depends on performance requirements. Just trying/learning Linux, but otherwise being every day Windows addicted: VM is fine.
Trying to use fulltime Linux with native performance: VM is a really bad idea.
One step further: get the parts well-known-working with Linux, have it built, and forget Windows in the first place?
Running a Gentoo VM on this W10 laptop,as we speak, it is doing
everything I need Linux to do. As long as the machine has enough ram, a VM is fine for learning Linux.
I repeat myself: depends on performance requirements.
Your needs are not my needs, and my needs are not @Hawkeye 's needs.
Try to run Davinci Resolve on Linux in a VM.
Try to run Rawtherapee to process a bunch of NEF images in a VM.
spoiler: it won’t work.
So it depends on the performance requirements.
And again: wether running Linux natively on bare-metal, or in a VM on Windows is a good idea, depends on performance requirements expected from Linux.
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OK fair enough, do not know who @Hawkeye is, but I am sure Newegg could source the parts and I would even volunteer to build the machine, I have built two machines already this year, both were built for W11.
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Before ordering anything I volunteer to check the list of the parts, wether they are compatible (e.g. don’t order SODIMM DDR4 for a desktop motherboard, or don’t order AMD CPU into an intel motherboard, etc.)
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