Hello anyone,
I am just starting this journey to learn and use Linux on both my Win 11 and Mac Air(M1) machines. This has been a dream for some time and I think that I am ready to make the plunge. First question, what, if any, is the best distro for Macs, I understand that there may be some issues?

I've never used a Mac so can't help much but I would suggest that you do an online search for installing Linux on a Mac while waiting for responses here if you have not done so already. Seem to be a number of sites such as the one below. Both your Mac and windows 11 should be EFI installs so you should be familiar with EFI.

https://www.hellotech.com/guide/for/...l-linux-on-mac

You might also check the site below which has a lot of information on the more popular distros of Linux with links to their respective sites.

https://distrowatch.com/

Read some articles on creating a bootable USB/DVD of a Linux iso file which you can use to install Linux after you decide which you want. I don't think that any particular Linux is easier to install or use on a Mac but as I've never done it, I really don't know. I expect you will get more posts in this thread which by the way, has a very poor title. Should have used something like installing Linux on a Mac as people who are familiar with that won't look at your thread.

You should definitely edit your post to fix the title! It needs to describe what you're asking, or many people will just skip right past it.

The Apple M1 machines are ARM-based processors, but a lot of Linux on Mac articles online are for the x86_64 architecture that previous Macs used.

The Linux kernel added support for M1 in v5.13, so any distros running on older LTS kernels will not work on that machine. (But may be fine on the Windows one.)

For example, Elementary OS is a popular MacOS-like distro, but its Distrowatch page says the current version is still on Linux 5.11 - the next Elementary version will probably be Linux 5.15, but it has yet to be released.

That's just an example - there are plenty of other distros that are on newer kernels, and which may suit you better - without knowing anything about you or your needs, nobody here can tell you which distros might be best.

A lot of people have a bad habit of recommending what they use, without considering whether it's actually a good fit for others - if someone makes a recommendation but doesn't communicate why they think it's worth you trying, maybe it isn't.

The Linux kernel only added support for the Apple M1 last year and there's still a lot of other stuff needed to run Linux safely on that processor. In the meantime, you can run a Linux version for ARM chips on it in a virtual machine:
https://www.howtogeek.com/767684/how...apple-silicon/

I think the best course is to try Linux on your Windows computer first.

There's a linked article suggesting the issue is drivers, and the Asahi Linux project has a list of what currently works on Apple Silicon Macs.

If jrandle has a 2020 MacBook Air, doesn't need audio support, and is willing to help with debugging, then it might be worth trying the Asahi Linux Alpha.


One is not limited to emulating ARM - others can be emulated too, just with less efficiency.

My son has just swapped his high-spec x86_64 mac laptop for an M1 based version (10 core).

His first reaction was disappointment. There's lack of performance in the graphics when comparing the two, less software available, etc. He's on MacOS.

EDIT: DEFINITELY edit the subject. The M1 is not new any more.

Welcome to the forum! As stated above, please edit your title so you get more responses!