What version of Kubuntu for my Dell XPS15

[GrapeJuice]

Hi guys and girls,
Just inherited a fab Dell XPS15 with touchscreen, 1TB SDD, 32GB ram and the nVidia discreet driver (onmy 950M but ok for a 2017 laptop)

Just wondering what the best version of Kubuntu to put on it and the settings neded for Secure Boot etc? I've been running Linux (in many distro forms) in my VM on a MacBook Pro for a while and havent setup a laptop windows machine for a while. I'd rather dual boot for a while as it might get sold on and will need win10 on it for that!

Thanks for the help, i've searched the threads for a similar question and didnt find too juch, so again thanks for any help.

GrapeJuice

[oshunluvr]

Well, since you posted in "New Guy" I assume...

I'd go with Kubuntu 20.04 if I were you. There shouldn't be any compatibility problems (at least as related to version). Dell sells machines with Ubuntu on them so there's rarely unsupported hardware. 20.04 is an LTS - a.k.a Long Term Support - release so you won't have to upgrade to a newer release until April 2023, thus giving you time to get to know Kubuntu.

As far a secure boot and EFI, they are supported. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UEFI/SecureBoot

[oshunluvr]

I should add touch screen support (I have one) is of limited use. I mean, it works, but not a lot of gee-whizzy stuff. Although I did boot to Win10 the other day and was frustrated trying to use the touch screen keyboard so maybe it's me.

[claydoh]

I'd add that this line has been extremely popular in recent years, depending on the exact version, there have been some available as a "developer edition" with Ubuntu as the OEM OS, so there may already be excellent support.
There are also gobs of articles and posts on the internet for this model, but again, narrowing it down the your specific version will reduce that, and hopefully point you to some useful resources.

[GrapeJuice]

Thanks everyone.. Thats exactly what I needed. I've downloaded 20.10 and thought the LTS ight have been a better choice. And yes I was unsure about the touchscreen experience - although using it on my MBP through VM, i've never had access to touch, so anything is good!

Cheers for everyone help. I knew it was a 'popular' choice for Ubuntu, but wasnt sure. Do i leave Secure Boot on or are there any other boot settings i need to worry about?

Thanks
GrapeJ

[claydoh]

You can leave secure boot on if you want, or disable it. It is up to you. I'd lean towards disabling it, to avoid the small chance of hardware being 'blocked' by it.

[jglen490]

I always disable Secure Boot. It doesn't really secure very much, except maybe Windows

I've used EFI for a few years, after keeping it at arm's length. It hurts nothing, unless you have a MB by a maker that does strange things to EFI - for "security". And it actually gives you options to manage your machine, and I definitely avoid Compatibility mode. In Linux, it does nothing for compatibility, that I've seen, and again Windows with it's insecurities (not unsecurities ) is an exception, apparently.

[GrapeJuice]

Thank everyone - wont take up any more of your time.. Great help from everyone... Much appreciated.! Stay safe

Grape

[jglen490]

We don't charge much for our time