Ubuntu GNOME openSUSE Fedora A straightforward installation process. The trickiest installation process. The Anaconda installer is fairly straightforward. Partitioning a drive is simple. The partitioning process is unclear. Partitioning is less obvious than with Ubuntu. A dual-boot setup is easy. Difficult to see what's happening. Delete all partitions if you want to install it to the entire disk.

Ubuntu Gnome

Ubuntu GNOME is the easiest of the three distributions to install. The steps are straightforward. Choose a language, connect to the internet, check prerequisites, partition the drive, choose a location and time zone, choose a keyboard layout, and create a user.

The partitioning can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be. If you want Ubuntu to be the only operating system, use the entire disk. To dual boot, install Ubuntu alongside an existing operating system. Dual-booting on a UEFI-based machine is relatively straightforward.

Fedora

The second-best installer is the Fedora Anaconda installer. The process isn't as linear as it is for Ubuntu. Still, the essential steps are to choose a language, set the date and time, choose a keyboard layout, choose where to install Fedora, and set the hostname. Partitioning can be as involved or as simple as you want it to be. It isn't as evident as it is with Ubuntu because you have to reclaim space. There is an option to delete all partitions if you want to install it to the entire disk. The final steps for the Anaconda installer include setting the root password and creating the main user.

openSUSE

The openSUSE installer is the trickiest to understand. It starts easily with steps to accept the license agreement and choose the time zone. It gets complicated when you must choose where to install openSUSE.

The main issue is that you are provided with the list of plans openSUSE made for partitioning the drive, and the way it's listed is too much. It makes it difficult to see what's going to happen.

Look and Feel: All Use the Same Desktop Environment