Are there any that don't require you to flash onto a thumb drive?

Feel like I remember seeing one you can just install from a website

If there's multiple like this then what the best for being new user friendly, and similar to more mainstream operating systems

If I was to guess what I saw that fits the above criteria it'd be cachyOS

Ubuntu was popular with non tech people. They have been known to do some things the privacy crowd doesn't like though.

My preference is Debian (on VirtualBox)

It you are installing Linux on bare metal, can be a pain at times getting drivers and peripherals to work correctly.

I'd wonder about Steam OS, haven't tried it yet, maybe that may be even easier?

This post was edited by RedFromWinter on Feb 23 2026 10:12am

Well the one that I saw being installed on a video recently was cachyOS but it does require flashing to a thumb drive

Guess I'm going to have to go buy a thumb drive whatever distro I pick (which i was trying to avoid)

Thanks for the suggestions any way

netboot.xyz . Boot to it directly from uefi and then from there you can install any distro you like and not worry about usb drives or anything

CachyOS is a great rolling Arch-based distro, it is my main OS for the last couple years and also installed on my Steam Deck.

Linux Mint is a great linux starter or for super low-end systems as well. It's my recommendation for those unfamiliar with the Linux environment.

Is there any particular reason you don't like the thumb drive installation method?

laziness really, I don't mind how I install it but I got into my head there was one you download from a site like a new browser or something

also for more context the device is an Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15IML05

Try out the live environments before installation of whichever OS you decide to make sure all necessary functions work (wifi, Bluetooth, touchpad etc).

alright, thanks for the advice

Also try Arch. The AUR (Arch User Repository) is great and they have an amazing wiki.

alright I'll make a note of that and check it out thanks man