Our verdict

Kubuntu is Ubuntu with the KDE Plasma desktop instead of GNOME, and for a Windows user that swap matters more than anything under the bonnet. There is a menu button in the bottom left corner, a taskbar with your open windows, and a tray with the clock and volume in the bottom right.

Plasma's other trait is that it lets you change almost everything. That is a pleasure if you enjoy fiddling and a hazard if you do not, because it is possible to rearrange your desktop into something confusing in an afternoon. Linux Mint is the steadier choice for someone who wants to set it once and forget it.

Kubuntu 26.04 LTS is supported until April 2029. The project does not publish its own hardware figures, so use Ubuntu's for the same base: a 2 GHz dual core processor, 6 GB of memory and 25 GB of free disk space. Plasma is also the desktop Valve ships on the Steam Deck, which is part of why games tend to behave well on it.

Best for: People who liked Windows 10, Tinkerers, Gaming PCs.

What's good

Start menu, taskbar and system tray in the usual places
Nearly everything on screen can be changed without extra software
Ubuntu underneath, so most Linux instructions online apply directly
KDE Plasma is the desktop Valve uses on the Steam Deck, so games are well tested on it

What to know first

So many settings that it is easy to break the look and not know how to undo it
Supported until April 2029, which is three years rather than Ubuntu's headline five
Occasional rough edges after big Plasma updates

The details

Memory (RAM) needed

6 GB minimum, 8 GB comfortable

Disk space needed

25 GB

Desktop look

KDE Plasma

Updates

A new version every so often, stable in between

Supported for

3 years per version

Built on

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS