Bret -
Simple version. The part you see and click on in the "normal Windows" is the graphical user interface (GUI).
It lets your mouse clicks tell the software you don't directly interface with what to actually do. The real
computer operating system "guts" for Windows was DOS years ago, with the GUI as what you actually
saw.
Linux is the same thing, but there are many different GUIs (User Interfaces) out there written by different companies. So
saying "Linux" is NOT like saying "Windows", since Windows IS the GUI that you use, but Linux is in the
background and you usually would not use it directly. So the "Type/Brand" of Linux defines the GUI (or what
it will look and act like to you). So two different company's "Linux" could be pretty different, and have very
different levels of automation for installation, and very different reliability of their various tools that you will
use, like a photo viewer, a file explorer, and an internet browser. Some may use a browser you are familiar with
if you do not use the default Windows browser, Internet Explorer. maybe Chrome or Firefox internet browsers may
work, or they may have their own browser.
So - even simpler: One "Linux" will not look or work just like another "Linux" because the parts you will use
to do normal stuff will NOT be Linux, they will be whatever the Brand Name in front of Linux is. Some may
be really easy to install and use, another may not be. All Linux operating systems are NOT the same. Not like all
Windows 8.1 are identical.
Find someone you trust who has used one of them, if you can, test drive the system a bit, get on the internet,
look at some news or pictures or whatever you use it for. See if you like the way it works. If not, try a different
brand, it will be somewhat similar, but different. Most copy Windows user interface concepts to some degree.
In mechanical terms, suppose you could get a Ford tractor but with the entire driver layout set up exactly like
a Allis-Chalmers. literally looked and funcioned exaclty like a A-C If you are an A-C fan, this would be perfect.
But maybe you could get that same Ford setup with the controls from a Massey-Ferguson....if you are a Massey fan.
The tractor that is doing the work would still be a Ford, but all the controls are like something else.
The controls are the User Interface. On a computer today, with a mouse, the Graphical User Interface - the part
you interact with, but not the part that actually does stuff. The controls could be made to look like one thing, even
if the underlying tractor was something else.
Different brands of Linux are like different brands of a Ford tractor. You can get the A-C Ford or the Massey Ford,
or the John Deere Ford. All Fords underneath (for good or bad) but they will look and operate differently to the
operator.
Bill