I couldn't figure which board was best for posting this question, so I figured I'd get good response here.  Feel free to move if necessary.

 

I'm fed up with Windows 10 and its inability to allow me to schedule downloads (updates) during the time where I don't get charged for data use on my shitty satellite internet.  I'm not in love with Windows 10 anyway, so I'm either going to go back to their last good OS (Windows 7), or, better yet, I want to move to using Linux.  I've played a bit with Linux in the past, but things move fast, and I don't' have a good feel for what version on Linux I might want to start out with.  I'm very used to Windows, so a decent GUI is a must for me; for now.

 

I will install JRiver Media Center as my main media player/interface, and don't plan to use it for much else at first, but will eventually want to have a bit of a play to see what else I can do with Linux that I couldn't do easily last time I had a look.

 

Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions on an OS to use for my HTPC running as a VM on unRAID.

 

Thanks

Depends. My main MC is Plex and Windows Mediy Center (for TV). Plex is running on almost every OS - in my case Windows 7 64Bit

I know you stated you plan on using JRiver Media Center as your main media player/interface, but have you looked at Kodi?

 

If you haven't, for quick and easy, you could try it using the pre-existing VM template for LibreELEC/OpenELEC (Can't remember which it is). They use a small purpose-built Linux install and should have you up and running in no time...

 

If you would rather build your own install from scratch, you could either go with KodiBuntu, or even a full Ubuntu install with Kodi on top....

 

Now, after all that , to answer your original question, Ubuntu or Linux Mint are both decent (and after a quick look at the JRiver forums, both are supported). Both have similar hardware requirements, while Mint has a slightly more Windows-esque feel to it...

 

HTH!

 

[EDIT] +1 for Plex as well! Forked from XBMC (Kodi) a long time ago. Great interface, and I love how it can transcode on the fly so the same source file can be served to different devices without issue. Note with Plex (as opposed to Kodi), you need a Plex Server as well as a Plex Client machine.

I haven't looked at KODI for a while, but it lacked in database management functionality I really use JRMC for.  But, I am considering installing it to have another look.  I may just use JRMC to manage the structure and hopefully KODI can make playback easier/better in some way.

 

I assume I can just install KODI as a program or plugin in a Linux Virtual Machine install, which would allow me to install some other programs I use (MakeMKV and others).  I'm leaning towards trying Mint - Cinnamon, or Debian Jessie 64-bit.

 

I don't really want to invest too much in learning Linux just now, so ease of use is big on my wish list to get started.

I haven't looked at KODI for a while, but it lacked in database management functionality I really use JRMC for.  But, I am considering installing it to have another look.  I may just use JRMC to manage the structure and hopefully KODI can make playback easier/better in some way.

 

I assume I can just install KODI as a program or plugin in a Linux Virtual Machine install, which would allow me to install some other programs I use (MakeMKV and others).  I'm leaning towards trying Mint - Cinnamon, or Debian Jessie 64-bit.

 

I don't really want to invest too much in learning Linux just now, so ease of use is big on my wish list to get started.

 

Unfortunately, I don't believe Kodi has made any tremendous strides forward in db management. If that is a mandatory requirement, it probably won't be a good fit. I'm not familiar with JRMC so I can't comment on whether Kodi would make playback easier or better than it, but I can say that Kodi has a pretty user friendly gui...

 

If you're doing a Mint or Debian install, it would be installed just like a program. A quick browse for Kodi and VMs turns up a lot of old negative posts, but the common thread seems to be people not passing through dedicated hardware. Though I haven't tried it myself in a VM (I run Kodi in HTPCs attached to my tvs, and pull content from UnRaid), I can't see how Kodi would not work just like any other app (Again, assuming you passthrough a gpu etc). Maybe someone with direct experience in Kodi in a VM (other than than the OpenELEC template), could comment ...