I have been using windows since version 95. I even liked the Millennium version, that was most hated before Vista. I tried Linux several times, but Windows just always worked and Linux usually had always some issues(mostly drivers, lack of good programs and no gaming).
But now, after more than two decades, I am certain Windows 10 is my last Windows.
Nothing lasts for ever, not even Microsoft's domination on personal computers. It took them decades, but now they finally f'd up so bad that there is just no going back.
I think, like many people, it will take me few years to need to reinstall my computer(or get a new one). So I will still be a Windows user and that will skew the numbers for upcoming years. But I think that also means that in 1-5 years, Microsoft will see a massive double digit percentage drop of users, almost over night, and nobody will have a clue what is going on.
By then, I bet the distributions will be even better. The gaming will be event better. The drivers will be even better. The saturation will be even better. So the transition will be even more seamless than it is today.
I am looking forward to it. I think Linux, or open source and free OS, should have been the norm. But we took a bad turn in the past and got hijacked by few smart people. That will come to a natural end, finally.
I could but I do not need to, so i'd rather make better use of the time it would take me to move at this time.
Biggest pain point actually are not programs, but the need to format all hard drives to some linux file system. I cannot just replace windows with linux and that is it. No, I have to migrate all my data somehow to reformat all my drives and then move the data back. That was always huge pain in the ass.
needs vs wants. it's as simple as that. i do not need to and i do not want to - at this time. when one or the other changes, then i'll make the switch. it's as simple as that. i know it is coming, it is not about avoiding it or being undecided. it's merely about the timing of the change, nothing more. i know for a fact W11 is not in my future.
+1, switched to Bazzite about three weeks ago. I did have to dualboot a Windows after a couple of days, unfortunately. Mostly related to Anti-Cheat and other shitty measures. Dark Souls II did not want to recognize my Controller, even though it works fine in every other game. Skate can't be played on Linux because of Anti-Cheat, but fuck EA anyways. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Dishonored 2 and Death to the Outsider and Bioshock worked fine. Did have to tinker with the graphics settings a bit and the experience is definitely buggier than on Windows, but the huge upside is that I don't have to use Windows anymore, or at least just as a fallback-option. I know care 0 about the Windows, it's on a separate SSD, haven't even set a Wallpaper or other things, which is rare for me.
I've been gaming on Linux for about a decade, it has improved massively since Proton, and I'm at the point where I'm able to play Helldivers 2 with its anti-cheat with my buddies and get great performance (the game's performance/bug issues aside).
I tried Bazzite for a while on my desktop, it's fantastic for gaming, but I'm also a dev and a Linux user since I was a teen (almost all of the years of Linux) so I found it a little limiting for my other PC related stuff (I typically prefer to run Arch and Arch based distros on my machines).
For anyone with a computer dedicated to gaming I'd recommend Bazzite, I still run it on my ROG Ally since the moment I took it out of the box; I bought it _because_ Bazzite existed, never even considered booting Windows. It's a great distro tuned for gaming, and comes with some features like VRR and HDR that aren't as easily available on other distros (I've been able to get HDR on Arch/Gnome but not VRR).
It's hard for someone who relies on Windows software to be entirely rid of Windows, which is why I don't tell people they should switch to Linux, but it's not impossible if you really want to, unless you rely on a piece of software that just won't run under WINE or doesn't have an alternative.
For me, I grew up with Linux alongside Windows, went into a career that uses and targets Linux exclusively (backend SE) and for my computer based hobbies; gaming, coding, 3D printing/modelling they're served very well these days, and constantly improving.
for me Bazzite is perfect, as my Home-PC really is 99% used for gaming. every couple of years i want to edit a video, guess i'll need to search for another software, or just install Davinci Resolve on the dualbooted Windows :D
don't have as much Proton experience as you, but i also feel like it's gotten way better compared to 4-5 years ago when i first tried it.
i'm always very mindful when suggesting people to use Linux, as like you i work with Linux daily, so of course i'm going to have less trouble using it compared to Joe Schmoe who exclusively uses Windows and never installed an OS himself. but for people who aren't afraid of tinkering a bit, sure.
now at the point where i'm considering switching to AMD from NVIDIA, just because it seems way better for Linux.
> every couple of years i want to edit a video, guess I'll need to search for another software
There's a few video editing tools on Linux, I believe Kdenlive[0] is popular, I don't really have any experience with them beyond very basic editing of family videos.
> but for people who aren't afraid of tinkering a bit, sure
My daughter who's now 6yo has only ever used Linux (Arch no less; yikes) and until someone in the educational system tries to make her use Windows, there's really no need she'll have to. She's a little too young for a conversation about "software freedoms" at the moment, but she can play Minecraft on my laptop just fine, once she's interested in branching out I'll find (or recommend) other tools for her.
> now at the point where I'm considering switching to AMD from NVIDIA
That's been on my mind for a while now too, I jumped back to AMD for CPUs when they got back in the game, my XPS laptop is the only Intel device I still have.
The only the holding me off AMD for GPUs is the performance, they're just not competing in the top end with Nvidia, once they have something I'm happy will perform I'll jump ship there too!
went through this process a couple of times. Kdenlive, Openshot, Shotcut. Sadly never found one i really like. problem for me is that i edit videos once every 2 years on average, so i never get to develop muscle-memory for these indie-linux-tools. with Davinci there's at least a ton of resources online to help me. i think i liked Kdenlive the most, but i also vaguely remember being really annoyed by the workflow and lack of a bit more advanced things. but as with proton, i should probably not loose hope and just try again the next time i "need" a video editing tool.
> My daughter who's now 6yo has only ever used Linux
that's really cute, glad that you're enabling these skills for her :)
> they're just not competing in the top end with Nvidia
i have the advantage of being a power-gamer but at the same time being concious of what i really need, so i'm sure a flagship AMD card will be more than enough for me. i of course don't care about ML and other use-cases, so get that it's not an option for everyone.
> Dark Souls II did not want to recognize my Controller
I ran into that problem on DS2 also. It seems that game picks the first input device it finds, so I was able to force it to use the controller by unplugging my keyboard (or maybe it was the mouse? It was one of those).
i remember reading this tip on the steam community or reddit or wherever, unfortunately didn't work for me. i started Steam Big Picture Mode, unplugged mouse and keyboard, started the game with only the controller connected and it still didn't recognize it, no idea what went wrong. thinking about it now it maybe interpreted my DAC as an input device or whatever.
in the end i didn't care that much, as i only installed DS2 because my SO was playing it. apparently she didn't like the game anyways, so i just uninstalled it and that was it :D
As far as I know almost all (if not all) anti cheat software just does not work on linux therefore "gaming on linux has been awesome for years" is not true if you play games online or competitive.
> This is simply not true. Most anti-cheat software does work on linux, but many games choose not to allow linux.
Iam not sure if I care whether the AC software does work (theoretically) on linux. Most of the games with AC cannot be played on linux. (You can see this on the graphic you linked).
I tried it long enough. I played MTG Arena with lutris and every patch day was a frickle.
I don't even play FPS games seriously, let alone competitively, but many of the games I play don't run on Linux. It's that simple.
I've been using Linux daily for 25 years, but I have a dual boot with Windows. A week ago, I taught my NixOS to boot with secure boot because the new Battlefield requires it—and other games will follow.
Don't get me wrong, gaming on linux still has many sharp edges and anti-cheat is definitely one of them. I just felt "almost all (if not all) games" was misleading, and some 40% of the games with anti-cheat are indeed playable on linux.
Yeah, totally understand it isn't that simple but that's also my point. "Game has anti-cheat so it doesn't work on linux" is an oversimplification and people should check the specific games they're interested in. They could very well work if the developer allows it.
Stop daydreaming and just make the jump. The possibility of things being different down the road, and the fantasy you acting on it properly just serves to make you feel better, without needing actual action, or commitment on your part. Do something now, and get a taste of the real thing.
My way of switching over was to set up my system as a dual-boot, and then to set up my Linux in a way that enabled as much of my needs as possible. I got overwhelmed at first multiple times, but realized later that I'm just resistant to change. After a few tries, it stuck, and instead of feeling overwhelmed with change, I felt relief that I don't have to deal with Windows, and all the corporate bullshit that comes with it. Instead I have the vibrant culture of free software, and all the bullshit that comes with that, hehe. And I take that anytime over the former.
I'm also using KDE btw. I think it's by far the best DE, for me anyways. Fun fact, Valve's Steam Deck also uses it.
I switched to Ubuntu 3 years ago and never looked back for a daily driver.
The reason Windows (and Microsoft itself) is not 6' deep yet is a relatively small number of commercial creative software like DAWs, graphics suits and CAD modellers. Yes, there's a huge amount of legacy software in CAM, plant control and whatnot, but that can run alright on all those Windows XP and 7 machines like forever.
All major software vendors who think that Windows has too much inertial following and that its users will embrace whatever fascist surveillance machine their computers become under this abomination of OS, and refuse to port their products to Linux, will be in trouble soon.
Out of all DAW developers, only Bitwig got this trend right yet.
I have used linux for 10 years now but I think you just have to view a mac mini as the cost of a hardware synth or a guitar. Then all your problems are solved.
At this point, I need a nice gpu on a linux machine and a mac mini. It is a dream setup. I think I booted windows once on my most recent laptop because I messed up booting from the thumb drive to blow it away.
Reaper runs incredible on linux for DAW software but you always run into something that is not available with creative software. Then it is really nice keeping the mac only for creative pursuits.
> The reason Windows (and Microsoft itself) is not 6' deep yet is a relatively small number of commercial creative software like DAWs, graphics suits and CAD modellers.
Google is likely actively working towards a future where all of those programs run on a browser.
Annoyingly, Ableton Push 3 Standalone runs on Linux. This means that Ableton have a working Linux version of, at least the core, of Ableton Live working on Linux. I sincerely hope they release a true Linux version soon. It's the last thing tying me to Windows.
I'd put Linux on a second machine and start learning. Forcing yourself to use it for a few days a week, etc.
Needs to become a habit. Need to find solutions to all the expected issues. Can use an old machine if you need.
You don't want the migration to be harder than it should be, and doing everything at once is way too hard.
But on WinME that was complete trash.. Never has an is crashed so much on me... I went to Win2k after that ... Win2k was the last windows I ran in a PC and was IMO peak windows.
Haha, true. But not from my experience. Not sure why. Either i just ignored any issues and simply don't remember them or i got lucky with hardware and drivers? Who knows. Either way, I never had issues with Windows. For me, it just always worked. Even now, I am on W10 and after i ripped out all the guts of the Defender out of the system, I'm quite happy with it. I have a TinyWall firewall so there are no background updates or any traffic without me knowing. I am in mostly full control and have no issues.
i'll be looking at fedora kde, cachy os, arch, maybe omarchy. either way i am definitely going for KDE. i always run ubuntu servers, but i tested few distros this year, i was mostly looking at fedora and suse, which are not rpm distros, but i was not happy, still, with some things. so i will have to do proper testing when time comes. i see fedora as "big" distro with good backing. arch as configurable distro. cachy supposedly has good performance tweaks in kernel and is good for gaming(whatever that means). and so on. each has its own ups and downs.
But now, after more than two decades, I am certain Windows 10 is my last Windows.
Nothing lasts for ever, not even Microsoft's domination on personal computers. It took them decades, but now they finally f'd up so bad that there is just no going back.
I think, like many people, it will take me few years to need to reinstall my computer(or get a new one). So I will still be a Windows user and that will skew the numbers for upcoming years. But I think that also means that in 1-5 years, Microsoft will see a massive double digit percentage drop of users, almost over night, and nobody will have a clue what is going on.
By then, I bet the distributions will be even better. The gaming will be event better. The drivers will be even better. The saturation will be even better. So the transition will be even more seamless than it is today.
I am looking forward to it. I think Linux, or open source and free OS, should have been the norm. But we took a bad turn in the past and got hijacked by few smart people. That will come to a natural end, finally.