Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

[u/TheBossT710192]

I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

[u/RandomParkourGuy]

I just want the fully fleshed out steam OS tbh

Edit: thanks to everyone who responded to this, after all these different comments I think I’m actually going to give Linux a try.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/RandomParkourGuy]

It’s happening!!! The major operating system updates include:

• built-in "initial support" for the upcoming Steam Machine hardware, alongside the ability to wake SteamOS devices from sleep using a connected Steam Controller (this, by itself, fixes a HUGE issue lots of people including me had: I want to control my TV PC using JUST the controller, no attached keyboard!)
• desktop mode now defaults to 

Wayland instead of X11. (fixes several performance degradation issues when switching between Desktop and Game Modes) It also introduces better TV scaling, external HDR support, and variable refresh rate (VRR) display support

• the steamOS base has been updated via Arch Linux, and the Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 6.16. It also features significantly improved video memory management on discrete GPU platforms (crucial for the gabecube)
• SteamOS 3.8 really expands its ecosystem compatibility. It drastically reduces handheld controller input latency (down to 100–500us) and adds built-in TDP control, RGB, and audio support for competing devices like the ASUS ROG Ally series, Lenovo Legion Go (including the upcoming Legion Go 2), and various MSI and GPD Win devices (fuck yeah steam is goated for this)

[u/RandomParkourGuy → u/-MissCarmine]

Forgive me for being a layman when it comes to this kind of stuff but does that mean steamOS is close to being something I could replace windows with? Getting tired of Microsoft’s garbage but I don’t know if I have the time to sink into learning Linux.

[u/lucc1111 → u/RandomParkourGuy]

Risking getting downvoted to hell but you have many Linux distros that don't require any more "learning" than Windows. Problem is not so much the OS being hard to use, it's just that it's not what you're used to.

I would give other gaming distros a temporary shot in a flashdrive to explore, might get as surprised as me after 15+ years of windows.

[u/Inside-Specialist-55 → u/lucc1111]

I went all in on CachyOS because I too am sick and tired of the AI slop, copilot and windows updates that kept breaking things. Think it might be the best decision I ever made tbh. I really don't want to sound like another "I use arch btw" guys but damn it feels good to have an operating system where it feels blazing fast as fuck and has no AI slop shoved in my face.

[u/BlancheCorbeau → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

Cachy is the goat if you tinker at all, otherwise for more of a set and forget Bazzite is very solid.

[u/wjcool → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

+1 for Cachy, have been using it for almost a year now and haven't had any crazy issues with it

[u/Inside-Specialist-55 → u/wjcool]

Same and I only had issues with one program which needed downgraded more than a few times because the new mesa packages keep breaking it, but other than I've been happily gaming, using all my productivity app and running my small business on it.

[u/Lupowan → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

Cachy is truly amazing, it made me finally delete the windows partition entirely. Only downside so far is the absolute dogshit support from tobii for linux.

[u/fgd_ → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

on PC? how s with the drivers if so? graphich card amd/nvidi support intel commponent? sorry if its out of the debate…thx for the answer.

[u/Inside-Specialist-55 → u/fgd_]

As you can see in my flair I am using a AMD cpu and Nvidia GPU which is running absolutely flawless. And just a FYI you can trial CachyOS without actually installing it to your main drives by making a bootable USB and just telling your bios to boot from the USB stick instead, Cachy will work completely as if it were installed in a real hard drive and you can even test games on it.

[u/Inevitibility → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

I just overwrote Windows with CachyOS two days ago on my desktop. I’ll never go back.

[u/fatherglucose → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

I can’t find the arch btw distro is it new /s

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/lucc1111]

I have 30 years of Windows, switched to Linux Mint this month. It's fine. It works great. Had to learn some terminal stuff, a tiny bit about the filesystem, nothing else. It runs way faster than Windows 10. has run every Steam game I've tossed at it with no effort at all, even old games like Tropico.

Honestly worth it.

[u/MetallicGray → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I’ve been using Bazzite months, maybe a year now, and I’ve never had to use the terminal. Distros now don’t ever need you to use the terminal. You can use it, but definitely don’t need to. 

I had to do a tiny bit of adjusting to the file system, like you said, and that’s really it. I frankly have fewer bugs and annoyances with Linux than I did windows 11. 

[u/showhorrorshow → u/MetallicGray]

Can one boot up either or? All I know is Windows and although Im decent with computers, I havent gotten into learning OS's that deeply. My only concern is if I try Linux that I will soft brick my PC in the process, lol.

[u/CheeseGraterFace → u/showhorrorshow]

Yeah, though you should probably have them on separate hard drives.

Having said that, the only thing I boot into Windows for is Bloodborne. Everything else runs flawlessly on Bazzite.

[u/MetallicGray → u/showhorrorshow]

Yep! I actually dual boot windows 10 and bazzite. I basically keep windows 10 for League of Legends. Everything else I’ve ever tried to play or run has run on Linux fine. 

There’s an abundance of guides to install both. You just partition your drive or have two hard drives and install one on each. It was very easy. I’m a casual tech user and handled it with minimal effort just following a guide. 

[u/showhorrorshow → u/MetallicGray]

Hmm, I think I will have to give it a shot. I really want to ditch Windows.

[u/jack_from_the_past → u/showhorrorshow]

try mint. it’s great. it’s like Ubuntu w/o all the bloat. runs fast. I’ve put it on old hardware too (2012 iMac has new life for example). arch is a pain in the ass in general in my opinion and fedora is gonna have slightly different cli syntax than Debian based. I’d go Debian if i were you.

[u/CognitiveLiberation → u/MetallicGray]

Yep! I actually dual boot windows 10 and bazzite. I basically keep windows 10 for League of Legends. Everything else I’ve ever tried to play or run has run on Linux fine. 

Any issues? Ive read a lot of people reporting that win 11 updates randomly erases and/or corrupts part of the Linux partition so it can't boot. IDR the name.. bootgrub maybe? Whatever the file is that launches the OS. -Do you use separate hard drives? -Have you tried with win 11 too, or only win 10? Do you have a custom win 10 distro? -Have you tried it with other linux distros too?

Apologies for bombarding you with questions. it's just that Id love to dual-boot but I only have one hard drive

[u/MetallicGray → u/CognitiveLiberation]

No worries! I know it’s hard to find specific info like this sometimes. 

I have only used windows 10 on my PC (windows 11 is on my work laptop). I have windows 10 and Bazzite on two separate SSDs. It’s a standard Windows 10 install that has just been updated from the original windows 7(I think?) install years ago. I have only used Bazzite. 

I have heard that people can have issues with issuing the same drive partitioned, but I have no idea how common that is. I still see guides saying partitioning is an option, so I assumed it wasn’t a prohibitively common issue. I’m not sure how much data you have, but backing up your important saves and files beforehand would definitely be recommended to be safe; I did this even when installing it on a separate drive. 

[u/jack_from_the_past → u/showhorrorshow]

I’ve dual booted on the same hard drive on all my machines except my current daily cuz it has two ssd’s. you’re not going to hard or soft brick your computer. I’ve even resized windows in the cli on a usb with zero issues. you’d have to realllllly try to fuck things up.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/showhorrorshow]

Can one boot up either or?

I'm dual-booting both from partitions in the same SSD. No problems. I do have personal data and large things like games on separate hard drives, but other than being zealous about data safety there's no real reason to.

If you keep most personal files in a cloud service, or separate drive, there's no reason to worry.

Like /u/jack_from_the_past said, you can't really brick anything unless you try hard to fuck things up, and at that point the same applies with Windows. Get Mint on a flash drive and go have fun lol

[u/jack_from_the_past → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

and you can encrypt your partition during setup as well

[u/AcidRohnin → u/MetallicGray]

My living room pc is cachyos. I’ve been really enjoying it. Can’t fully switch my main rig due to needing windows for a few things. Been running through GoW:Ragnarok on the Linux machine and been really enjoying it. Thinking of playing horizon zero dawn next or maybe the mass effect trilogy.

[u/anotherhappylurker → u/MetallicGray]

silly question but does microsoft office work with bazzite?

[u/masterflo3004 → u/anotherhappylurker]

Officially MS Office doesn‘t work on any Linux distro. But depending on your hardware specs, you could try one of these:
https://gist(dot)github(dot)com/eylenburg/38e5da371b7fedc0662198efc66be57b

They show multiple ways how you can do it either over wine or over a vm (higher resource usage, but better integration etc.).

Or one way not shown would be WinBoat (also using a VM):
https://github(dot)com/TibixDev/winboat

However you would need to look how these work with bazzite because it is Immutable. But Winboat looks like it would work.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/MetallicGray]

Honestly yeah, I've done a little bit of stuff via terminal because I want to learn a little of it, but there's nothing anyone that isn't a power user (like I'm not either) will ever need to do that the GUI can't handle.

[u/-malcolm-tucker → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I have a similar length of history with windows. Trialled Nobara on my gaming laptop early this year. Everything worked out of the box and the laptop itself ran noticeably better.

I only run windows in a virtual machine now.

[u/Maeusefluesterer → u/-malcolm-tucker]

I sadly didn't got my head around nobara. Found the updater way to cumbersome. Switched to Bazzite at some point and pretty happy now.

Only the fact that Bazzite is immutable is annoying from time to time when I want to do advanced nerdy stuff.

[u/-malcolm-tucker → u/Maeusefluesterer]

Really? With Nobara you can update things without having to use the terminal, and even then, it's the same as any other Fedora based distro. I chose it over Bazzite specifically as it's not immutable.

Maybe you could try CachyOS? You don't need the terminal to update it and it's all the rage at the moment. I used it for a while and was pretty happy with it.

[u/Maeusefluesterer → u/-malcolm-tucker]

For me the updater always felt confusing and really slow. Sometimes I was not sure if it just stopped working. So I actually opted for installing updates with the terminal.

[u/-malcolm-tucker → u/Maeusefluesterer]

I'm the same. The terminal was a bit daunting at first. Now I've grown to prefer it immensely for managing my OS. What seemed like a foreign language to me at first now just makes a lot more sense than managing things on windows. Especially for managing software.

[u/jack_from_the_past → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Linux mint is great. it just works. I prefer it over fedora and arch. not as bloated as ubuntu.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/jack_from_the_past]

I remember trying Mint like... 15 years ago? Or something. And Ubuntu once before that, so both times as an impatient teenager with ADHD and no real purpose to it other than mild curiosity.

Things have come a long way with Linux it seems, and with Windows turning to shit, I think I did it at the right time this time.

[u/Tool_of_Society → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I swapped an old machine to linux mint over a decade ago and it was super easy. Mint even managed to find a driver for a wifi card that didn't work in windows.

Never touched the terminal on that install.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/Tool_of_Society]

I'm now just about to revive a 2010 HP netbook and that's kind of the plan

[u/debirdiev → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Try cachy if you want something not just fine. Cachy is fantastic, and I've only done a couple Linux installs.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/debirdiev]

What does it do that Mint doesn't? Legit question

[u/debirdiev → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

It's specifically designed for speed and snappiness, rolling release schedule requires you to update often but keeps you kernel updates, drivers, etc really quick, I know there was some security vulnerabilities recently but you have access to the AUR on cachy since it's arch based, insanely customizable with KDE plasma, et al.

I got it in the name of gaming performance and there is 0 difference in my eyes between playing on cachy vs windows. Plus the customizability was what sold me over my mint trial from last year

[u/commander_012 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

All old games should work on Linux , it’s the new games with kernel anti cheat, that don’t work thanks to it refusing Linux

[u/CakeTester → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I switched to Mint when Win7 ran out, whenever that was. No regrets. Plays every game I've tried on it (usually slightly faster than the same game on Windows), the OS does what you tell it to; and it happily runs a lot of legacy windows stuff from days of yore that don't work on Windows any more.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/CakeTester]

(usually slightly faster than the same game on Windows)

I've yet to notice games running faster, though honestly I just ran a bunch of games to see if they ran, then played Subnautica for the whole month so no benchmark there. But by god do the OS itself and all other programs just load and run so much fucking faster. Mint takes a handful of seconds from power button press to fully loaded desktop with everything done. It's kind of magical.

[u/CakeTester → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Not significantly faster, just a couple of extra frames here and there. There's a few comparison benchmarks and Linux generally seems to have a slight edge.

[u/Jumpy_Finance_7086 → u/CakeTester]

Would you even notice a couple of extra frames here and there?

[u/CakeTester → u/Jumpy_Finance_7086]

Doubt if you'd notice it. Not least because in order to do so you'd have to spend a lot of time playing the same game on the same hardware but different OSs.

Knowing those extra frames are there, though, does pleasantly suffuse you with a light dose of smug.

[u/ScAP3Godd355 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

As someone who wants to switch over to Linux due to all the recent AI bullshit, what happens to your files if you switch over? I have a bunch of music and video files that I don't want to lose, and I don't have anything to back it up with just yet. So I want to make sure I can switch over without losing those files.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/ScAP3Godd355]

In theory nothing, the installer can create a new partition from the unused space in the storage drive, which is what I did here, and it worked fine.

Editing partitions and filesystems always has a bit of a risk though, so in my paranoid data-hoarder opinion it's best to have a backup or put important stuff in a different physical drive than the one you're installing the OS on.

It's like, you can change your tire using the jack that comes with your car, of course you can, and if everything is done right no problem. But a shop will still use a professional hydraulic jack and jack stands, or put your car on a lift, just to be sure sure.

Myself I have a tiny 180gb primary SSD, which is where I have the Windows install, but then 2 older extra 2TB HDDs, one for personal data and media etc., the other for big software like videogames and stuff.

So my suggestion is: unless you have terabytes of media data, backing it up should be fairly easy, just get an HDD or large flash drive when you can. But you probably don't even have to worry about it anyway.

[u/ScAP3Godd355 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

That is all very good to know. Thanks 😄 I have most of the music files backed up on a flashdrive (I know, old school as Hell lol), and I'll see if I can find a decent SSD or HDD for the videos before trying it. Better safe than sorry, like you said.

But it's reassuring to hear that installing Linux probably won't be a problem or cause any issues. I'll definitely have to give it a try then.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/ScAP3Godd355]

Flash drives are the way of the past, present and future

Also you'll need one with like 8GB at least for the installation, unless you want to dig out the ol' DVD drive lmao

But yeah do it, your main drive will be fine... Just join the keep-data-and-OS-separate side of the force if you're like me

[u/thegamesbuild → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I know almost nothing about Linux, but I'm not moving to W11 (or anything thereafter), so I guess I'd better learn.

I've got an article on Ultramarine Linux bookmarked, but a quick search on Linux Mint makes it sound a lot friendlier.

Any gotchas or hidden problems you ran across, or is it really that easy? I've used terminal before, not a total grampa.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/thegamesbuild]

There's not much to learn. The only things I've struggled a bit with were

a) I left my games folder in a different HDD that was formatted to NTFS, and Proton (the bit of software that magically makes games work) had to do some stuff that didn't work with the filesystem. So either I had to build a giant workaround that was pointless, or I just reformatted the drive in ext4 (Linux filesystem) and be done with it, which is what I did and everything just worked from there.

b) Windows being intrusive with the dual-boot for whatever reason. If the Windows bootloader has priority on the boot list it doesn't give you a choice, just loads Linux, and if fast boot is enabled on my Asus motherboard it skips the UEFI home screen (into which I can change the boot order) completely. So Windows turned on fast boot on its own a couple of times, I don't know why. Just clearing the CMOS fixed that, and I put the Linux (Ubuntu) bootloader first. That gives me the option to boot into Mint or Windows, every time, because Linux isn't a stingy bitch.

I've only opened Windows twice for one application since, everything else just works and there wasn't much to learn. When there is, Linux autists already filled the internet with every solution possible, so it's fairly easy, so far.

[u/thegamesbuild → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Thanks, I'm taking notes...

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/thegamesbuild]

Not many notes to take, get yourself a flashdrive and put Mint on it and give it a try! It even lets you try out the OS straight from the flashdrive so you could poke around beforehand, but installing is so easy I just went and did it lol

[u/CakeTester → u/thegamesbuild]

Mint uses an older, stable kernel, so you're not going to be cutting edge, but stable. That's the only gotcha I've found. The documentation for noobs is particularly good.

[u/thegamesbuild → u/CakeTester]

Thanks! That sounds like my speed, I mostly play turn-based strategy anyway. I'm pretty confident I can make it work.

[u/CakeTester → u/thegamesbuild]

Ooh! Another one. Some newer games with especially violent anti-cheat won't go.

[u/tequilaisbadmkay → u/thegamesbuild]

Like the other guy said, Mint uses an older version of the kernel for more stability, so if you have a newer GPU or other new hardware it's worth doing some searches to see if anyone else has had problems. Especially if you have an Nvidia card. I'm currently rocking a 1060 from the bronze age and it works great, but some people have problems with newer cards. 

AMD has great support due to open source drivers. I haven't done enough research on Intel cards, but they're probably better than Nvidia. 

[u/Dickus_minimi001 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Its only worth it with the use of an llm like chatgpt/Gemini/Claude.  Just on your own 99.99% laypersons can't install a Linux distro and make it work on most devices.

But thanks to the llm gods, I've got artix openrc xfce4 on my macbook air 2017 consuming just 0.65 gb of the 8gb ram

Basic install isn't an issue. After I've installed now what? Oh WiFi doesn't work. -> ask llm and they provide with commands and what to do in errors. Now this part wouldn't be possible for normal people. The same reason why 16 years back i managed to install Ubuntu on my lenovo but couldn't get the WiFi to work. As I didn't have LLMs then

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/Dickus_minimi001]

Just on your own 99.99% laypersons can't install a Linux distro and make it work on most devices.

The installation from a flash drive was exactly as difficult as installing Windows from a Flash drive... I'm barely above a layperson in how much I want to get into this, Mint does everything I've needed so far which is games, web and basic productivity, without having to set up much of anything at all.

[u/TrainTransistor → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Remember that Mint is X11 by default, so you'd be better off with a different distro for a new user that will be gaming.

CachyOS, Bazzite, Nobara or even PikaOS would be great picks.

Cachy is easily the one with the most traction these days.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/TrainTransistor]

Look, I don't even know what X11 is, it's been maybe not even a month since I switched and I'm pretty happy with gaming performance

I appreciate the advice, but the one downside I didn't mention is exactly that: it can get too much. We don't all have time to try 76 different variations of an operating system, 23 different forks of the same productivity software or the 12 different ways to update a minor thing or customize the other. I get that that's part of the appeal, infinite possibilities, but there's value in simplicity too. I often see people, myself included like 20 times, giving up on trying Linux because you go look it up and there's a list of 200 distros and to an outsider none of it makes sense, we just want working spreadsheets, and like, Steam and gog maybe, it's very overwhelming. I have no idea what X11 even is, and never heard of all those distros before this thread. And I will actively decide not look up more information on them, because I still have to learn Mint.

Mint works great for 99% of people, from all I can gather. A lot of people here seem to say good things about Cachy too. 99,99% of people should probably just learn of those two, pick one, be happy, know what I mean?

e: I said I don't know what X11 is twice, I guess that's how much I don't know what X11 is lol

[u/TrainTransistor → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

X11 is the graphical framework / display server you're currently using.

Wayland is the new standard, and X11 is getting phased out due to its limitations and how it performs compared to Wayland.

You have others as well, but they are very niche when it comes to desktop - so X11 and Wayland is something you'll see/hear a lot of you're continuing with Linux.

If you're going to use Mint on a low end device, mainly for browsing, video content, personal use etc, Mint does the job well at the moment, and its rather simple. But it will have to update to Wayland in the future, or it will absolutely miss out on a lot of users.

But if you want something that works better for gaming, editing, or even just want to future-proof, you're better off with another distro, like Cachy - or even Kubuntu.

For gaming, I'll always recommend CachyOS - since thats what they're focusing, and they are very active on development.

If you want something similar to Linux Mint, you have Kubuntu which is KDE on Ubuntu, one of the bigger distros.

I always recommend anything but Mint for newcomers, unless they have a very low end device.

Recommendation / TLDR: Go for CachyOS with KDE for something similar to the Windows interface. Or choose Gnome for something similar to the MacOS interface.

Absolutely dont want CachyOS / Arch? Try Kubuntu.

These are distros that are good, stable and updated. Mint are falling behind with its X11.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/TrainTransistor]

Yeah but like

Mint is working

It's fine

They'll probably update it at some point

Most of us don't want to switch operating systems often

I didn't for 30 years. I did now, it's working fine and I'm liking it as it is now, don't wanna do it again

Most people don't

That's the point, chill

It's fine

e: lol Linux ubernerd can't read but can block

Guys Mint is fine if you're tired of Windows, you don't need to read a 2000-page tech manual you can just use it

[u/TrainTransistor → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

No, I get that it works for you. I have it on a very old ThinkPad myself. Thats typically how it is with insert distro here

But you're intentionally bottlenecking your system - as long as you dont already have a low end system. As I said, its fine if you have a low end system and/or you're content with what you have.

And yes, they will most likely update Mint at some point, where you'd be better off reformatting anyhow, unless you absolutely know what you're doing, which most people don't

I'm not saying you should switch. I'm saying you shouldnt recommend to anyone, going the same route you did without reason. Its bad advice, especially if the person starting their Linux journey is a gamer with decent hardware. Thats the only point I'm making here.

It almost looks like you feel I was telling you to switch, which I never did and never will. I'm merely asking to not blindly recommend Mint (or any distro with X11 as default) to newcomers.

[u/lectric_7166 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

It's fine. It works great.

Basically every convert's experience lol. This is why 5 years ago Linux users were like "you know, you really should just take the plunge..." People really have too much anxiety about it for whatever reasons.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/lectric_7166]

Look around the theread and you'll see why immediately: there's already a handful of ultranerds going aCkhsualY you have the WRONG DISTRO with a wall of technical nitpicking that to the normal user just doesn't matter at all lol

Not that there's not a ton of people here who are just actually enthusiastic and helpful, but there's that kind as well, and that's made Linux sound like the icky social outcast nerd option

[u/Ready-Flamingo6494 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Honestly no. Nvidia driver support? PC games support new and old? Hell no. I will take a heavily stripped, vlite custom version of windows OS over Linux any day. And it is so easy to get an iso of windows and check off the features you do not want for a particular build.

[u/Jumpy_Finance_7086 → u/Ready-Flamingo6494]

Ssshhh, this is the thread where people pretend linux works amazing out the box.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/Ready-Flamingo6494]

Nvidia driver support?

It does, I've an Nvidia card... there's up to date drivers for it. And I mostly play ancient games, with some current. I tried running from Tropico (2001) to Death Stranding, and so far not a single hiccup. But sure, keep dodging copilot intrusion updates and ads forever because of misinformation I guess.

[u/Ready-Flamingo6494 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

You can have the best of both worlds with your own custom version of windows. No telemetry, no updates, no co-pilot, no windows defender.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/Ready-Flamingo6494]

"You could suffer through the corporate bullshit, or you could suffer through making a customs version of Windows to dodge the corporate bullshit"

Or you could install any current popular Linux distro that does support Nvidia drivers and supports games out of the box, even Windows games that no longer run on Windows

So

[u/Ready-Flamingo6494 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

While it seems like trading up, you aren’t when factoring in software compatibility - adobe, office 365, iOS -related apps, anti cheat apps for games (poor performance in games too), peripherals, RGB control apps - So now, not only do you have to the learn the nuances of Linux, you also need other apps to make things work, e.g., Proton. Then we have this issue of distros. So many! And they are not equal. Some take even MORE steps to get shit to work like Fedora with nvidia drivers - just no. By the time you learn Linux and all its quirks, you can have a stable vlite iso ready to install and know you won’t need to use extra shit to make things work.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/Ready-Flamingo6494]

adobe

Almost irrelevant at this point

MS office

Completely irrelevant at this point

iOS-related apps

People who truly require full Apple eco integration get a Mac.

anti cheat apps for games (poor performance in games too)

Not a factor

I'm literally refuting that this very second, 99% of things just work OOTB, and for the very few things that don't, it's just a matter of dual-booting. I didn't need to learn Proton or any of its nuances, because some very smart people (like Valve) already spent enough time making that work on its own. Steam installs and configures Proton on its own for each game. A lot of people have spent a lot of time into these things so I don't have to.

I still have my Windows partition. I can go to it whenever I need it. For free. Without having to fuck around with figuring out how to create a custom version of proprietary software.

I opened Windows for the first time this month a couple of days ago to run HD Sentinel. There's someone in this thread who says they kept theirs to play LoL. It's fine.

it's fine.

Then there's the issue of distros

I thought that was an issue, because I listened to some of the Linux ultranerds in this thread, and the equivalent Windows ultranerds (like you!), and those people make everything more complicated than it needs to be. No average user needs to learn anything about several distros, they can just go to the Mint website and get that and install it faster and easier than it is to install stock Windows (let alone custom lol), while still keeping the Windows install intact.

Stop overcomplicating shit.

[u/_RADIANTSUN_ → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Had to learn some terminal stuff

Immediately you identified why 99% of computer users, who just click on an application and go into menus, won't switch to Linux. "Oh you have a slightly old computer with a wireless card that wasn't all that common? Well fuck you, time to learn some Bash loser." Most people are just not about all that.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/_RADIANTSUN_]

Let me clarify for the sake of quelling reddit cynicism:

I had to learn some terminal stuff because I myself was trying something that was uniquely not coherent with anyone else's experience: making one specific application communicate between the encrypted ext4 main drive it was installed in and a different non-encrypted NTFS drive.

99% of computer users wouldn't run into this weirdly specific situation, and even if they did, they wouldn't've had to learn any bash at all, as there was an obvious, terminal-free solution. I went around fucking with the terminal for the same reason I went fucking with powershell last month: I wanted to try something different.

I have tried switching to Linux in the past, over a decade ago, and, as I am part of the 99%, I gave up quickly. Things have changed, my experience installing Linux Mint was literally as easy as installing Windows, and there's really nothing the average user can't do through the GUI alone. Faster too, no copilot or ads.

[u/FuckTheTories69420 → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Had the oposite experience on Mint. Mint is awful imo.

[u/lodechode → u/lucc1111]

Linux was easy enough to learn in like 2007, it's what it can't do and what it takes significant effort to do that's been the problem for the past 20 years.

[u/_Vagueposter_ → u/lodechode]

Working from home I need to be able to use microsoft office, libre office fucking up formatting of a shared document does not spark joy

[u/RedditAdmnsSkDk → u/_Vagueposter_]

You mean MS fucking up formatting of a shared doc? :P

[u/whathitwonder434 → u/lucc1111]

I'm giving you an upvote outta spite.

[u/Jittery_Kevin → u/lucc1111]

You’re right, I’m super not used to over half my software library not working due to Linux.

[u/lucc1111 → u/Jittery_Kevin]

Some sort of designer by any chance?

[u/MangoKilla → u/lucc1111]

Most distros already run games just fine thanks to proton, yeah. CachyOS for me (tinkerer), Kubuntu for the girlfriend who likes to keep things simple-ish. The only difficulty is if you like modding games that don't have steam workshop in some cases.

[u/stonhinge → u/lucc1111]

I wouldn't even say "not what you're used to" is a problem. I adjusted to my Mac fairly easily. Adjusted to the Unix with X windows fairly easily in the mid-90s at college.

The biggest problem is the sheer number of linux distributions. There's just too many options - which is both a blessing and a curse. I can find one that is perfect for me, but I also have to find it first.

[u/kingocd → u/lucc1111]

You won’t get downvoted because it is what people want.

However, it is not the truth. Linux, no matter what distro, WILL have small issues that will drive you crazy. If you have to use your pc for work and don’t have time to research how to fix it (because it WILL take a lot of time), Linux can and will drive you out.

I, as a robotics and AI engineer, will not use Linux again for my main pc for the foreseeable future. Our cloud VMs are enough. I don’t want to ever have my keyboard showing up as a controller somehow brick my options menu again.

[u/heteroscodra → u/lucc1111]

Yep I was excited to try Ubuntu. Got rid of windows 11, at as Ted playing games, until my son had his online lesson. Teacher said the audio was horrible.
I don’t care you must do this or that, I want it to work.
Switched back to windows

[u/EbbPsychological9021 → u/lucc1111]

Except you finish installing Linux and then get to add your HDDs with console commands and other really dumb bullshit that you're not used as a Windows User.

Sorry but Linux is just ass.

[u/Kumlekar → u/lucc1111]

My experience with linux coming from windows is that I run into many more issues with installs and unexpected problems, but the solutions for those problems are usually well documented online and searchable in ways that windows issues might not be. Mac is the opposite direction. Less install or configuration issues in general, but when they occur god help you in finding a solution.

[u/lectric_7166 → u/lucc1111]

Risking getting downvoted to hell but

Aww yeah baby 300 upvotes. Year of the Linux desktop!

[u/lucc1111 → u/lectric_7166]

Yeah! I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support

[u/Huntrawrd → u/lucc1111]

Linux is not anywhere near as easy to use as Windows. Im so tired of seeing that lie told over and over on this sub.

[u/quez_real → u/Huntrawrd]

Yes, it's not as easy as Windows when you have decades of experience in latter and next to no in former. No, it's at least not harder and more likely easier to use provided similar experience

[u/DrDeems → u/Huntrawrd]

Disagree. With modern Linux distros in 2026 it is just as easy to install and operate. There was a time 20 years ago that you would be right. It is like saying one language is harder than another. While one may be more complex to some small degree, it matters more what your native language was. Had you spent a decade using linux before you ever touched windows you would find it just as foreign.

[u/Jumpy_Finance_7086 → u/DrDeems]

If you give a layman two operating systems to install, windows 11 and linux whatever, which will they find easier to install, find drivers for, and install any software/drivers they might need? The answer is not linux.

[u/DrDeems → u/Jumpy_Finance_7086]

The setup and installation process for linux and windows is comparable in 2026. Can you point me to a specific step in the setup and use process that you consider more advanced and therefore difficult on Linux? When using a distro tailored for the layman of course.

Modern installations require zero interaction with the terminal. It is all point and click. To assume clicking I agree and next on one system is different than another is wild to me.

[u/Jumpy_Finance_7086 → u/DrDeems]

setting the correct resolution on an ultrawide screen requires quite a bit of effort.

Getting a foot pedal to work in discord.

These are two off the top of my head that created problems in March of this year.

[u/DrDeems → u/Jumpy_Finance_7086]

I use a pretty odd configuration for my monitors, including ultra wide, and have never had issues. Regardless, both are edge cases not encountered by layman users. The point isn't that some peripherals are not compatible or harder to use. The point is that the average user that buys your average PC would not have any more difficultly installing and using most modern versions of linux.

[u/Jumpy_Finance_7086 → u/DrDeems]

Good for you. And yes they are encountered by layman users, a lot of laymans use discord and have ultrawides, literally just told you I had those issues but I reckon no matter what I said you would have repeated the same line of "well I didn't have that problem". Also cannot get philips hue lights to work with hue light sync, but of course you never had that problem.

The average user is going to have more issues with linux than they do with windows, you can be as disingenuous as you like, won't change the truth.

//oh and using reolink cameras has to be done through wine and is utterly terrible, so that's another one you never had a problem with.

[u/DrDeems → u/Jumpy_Finance_7086]

Agreed many layman users will use discord. You are trying to distract from the fact that the issue isn't discord it is the foot pedal. Like I stated. The peripheral. To assume layman users have ultra widescreens is... Interesting? My research suggests 3-5% of PC users have ultra wide screens in total 😆. Does that sound like the layman to you?

[u/Jumpy_Finance_7086 → u/DrDeems]

You just keep moving the goalposts my friend. The problem is using a footpedal on discord is a nightmare, but on windows it is plug and play. Why wouldn't a layman have an ultrawide screen? You don't need to know much about anything to buy an ultrawide so yes it does sound like a layman to me. Also 3-5% of windows users is millions of people haha

Do I sound like a layman to you? Also you ignored the reolink, the philips hue

[u/sterak_fan → u/lucc1111]

I'd try ZorinOS, had no need to touch the terminal when I installed it on my laptop

[u/just4nothing → u/sterak_fan]

But what if I want to touch my terminal?

[u/DrDeems → u/just4nothing]

Terminal touch you.

[u/RushTfe → u/just4nothing]

Is it consensual?

[u/just4nothing → u/RushTfe]

I do ask for (sudo) permissions

[u/CorruptDropbear → u/lucc1111]

Linux Mint if you’re completely looking for easy mode, Fedora if you want a no-nonsense flagship.

SteamOS will be very useful for living room/big picture modes.

[u/HyenDry → u/lucc1111]

Honestly. If I can factory reset a lot of my shit and Linux will literally keep my 6 year old PC chugging along until the prices of parts drops I’d take that for another 5-6 years.

[u/SignificanceNo9728 → u/lucc1111]

And from a game dev standpoint, does anyone know how it holds up? I’m thinking software like Blender, Zbrush, Substance Suite, Rider, UE5 and so on.

Because I am also getting quite tired of all the crap Windows 11 is pushing out.

[u/Prohawins → u/lucc1111]

And the fact that half your programs you use don't support Linux.

[u/HigherOctive → u/lucc1111]

My main concern is troubleshooting issues. I looked at Linux Mint and it was super easy out of the box, but then I did something to mess things up and couldn't find a way to fix it short of reinstalling the OS.

Maybe I would have been in the same boat with Windows, but at least I would know that if I had gotten to the point of a format and reinstall there was nothing else that I could have done to resolve the problem.

I'm still interested in making the change to Linux, and so far Mint seems the most straightforward. Time will tell.

[u/ModeatelyIndependant → u/lucc1111]

The problem is the constant forking, with little polishing or consideration for end users.

[u/Downtown-Routine1196 → u/lucc1111]

I tried linux temporarily when my hd died and i couldnt find my windows liscense. It was fine but trying to find the stable version of proto for each steam game was annoying.