Hey, if you're comfortable and happy with Windows, and don't feel the need to switch, then don't feel pressured. If you want to try Linux for fun, try a distro like Arch, that gives you a lot of control and a lot to play with.
this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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I'm using Linux for work. At home, I have Windows on my desktop, I mainly use it to play games.
One day I've tried to move to Linux for my home system, but it came out that games work slower because of DirectX adaptation layer. And most of the games can only work with DX.
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If you have to ask, don't do it. People moving away from Windows usually have strong enough motivation to be able to tolerate the occasional tinkering Linux will require (any distro will, some more than others).
Personally, I switched a couple of years ago because I was fed up with Windows telemetry bullshit. But I admit that's mostly ideological because you don't "feel" it if you choose to ignore privacy rights violations.
I then discovered Linux to be much faster (booting, I/O, program start-up, basically everything) and not becoming shitty just by using it like every single Windows version does. Also, if you run into problems it's much easier to find and understand the root cause. Windows is just a black box.
Tl;Dr: if you don't do nothing, the CPU stays at 0% utilization. Magic?
~~(I'm kidding)~~
Seems like you're pretty happy with Windows. I don't really see a reason to convinced you otherwise, but since you asked…
Basically, Linux can range from a bit to a shit ton more secure. It's also, the the off and on exception of Ubuntu, free of ads, and much more respectful of your privacy. Also, depending on your hardware, Linux can offer a modest performance boost. I personally find maintenance to be much faster and less resource intensive, if a bit less noob-friendly.
But like I said - if you're happy, why change?
My server is Linux and it works great. My PC is Windows because, despite its flaws, it just works. Especially for playing games.
You say that I've actually got better performance in a few games running under proton
Linux for the most part just works for games now
If the games you want to play work well on Proton then it's fine. You'll receive a minimal performance hit, or on very rare occasions, none at all. Unfortunately something like half the top 10-20 games on Twitch either don't run on Linux at all, or run really poorly and require a lot of workarounds.
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I like linux lite
I’m in a similar boat—would love a compelling reason to move to Linux but just don’t feel it yet. Many of the things other commenters dislike about windows I don’t experience. I’d consider myself fairly competent at tinkering with windows, so I have a completely local login, don’t see any ads, and it doesn’t install updates until I tell it too (I scripted manually installing the Defender definition updates every day though). I use Actualtools AWM for fine grained control over desktop and window features which I’d need to find the equivalent of in a Linux desktop—doable I’m sure, but it feels like a lot of effort to be exactly where I am right now.
So I’ll keep looking for the opportunity to move, install Kubuntu on an old laptop, and in the meantime just get on with work.
Perhaps it's compelling that you no longer need to have scripts to stop the OS from doing things you don't want it to? That there is no need for scripting defender? That the desktop will be as fine grain control as you want without a third party toolkit?
To be where you are now... would require... nothing.
For me it's speed, stability, easy of printing and scanning, a decent file manager (windows one is just horrible) and knowing my current cycles go to doing work not background crap.
To be fair, to get where I am now would not require nothing—it would be a good few hours at least installing and configuring replacement software, all of which is doable, and I’d be exactly where I am now.
I had a look at KDE Plasma a short while ago, and I’m sure it could do everything AWM does, but I’m not certain, and don’t know how to configure it so, hence more time to replicate what I have that’s working fine. I use XYPlorer which is a great file manager, so I also don’t have to put up with the default one.
And KDE might not be the best choice either—so more time and experimentation to find the right distro, DM, WM, and so on. I have already put those many hours into getting things they way I want so I can be productive. Until something forces my hand, I will stick with what I have.
But the next time I have to reinstall the OS, that would be a good motivator to move (I haven’t had to do anything significant like that since bolting Windows 10 down several years ago).
This is where NixOS shines. To get where I am now on a fresh machine would take ~20 minutes, run the installer, drop my config on the machine, rebuild and sign into my accounts
I think that, IMO, you have to have a reason to move AWAY from Windows. The fact that you're asking the question tells me that you may have problems with Windows (and maybe Windows 11 in particular?). TPM and an initial user creation process that requires a Microsoft account come to mind.
I still recommend Ubuntu or Mint Linux for new users, although I dislike Snap packages (in the case of Ubuntu) and I recommend getting away from Snaps as soon as possible. These distros pretty much just work. I'm more fond of the MacOS look and feel, so this is what my desktop looks like currently
.
EDIT: I should point out that this is actually STOCK Ubuntu 23.04...
As you can see, my setup is very similar to MacOS (but not EXACTLY the same, which I prefer). Mint Linux is basically like Windows 10, only much better IMO. You pretty much can't go wrong with these two...