• Steven McTowelie
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    23 days ago

    Already did and it’s glorious! Steam works beautifully and the only final thing that I’m missing is Adobe products.

    I recommend, if you want to try Linux, that you try out the ‘Debian’ distribution, and use the ‘KDE Plasma’ desktop environment. It makes for a very Windows-like experience and really assisted me with the transition between OSs.

      • jimerson
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        1323 days ago

        Unless you’re using NVIDIA. Didn’t work out of the box for me and required a couple hours of fiddling. Mint worked seamlessly.

        • @Monstrosity@lemm.ee
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          23 days ago

          PopOS (scroll down to the “Pop_OS with Nvidia” link).

          It is tailored for Nvidia cards, is Debian(Ubuntu) based, & super friendly for new users.

          EDIT: Here’s a link to the 24.04 release that provides only the Cosmic desktop environment (no X11, no gnome or kde). This is what I use, but it’s in alpha so user beware.

        • @Aphelion@lemm.ee
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          323 days ago

          Manjaro with KDE Plasma has been working pretty flawlessly with an nvidia card for me.

        • skulblaka
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          223 days ago

          Wrangling my Nvidia drivers into Mint also took a couple hours for me but I haven’t had problems afterward

      • @metaldream@sopuli.xyz
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        323 days ago

        Debian is not a good choice for beginners. It’s extremely bare bones compared to Ubuntu or Mint.

        Drivers on Debian stable are also heavily outdated

        • @Matriks404@lemmy.world
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          22 days ago

          Drivers being outdated is not a big deal, unless you use recent hardware, then it might make sense to make a jump to current testing release (trixie), or just stay on testing indefinitely.

          Also it being “barebones” is a good thing in my eyes, since I can configure it how I want.

          • @metaldream@sopuli.xyz
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            21 days ago

            It’s definitely a good thing if you’re interested and knowledgeable enough to build what you want. I was just arguing it’s not the best choice for a casual user because a lot things they’ll want won’t work out of the box.

            Even updating to the next stable Debian version requires editing system files and running the command line.

            Drivers can matter quite a bit if for example you’re on an Nvidia card and the Debian drivers are 2 years old. It happened to me and caused dlss to not work in some games. And with Nvidia you can’t just move to testing, you need to backport the driversc and that’s quite involved.

            I run a Debian server and it’s amazing for that.

            • @Matriks404@lemmy.world
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              21 days ago

              I definitely agree with most of the points but I don’t get what do you mean that you can’t move to testing, because that’s what I literally did recently by upgrading from bookworm to trixie with no issues whatsoever and I have Nvidia card, although older one (GTX 1060 3GB).

              • @metaldream@sopuli.xyz
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                121 days ago

                When I tried it, testing was on the same version of Nvidia drivers as stable so it didn’t solve my problem. It was possible to manually backport them, but it wasn’t straightforward to do.

    • @merc@sh.itjust.works
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      723 days ago

      I completely disagree. Debian is not beginner-friendly. Go with Bazzite if your focus is gaming.

      It is a gaming-focused distribution. It’s also an “atomic” distribution, which basically means it’s really hard to break it. It’s more like Android or IOS where the OS and base system are managed by someone else. They’re read-only so you can’t accidentally break them.

      For example, instead of trying to manage your own video card drivers, they come packaged with the base system image, and they’re tested to make sure they work with all the other base components.

      I’ve been using Linux since the 1990s, so I’ve run my share of distributions: Slackware, RedHat, Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, etc. Even for someone experienced, atomic distributions are great. But, for a newcomer they’re so much better.

      • Steven McTowelie
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        23 days ago

        I find this interesting as I’m a beginner with only about 3 months of Linux use under my belt, whereas Ive used Windows since I was like 5 years old, and I found Debian to be a really good introduction to Linux. I was originally recommended Mint, like many are, and I found the experience to be a negative one as opposed to my later experience with Debian. (Note I have no experience with Bazzite or any other distros).

        The additional ‘bloat’ in Mint obfuscated from me various aspects of Linux. It insulated me from learning how Linux is different from Windows, and that actually hindered me from understanding the OS. By starting with Debian I got a feel for using the CLI, setting up my drivers, package installer, and desktop environment. And, while those aspects can be complicated for new users, i think its somewhat necessary that they get a feel for them if Linux is going to be recommended as their OS.

        • @merc@sh.itjust.works
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          323 days ago

          Debian is fine as an introduction to Linux, if that’s what you want. But, as a beginner, you’re going to screw up, and Debian doesn’t do anything to protect you from that.

          Atomic distributions let you use Linux but make it harder to shoot yourself in the foot. It’s much harder to break the system in a way you can’t just reboot to fix it.

          It all depends on what your goal is. If your goal is to learn Linux by using it, then by all means, go for a traditional distribution. Debian is nice, but I’d go for Ubuntu. But, if your goal is to have a stable system that you can’t screw up as a beginner I’d go with an atomic distribution. If your goal is to play games, Bazzite is hard to beat.

          You can still learn Linux if you use an atomic distribution. Configuring and using the desktop environment is basically the same. But, you don’t need to worry about your drivers, and you don’t install packages the traditional way. If you want to learn those things, you can run a VM or a distrobox.

      • @histic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        023 days ago

        In what world is a Debian base not beginner friendly my fiancé that could barely use windows is using it just fine

        • @merc@sh.itjust.works
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          323 days ago

          Has your fiancé had to update drivers? Has he had to upgrade to a new release? Has he had to figure out how to install a version of something that isn’t in the Debian stable repositories?

          If the only application your fiancé uses is Firefox, then he might go a long time before having any kind of problem. It all depends on how he uses it.

            • @merc@sh.itjust.works
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              222 days ago

              If it’s a her, you mean fiancée, fiancé is used only for men. And, it’s basically a chromebook in how she uses it. But, chromebooks are designed so that you never have to do any system administration. You never have to upgrade drivers or figure out how to get to the next release.

              She probably hasn’t had to deal with that yet, but eventually the system will have to be updated. Over time, cruft piles up and makes it harder and harder to upgrade and manage. Atomic distributions are designed to be much more like chromebooks. Someone else manages the upgrades and the tricky choices, and then you just install their base image.

              • @histic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                121 days ago

                Autocorrect on my phone always chooses fiancé for some damn reason but I showed her how to update when I set it up for her and she’s been keeping up with it checking once a week and she’s had a couple questions I’ve had to answer but less then when she was just trying to do basic things on windows so it’s been great for me

    • @Creat@discuss.tchncs.de
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      23 days ago

      If you’re into primarily gaming, try PikaOS. It’s Debian based and uses the same tooling, but it’s on an optimized kernel. Is generally geared toward gaming.

      There are other gaming specific distros of course, this is just the “Debian”-related one. I would not recommend the real debian if you’re mainly into gaming. It’ll need manual intervention and/or optimization to get games running, or at least get them running well. It’s not impossible (it even hard if you’ve got but is Linux experience), but just harder than necessary.

      • Steven McTowelie
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        23 days ago

        So Mint is the ‘distro’, which is actually based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian. In simple terms, a distro is a bundle of programs and configurations assembled for you. Basically, Debian is a stripped down version of Mint.

        A ‘desktop environment’ is a separate program(?) that changes what your desktop looks like, and they can be downloaded on any distro. So you can try out KDE Plasma on your Mint installation! The one that you’re likely using right now is called ‘Cinnamon’, which I personally didn’t like and turned me off of Linux my first time trying to switch over years ago.

        Something cool about KDE Plasma is that you can download themes and make your desktop environments look really cool. For instance, sometimes I like to rock this Windows 7 theme: https://www.pling.com/p/2142957/

      • @Aphelion@lemm.ee
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        23 days ago

        I went to Manjaro (Arch) with KDE from Mint about 5 months ago, and it’s been nearly flawless, allowed me to easily install a real time processing kernel for audio production, and it’s run every game I’ve thrown at it performs better than Winblows.

          • @Nednarb44@lemmy.world
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            223 days ago

            I would recommend endeavor os with plasma instead honestly. Its a similar setup, but you won’t have to deal with manjaro holding back updates.

            • @A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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              223 days ago

              Oh okay! Thanks, that’s helpful. So EndeavorOS has pretty frequent updates then? I’m ngl since switching I look forward to them, which is funny! It’s like “oh cool my computer got better and also new toys instead of worse and more bloated!”

              Ahh I should’ve done this years ago but better late than never

              • @Nednarb44@lemmy.world
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                222 days ago

                Yeah, it should get updates exactly the same as arch. And I’m the same way, I check for update every time I log in lol. It does feel nice that you’re always up to date

      • @Damage@feddit.it
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        223 days ago

        Eh Arch can be quite stable if you’re careful, but it could also be a frustrating experience, there’s lots of manual configuration

    • @Saucepain@lemmy.world
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      110 days ago

      Outside of Steam, how have you found gaming compatibility? I know Xbox Gamepass doesn’t work as that’s very specifically a Windows app, but how about other standalone games/platforms?

      • Steven McTowelie
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        210 days ago

        Outside of steam will be a case by case basis. I wouldn’t expect a lot of luck, and it may require that you use a compatibility layer like Wine.

  • @commander@lemmy.world
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    6423 days ago

    The more people hop onto Linux the faster and better funded support for Linux development becomes. If you’re a single player gamer or play Valve multiplayer games primarily, make the jump to Linux. Get on Mint, get on Fedora, Ubuntu, etc and get off Microsoft’s shitboat. You already took off from Reddit. Wean off all these other money/data leeches

    • @Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world
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      823 days ago

      I’m on Mint and have been for 2-3 years now and I’ve never had any problems with non-valve multiplayer. I don’t use any VMs and just run everything through proton and have never struggled.

      Battlebit, Helldivers, Lethal Company (+mods), Risk of Rain 2, Rocket League, Minecraft, and Split Fiction to name a few. I guarantee there are others I’ve played, but I can’t remember.

      • @Nephalis@discuss.tchncs.de
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        823 days ago

        No Kernel level anti cheat will ever work on linux. But probably Windows will disable the possibillity to manipulate on kernel level either in the future.

  • @simple@lemm.ee
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    4923 days ago

    Most people won’t budge. It doesn’t matter if Win10 is unsupported or isn’t getting a security update, I reckon a solid 40 of 43% will just stay on it until programs they use stop working.

    • Squigglez
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      1023 days ago

      Basically my plan until I can scrounge enough money up for a new computer. My current one literally won’t let me upgrade due to some component/driver it lacks.

      • @beastlykings@sh.itjust.works
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        422 days ago

        Definitely you should look into Linux, it’s really gotten quite good. Especially if you don’t need games with anti cheat.

        But if you just want to use Windows 11, it’s super duper easy. Just Google “download Windows 11 iso” and grab the iso file from Microsoft website.

        Then download Rufus.

        Then pop in a thumb drive that’s at least 8gb. Open Rufus, select your thumb drive and the iso, then choose the option to remove windows requirements, then click start.

        Backup your files on Windows 10, save them somewhere. Then pop in the thumb drive and install windows 11 fresh.

        The requirements aren’t actually required. Win 11 runs fine on all sorts of hardware. Support stops at 8th Gen Intel, but I’ve installed it on 5th Gen. My work laptop is 2nd or 3rd Gen. It’s fine 🤷‍♂️

        Technically less secure? Yeah, in some ways. But it’s miles ahead of running unpatched windows 10 after September.

        • Squigglez
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          222 days ago

          Oh shit this is actually really helpful, I might end up doing the Rufus USB route when I get my stuff back up and running (apartment flooded and I have to wait until the finish fixing my ceiling before I can plug everything back up.)

          Thanks for the in-depth info!

      • @KazuyaDarklight@lemmy.world
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        123 days ago

        For some of the hardware requirements, there are edits you can make to get it to install, but you do have to also force it every time there is a major release, minor updates go through fine.

    • @emb@lemmy.world
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      523 days ago

      Yep, I feel like people overestimate how much anyone cares about official support or security patches or whatever. People will assume it’s fine until they’re either forced out or something goes horribly wrong.

      Regular folks will most likely let it be if possible, until it’s time for a new PC anyway.

      • @blandfordforever@lemm.ee
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        623 days ago

        My brother in law was still using windows 7 and it had never occurred to him that this might be a security risk. Normal people don’t care.

    • 🔍🦘🛎
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      323 days ago

      Yeah I’m just going to stick on Win 10 for a while. Apparently the enterprise version is getting support for longer so maybe I’ll see if I can get on that.

  • @crusa187@lemmy.ml
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    4223 days ago

    Switch to Linux. As a big-time gamer, I did it last year and it’s been fantastic. Only issue is if you main games with root kit anticheat…but with enough momentum in Linux direction, game studios will be forced to abandon those dubious detection methods anyway.

    • @TylerBourbon@lemmy.world
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      1123 days ago

      Sadly I use way too many programs that only work on windows or Mac that Linux would handicap me. The free open source versions of yhe apps I use are no where near as capable.

      My only option I can think of would be running a virtual machine of Win10 on a Linux install so I can still use those apps.

      • @Bruhman482@lemmy.world
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        623 days ago

        Would you mind sharing a couple of the names of the programs that only work on Windows for you? I’m a bit curious.

        • @starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          723 days ago

          I’m not Tyler Bourbon, but it’s Fusion 360 for me. I sound like a broken record at this point, but it’s the only piece of software that keeps a windows install in my house

          Hey Autodesk you should put F360 on Linux

        • pancakes
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          323 days ago

          I’m not the OP but I have a similar situation. I work in multimedia design and use a wide array of software from the full Adobe suite, to in-house command line apps, to the Articulate suite and everything in between.

          I’d love to be on Linux but that just isn’t a possibility for me.

          • @the_q@lemm.ee
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            123 days ago

            I’m a professional graphic designer that dumped Adobe years back and I’ve been able to keep working using open source design applications.

        • @kazerniel@lemmy.world
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          122 days ago

          Not OP, but for another data point: recently I did quite a bit of Linux-related research on the three Adobe apps I use (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, in this order of prominence), and they are all reported as some level of broken via Wine and their Linux alternatives are missing important features and/or a pain in the arse to use :/

    • @applemao@lemmy.world
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      523 days ago

      I’ve been hard at trying to get games i like to work in mint. It takes a lit of time but it’s going ok. Like you said though kind of sucks for multi-player. I can’t even get diabolical multi-player to work (after I looked up how to fix the instant crashing audio driver issue) . It’s also a lot of qork getting any racing game to work with my DFGT…even though linux does see the axis and buttons, the force feedback is all messed up. Wish I knew how to code so I could fix these issues! But I don’t have 12 hours a day to ever learn that

        • @applemao@lemmy.world
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          423 days ago

          Bazzite refused to boot for me…I stuck with mint as it’s always ran pretty good. Old amd fx 8 core and a Radeon rx580

      • @TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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        323 days ago

        Use Bazzite. It is a distro dedicated to gaming and user friendly for beginners. It still has some limitations but it is better compared to others when it comes to gaming. You don’t really require more tweaking unlike other distros to make games work.

        • @2nd_Fermenter@lemmy.world
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          523 days ago

          This is the advice I came here looking for. I’m intimidated by the switch and have no time, but if there’s a distro that’s easy to get going, I’m there for it. I’ll check it out!

          • @chaogomu@lemmy.world
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            123 days ago

            Another distro that’s easy to get going for gaming is Garuda.

            Also, the easiest way to switch to any distro is to get a USB drive and install a program called Ventoy. Then you throw your install iso onto the Ventoy drive, boot from USB, and you’re good to go.

            As a tip, pick up an external drive large enough for your Steam library. Then in Steam, you right click on each game and select Manage/Back up game files.

            Doing it this way will save you days of downloading.

          • @applemao@lemmy.world
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            123 days ago

            I just wasn’t sure fedora based (bazzite) would be as easy to troubleshoot as mint (Debian based) since arguably debian/Ubuntu are the most popular distro.

    • zewm
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      523 days ago

      Another big component that makes it hard to switch for some is also the fact that many programs and web apps won’t work on Linux.

      As an example , if you use peacock on your browser to watch things like wrestling PLEs, peacock(and other services) straight up block Linux users.

      It’s annoying when the product will work but it’s being gatekept by these greedy fucking companies.

    • Dizzy Devil Ducky
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      222 days ago

      The way I see the root kit anticheat situation is that because Valve has their own Linux based OS, these companies making anticheat are probably going to end up tailoring it to whatever kernel Valve (or whatever the biggest/most widely used distro made by a large game corporation) uses to ensure people aren’t cheating.

      With a kernel that can be swapped out for another with varying degrees of difficulty, why wouldn’t they just tailor their work to whatever the biggest corporate game company supporter of Linux is using? If SteamOS (or any other distro made by maybe someone like EA, heaven forbid) ends up becoming what these anticheat devs see as the defacto Linux distro for gaming, I guarantee they’ll probably just focus all their efforts on making sure SteamOS (or whatever it ends up being) works as best they can and hanging out everyone else to dry.

      A real “Wanna run the latest CoD (or something similar) on your device? Make sure you use the kernel we say you have to use!” kinda situation is what I foresee happening.

      There’s also an OpenBSD song with a few lines of lyrics that I think could sum up what could (and sadly most likely will) happen, in metaphorical Odyssey kind of way:

      Corporate monsters, many closing passages\ Tempting harpies\ 13 years of treachery

      Though it’s definitely going to be more than 13 years.

  • @MrFinnbean@lemmy.world
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    2822 days ago

    Why Gates in the picture tough?

    He stepped down as a chairman over 10 years ago and didint he leave the microsoft board like 5 years ago?

    • @cannedtuna@lemmy.world
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      323 days ago

      Same. I just gotta figure out what distro I want to run. Nobara, Bazzite, Mint, Zorin, Kubuntu, idk. I get analysis paralysis. I’ve run Ubuntu, Fedora, and even tried Arch once, but it’s been a long while since I’ve been full Linux. I’m definitely done with Windows tho (at least outside of work, but I can’t control that).

  • @glitchdx@lemmy.world
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    2222 days ago

    I switched to linux full time almost a year ago.

    I have been thus far entirely unsuccessful in convincing anyone else to make the jump. Normal people do not give a fuck, will not lift a finger to improve their digital lives. I’ve been telling friends and family about adblockers for YEARS, and not a single one ever bothered to do it of their own volition. If I don’t do it for them, then they just sit through ads like complacent sheep. None of them are going to change operating systems if they can’t even install a browser extension.

  • @nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2122 days ago

    Linux is fine. Ive been using it since before ubuntu was invented. But Windows has the most goddamn computer games.

  • Victor
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    2123 days ago

    I play only on Linux, and it works great. Come on over!

  • HexesofVexes
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    1823 days ago

    It’s going to be purchase a new hard drive and then jump to Linux Mint this August.

    It’s not an experience I am looking forward to (5080S, I do a lot of modding, and enjoy fangames/indie games which do not always play nice with linux) but needs must - the Linux community in general is very friendly, so we’ll get through it, even if the first 6 months are rough. I’ll keep the dual boot and push the windows partition to 11 if needed by work, that way I can put off rewriting my elderly access database for another few years.

    Honestly, Microsoft are committing suicide when it comes to home users. It won’t be sudden, but the wheels are turning, all the IT savvy folks are switching people over (already did my aunt’s potato, mum’s demi-tato is next week). Eventually, a tipping point will be reached and offices will start switching - I hope that day comes before I die of old age!

  • @Madcat81@lemm.ee
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    1821 days ago

    Can’t upgrade because my 4 years old mobo is apparently too old (haven’t checked out the workarounds yet). Installed Linux Mint to give it a try and I am positively surprised so far.

  • @WetBeardHairs@lemmy.world
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    1422 days ago

    I just gave up on windows gaming. If the game cant be played on my steamdeck, I just find something else. Otherwise its macos and linux for anything non-professional that requires windows. And even then I fucking hate it. Oh look at that… all my documents say “Auto-recover (version 1)” because it forcibly rebooted on me.