I’ve been seeing all these posts about Linux lately, and looking at them, I can honestly see the appeal. I’d love having so much autonomy over the OS I use, and customize it however I like, even having so many options to choose from when it comes to distros. The only thing holding me back, however, is incompatibility issues. A lot of programs I work with very often are Windows-exclusive, and alternatives supporting Linux are rare. So I guess I’m stuck with Windows, since I deem those particular programs really important.
Any advice from Linux nerds here? All constructive replies are very appreciated.
Unless you have very specialized requirements (and quite possibly you do) the solution is usually to unhook yourself from thinking of needing specific programs and to instead focus on needing to perform specific tasks. (Then finding the Linux way to perform that task.)
Barring that, the codeweavers suggestion is a good one. I used it in my early days when I thought I couldn’t live without particular pieces of Windows software and although that was several years ago, even then it was pretty good about being able to easily run arbitrary Windows software. IMO it’s cheap enough to be worth the investment.
If you truly have bespoke requirements that just can’t be satisfied by either of the above, staying on Windows may legitimately be your best option.
More generally - if you decide to take this step, expect to have to learn to use a computer substantially differently than you have in the past. It’s not harder; in many ways it’s easier. But if you are very experienced and comfortable with Windows, a lot of concepts are going to feel foreign to you. Tackle one task at a time and your experiences will build upon each other. Go into it expecting to have to learn, and you’ll do fine. Bizarrely I find the least tech-savvy folks sometimes have the easiest time transitioning.
You’re no more stuck with Windows than a Mac user is stuck on a Mac.
Well you can’t really use something not useful to you. Yes Linux is very nice but at the end of the day you gotta use the thing that gets the job done.
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I hate rebooting to play games (or even just closing my other software, for that matter), so I choose to reject games I’d have to reboot for.
I chose to reject Linux for this same reason. I was rebooting 4-5 times daily to be able to play games, so I just reset the default to windows
Depends on the game and version of windows…old games with new windows 99% of time won´t work.
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Since many years i do not play because have no time for that, including the fixing the issues. Used to play and like to fix issues because that is a good learning technique.
Can you give us specific examples of the programs you use, and what you use them for?
Certified Linux answer
I mean, it took me awhile to learn the names of all the software I currently use. And in some fields, it’s still “Yeah there’s not a good substitute.”
If they are Windows exclusive then your best bet is to simply run Windows in a virtual machine inside Linux and run the applications from there.
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How did you manage with video performance? I don’t game and have had a lot of experience with both vbox and kvm. Kvm performance for video is excruciatingly slow. It got to a point I said “that does it” and went back to vbox.
Yea KVM is great but it’s not so easy to pass device’s through. Whereas in Virtualbox you go to the menu, select devices, the type of device (eg usb) and then select the device (eg printer) to have it show up on Windows.
Is there a good KVM GUI client like Virtual Box?
virt-manager
I switched to Linux from Windows 3.11 because Microsoft software didn’t do what it was supposed to.
My method is that I don’t even know what’s available for Windows, so I don’t miss it at all. The opposite isn’t true though, and time spent in a Microsoft environment can quickly become painful.
My only regular contact with Windows is the Steam partition which hasn’t been used for quite some time. I have a laptop that has a small win11 partition that I boot every now and then to see what they’re up to these days.
However, in the end, the only real answer is that if you really need a piece of software, you just run whatever system that supports it. It’s not a religion, you use whatever is convenient for you at a given time.
My approach has been to slowly learn how to play to the strengths of Linux and not pine after anything on Windows because ultimately I’ve gained a lot more than I’ve lost.
The one piece of software I haven’t been able to avoid keeping around is Sigma Studio, so I have a 10 year old shit top for running it, but it also runs in a VM if I need it. Thankfully I only need to use it once or twice a year.
If you rely on multiple pieces of software for important everyday activities and they aren’t usable in wine or a VM, you probably have no choice but to use the operating system that is the best vehicle for those tools. Doesn’t stop you from also using linux for other stuff, but I can understand how that’s not the same as going all in.
- Use alternative that is FLOSS
- Use alternative in the browser
- Try WINE/Proton
- Use Windows VM
- Use dedicated Windows machine
Libre Office completely takes care of my Office needs.
Any company that doesn’t support Linux doesn’t deserve my patronage.
We ignore them, mostly. You cannot miss what you don’t know.
There are plenty of options however to access software not available natively. Both VMs and Remote Desktop solution work for a wide range applications. Web-based solution can be as good as desktop programs.
So many casual applications are now either web-based or on your (not FOSS) phone, so for my personal use the thought of using Windows has never crossed my mind. Professionally, I resort to remote Windows or a Mac.
It would be easier if you told us specifically what programs you need that aren’t supported.
I’d say make a wholehearted attempt to try open alternatives even if you stay on Windows for the time being. I had been doing so for a few years before I even considered Linux and by the time I finally did switch the transition was a lot smoother.
That being said I’ve been surprised by how much stuff actually does run under WINE!
I generally just avoid it, otherwise I use it on windows, I still use dual boot with windows and Linux, will probably stop after w10 stops getting security updates since I don’t really care all that much about windows specific stuff
I either find an alternative or use it under Wine-GE
