What is the big difference always thought about it switching but I am a Windows user since 95. I don’t want to have something where it requires effort. I play on the computer and relax and thats it. How many programs feature the linux option? Is there like a video I can learn about the difference? I just like my point and double click.
Even Windows has its moments, bad updates fuck you over a bit.
Most distros just install and work. If you take a 1-2+ year-old system and let Linux wipe it, most of them will just kinda work. Brand new hardware is always dicey, it’s better to buy last years model. Steam and web browsers do what you’ll expect. Updates just work. Steam games are generally doable; you just have to flip a switch in Steam to use emulation. The big exception on games is stuff with kernel-level anti-cheat. Valorant, Fortnite, PUBG, Genshin Impact.
Now, if you start using hardware that needs custom apps, RBG controllers, custom webcam controls, If you used nvidia broadcasting suite, outlook, photoshop, Then, you’ll find the effort. You need to find alternatives or try to run stuff in wine, and learning new apps is work and feels bad everything will feel like a downgrade.
Replacing hardware can also be dicey. Solutions are generally not all that bad, but definintely can turn into work.
If you just need some steam and a web browser, you almost can’t go wrong, if you want to emulate every inch of what you were doing in windows outside of that, you’re likely to have to work for it.
Most Linux distributions nowadays are all “point and click” (as in you don’t have to use the command line if you don’t want.) and they do pretty much everything Windows does. With some minor exceptions like some games that don’t run on Linux.
Try a live USB, lets you boot into a linux flavour without needing to install it (plus has handy buttons to start a real install if you desire).
I procrastinated moving to linux for pretty much the same reason. I hated windows more and more with each passing day but wasn’t excited about the part of the learning curve where I was even less effective using linux than I was at using windows.
But I was pleasantly surprised to find I didn’t have to go through that stage at all. The same “discover settings” works for customizing (but it’s better because linux devs don’t have any metrics pushed on them by marketing or MBAs who think user goodwill and patience is infinite when they are “captured”, leading to hidden or buried settings so most users just go with what MS wants).
Setup was easier, though deceptively so because I wasn’t expecting the answer to “gpu drivers?” to be “already installed” and was skeptical until I had a game running. I did do a bunch of reading during the process but could have just used the defaults for most things and kinda regret some where I didn’t (like snapshots are probably worth the disk space they use).
But the best part is that I haven’t had to go on little “ok why the fuck is this <back to the default setting/behaving differently/addressing me without my prompting or a reason worthy of my PC interrupting me>?” adventures and wade through outdated MS help forum posts where if the problem was solved, it wasn’t by the useless MS rep that seems to be struggling just to understand the words being used (indicated by copy/pasting anything that is vaguely related as a response, rather than actually addressing the question) to either figure out how to force it or give up until the next time it annoys me enough to search again.
I haven’t had a single imaginary “it’s my fucking computer, not yours” argument since switching and wish I had just tried sooner because it was way less friction than expected.
If you’re interested in Linux, you can boot from it without installing to try it out. Nearly every distribution has a live boot option.
As for differences, the entire OS is different, but with something like KDE, it’s still very much “point and click”. You don’t need to be a programmer to use it. This is especially true if you run most things through a browser.
The biggest disadvantage is program compatibility. Windows applications need translation layers for Windows apps to run on Linux and they don’t always work. Many application makers, including people like Steam for gaming, have full Linux support (all of Valve’s hardware like the Steam deck runs Linux).
If you want to try it out in a non-live way with a “safety net”, you can run a dual boot with both Windows and Linux and choose between them at boot. Or you can install Windows in a VM and run your Windows-specific programs until you find Linux alternatives.
It’s a bit of work, but it truly frees your PC. I made the switch from Windows to Linux first with a dual boot…then only Windows for VR, and now I’ve got everything on Linux. I haven’t booted into Windows on any of my PCs in 4+ years at this point and I couldn’t be happier.
That said, use what works for you. If that’s Windows or MacOS, that’s fine. Just know the advantages and disadvantages.
I have been happy as a Linux user for more than ten years now. Never looked back. I use Trisquel.
What is the big difference always thought about it switching but I am a Windows user since 95. I don’t want to have something where it requires effort. I play on the computer and relax and thats it. How many programs feature the linux option? Is there like a video I can learn about the difference? I just like my point and double click.
Even Windows has its moments, bad updates fuck you over a bit.
Most distros just install and work. If you take a 1-2+ year-old system and let Linux wipe it, most of them will just kinda work. Brand new hardware is always dicey, it’s better to buy last years model. Steam and web browsers do what you’ll expect. Updates just work. Steam games are generally doable; you just have to flip a switch in Steam to use emulation. The big exception on games is stuff with kernel-level anti-cheat. Valorant, Fortnite, PUBG, Genshin Impact.
Now, if you start using hardware that needs custom apps, RBG controllers, custom webcam controls, If you used nvidia broadcasting suite, outlook, photoshop, Then, you’ll find the effort. You need to find alternatives or try to run stuff in wine, and learning new apps is work and feels bad everything will feel like a downgrade.
Replacing hardware can also be dicey. Solutions are generally not all that bad, but definintely can turn into work.
If you just need some steam and a web browser, you almost can’t go wrong, if you want to emulate every inch of what you were doing in windows outside of that, you’re likely to have to work for it.
Most Linux distributions nowadays are all “point and click” (as in you don’t have to use the command line if you don’t want.) and they do pretty much everything Windows does. With some minor exceptions like some games that don’t run on Linux.
Try a live USB, lets you boot into a linux flavour without needing to install it (plus has handy buttons to start a real install if you desire).
I procrastinated moving to linux for pretty much the same reason. I hated windows more and more with each passing day but wasn’t excited about the part of the learning curve where I was even less effective using linux than I was at using windows.
But I was pleasantly surprised to find I didn’t have to go through that stage at all. The same “discover settings” works for customizing (but it’s better because linux devs don’t have any metrics pushed on them by marketing or MBAs who think user goodwill and patience is infinite when they are “captured”, leading to hidden or buried settings so most users just go with what MS wants).
Setup was easier, though deceptively so because I wasn’t expecting the answer to “gpu drivers?” to be “already installed” and was skeptical until I had a game running. I did do a bunch of reading during the process but could have just used the defaults for most things and kinda regret some where I didn’t (like snapshots are probably worth the disk space they use).
But the best part is that I haven’t had to go on little “ok why the fuck is this <back to the default setting/behaving differently/addressing me without my prompting or a reason worthy of my PC interrupting me>?” adventures and wade through outdated MS help forum posts where if the problem was solved, it wasn’t by the useless MS rep that seems to be struggling just to understand the words being used (indicated by copy/pasting anything that is vaguely related as a response, rather than actually addressing the question) to either figure out how to force it or give up until the next time it annoys me enough to search again.
I haven’t had a single imaginary “it’s my fucking computer, not yours” argument since switching and wish I had just tried sooner because it was way less friction than expected.
If you’re interested in Linux, you can boot from it without installing to try it out. Nearly every distribution has a live boot option.
As for differences, the entire OS is different, but with something like KDE, it’s still very much “point and click”. You don’t need to be a programmer to use it. This is especially true if you run most things through a browser.
The biggest disadvantage is program compatibility. Windows applications need translation layers for Windows apps to run on Linux and they don’t always work. Many application makers, including people like Steam for gaming, have full Linux support (all of Valve’s hardware like the Steam deck runs Linux).
If you want to try it out in a non-live way with a “safety net”, you can run a dual boot with both Windows and Linux and choose between them at boot. Or you can install Windows in a VM and run your Windows-specific programs until you find Linux alternatives.
It’s a bit of work, but it truly frees your PC. I made the switch from Windows to Linux first with a dual boot…then only Windows for VR, and now I’ve got everything on Linux. I haven’t booted into Windows on any of my PCs in 4+ years at this point and I couldn’t be happier.
That said, use what works for you. If that’s Windows or MacOS, that’s fine. Just know the advantages and disadvantages.