I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

I switched to Debian/Cinnamon few weeks ago. I am fairly good with the server sides of things, but the desktop a little painful.

Screens dont wake up properly, sometimes only one screens wakes up, sometimes one screen wakes up with a wrong resolution. The usual linux desktop problems where nothing really works and finding a solution is very hard to many different permutations of hardware / os / kernel / drivers / window manager / etc.

I have the framework desktop with AMD 395+

My windows ssd is plugged and I can boot it directly using virt-manager, so thats kinda solves some windows specific stuff like tax software.

Unfortunately it's harder to run CSS HTML Validator's GUI on Linux, but at least there is the command-line tool!

I am very interested in the Steam Machine, because it will be an out-of-the-box Linux experience with (hopefully) no tweaking required. Hardware designed for Linux gaming from the beginning. I'm willing to put up with worse performance per dollar to not have to spend time tweaking the thing myself, similar to a game console.

I think Steam Machine + macOS laptop + NAS running debian headless is my personal compute plan for the next few years.

I went Arch recently as well for about 6 months but am now back on Windows. I was impressed by the amount of games that "just work" but ultimately went back for the few that didn't. Had issues on BF6 and major performance issues on Borderlands 4.

I tried it (PopOS) on my old gaming laptop. It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't. Linux unfortunately does not support my preferred (which I use semi-professionally) photo software, either (Capture One). Linux desktop feels like nuclear power to me - I've tried switching many many times over the last 20 years and it's just never quite there. I even use a lot of the open source solutions for office software etc. already, just on Windows.

Frankly I'd love to switch from Windows to Linux. But it's the applications. My last attempt to switch got hung up on a few things (in order if importance, probably):

- Quicken. I have 30 years of personal financial data in quicken. I'm not completely opposed to migrating to something else, but I haven't seen a good substitute. I'd probably have to learn double entry bookkeeping, and I'm unsure if other software could still download data from my bank and investment accounts. I'm sure as hell not going to start entering transactions manually (ugh).

- Ableton live. I do have a copy of bitwig, but I am unfamiliar with its workflow, and would have to figure out which of my vsts I would lose, and it seems a big pain in the ass.

- Plex server. For some reason, out of the box this was dog slow. Because of the other issues, I was unwilling to spend the time to try to figure out what was going on with this.

- The are games I would probably lose, but honestly there are so many games available I doubt I would care that much.

How many hundreds of hours am I gonna have to take to figure this all out before I have a working system again? Not my idea of a good time even if I like the outcome.

Edit: and this is from somebody who loves the idea of Linux! I first installed 0.11 or 0.12 way back in the early 90s from a stack of floppies!

I tried Linux again recently. Microsoft needs to be deleted, but this plan is still delusional. Linux is way too confusing for preventable reasons, not even talking about compatibility with Windows stuff.

I'm no Linux expert, but if a SWE has a hard time with it, can't imagine how an average person is supposed to use this. Yeah it's learnable, but nobody wants to. Come back when I can install Linux on a PC, not a "distro" but just Linux, no choices for random stuff like DEs unless you're an expert. And that's necessary, not sufficient.

I have an old Lenovo IdeaPad with fairly modest hardware, and I have both Fedora and Windows installed. About 90% of the time I use Fedora, and it works fine overall. The only thing that bothers me is that Firefox on Fedora feels noticeably more sluggish compared to Edge or Firefox on Windows. Maybe it’s just a perception issue, but I’d love to know what others are using as their web browser on Linux.

Its simple. If you require specific software which only runs on Windows, then you cannot use Linux. If that's not the case, the Linux desktop these days is entirely capable of helping you achieve your goals.

I switched from Solaris/HP-UX to Linux in 1994. Never ran dos/windows. It's been working great for me for 31 years now.

it's really good these days. nvidia finally fixed their drivers (i suppose all it took was becoming the richest company on earth), kde is really nicely polished and all the friction from the x11 to wayland transition is over (at least from my perspective of an end user of linux desktops).

it's remarkably stable and reliable and way less annoying than modern windows or macos. i'm looking forward to a panther lake thinkpad with robust linux support and incredible battery life.

The opening paragraph gives the reason why Linux is still not at the same level as windows:

“ A few months and several headaches later…”

Additionally, the first comment I read is very positive, yet it also gives insight into the same situation.

Even though the author trivialized the problems he had getting his laptop up and running, there were enough obstacles to keep 90% of non-techies from actually getting it working. How many normies have a USB ethernet laying around and understand enough to uninstall drivers that are interfering with the UI?

I wouldn't worry much about operating systems. They are just a means to an end (which is running your applications) few are in the situation that 100% of their applications run on more than 1 OS, so they even get a choice of OS.

I just turned 60. My first computer was a 4.77MHz IBM PC with an 8088 processor, two floppy drives, and that magnificent mechanical keyboard IBM shipped in those days. My father, clearly receiving excellent financial advice at the time, picked up a 300bps Hayes modem for the princely sum of $599. CompuServe, here I come!

For context, this was early 1982. That 599 would cost 1,900 today — still a lot for a modem, but not quite the "gazillion" I remembered. Still, it illustrates just how far we've come.

Since then, I've written software professionally for over 40 years (with varying degrees of success). I've owned well over 200 computers — roughly 90% Wintel machines and 10% MacBooks. I've built them, repaired them, debugged them, and occasionally, after particularly frustrating days, set them back together again. I like to think I know my way around a PC.

Six months ago, I decided it was time. "This is the year of the Linux desktop on my machine," I declared, and I meant it. I installed over 20 of the most popular distributions from DistroWatch and used each one for at least two weeks. I was on a mission to rediscover the joy of computing.

For a while, it was genuinely fun. The sheer number of options was overwhelming in the best way possible. Customization everywhere I looked. All those incredible free software packages waiting in the repositories. In the beginning, I didn't even mind that I found myself doing full reinstalls every two or three days due to random instabilities. I was living the dream. Desktop effects and visual flair? Bring it on. Why does Compiz get so much criticism these days? What's more satisfying than a beautifully animated window?

Six weeks in, things changed. The Linux installations started to degrade — subtle at first, then undeniable. Random slowdowns. Browser links that wouldn't register for 10 or 15 seconds. The kind of frustration that makes you stare at the screen and wonder what's happening under the hood. It was consistent across distributions, which suggests this wasn't just a bad package here or there. Something fundamental was happening.

And yes, I'm aware of the irony. The system celebrated for its stability and reliability was the one leaving me longing for a responsive desktop environment. But that's exactly what I experienced, and I gave each distribution a fair shot.

There's also the practical reality: I'm a heavy Ableton Live user, and dual-booting has become increasingly grating. The Linux audio ecosystem has made real progress, but for my specific workflow, it's not there yet. Maybe in another year or two.

So I'm back on Windows 11. It works. It doesn't surprise me. After four decades, I'm okay with "it works" as a primary criterion.

Will I try Linux again? Maybe. The ecosystem continues to improve, and who knows what the next wave of AI-assisted tools might change. But for now, I wanted to share an honest account of what I encountered — because I genuinely wanted Linux to win.

Some of the games I am playing only run on Windows. Thats's the biggest obstacle for me to adopt Linux.

If you're primarily a gamer, Bazzite is fantastic.

I just want autodesk stuff on Linux and I'll move over, but I imagine they wouldn't like that since it would be easier to circumvent license checking.

Just be sure to give up any dreams of power saving, sleep states or hibernation

fwiw... after 20 years I went back to FreeBSD from Linux. I recommend it if you like FreeBSD. [Actually, I run a hybrid where I have a stripped down Debian system and run BSD in a virtual machine, but 99% of my interaction w/ the machine is via FreeBSD.]

I hope one day to upgrade my laptop to a Honor/Huawei AMD Ryzen AI computer to run Linux. Modern Macbooks unfortunatly do not run Linux and the other laptop manifacturers basically produce expensive trash laptops

With recent ntsync changes in Linux and wine.

Start citizen runs fine and gives excellent FPS NOW

I bought a thinkpad X1 carbon refurbished for about ~$300. I wanted to travel abroad with a laptop I wouldn't mind getting stolen if it happened. During the installation of Win11 it asked me to create a microsoft account, fuck that. I installed linux mint. Very nice experience overall, so nice to not get assaulted by ads in the start menu. Pleased to see the nightlight functionality (I googled f.lux for linux and that's how I discovered it) is built-in, and with flatpack I installed vlc, qbittorrent and obsidian. Firefox setup was straightforward. And that was it. This is a laptop for youtube and movies, I used the pre-installed libre office calc for small budget things and list making. It just worked for me.

The things that bother me about this laptop are primarily hardware related coming from using a mac laptop (which is the laptop I would mind getting stolen). Trackpad on X1 carbon is definitely not as good, battery life not as good. And opening the lid momentarily reveals what you were on before the lock screen comes on. This last one tastes more like a software issue. I had another issue with the hdmi port being finicky, but that's hardware again.

Overall very happy with this setup, linux mint is in great shape. I do wish there were fewer distro choices for people considering making the switch. It does introduce choice paralysis. I had to set aside my ego and pipe dream aspirations of being a "hacker" and went with a distro that seemed to be simple and straightforward to setup. Mint definitely is easier to install than windows, hands down, no need to create a microsoft account and you don't have to deal with all the slop features it tries to shove down your throat.

How do you deal with malware/etc ?. Are there reliable products available ?

Mate, I haven’t touched a Windows machine in almost fifteen years. It’s all Linux and Mac.

I'm a Linux users since 1999ish and I find extremely annoying and condescending these kind of titles.

What about "Hey! I tried Linux and it's cool! Let me show you!", instead?

Sure but I use Ableton, Lightroom, and Battlefield 6 daily.

> There's also ADB (Android Debugging Bridge) via the terminal for executing commands to an Android device. However, I use an iPhone.

I am sorry for you.

Looking forward to your next article: I dumped my iPhone for GrapheneOS, and you should too.

Bluefin has been a game changer for me

I would if Unreal Engine was properly supported

It is indeed a huge problem. The whole operating system now behaves and feels like the US government spying on everyone. Now, Microsoft has done that before, but with Win11 it really now seems almost shameless AND desperate in abusing users, while also alienating many of them via "features" they don't want, in particular all the AI garbage slop.

It does not really affect me that much, as I switched to Linux in 2005 or so, give or take, but some people around me, in particular elderly, depend on Windows still. So that's a dilemma. Do I want to install Win11 for them? Or Win10? And help maintain either? Replacing those computers with Linux is not so trivial. You would need virtually kind of 100% "what works on Windows must work on Linux too". Any complexity is a real total showstopper for many elderly people who have very little experience with computer systems.

> So why did I switch to Linux, and why am I writing this article about the experience? In a word: joy.

I think this is really what more people should take away from the switch. A lot of the time I see people not wanting to make the leap because they're afraid: Afraid of learning how to use the command line, afraid of asking other people for help, afraid of really using the computer. Learning how things work is how you learn to be free, and that holds true no matter your hobby. The cyclist with their repair kit, the driver with their beater car, the cook and their kitchenware. The more we give away for the sake of immediate convenience, the less control we have.

Linux is no longer in the realm of needing to be an expert to resolve issues, just a little bit of willingness to experiment. This isn't to say all issues are easily solvable, there's plenty of workflows that still require you to stay on Windows and some edge cases where things won't work as you expect. But I always encourage people to try, because why not?

Only thing holding me back is Adobe Lightroom, and has been for a while.

Can recommend https://system76.com and Pop!_OS https://youtu.be/IOp7g7BNzRE?si=IKm6SLIdedgHr-u3 even if the name "Pop OS" isn't my favorite.

How to run PowerPoint and Excel? I'm stuck with these for work?

the "you should too" is so tiring. You don't know what is ultimately the best option for most people out there, stop preaching

let me know when you can run visual studio, the best IDE in the world, on Linux, and I wont flinch

I installed CachyOS on a spare ssd with the idea that if it became a headache I would go back to windows. All my games work, even weird open source ones. All my sounds, monitor, kvm switch, volume rockers, Bluetooth game controllers, headsets, everything works with zero issue. Cuda works, I can run ML models, and it all works much better and faster than Windows. There's been no reason so far to switch back. Next, I'll wipe my NVME drive and be done with windows for good.

I agree modern Windows sucks for the average consumer, with all the dark patterns and icky stuff, but if you are on this forum and technically inclined enough to install Linux, you can just disable all the bad parts of Windows and get a rock solid OS with perfect compatibility. Unpopular opinion, I know, but that's how I view it.

I don’t really agree with the “Windows 11 is unstable” narrative, especially compared to the ways that system updates on macOS and Linux have not always been 100% stable.

The functionality of the iPhone connection to Linux is not unique to the platform, that works on Windows as well. iPhones present themselves as cameras when connected via USB and as the author found out, some apps present their internal storage for manipulation.

I’m surprised the author didn’t get KDE Connect to work. It’s a clutch app, and it’s even better for Android users. It’s one of the things that has had me consider switching to Android over iPhone (but there are still a couple of things I just can’t quite get over leaving behind like FaceTime for my non-technical family, the unmatched-by-competitors utility of AirTags, Siri Shortcuts, and my general feeling that without installing GrapheneOS, that Android is a less private and secure OS).

I can't fully switch because of audio plugins but I'm using Linux, Windows, and macOS anyway because I'm creating cross-platform apps. I think it's best to use all common operating systems and stay proficient with them.

I would be interested in doing the same, but my Linux server in my house has been a bit of a pain for my remote employees to use. Maybe I don't know the best software?

I switched my laptop (Surface Laptop Go) from Win11 to Tumbleweed, and its great. Mainly because Windows kept getting slower, and arguably Win11 isn't great for an 8GB system. OpenSuse is a great distro.

But my gaming PC and primary workstation remains Win11, and always will be (windows, that is). Notably Suse under WSL2 works great there as well, and my Kubes workflow is just as easy with PowerShell commands as it is with bash.

OS's have purposes, and arguably there is no single platform that is better than the others in every way - Windows is better for games and is more stable across different hardware and configurations. Linux is much lighter, more intentional, and for me better for infosec and some coding activities.

I love desktop linux. I've used it on and off since 2000. Even with Valve's excellent work on gaming, there's still whole software categories that require Windows. Pro audio software is very Windows reliant and I don't see it changing. If you're a software developer, there are many benefits to using and deeply learning linux. But even as a linux super-geek, I don't expect to ditch Windows entirely any time soon.

>Dolphin held a pleasant surprise: it could detect my iPhone when it was plugged in. This made it a snap to transfer files to and from my phone as the file manager granted full file access to the iPhone

Wait, what? Is this true? Since when?

Eh, I wanted to do this, but the manufacturer of my laptop doesn't allow me to disable RST in the BIOS, so I can only work from a flash drive, and it's slow. :(

Am I the only one who thinks (mobile safari with an ad blocker) it’s a jackass move to show a fake popup that leads to “must be an adblocker” and prevents page viewing? Or maybe just bad JS junk causing it?

Update: OMG I turned ad blocker off and what a disaster of a site.