Games (Blizzard and Riot) I have a linux laptop that I occasionally use. It is far better than it was years before, yet there are still occasions when it just does not work, or it refuses to update.
The first time I tried to switch to Linux, it was a bad choice of Distro (Puppy, I think Lucid Puppy, where I learned that I would rather use Windows 3.1’s UI than stock XFCE) me incorrectly believing I could just run it from USB all the time so my family could just use Windows (I couldn’t have been older than 14 and the PC was old at the time, we got it in 2005 and it came with XP and struggled with Windows 7, and the storage was low,) and just not making an earnest effort to learn Linux. This was all user error. I tried Mint also, which straight-up didn’t work on my hardware at the time.
The second time I tried to switch, Mint again, about a year or two and a new PC after the first. I think Cinnamon is one of the best UIs ever made, but I also think Windows 10’s is pretty good (to be clear I despised Windows 7’s UI,) and I ran into compatibility issues and ultimately found that, with no strong benefit to web browsing or gaming (this was well before Proton) which were the main things I used my PC for, and still needing a lot of Windows software, just being mostly Windows worked.
Last time I tried to use Linux earlier this year, I didn’t intend to switch fully, but I wanted to switch my music making hobby, that I do with Linux Multimedia Studio, to Linux because some features of LMMS don’t work on the Windows version (I wanted to link multiple channels to a single VST plugin, which is necessary for the VST plugin “Genny” to produce a file that works on a real Sega Genesis.) This feature does work on the Linux version of LMMS, but Genny itself does not (and I did install WINE, some other VSTs did work.)
I’d love to say I’ll switch when Windows 10 EOL hits, Windows 11 has a fucking awful UI and starts to introduce some of the reasons I’ve never seriously considered Mac or iOS (I feel like Windows used to at least respect that my PC is MY PC when Win11 doesn’t,) but I can’t because that last one still sticks in my mind. I keep a Mint partition on my PCs, but it’s pretty much solely for doing things that might get me malware on Windows, or helping fix Windows if I break it.
I can’t use Fusion 360 on Linux, so I dual boot windows. But that’s the only time I ever go back. I don’t even run a bootloader with options and you’d never know Windows is on my machine unless you interrupted the boot process and checked boot drives. Getting into Windows is a manual process on my system.
WSL2 and work. Firstly at work i’m forced to use Windows since all the dev toolchains and deployement Tools are unfortunately Windows only… And secondly since I have be able to work from home (at night or afterwards) I need Windows on my Box as well. Thirdly, other than that my private coding projects all died since I just wanna switch off once I’m done and game a little… So there Windows also wins out. And lastly since all my Servers run Linux if i need to write a Script and test it WSL did the Job so far.
Very unfortunate since i enjoy using Linux (love i3) but i cant be bothered at the moment :( Maybe the next dev job allows for a Linux Environment :)
Because in my experience Linux hasn’t been consistently reliable in the long term.
My computer is a tool. I need it to just work, not cause me work. I’ve tried many distros and sooner or later something random stopped working, causing me to stop what I was doing and troubleshoot the problem.
Like the time I installed Mint on my desktop and my GPU fan ran full throttle all the time. Or that time when OpenVPN stopped working from one boot up to the next. Or those times when a fresh install hung up and failed fully boot.
Contrast that with the thousands? tens of thousands? of days when Windows just started without incident, got out of my way and let me work or game or whatever.
Is Windows bloated and slow? Yes. Is it constantly spying on me? Yes. Is it annoying in dozens of little ways that Linux isn’t? Yes. But it is consistently reliable and Linux isn’t.
I’m not a Windows fan boy, and I’d love to be able to use a linux desktop on the reg but every time I forget my previous disappointment long enough to try again, I am once again disappointed.
One thing has been working well for me. I have a Raspberry Pi with Raspian running Pi Hole, MiniDLNA and a couple of other things. It’s been as solid and reliable as I could ask.
It’s always something that doesn’t work and I can’t get working. Right now (I dual boot) it’s my 4G modern in my laptop that I don’t seem to understand how to activate the GPS receiver in. Even if I got it to work I wouldn’t know since I have no idea on how GPS is supposed to work on Ubuntu…
Although I do use Linux (so should not respond here, I know), the reasons are probably similar to why Android vs iOS. They are different philosophies. No-one really is wrong, it is about personal fit.
Honestly Darktable works pretty damn well after you adjust to the work flow differences. I would still prefer Lightroom but after switching jobs and no longer using a company subscription for Adobe, Darktable is perfectly fine for my hobby photography.
I tried to switch a couple of times. The version I tried was not estable enough, too much crashes for my taste. Lightroom now has selecting automagically, now that I tried it I can no longer live without it.
Have a mouse? You need to find a driver Oh Is that a keyboard? Yeah you’ll need to get a driver for that too. Oh you have a monitor now? Guess what?.. Yeah go find a driver. But wait, there’s more. Oh you want to run that software? Yeah you’re gonna need to search for an hour for some random file so you can run it.
Well, that was my experience about 4 years ago, no idea which distro, but I just upped, left and felt warm and cosy in my fat bloated windows 🤷♂️
Four years ago this wasn’t even true on something quite minimalist like Arch. You installed a desktop environment and some generic drivers for stuff like audio and you had a working PC. If this was truly your experience I’m very curious about what your particular issues were.
My work uses Azure Virtual Desktop and there is no Linux client for it, only the web client which seems vastly inferior. Even running in a browser on Windows the colours are terrible.
My primary desktop is Windows 11, but literally no other computer I personally own runs Windows. Part of it is games, part of it is proprietary software (music production, dj, etc). I could probably game on Linux full time, but until the commercial software situation is improved I will always have an additional Windows or Mac computer.
It’s been a couple years since I tried maining Linux (Ubuntu). The state of Linux gaming was definitely less than today. Back then, Apex Legends that I played with friends didn’t support Linux yet.
Probably the main reasons for me personally is that I was dual booting from a secondary SSD, so Windows was just always there to switch to if I ran into Linux hiccups I didn’t want to deal with. Also I remember the secondary SSD was only 256gb so I ran into some problems with that.
As for what’s preventing me from switching today
I’ve heard Linux VR isn’t quite there yet.
Switching over is just a big task I don’t want to deal with right now. It could be done, but I’m currently entrenched in Windows. I want to eventually.
I had to recompile nvidia-bl every time the Linux kernel updated or my backlight control keys wouldn’t work. Put up with it for four years then installed Windows 10 when it came out.
Was using arch +5 years and eventually I just wanted to play some PUBG. win10 has been bearable as it doesn’t change much anymore. Wallpaperengine is nice plus. Yes there are ways to achieve the same on Linux, but haven’t seen anything as good with built-in library for Linux.
Back on win10 for something like 6 months, during which I switched to NVIDIA. NVIDIA + Wayland is not really something I wan’t to tackle anytime soon.
Being able to focus on gaming, fixing other parts of my home lab and automating updating other system has been breath of fresh air. Gaming and upkeep of the system was always some amount of work, when comparing to windows. I have felt the windows hasn’t gotten in my way almost at all, ( apart from getting ansible automation working. Windows being the target of palybooks. But that was just my inexperience with windows and such stuff)
For now if my win10 installation stays solid, I don’t see myself going back anytime soon on my gaming machines. Even on my lan pc getting full control of fans has been a hassle on Linux, yes there probably is kernel module on aur for the chipset or the support will be in future kernel but the simplicity of github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases is just golden, I don’t know will I bother when everything works without hassle on windows. This is all on ASRock B650E PG-ITX WiFi.
After troubleshooting/automating Linux systems for 8 hours a day I guess I just want to be able to play games and relax after work. For now the os of choice for that is windows for me.
Couldn't agree more. It's the niche, or hardware-specific, or "what do I need to do this?" apps. Does this game work on Linux? No idea, I know it works on Windows though.
Fan Control is simply one of the best apps in the last couple years. I can't live without EqualizerAPO. I recall installing Logitech G-Hub, turning off the RGB on my mouse, then uninstalling it. MSI products require and app, also.
It's just easier on Windows, the apps exist and work reasonably well.
I’ve tried and used Linux many times. Sometimes over the course of a whole year, but I always end up going back to Windows because of my games and Adobe.
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