I’ve used both regularly for years and went back to Windows when I switched to PC gaming and it’s just so much better. Everything just works on Windows.
Linux really needs to work on improving its user experience if it wants to be a true competitor to Mac and Windows. All these little config tweaks and command line prompts you have to do to get things working on Linux just isn’t going to win a bunch of people over who are used to things being a few clicks on a wizard to get working.
Edit: it’s been years since I last tried Linux so maybe things have changed.
It’s been too long so I don’t remember but there were several things I tried to install that required me to add a new repository, install from that, and then fiddle around with config files to get it to work.
Lots of people swear that Linux is easy but that’s never been my experience. It’s always command prompts and config files.
It’s been years since I last used Linux so maybe things have gotten better. I’ll likely be finding out eventually when Win 10 EOL comes because I don’t want Win 11.
fwiw, I’m now pretty darn happy with Linux and gaming. Granted, I use Steam, so there’s that.
There are issues sometimes, but I just keep a copy of windows around for windows-only things. Generally, Linux “just works” for me, but I’ve also learned to just skip it when something requires too much involvement to get working.
FIFA23. Yeah I know it’s a shit game but I just play it for the couch multiplayer experience! Anyway 22 was working great on linux but they added a new DRM so the new one doesn’t work anymore. Hopefully someone can get the next one to run on Linux so I can ditch windows again.
Reading a lot of these comments I think people are under the wrong impression of the current state of Linux. I think you’ll have a better experience with a bleeding edge distro like Arch or Fedora.
A lot of your productivity apps are on Linux, a higher percentage of your games work than you think, and you could see a performance boost over windows. Plus there are multiple app alternatives that are even better.
I ditched Windows three years ago. 99% of my 450 Steam library works (yes AAA games) thanks to Valve with Proton. What doesn’t? Call of Duty, because of invasive kernel level anti-cheat and I’m good with that.
Steam, Zoom, Slack, Teams, Spotify, Plex, Jellyfin, Discord are all on Linux.
Edit: Also there is no “look/UI” to Linux. It’s your DE, and you’re free to choose one, or a Window Manager. Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, XFCE, i3, Awesome, Openbox, XMonad, Sway, Hyprland.
I think the main difficulty with Linux desktops is this “all or nothing” approach to the OS.
Recently got a Steam Deck and most of the games really just work, but that’s a handheld where I play solo. On desktop I mostly play online with friends.
I really don’t want to constantly switch OS depending on the anticheat situation when we play something else.
And then there is software (fusion360, simhub) & hardware (3d mouse, joysticks, ffb wheel, maybe VR?) that just works on Windows.
So instead of maintaining Windows & Linux on dualboot I just stick with Windows on the desktop.
And I used Linux for a long time on my laptop (and can’t wait to ditch MacOS), still use it on servers, but the desktop is just a whole different beast.
Well said. I’m in a similar situation with the Sim Racing stuff. Also my daughter plays Genshin Impact and my son is just getting into StarCraft 2;
SC2 works flawlessly under Proton apparently, but Genshin not so much (anti-cheat stuff it seems). So if you share a gaming PC the question becomes even trickier to answer.
I could see using Linux as a daily driver for work and flipping to windows for games if work had a stipend or Byod option. But otherwise I seem to tend to stick to one or the other.
That said I do keep a Linux distro on my laptop mainly for gimp and kdenlive for making videos from my drone recordings for a buddy.
Arch Linux based distros (arco, Manjaro, endeavor) have my favorite package manager in the world (not pacman) but yay. I’ve tried every package manager and for me nothing comes close to yay. But the sad part is arch updates have completely destroyed every arch based distro I’ve ever had. The last one (endeavor os) literally made me hate Linux for awhile, because I put a great deal of work and love into setting up a desktop environment, configuring the hell out of my terminal and my dev environment and one update just destroyed my whole desktop. It takes me more than 2 days to completely get my Linux desktop configured to where I like it, and endeavoros just breaking my desktop environment really demoralized me from trying to set up another Linux box again for a long time, so I just went back to my super stable MacBook that wasn’t as fun or ergonomic but at the end of the day it’s never given me serious issues. Of course I’m back to using Linux, this time with stable old Ubuntu.
I got tired of having to endlessly maintain it, vs windows which generally just works (no fighting with audio drivers, wifi drivers, gpu drivers, suspend to disk works without glitching, etc) and i like playing video games without having to deal with wine. Still run linux on servers, and my work desktop and laptop are linux since we have an IT department which maintains it for me.
Oh also windows has handled high DPI monitors and mixed DPI multi monitor setups perfectly for a decade or more, I think linux only more recently started handling it ok and it’s still got quirks.
I think the experience depends a lot on what ditros you’re using and your hardware configuration. I started out on Manjaro and that ran terribly for me, then i went on to Linux Mint which i liked a lot and that was solid, but since i got a new GPU i needed a distro with a newer kernel which made me switch to Pop!_os and that is also running great. But i won’t deny that audio was a bit flakey on Mint for me until i messed with it, seems solid on Pop though.
It’s more of a “why do I keep Windows on my main machine and only use Linux for my servers?”
The answer is two-fold
a) most of my games and a (dwindling) amount of productivity software are windows based. I know things are improving… But the fact remains that I am still literally invested in some software that is only supported on Windows (that pile is shrinking).
b) there are a few everyday tasks that are still just too frustrating to be practical for non-technical people. For example, why in the fuck do I need to deal with user and mod permissions for files on an external harddrive? I get why for system files, but for media files on an external drive? It’s a level of pedantry I’m just not ready to deal with.
That’s almost exactly my problems with Linux. Adobe is what holds me back the most, a few games that I play also don’t run, and dualbooting has been really annoying. Also, audio drivers, audio problems drive me nuts, and the solutions are absolutely bonkers complex weird setting stuff, specially becaus I’m using a laptop. That said, I love Linux and open-source software, just can’t afford the compromises.
I tried installing Zorin amd Pop_OS on my laptop, but the mousepad gestures, bluetooth, speakers, and a bunch of other small things didn’t work.
I just don’t have the time to tinker with it. I have an hour or two of free time a day and it’s hard to convince myself to spend it trying to get linux to work whenever I have windows that just works.
Plus, i found that people just weren’t helpful. Unlike some people, i didn’t come out of the womb knowing how linux works. I did research and fixed what i could, but some things i could’t fix. People were rude, condesending, and just not helpful whenever i would ask a question
I think the biggest thing here is how insular the linux community can be. I do think that Lemmy’s linux communities are much better about being supportive and welcoming however. Less of a dick measuring contest and more a group of people who are passionate and want to engage with the topic.
Every few years I try Linux again. At this point I’ve decided that when I can install linux, and use all of my hardware/software without having to open a terminal window, I’ll try it again. Until then, I only use it when I’m paid to.
If I have to open a terminal just to get up and running, the UI has failed. If something that basic has failed, there are other much larger problems to deal with still. None of which I want to deal with.
Also I’ve spent 40 years working in various versions of dos and PowerShell interfaces, and there’s enough difference with all nix type interfaces that I don’t want to deal with swapping back and forth. I do that enough with the programming languages I use every day that it’s a constant annoyance.
So I didn’t quite try it to switch, rather installed linux to dualboot specifically because one game had lag issues on windows, and ultimately there are just 2 things keeping me from making linux the main and windows the backup.
One is game compatibility, while linux has come a long way it’s simply more convenient to be on windows which can effectively run everything (even if there are a few more performance issues at times).
The other is that I couldn’t find a DE of which I liked the look that could handle high refresh rate monitors properly. LXDE works for my purpose and I think it looks ok, but by design it just doesn’t feel as nice to use as windows.
Hated gnomes UX, liked KDE but it couldn’t handle my monitor. Wouldn’t wanna bother with trying many more options unless I actually know it will work with my hardware.
I’m not sure what you mean with the monitor thing. I’ve got a 165hz 4K panel with adaptive frame rate and it works out of the box in KDE settings for all of it. The only issue I ran I to is when you use hidpi modes it changes the reported resolution in proton which can be fixed with super resolution I think. But it is a problem.
basically, all of this. My issue was that no matter what I tried, said game was clearly displayed at 60hz on my 240hz monitor (very fast movement so it’s extremely obvious, and it looked identical to if i set the monitor to 60hz in windows). Tried a few things but couldn’t get it to work.
The amount of comments in here that are conjecture or just straight up bullshit is off the charts… my tech illiterate wife, and my 80+ year old grandparents use Linux without any problems.
Different needs, different hardware, different skill levels. My kindergarten kids used it for 2 years for school, no problem. I still don’t use it because its too rough for my advanced needs.
Linux runs circles around Windows in terms of privacy, security, control, customizaton, and DE workflows and efficiencies… so what advanced needs keep you from using it? I’m genuinely curious because Linux is far more advanced than Windows in basically every single way I can think of… I can’t think of any reason I would prefer to use Windows over Linux. The only problem Linux suffers is from software support, so if you are in an industry with software that doesn’t support it… well then, yeah, you have to use Windows. Or if you want to play a game with anticheat… and you are okay with installing what is essentially a rootkit on your computer, then yeah, Windows.
I tried it just last month for a whole week before I ditched it back for Windows. Its just not ready for serious gamers. I am very anti microsoft so when it is ready, I will happily make the switch.
Gaming is the only reason I dual-boot back to Windows. Out of curiosity, what’s your distro and hardware config? I’ve had no luck with Proton or Lutris on Suse or Ubuntu. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to play a game all the way through without issues. Not sure if it’s my distro choices, Nvidia drivers, or the specific games I try to play. Even Steam Deck certified games do not work properly for me.
Hardware is 5950x, 64gb ram and a 4090. Although before I had a 3070 Ti.
I’m on Arch, but what problems are you having with proton or Lutris? Which Nvidia drivers do you have installed (dkms?) and what kernel?
With the state of proton, I almost never have to check the force compatibility tool and select a version, it’ll work out of the box. There have been a few exceptions of course.
With Lutris, I got stuck on an error about architecture. I tried changing WINEARCH to WIN32, but it didn’t work. Tried making a new systemwide default prefix in win32, didn’t work. Went down a bit of a rabbit hole on Google but I was not able to get the game to even install, let alone run.
With proton, games install and typically run, but not without issues. For example, when Return to Monkey Island launched, it was Windows-only, so I tried it in Proton. It worked for a day, then mouse input just stopped working entirely. Half an hour of trouleshooting later I decided it would be easier to just boot into Windows. That’s the general experience I’ve had with Proton, even for Steam Deck certified games. And then sometimes games run but with unacceptable performance, like Stray.
Until recently I was stuck on the 510 drivers because the newer ones broke CUDA in the Ubuntu repositories. That was recently updated to I think 525, but I haven’t tried any games since updating. But I also had similar problems on Suse with drivers from Nvidia, and the old Ubuntu LTS (18.04 was it?).
If Lutris is going to be so finicky about Wine versions and prefixes, I wish it would just bundle its own instead of using the system wine. I use Wine for other things and can’t easily nuke my whole config.
I’ve basically given up on playing non-native games on Linux. It seems like this is a “me” problem but I can’t imagine what’s so unique about my Steam install. I try to keep as close to stock Ubuntu LTS as possible precisely to avoid these issues, but here I am.
I’d be interested to know the breakdown of AAA titles in that library!
Gimp is appropriately titled as it is a joke compared to Photoshop. If this is the closest suggestion to a suitable replacement it will guarantee windows/osx always has a place in my work environment.
For AAA titles (not gonna list every one), here’s a few:
Hogwarts Legacy, Dead Space remake, Resident Evil 2/3/4/7 remakes, God of War, Returnal, The Last of Us Part 1, Uncharted 4, all the Assassin’s Creeds, Atomic Heart, the Batman games, Bioshock games, Dark Souls 1/2/3, Death Stranding, Elden Ring, Days Gone, Dying Light 1/2, all the Far Crys, Final Fantasy 7 remake, FF8-15, Ghostrunner, GTA5, Hi-Fi Rush, Spider-Man/Miles Morales, Tomb Raider games, Sekiro, Sonic Frontiers, Star Wars (all) and Jedi Fallen/Survivor, The Division 1/2, The Witcher 1/2/3, Yakuza (all), plus more
Yeah, Proton has made leaps and bounds the past few years with the sheer amount of time and money Valve is funneling into it. Now you can often expect newly released games to run just fine on Linux through steam, the big remaining hangup being anti-cheat software.
I would guess a “serious gamer” is one who wants to play all the latest AAA multiplayer games. Just not possible for Linux to work for 100% on Day 1 with the ridiculous kernel-level anti-cheats.
For me, even though I play mainly on Linux, the issue is with random niche mods or hardware; Tobi eye-tracking, headtracking, VR.
Building WiFi kernel drivers myself where on Windows its a double click, finding a desktop environment that lets you add a 2nd taskbar in the GUI without losing certain important items like the start menu, system clock, or system tray (I always lost something), finding replacements for certain niche Windows programs is frustrating (VoiceMeeter -> PipeWire), or completely absent, as my Oculus Rift and the Adobe Suite (which I need for my job) was unusable, and my Razer, Logitech, TourBox, Xence, and Elsra devices aren’t programmable, missing or bad support for basic features like multiple monitors and HDR, having to manually set AppImages to run as an application and not open like a file (I know it’s a file), but in the end, needing 2 GPU’s to virtualize a Windows machine officially ended my Linux dreams for the near future.
Ah yes. Good ol Intel drivers or NDISwrapper. I’ve had zero issues these days, but it was bullshit in the past. Though saying that I think my wifi driver building was more to enable phy mode for messing with wifi hacking. WEP was broken beyond belief.
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