I was your typical on-the-fence guy for years, installing Linux a couple of times a year, hopping between distros but eventually always returned to Windows. Those days are over for good. I learned to understand packages, dependencies and the basic tools to be able to understand and execute most troubleshooting. Still on an Apple laptop but once they pull similar shit with their telemetry that’s it.
The only thing preventing me from hopping back over to Linux is trying to reinstall my games. I’ve used it on and off for a few years and I loved it, but last time I had some issues with power and thought maybe Linux was doing something wonky (ended up being a PSU issue) and then Halo Infinite dropped and I wanted to play that.
In hindsight, both reasons were bad and I should have stayed on Linux.
As a Linux Uber-amateur, it feels like we’re basically able to do anything I would want to do on Linux now… the thing where Microsoft tries to not allow you to download stuff because they haven’t paid Microsoft to sign it has always annoyed me. This would be the next level of nope.
One thing that’s kept me on the fence is I like multiplayer games, and I had always heard that battle eye didn’t work on Linux, but with all the proton development and steam deck interest, perhaps this is becoming a non issue?
Except for minor glitches I can play all the games I have on Linux with proton. I bought my computer with dual boot windows on two nvmes and haven't booted windows for months.
Microsoft Pluton has detected thought crimes in violations of Section 232 (17 U.S.C. § 381) on your device. Your IMEI and local audio-video recordings have been transfered to authorities for further inspection.
My tipping point was actually how trigger-happy Windows Defender is about crack software and how you literally cannot meaningfully disable it without first breaking apart the entire OS. – Only do a temporary turn-off that only lasts until the next time the computer is turned on. Or another less temporary turn-off that lasts until the next system update. Which. Fuck off. I can tell a feature that is working against me from how hard it is for me to get rid of it.
I won’t be one of those liars who tells you “Linux is eaaaaaaaaasy, you’ll get it in no time”
It’s a skillset. You’ll have to learn stuff. You’ll have to browse wikis and ask for help on Discord servers and fucc around a lot. Plus it has this thing that when something works it works really well, and when something doesn’t work, boy are you in for a capital-F-fun afternoon.
But it keeps me happy with how much I can customize my experience to my own personality, and how fast and smooth it is, even on my old, beat-up laptops.
Still keep a windows install around for those days when I need some application that doesn’t exist on Linux, doesn’t have a viable alternative, and won’t play ball with Wine/Proton. But those are becoming rarer and rarer. Maybe one day I’ll be rich enough to have a computer with several GPUs and I’ll virtualize Windows instead of dual-booting it.
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