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I'm a Linux lynx now.
a week ago
With Windows 10 reaching end of life a few weeks ago, and the endless horrors I constantly hear about Windows 11, I decided now was the time to finally take the plunge. I wiped my main PC clean and installed Linux Mint in its place (and convinced my partner Kisa to install Bazzite on her old gaming laptop).
Having owned a Steam Deck for several years now, as well as Mint being the OS of choice for a computer resale shop I like to visit, I've already had time to acclimate to Linux and its quirks. And I have to say that I really like how much more customizable it is, to a degree that I never could with Windows. (Plus the complete lack of bloat, spyware, and AI garbage is a HUGE selling point in 2025!)
I also cannot overstate how fantastic Steam's Proton service is for making nearly all their games Linux compatible, save for a few AAA games that refuse to run due to anti-cheat crap.
I can't say there hasn't been a few hiccups along the way -- getting all my old creature comforts back such as screensavers, mouse macros, RGB lighting, and a few old .exe programs that don't play nice with Wine or Proton. But it's been a good way to learn how to tinker under the hood following many guides online and I feel up to the challenge. And of course, finding a good replacement for Photoshop is going to be a daunting task.
At some point I would love to get my hands on a spare computer just to have something to muck around in other Linux distros with. There's so much for me to learn still!
At the risk of sounding like a vegan, I am quite happy I made the switch and I highly encourage more people to do the same.
Having owned a Steam Deck for several years now, as well as Mint being the OS of choice for a computer resale shop I like to visit, I've already had time to acclimate to Linux and its quirks. And I have to say that I really like how much more customizable it is, to a degree that I never could with Windows. (Plus the complete lack of bloat, spyware, and AI garbage is a HUGE selling point in 2025!)
I also cannot overstate how fantastic Steam's Proton service is for making nearly all their games Linux compatible, save for a few AAA games that refuse to run due to anti-cheat crap.
I can't say there hasn't been a few hiccups along the way -- getting all my old creature comforts back such as screensavers, mouse macros, RGB lighting, and a few old .exe programs that don't play nice with Wine or Proton. But it's been a good way to learn how to tinker under the hood following many guides online and I feel up to the challenge. And of course, finding a good replacement for Photoshop is going to be a daunting task.
At some point I would love to get my hands on a spare computer just to have something to muck around in other Linux distros with. There's so much for me to learn still!
At the risk of sounding like a vegan, I am quite happy I made the switch and I highly encourage more people to do the same.
There are also, long term supported versions of windows 10 (Specifically, Enterprise IOT LTSC which is supported for another 7 years), which are also "lightweight" and bloatware free, but they will run into the same issues that linux may where some new games wont run because they dont support windows 10 anymore, and getting some programs to run might be troublesome as certain services are disabled by default.
There is also, the other option of yknow, just using windows 10 as is so long as you dont care about security, so not having any important logins or banking details on the device. But i hardly think thats practical for most people. End of support doesnt mean windows 10 is bricked, like modern "cloud" software would be.