A few posts ago, I mentioned that I would be changing over to Linux on my main rig soon and I have now done that. This post was written on my main rig which is now running Bazzite. Before doing this, I had installed Linux Mint on my work computer and my previous desktop (which still works). I wanted to force myself to get used to the change before fully committing and this did help the adjustment. As bad has Windows has progressively gotten, it still has familiarity on its side and I briefly entertained the idea of running a stripped down version of Windows 11 to keep myself in my computing comfort zone.
I’m glad I didn’t chicken out though and after trying Linux Mint, Bazzite and even Zorin, I am quite happy I forced myself to make the change.
This post will just cover some general experiences and observations.
The original distro I had chosen for my main rig was Nobara which is similar to Bazzite, in that they were both made with gaming in mind. They both include a lot of the needed software in their installation. There are similarities and differences beyond these but I’m not great at explaining them. In any case, I was not able to install Nobara as it failed multiple times in the same place just before the installation finished. It would still boot into the OS following the failed installation but I was worried about possible stability issues and opted not to use it. I tried a number of things to get it to install properly including updating the firmware on my motherboard and creating two separate installations with different versions, but still had the same problem. The only thing left is to try it on a different SSD which I may do in the future. I was not able to find anyone who’d had a similar experience and so troubleshooting was all the more difficult.
After going through all of this, I opted for Bazzite and it installed without issue. As I write, I have been able to get almost everything I want working and I frankly wish I’d made the switch sooner. Though not everything is working the way I would like, I have found a number of things that work much better. Changing the graphic interface for example, is a lot easier and I’ve been able to remove everything I don’t like and add some things I do. The system also runs a lot more smoothly and the graphic interface is much nicer.
I have tested a number of games and got almost all of them running properly. Many work without difficulty but some have had a few hiccups. This includes a number of really old (DOS) games as well as modern ones. Steam comes pre-installed and Valve has been working to make it less reliant on Windows, making this the most basic option. I have mostly been experimenting with a program called Lutris, which comes pre-installed and does most of the work setting up compatibility. It even adds the box art for installed games which is a really nice touch.
Even with the few issues I’ve had, I need to remind myself that compatibility issues have been a problem going back to DOS. Off the top of my head, I remember running into many issues getting DOS games to run on Windows 95 early on. One solution was restart the computer in DOS for them to run properly. When I could get programs to run in Windows, there would also often be problems with sound card compatibility which was always frustrating. Even the early games designed to run on Window 95 had issues and this very much continued through 98 and up to XP.
These issues gradually improved over time and I would say became much less of a problem about fifteen years ago; especially with Steam being widely adopted. The only problems I had running modern games on Windows in recent memory was when using Microsoft’s own Windows Store. About five years ago, I was not even able to play Halo Infinite on release because of a bug. As the store and the game files are completely locked up by Microsoft, there is no real way for the average user to get around these issues until Microsoft addresses it themselves. And yet, Microsoft will shamelessly claim there way is the better one. At least in early times, a more knowledgeable user was able to experiment with settings.
I would consider my computer knowledge to be better than average but not great. I don’t know how to program at all but I have followed tutorials to make changes in code a number of times. I have some experience using the terminal but mostly just following tutorials and copying in commands. I wouldn’t be comfortable without guidance but I can do it.
What has surprised me is that the average user really doesn’t need to do any of this. Most people do almost everything they want to do in a browser and so switching to a distro of Linux I’ve mentioned would barely be a change at all. Zorin mentioned above can be made to look almost exactly like Windows 11, only it will be a lot faster. Programs like Libre Office will be familiar enough with anyone familiar with Microsoft’s, only it runs better. It is really only people like me that want to use specific programs that have trouble switching over.
Microsoft has decades of familiarity on its side for many in my age bracket but there are many versions of Linux that are a lot more user-friendly and now a lot better for the average user.
I may make another post in the future but these are my initial impressions after a week.