Like perhaps many others I am debating what to do with my PC at the end of support for windows 10 later this year. I have read a lot of discussions here about switching to Linux, and a lot of commentary that though it has gotten a lot more plug and play it maybe still has some weaknesses. I just want to know what those are, and if it can support what I currently do with my computer.
Basically my computer is just for gaming. I play a plethora of games both major titles and small indy games. I also use mods on my games sometimes. Beyond gaming it’s just basic web browsing.
More specific questions:
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I think I need to pick a “distro”, right? Based on the above, which distro may work best for me?
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what am I most likely to NOT be able to do, if anything? I have heard modding in particular can be challenging with Linux. Like Skyrim mods that use a script extender or rely on various Windows programs. Is that true? Are there some smaller indy games that don’t have Linux support (thinking back to the early mac days)?
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I would rate my computer technical ability at like… A 4/10. I haven’t done anything too crazy but can Google most issues and willing to learn. Is this realistically enough to get me up and running with Linux? I don’t have any programming experience or anything of the sort.
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if the final answer here involves running a windows partition, is it possible to safely still use a windows 10 partition, even after the end of support? Or does it need to be a windows 11 partition? Best case is no partition, but curious if it comes to that.
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anything else I might run into that I’m not expecting? Words of encouragement?
2·19 hours ago- Distros : as others said, Mint is a solid choice. I personally use ZorinOS because it’s very close to the Windows interface and I really enjoy it, i installed it on every computer in the house x). I saw Pop_OS recommended for gaming too.
- Hard incompatibilities : as others said, some big games with kernel level anti cheat might not work (Fortnite, Apex Legends, Valorant, Rust, etc.). Along ProtonDB, a great site to keep track of that is https://areweanticheatyet.com/. Other than that, I ended up being able to run approximately anything, from old indies to modern big games without major problems, though it may involve tinkering.
- Tinkering with linux : if you are used in googling issues and browsing a bit through old forums posts, in my experience you’re good to go. I found a solution to every of my problems but one : it’s caused by Nvidia drivers. As you asked in another comments, AMDs and Intel’s drivers are open source, and so it’s easier for linux devs to adapt to them. Nvidia are proprietary, though they are going half-open-source and there is an attempt at building an open source driver from scratch, but their basic drivers options may clash with linux sometimes (in my case, the driver wont let linux turn off the screen when i’m inactive for too long, so not that a big issue).
- Windows compatibility : On 2 of the 3 computers i tried, having a windows 10 partition on the side is easy to setup and does not generate much trouble. My main computer is ZorinOS/Windows 11, and this one had more issues : each time i switch, i have to go in BIOS to set a setting that is made for Windows off, otherwise i can’t have multiple screens in linux. I also experienced some troubles which are probably linked to the partitioning process (i had to defrag data to create partitions) : if you can, i’d recommend making a clean multi partition drive, installing windows from scratch first, then installing Linux.
- Good luck in your process ! I was a bit reluctant at first, but now i’m really glad i did it. If you have access to another device, maybe try to install linux there first, so you can try it out and go through the installation process a first time.