So 43% of Steam users are the kind of stickler that refuse to update their Windows to an objectively better version because it’s something new and different and breaks their habits. What would make you think these people would possibly just switch to a different OS altogether if a simple update was too much to ask for the past years?
Maybe 43% have hardware that is not supported by Windows 11. And don’t want to run windows 11 on unsupported hardware or go through the hassle of even installing on unsupported hardware.
If doing one registry edit and installing Win11 from the iso to bypass the silly “processor unsupported” message is a too high barrier for these 43%, how do you realistically expect these same people to go out of their way and install a Linux distro? Why should they be motivated to learn in which ways it works differently from the Windows architecture? And let’s not get started with “unsupported hardware” - even though the Linux experience has gotten so much smoother, it’s still not uncommon to have components with subpar or no real support.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Linux and I use it for work - but to think a huge part of gamers will switch to Linux with just because they don’t want to update their Windows is just illusory.
I don’t expect them to switch. I think it’s more likely they will stay until there games are no longer supported. Simply because a lot of people just don’t want or can’t edit the registry, because they think stats for people with technical knowledge. But I also don’t believe they will all switch to Linux.
Made the upgrade last week to Linux mint and I’m loving it. Got my Arr stacks and stuff setup as dockers and it’s never worked so well. All the connection issues I’ve had on windows is now gone.
The interface is nice and not bloated. And I’m not being tracked which feels liberating.
Welcome :), if we’re being honest lot of the tracking still happens on Linux once you open your web browser but it definitively feel nice to be liberated of the one at OS level and a solid start for caring about online privacy
Yeah, it’s about reducing the amount of tracking though. I’ve since deleted my Google account, stopped using gmail, moved to proton, stopped using online password managers, deleted Reddit, quit watching YouTube, moved everything I can to open source programs. Libre office instead of 365 etc.
My gaming pc has just switched over to bazzite (as I use it like a console/htpc). Been wanting to do it for ages but needed to get an amd card beforehand for the best experience. Windows really started to grind my gears in the last few months too.
If I can get it working, I will absolutely use debug mode on pokemon fan games because it saves me time not to have to do things like going back for healing my party, grinding to a certain level defeating bosses I’m not supposed to using cheated in legendaries, etcetera.
Definitely not developer intended, nor am I sure this would count for an intended answer to the question. Otherwise, I cannot think of any other answers to this question.
I run Linux on a small mini pc for some casual browsing.
I run windows on my main pc.
As long as some kernel anticheat (fortnite, cod, etc…) doesn’t run on Linux, I won’t be swapping.
30+y of windows use also makes me infinitely more comfortable with windows. All the complaints I always read about are totally moot for me (I understand the issue of privacy in windows. It’s the price I pay to have an OS that “just works” for me) .
While I enjoy tinkering, Linux is a royal PITA to use if you’re not used to it. I spend hours trying to figure out how to fix something that takes me 5m max in windows. I understand it’s a more a me than a Linux problem. But I’m certain many people struggle with the same things.
Maybe the last time you tried Linux was 30 years ago, but Linux compared to Windows just works.
If it takes you HOURS to find a fix to something that takes you literally 5 minutes on Windows, you are doing something wrong. Your research methods are flawed.
Some of my friends still use Windows, fixing their problems takes me half an hour to find a solution, while on Linux, I just open the terminal and insert one command. Last time that happened it was about a VPN kill switch. So the person had a VPN App installed on Windows with a kill switch enabled. Then they uninstalled the VPN application and the kill switch was still there.
How do you remove the kill switch? On Linux it’s ‘nmcli c ‘killSwitchName’ del’ on Windows it’s a journey to a new adventure.
For how I use my pc, everything just works. To give you a counter argument. My logitech devices just work out of the box on windows. For Linux I had to get a little specific tool. Also try installing Japanese language input on Linux. Compare how much simpler it is on windows. Linux is NOT simpler than windows in all situations. Maybe your own research methods are flawed?
I game, manage my NAS (truenas running jellyfish for media etc) , sail the high seas, and browse on my pc. I also remote into a small spare mini pc running Ubuntu server with a minecraft server on it. (Could’ve ran the server on windows, but wanted to tinker with Linux to learn)
It all works flawless.
Also, give me a Linux alternative for parsec that just works as well for remote gaming, both from other desktop devices as from a mobile devices.
Yeah I do OS installs for other people all the time but my main PC is a hot mess and I run a bunch of problematic software including VR. I’ll probably end up setting up a dual boot of Win11 & Linux and avoid Windows as much as possible. But I will procrastinate because I already use both OS’s on other PCs so I know what to expect. I’ll put it off as long as possible, hoping they postpone. Never do today what you can put off til next year :)
I have an ad hoc media server on 10. If it’s super working, you can bet I will replace it with something other than Microsoft. Unless work requires it, everything I use is Linux, Android, or Apple based. I don’t hate Windows, I just like everything else more.
I think I’ve seen a video showcasing this tactic. Dude with a Syringe just running around, picking up his teammates as soon as they downed. It was great :D
Welcome to the other side, make sure to enjoy and use actual documentation of your software instead of random Q&A answered by ‘Community Moderators’ on Windows forums :)
Is there an easy way to port all my stuff to Linux? I would not have made the switch in the past, but all the good will I attributed to Microsoft is pretty much gone. I’ve heard Mint is petty easy to hop onto?
I honestly think mint is an outdated suggestion for beginners, I think immutability is extremely important for someone who is just starting out, as well as starting on KDE since it’s by far the most developed DE that isn’t gnome and their… design decisions are unfortunate for people coming from windows.
I don’t think we should be recommending mint to beginners anymore, if mint makes an immutable, up to date KDE distro, that’ll change, but until then, I think bazzite is objectively a better starting place for beginners.
The mere fact that it generates a new system for you on update and lets you switch between and rollback automatically is enough for me to say it’s better, but it also has more up to date software, and tons of guides (fedora is one of the most popular distros, and bazzite is essentially identical except with some QoL upgrades).
How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”? that’s not a good user experience for someone who’s just starting, it’s intimidating, scary, and I just don’t think it’s the best in the modern era. There’s something to be said about learning from these mistakes, but bazzite essentially makes these mistakes impossible.
Furthermore because of the way bazzite works, package management is completely graphical and requires essentially no intervention on the users part, flathub and immutability pair excellently for this reason.
Cinnamon (the default mint environment) doesn’t and won’t support HDR, the security/performance improvements from wayland, mixed refresh rate displays, mixed DPI displays, fractional scaling, and many other things for a very very long time if at all. I don’t understand the usecase for cinnamon tbh, xfce is great if you need performance but don’t want to make major sacrifices, lmde is great if you need A LOT of performance, cinnamon isn’t particularly performant and just a strictly worse version of kde in my eyes from the perspective of a beginner, anyway.
I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to infinitely troubleshoot if you add me on matrix.
Thank you for you detailed response! I think something like Bazzite would be more up my alley based on what you said. Something that is hard to mess up is something I’d be more comfortable with for sure.
I appreciate your offer for troubleshooting help as well!
Linux would still be a good option. The driver isn’t as simple as AMD but not nearly as complicated as you would think. Unless you’re a Destiny 2, Fortnite, or League player you wouldn’t have any issues gaming either.
Already fiddling around enough with tge stuff I do with my PC which I installed Win11 on and I am in the EU meaning less BS than the US version (no forced upgrades, no ads (as described by US citizens) and so on).
I use Debian on my server as it’s a tool. Same for my pc. And I have a steamdeck.
And every tool has it’s worth no matter if it’s made from shitty chinesium or baller titanium.
I like the way Windows handles most things and I prefer it over having to fiddle with the way every Linux distro does it’s own thing (and I will never use Ubuntu).
Sooo, I’m in the same boat. Only, I sold my GPU expecting to get an upgrade and then didn’t for a long while - which is when I decided to make the switch to Linux, just to see how things go.
Now I added the GPU and - with issues - managed to get gaming going. It’s fine, I think. Played Hogwarts Legacy yesterday for a couple of hours. Got a 7800x3d and RX 9070 XT, with everything on Ultra (including Ray Tracing) and upscaling disabled, my GPU would be sitting between 80 and 100% utilisation, but FPS was very comfortable (don’t have a counter so don’t know exactly how many, but it was smooth).
HOWEVER, after a couple of hours my main monitor turned off and the other one turned… green. I think the graphics driver crashed? Not sure, honestly. Anyway, after a reboot everything was fine. Overall, I had a nice four hour-long session yesterday.
I guess what I’m saying is - give it a go! KDE is beautiful (do recommend Garuda Linux just for the design choices, but they also have A TONNE of “I’m a noob, help” features pre-configured), gaming is fine, you might enjoy it. And if you don’t, just switch back to Windows.
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