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About a year ago I dumped Windows from my personal PC for good. I ran a Linux desktop at work for a decade, but my Steam collection get me with at least a bit o

About a year ago I dumped Windows from my personal PC for good. I ran a Linux desktop at work for a decade, but my Steam collection get me with at least a bit of a tether to Microsoft. But Valve finally made Linux gaming a reality. I hope more people can make the switch someday because I'm quite happy with the system (Pop!_OS is my distro of choice these days).

segfaltnh 2y ago
I did this about three months ago in response to Windows insisting again that I must link my desktop user with my Live account. I'm blown away by how viable Linux gaming is now, entirely because of money dumped in by Valve. It's only looking better, too, the deck means people are motivated to at least make sure it boots in Wine, and if they support Vulkan the perf will likely work out well.
- monero-xmr 2y ago
  I installed Windows for a media PC for the first time in many years, and holy shit it’s insane. The dark patterns. The nags. It’s a given they are somehow tracking everything I do and selling all of my files. They are milking boomers who will never switch from Windows as a cash cow, longterm they know Windows is dead as a personal desktop. Their revenue is no longer dependent on Windows PC so it’s an end game scenario.
yoshamano 2y ago
That's what finally gave me the confidence to switch to Linux a year ago. I'm running Manjaro on my main system and Valve's efforts in improving WINE/creating Proton have been fantastic. The amount of games that "just work" has been nothing short of amazing.
Thegn 2y ago
I also moved over to PopOS over a year ago and have been quite happy with the end result. Between Steam and Lutris I’ve been able to run everything I want to, and I don’t have to play whack-a-mole with Microsoft’s “features” that I’m not interested in. Bonus points: I’m having fun with my computer again!
- yownie 2y ago
  I also use Heroic Launcher with Epic Games as well on Pop_OS, check it out!
- mococa 2y ago
  I am also have been using PopOS for gaming.
newzisforsukas 2y ago
I think Proton is a great project (and CodeWeavers deserve credit there as well), but why does it have to be a choice? I have been multi booting for 20 years, preferring Linux distributions the whole time, but other OSes when I want to use them. I recently started using a dedicated Windows system for gaming and other Windows favored tasks. I am running a KVM switch, using AMD Graphics on a Linux system and Nvidia on this Windows system. I also have a macOS system, that I use as needed. I do this with mobile devices as well. It doesn't seem worth it to squabble over choosing a path.
- tcmart14 2y ago
  I don't know if I'd say its a choice between a squabble or no squabble, its just a different set of squabbles. For me, there are evenings when I am hacking away on a hobby project for 2 or 3 hours. Then suddenly just go, 'I wanna just veg out for another 2 hours then go to bed.' When I'm in that mood, I don't even want to be bothered changing machines. Just hit the steam icon and veg. Thats also bout the only time I end up gaming though, haha. Last time I dual booted though, I remember why I didn't for along time. Did a Windows update, windows rebooted my computer and it did something with grub and I couldn't easily boot into linux anymore.
  - gitaarik 2y ago
    Sounds familiar. Dual boot sounds nice but in practice isn't always that nice.
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
      It was my experience as well. For the longest time, I had dual boot with a thought that I will switch between OSs as needed ( and as a back up if things break down ), but that never really happened and I spent majority of time on Windows ( and games ). Eventually, I just realized VM works better for me.
      - EasyMark 2y ago
kjkjadksj 2y ago
The unfortunate side effect of valve supporting linux better is they seemingly gave up on mac os.
- hot_gril 2y ago
  Apple was also kinda asking for it
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    Well as of a couple of years ago they have some of the most overpowered hardware. Its not the intel era anymore. The fact I can run many of these unsupported games on max settings through an emulation layer no less is saying something.
    - hot_gril 2y ago
      They made the Mac a compatibility nightmare with games, so it doesn't matter so much how fast the hardware is. And going from a 2009 Mac Pro with an RX580 to an M1 mini, every game was slower, especially csgo (before it became cs2).
- catach 2y ago
  I suspect that the x86-64 to ARM transition had more to do with it.
  - kalleboo 2y ago
    And the corresponding deprecation of 32 bit which killed so many games
    - dotnet00 2y ago
      And the fact that Apple didn't seem to care to cooperate much in terms of things like Metal etc. Mac would've been a much bigger ask compared to Linux, where they can usually just contribute to and work with any component that may need bug fixes or additional features.
Derbasti 2y ago
Photo editing is my last holdout. And a European-compatible banking software. Everything else works well on Linux. Gaming included. I've run Linux many years, in fact. But Capture One and Lightroom are not available over there, which is what draws me back to MacOS. Of course I could just use darktable. Have done that for several years. But at the end of the day, I just prefer Capture One, and that's enough reason for me to switch my OS.
- mihular 2y ago
  What banking software do you mean? For home use? Isn't browser based good enough?
  - creshal 2y ago
    Some european banks are still struggling with the whole internet concept and have win32 apps using emulated dial up for both home and business customers.
    - duckmysick 2y ago
      Oh wow, can you name which are these? The few I had a pleasure of using have a really good browser and mobile app support. The only problem I ran into is that sometimes mobile apps refuse to run on rooted Android devices.
      - creshal 2y ago
        Raiffeisen in Austria is/was? one of the stragglers, but I haven't dealt with them in 2 years or so - a company I worked for was stuck with it, but I noped out for Erste Sparkasse ASAP, and they let you do everything in browser. (Since 2011 at least.)
        patrakov 2y ago
        Raiffeisen in Russia let one do everything in a browser on Linux since 2008 for personal accounts. Possibly earlier, I did not have an account with them back then. For business accounts, it's since February 2016.
dkersten 2y ago
My last version of Windows was 7. After that I used a MacBook for work for a few years, and I somewhat missed windows for gaming (but mainly used a PS4 during that time so I got by). Then, a few years ago, I switched exclusively to Linux (I’ve usually had a dual boot or a second machine running Linux, but it was rarely my exclusive OS), and haven’t looked back. I’ve since also got a Steam Deck which has completely replaced my PS4, while I also play a few games like Crusader Kings on my Linux laptop. Gaming is what kept a lot of people on windows over the years, but thanks to valve and the proton team, Linux gaming works as well as Windows gaming (and some people say better than — I certainly don’t have to deal with all the crap Microsoft tries to put into windows). Some people refuse to use Linux because they’re afraid of having to tinker with it, but that hasn’t been my experience in over a decade. Things have generally just worked for me.
- hot_gril 2y ago
  Would not say that Linux gaming works as well as Windows gaming. Plenty of things won't work in Proton, at least not out of the box, and you're kinda restricted to AMD GPUs. That's fine cause I don't play video games anymore, but people who really care about that will put up with a lot of MS's BS. AoE2:DE is one example of incompatibility. Simple game (by modern standards) with no advanced anticheat.
  - CorrectHorseBat 2y ago
    What doesn't work in AoE2:DE? It's been a few months since I played but the only thing that doesn't work is Xbox login. I needed to download a DLL to get multiplayer working, which I agree isn't really userfriendly, but compared to the early Wine days Proton is a walk in the park. What I do miss a bit is Capturage, apparently it's really hard to make it work in Proton.
  - dotnet00 2y ago
    There's nothing restricting you to AMD GPUs though? Proton works great on my 3090. It's even been less troublesome than when I used to use AMD GPUs, where IIRC accelerated graphics drivers and the ROCm drivers had some sort of conflict unless installed a certain way (a few years ago now, my last AMD card was a 5700xt).
DidYaWipe 2y ago
Windows is such execrable trash now that, when my late-2014 25-inch 5K Intel iMac got orphaned, I didn't even consider putting Windows on it. Now it's running Mint, and I use my M1 MacBook Pro in clamshell mode connected to a monitor. That monitor, incidentally, is a 25-inch former iMac. I gutted it after it suffered the widespread burned-out-GPU problem that afflicted many (most?) Macs of circa-2010 vintage, and put an LCD driver board in it.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
m463 2y ago
I am VERY happy running games on a nag-free windows 11 retail install. - I download games from gog via linux and put them on an NTFS partition - I boot windows 11 in a proxmox VM with passthrough gpu + usb controller for sound - I mount NTFS partition in VM, install and run games - my windows 11 install has no network device - tbh there was a windows defender nag, but I managed to disable it. I've been wondering if I can do something similar for steam, but haven't touched my steam login in 5+ years. I think you can use a proxy for steam.
Zambyte 2y ago
I switched to Pop OS in 2018 because I was in college, and I wanted to spend less time gaming. Unfortunately for me, that was also the year Valve released Proton, and my gaming didn't (immediately) drop very much :>
bigboy12 2y ago
Why in gods name would I use windows in the first place!! 40 years of patch Tuesdays?? Get a Mac.

segfaltnh 2y ago

I did this about three months ago in response to Windows insisting again that I must link my desktop user with my Live account. I'm blown away by how viable Linux gaming is now, entirely because of money dumped in by Valve. It's only looking better, too, the deck means people are motivated to at least make sure it boots in Wine, and if they support Vulkan the perf will likely work out well.

monero-xmr 2y ago
I installed Windows for a media PC for the first time in many years, and holy shit it’s insane. The dark patterns. The nags. It’s a given they are somehow tracking everything I do and selling all of my files. They are milking boomers who will never switch from Windows as a cash cow, longterm they know Windows is dead as a personal desktop. Their revenue is no longer dependent on Windows PC so it’s an end game scenario.

yoshamano 2y ago

That's what finally gave me the confidence to switch to Linux a year ago. I'm running Manjaro on my main system and Valve's efforts in improving WINE/creating Proton have been fantastic. The amount of games that "just work" has been nothing short of amazing.

Thegn 2y ago

I also moved over to PopOS over a year ago and have been quite happy with the end result. Between Steam and Lutris I’ve been able to run everything I want to, and I don’t have to play whack-a-mole with Microsoft’s “features” that I’m not interested in. Bonus points: I’m having fun with my computer again!

yownie 2y ago
I also use Heroic Launcher with Epic Games as well on Pop_OS, check it out!
mococa 2y ago
I am also have been using PopOS for gaming.

newzisforsukas 2y ago

I think Proton is a great project (and CodeWeavers deserve credit there as well), but why does it have to be a choice? I have been multi booting for 20 years, preferring Linux distributions the whole time, but other OSes when I want to use them. I recently started using a dedicated Windows system for gaming and other Windows favored tasks. I am running a KVM switch, using AMD Graphics on a Linux system and Nvidia on this Windows system. I also have a macOS system, that I use as needed. I do this with mobile devices as well. It doesn't seem worth it to squabble over choosing a path.

tcmart14 2y ago
I don't know if I'd say its a choice between a squabble or no squabble, its just a different set of squabbles. For me, there are evenings when I am hacking away on a hobby project for 2 or 3 hours. Then suddenly just go, 'I wanna just veg out for another 2 hours then go to bed.' When I'm in that mood, I don't even want to be bothered changing machines. Just hit the steam icon and veg. Thats also bout the only time I end up gaming though, haha. Last time I dual booted though, I remember why I didn't for along time. Did a Windows update, windows rebooted my computer and it did something with grub and I couldn't easily boot into linux anymore.
- gitaarik 2y ago
  Sounds familiar. Dual boot sounds nice but in practice isn't always that nice.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
    It was my experience as well. For the longest time, I had dual boot with a thought that I will switch between OSs as needed ( and as a back up if things break down ), but that never really happened and I spent majority of time on Windows ( and games ). Eventually, I just realized VM works better for me.
    - EasyMark 2y ago

kjkjadksj 2y ago

The unfortunate side effect of valve supporting linux better is they seemingly gave up on mac os.

hot_gril 2y ago
Apple was also kinda asking for it
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  Well as of a couple of years ago they have some of the most overpowered hardware. Its not the intel era anymore. The fact I can run many of these unsupported games on max settings through an emulation layer no less is saying something.
  - hot_gril 2y ago
    They made the Mac a compatibility nightmare with games, so it doesn't matter so much how fast the hardware is. And going from a 2009 Mac Pro with an RX580 to an M1 mini, every game was slower, especially csgo (before it became cs2).
catach 2y ago
I suspect that the x86-64 to ARM transition had more to do with it.
- kalleboo 2y ago
  And the corresponding deprecation of 32 bit which killed so many games
  - dotnet00 2y ago
    And the fact that Apple didn't seem to care to cooperate much in terms of things like Metal etc. Mac would've been a much bigger ask compared to Linux, where they can usually just contribute to and work with any component that may need bug fixes or additional features.

Derbasti 2y ago

Photo editing is my last holdout. And a European-compatible banking software. Everything else works well on Linux. Gaming included. I've run Linux many years, in fact. But Capture One and Lightroom are not available over there, which is what draws me back to MacOS. Of course I could just use darktable. Have done that for several years. But at the end of the day, I just prefer Capture One, and that's enough reason for me to switch my OS.

mihular 2y ago
What banking software do you mean? For home use? Isn't browser based good enough?
- creshal 2y ago
  Some european banks are still struggling with the whole internet concept and have win32 apps using emulated dial up for both home and business customers.
  - duckmysick 2y ago
    Oh wow, can you name which are these? The few I had a pleasure of using have a really good browser and mobile app support. The only problem I ran into is that sometimes mobile apps refuse to run on rooted Android devices.
    - creshal 2y ago
      Raiffeisen in Austria is/was? one of the stragglers, but I haven't dealt with them in 2 years or so - a company I worked for was stuck with it, but I noped out for Erste Sparkasse ASAP, and they let you do everything in browser. (Since 2011 at least.)
      - patrakov 2y ago
        Raiffeisen in Russia let one do everything in a browser on Linux since 2008 for personal accounts. Possibly earlier, I did not have an account with them back then. For business accounts, it's since February 2016.

dkersten 2y ago

My last version of Windows was 7. After that I used a MacBook for work for a few years, and I somewhat missed windows for gaming (but mainly used a PS4 during that time so I got by). Then, a few years ago, I switched exclusively to Linux (I’ve usually had a dual boot or a second machine running Linux, but it was rarely my exclusive OS), and haven’t looked back. I’ve since also got a Steam Deck which has completely replaced my PS4, while I also play a few games like Crusader Kings on my Linux laptop. Gaming is what kept a lot of people on windows over the years, but thanks to valve and the proton team, Linux gaming works as well as Windows gaming (and some people say better than — I certainly don’t have to deal with all the crap Microsoft tries to put into windows). Some people refuse to use Linux because they’re afraid of having to tinker with it, but that hasn’t been my experience in over a decade. Things have generally just worked for me.

hot_gril 2y ago
Would not say that Linux gaming works as well as Windows gaming. Plenty of things won't work in Proton, at least not out of the box, and you're kinda restricted to AMD GPUs. That's fine cause I don't play video games anymore, but people who really care about that will put up with a lot of MS's BS. AoE2:DE is one example of incompatibility. Simple game (by modern standards) with no advanced anticheat.
- CorrectHorseBat 2y ago
  What doesn't work in AoE2:DE? It's been a few months since I played but the only thing that doesn't work is Xbox login. I needed to download a DLL to get multiplayer working, which I agree isn't really userfriendly, but compared to the early Wine days Proton is a walk in the park. What I do miss a bit is Capturage, apparently it's really hard to make it work in Proton.
- dotnet00 2y ago
  There's nothing restricting you to AMD GPUs though? Proton works great on my 3090. It's even been less troublesome than when I used to use AMD GPUs, where IIRC accelerated graphics drivers and the ROCm drivers had some sort of conflict unless installed a certain way (a few years ago now, my last AMD card was a 5700xt).

DidYaWipe 2y ago

Windows is such execrable trash now that, when my late-2014 25-inch 5K Intel iMac got orphaned, I didn't even consider putting Windows on it. Now it's running Mint, and I use my M1 MacBook Pro in clamshell mode connected to a monitor. That monitor, incidentally, is a 25-inch former iMac. I gutted it after it suffered the widespread burned-out-GPU problem that afflicted many (most?) Macs of circa-2010 vintage, and put an LCD driver board in it.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

m463 2y ago

I am VERY happy running games on a nag-free windows 11 retail install. - I download games from gog via linux and put them on an NTFS partition - I boot windows 11 in a proxmox VM with passthrough gpu + usb controller for sound - I mount NTFS partition in VM, install and run games - my windows 11 install has no network device - tbh there was a windows defender nag, but I managed to disable it. I've been wondering if I can do something similar for steam, but haven't touched my steam login in 5+ years. I think you can use a proxy for steam.

Zambyte 2y ago

I switched to Pop OS in 2018 because I was in college, and I wanted to spend less time gaming. Unfortunately for me, that was also the year Valve released Proton, and my gaming didn't (immediately) drop very much :>

bigboy12 2y ago

Why in gods name would I use windows in the first place!! 40 years of patch Tuesdays?? Get a Mac.