Post from u/BestRetroGames on the r/kde, not mine. Interesting perspective nonetheless
Actually I started with a Commodore 64, so command line OSs have never been a problem for me. As a matter of fact MS DOS remains my all time favorite OS. I still have it and use it on my retro machine.
But Windows has always made my life very easy and every single time I had tried Linux since the time the first Matrix came along and I was a little bit into hacking, I just didn’t feel like it was worth the sacrifices (gaming on our campus was huge).
I tried Ubuntu in 2013 , then in 2018 … I know a well polished SW when I see one, this was not quite there. And honestly, I was still running Windows 7, which is one of the best OSs ever as far as ease of use is concerned. I can appreciate the power use functions of an OS… but I just wanted the OS to do what is supposed to do with minimum input/tweaking from my side. Win 7 did this very well without hogging my PC with all kinds of background running crap. There was a time where I knew every process by name as I maintained a lean running OS.
Windows 10 came along. Suddenly with every other update, slowly but surely the OS was no longer serving MY needs. I felt like I am no longer fully in control of my own PC (hello mandatory updates, un-uninstallable bloatware and 100s of background processes/services that take 5-10% of my CPU on Idle)… Suddenly it felt like I have no clue what is running on my own system. NOT A GOOD FEELING. I gave one more try of Ubuntu in 2020… not quite there yet.
But Windows 10 kept getting worse… well I said at least I got it for free as an upgrade from Win 7. The thing is, apps for Windows keep getting bigger and more and more bloated + many are adopting subscription based models (I HATE those). But I said… I love gaming… can’t do that easily on Linux.
Some misguided people told me to switch to MAC. MAC? I hate MACs more than anything in the world. Their closed monopoly crap drives me nuts… not to mention the crazy price.
Now for productivity, I work in a mega corporation, we are on Win 10 fully integrated into Azure so that is kind of set in stone. I don’t care, it runs my e-mail, chat and MS Project. But everything else?
I tried again 2 days ago. Downloaded Kubuntu this time. And yes… this is it guys… you have finally done it! Finally Linux as far as Desktop is concerned has in my eyes surpassed Windows. Yeah yeah I know it has always been more powerful in certain ways but ease of use has never been its strong side.
Now it is also better from a point of view that the OS is making my life simple. I don’t need to care about anything… install & go.
Had a look at some videos… really nice selection of distributions… I love the fact one can choose one that is suited towards certain needs.
And now I see also there is huge compatibility with Steam/Epic Store games? Unbelievable. Don’t have much time to game anymore but those couple of games I DO play, nice to know I can play them.
I am planning on buying a Mini PC to replace my home media center laptop (an old Asus G51JX from 2010) and my condition was that it had to come with a Win 10 Home because I couldn’t be bothered to install anything else… but now? Hell no… I am putting Linux on that machine.
Another last thing the Linux community has finally gotten it. It has to look beautiful out of the box, animations, effects, all of it… while remaining fluid, fast and responsive. And yeah… again… you have done it. It looks more beautiful than Windows (which in my eyes peaked at Windows 7 with Aero)
I’ve been into IT for 40 years now… since I was 5 years old. I work in IT… and I am pretty sure Linux has a really good chance of spreading to the home desktop space like never before. Especially with Windows going down the drain real fast. Can’t wait to see how Linux evolves in the next 5 years. Exciting!
Gaming on Linux is definitely there. Most people saying otherwise simply haven’t tried it recently enough. For the last year or so, the experience has been largely flawless. There’s the occasional game that needs a flip to Proton Experimental or a launch option; even more occasionally the need for special Proton until Valve’s version catches up. But the work that has been done to get Linux gaming at parity with Windows definitely shows.
Frankly, on AMD, the experience is better than Windows. Less overhead and never have to worry about video drivers since they’re in the kernel. I’ll happily switch to Experimental occasionally as a tradeoff.
I switched over to Pop!_OS a year ago and I am extremely happy with my choice. I’ve recently had to go back to dual booting only because sunshine/moonlight streaming games across my home network was having serious issues with Linux–so only the games I want to stream up to my TV box are on windows. I 100% prefer Linux to Windows for everything you’ve mentioned, and Steam/Epic (Legendary game launcher(?)) has pretty much worked flawlessly. One minor quibble I have is that it is irritatingly hard to get mod managers working consistently, and I enjoy modding many of the games I play (Skyrim, oblivion, fallout, etc,.).
I’m chomping at the bit for the new Rust-based COSMIC desktop to be released by Pop!_OS though. Should be FY24.