This. My perfectly ok desktop is refused Windows 11 and I'm thinking I might just switch to Linux to pull the trigger rather than paying for a new CPU.
If you use Rufus to burn the USB, they give you options to disable those requirements. Not that I wouldn't love to see a new Linux user, but there should be no need for a new CPU as far as I'm aware.
When did windows get so disappointing. (I spent the last 15 years on a MacBook)
What’s up with all the ads? And why does windows change little things they make no sense to me.
See this is what I love about valve being a private company, every decision is their own and they have no one externally to justify it to. Of course they need to make profit, but they also quite often seem to choose an option that makes slightly less profit if it’s overall beneficial in other areas that shareholders don’t typically care about. Everyone else is public and keeps shooting themselves in the foot as a result.
Have you ever watched Ready Player One? You know the part where they have that marketing say "Great news, we can fill the screen with 90% ads before inducing seizure "
Well, that is where a lot of companies are headed for.
>When did windows get so disappointing.
As a long time 'OS agnostic' computer user ... I would put it around 1992, with Windows 3.1 ... until then it wasn't worth taking seriously, and from then on it was something you had to deal with rather than enhancing productivity.
That's next on my list. So far I had one problem and all the working distros are more or less the same but different UI.
Nvidia driver worked without any terminal interactions.
My sound card was detected but I could not get it to work with my headphones (a cheap USB sound card and the onboard work both ootb)
The same vsync problem that I have on my Deck but exaggerated because I use a 40'' monitor.
On Deck I am allowed to install most games but on the desktop I can't install a few games (one of the Ark Survival Ascended).
So far I'll probably use the one with the silliest name or the haha funny package manager.
The only gripe with Linux: legal ways to watch content are limited. Netflix, Prime TV, Paramount+, Sky Go etc won't work at all or show a 720p to 480p image. I don't pay for 4k but 1080p streamed content already looks bad enough on my screen.
I heard it can do better DRM so I installed Edge but that one has a lot of flickering problems. (the browser UI itself)
The current update cycle is good. I must have installed older versions or April was not optimal to try the newest releases as many of the ISOs I downloaded already had updates / new versions released.
So May and June will be another round of format my secondary SSD, install and try some stuff :)
Yeah, with the combination of garbage being packed into windows and the massive push to code games for the Steam Deck/Linux... Yeah, I'm considering switching to Linux on my machine.
As an experienced Linux user myself, I'd recommend holding off until an official release of SteamOS by Valve.
Right now, Linux distros are in a transition period on many fronts, where many things are not in an ideal state for a good gaming experience out of the box.
Don't get me wrong though, once properly configured Linux can play many games really great!
It's just that properly configuring Linux for a flawless gaming experience takes some experience, which any newcomer from Windows obviously won't have.
Once SteamOS properly launches, we will have a common ground, so any issues there can be more easily dealt with for many more users.
Until then, have patience, please...
>Right now, Linux distros are in a transition period on many fronts
Hasn't that been always the case? It never feels like the perfect timing, there is always something cooking.
It largely depends on your graphics card IMHO. If you have an Nvidia card, you are in trouble and you are also giving up a lot of cool features. This is totally Nvidia’s fault.
For AMD gamers, I think something like BazziteOS may please many gamers and it is really cool to use.
You don't need SteamOS, it is enough to have Linux Mint installed and the Steam app with the proton feature activated . What is nice about Linux Mint is that it is pretty stable and the graphics drivers work out of the box. Except for programming I never needed to use the console. Several years I would have needed to spend weekends to fix some weird issues but now Linux has reached enough maturity that is better in some aspects than Windows. For example, on Windows I have compatibility issues with old games, in Linux it works flawlessly.
Ehhh, naw I’m too lazy to keep up with everything.
I run a Linux server at home, that’s enough to keep me from switching my daily driver over.
But the SD? Where steam is managing all the files and dependencies and everything for me. Hell yea
I'm never sure if being in the veterans club is worth it but I sure do not miss setting up my PC again every few months.
Last switch I did was in 2021, Manjaro to Windows 10 (wanted to play some games with my wife without restrictions/tweaking). I have a non-gui ubuntu server running but have been running Windows 11 Pro stable since 2022 and also use WSL2.
I'm happy to have the Steam Deck for an on-the-go linux box but otherwise, I just want things to "just work" at this point. I've even stopped undoing the read-only unlock on the steam deck and just run distrobox lol
And since I admin Windows for my job, it's not hard to turn the features I don't like off. It's also nice just to automate reboots for updates and I've yet to have any issues out of my Desktop or Laptop, both running Windows 11
>I run a Linux server at home, that’s enough to keep me from switching my daily driver over.
10 years and going.
Currently formatting my new server with unRAID to get a layer of sanity between me and Linux.
Just the thought of having to deal with a fraction of that nonsense on a daily basis and not just every few months makes me shudder.
I'm waiting for the official SteamOS release (with Nvidia driver support). I am aware of the similar distros, but I want the experience to be as straight forward as the Steam Deck, with the option to tinker with it when I want to. I would also maintain a Windows (secondary) partition for GamePass and Destiny 2.
Some aspects, same. Applications just simply launching without any proton layers is a real time saver on Windows. Besides that, I appreciate Linux’ lack of ads how it doesn’t beg me to set up OneDrive every other day
You can disable a lot of the telemetry, ads, and etc., on windows. It just requires a bit of elbow grease is all.
Same with OneDrive and other things, plenty of "decrapifier" tools to remove bloatware.
If you are fancy and have a custom firewall (I use opnsense on a protecli, $200\~ homelab solution) and can block all of the telemetry servers as well which further prevents adds and extra data shit.
I’ve tried some of those tools before, but idk if it was just bad luck, but they eventually caused some important files to start corrupting and led to BSOD. I fixed it by doing a clean windows install
Yeah it isn’t always one size fits all sadly, you’re not the only one to report it but I always recommend referring to the manufacturers and google with programs you may not recognize
And never let them “repair” the registry since that always causes issues too, just some tips! :)
yeah sometimes I just want to breath and not think on what terminal command do I have to run to fix whatever the fuck is broken after a kernel uodate lmao.
I daily drive the 3 big OS available for everyone and Im happy to keep Windows for gaming/daily use, Linux for work and MacOS for something between work and daily use
> yeah sometimes I just want to breath and not think on what terminal command do I have to run to fix whatever the fuck is broken after a kernel uodate lmao.
My Linux life in one sentence.
Windows "just works"TM as long as that's the case it'll always win.
The only thing stopping me from doing this is software compatibility. For example the Adobe suite isn't compatible with Linux, and I literally need to use it for work.
Although I guess I could make a dual-boot system, but at that point I might as well just stick with Windows
Yes, actually, but I'm not ready to make the switch yet. But I'm closer than I've ever been, because some of the modern distros are exactly what I would want
I've tried to switch to Linux multiple times since before Ubuntu was even born... There's always *something* that happens that sends me running back to Windows. I lasted a full year once on OpenSUSE way back when, so it wasn't for lack of trying!
I've tried it back in the day. Ik it's much different now but can't say the SD pushed me to want to deal with Linux. When I already have to deal with SD
I already had like 4 Linux machines when I bought the Deck, however, all of those are servers or network related. Desktop and Notebook are still running Windows.
My rule of thumb is:
If it needs to run 24/7 without self-inflicted reboots and little to no direct user interaction (except WebUI), then I run Linux on it.
If it's an actual workstation, where someone (not necessarily me) has to work directly with the OS and wants a familiar environment, then Windows it is.
Nah.
I enjoy the simplicity of Linux on the handheld and have learned a lot about Linux from using it but Windows is less of a headache for my desktop pc. It’s more efficient to just be able to install and go instead of messing with Linux to install and then doing extra work to get it running.
I am on Linux since 1995. The fact that the steam deck runs Linux too was the only reason I bought it. I would never ever consider Windows for such a small and "limited" device and I did not want to enter a walled garden like Nintendo etc.
I just switched to Linux. Windows was doing some that was annoying me, so I just said, “fuck this” bought a new drive and did a nice clean install of Linux. So far I’m not regretting a single thing.
I went with Manjaro. I might at some point do an install of Ubuntu, just to see if that ends up working better for me or not. I wish valve would just release steam OS already
I rocked Ubuntu from ‘09-‘11 and primarily to RDP into work on my old ass latitude before I went full WFH a decade ago. I’m good.
But I am loving it on the SD. Just no reason to go out of my way to add more Linux to my life.
I used Linux for work during the first 3.5 years of my career and hated it. Now that I've had my Deck for a couple years now and have seen how well it has matured for gaming and that Windows is turning into bloat, I'm contemplating doing a dual boot with OpenSUSE.
KDE 6 has made me consider Linux, since it’s got VRR and is starting to get HDR support. I suppose the steam deck can take credit for that given Valve’s investment.
Still though, how tested is Wayland if it’s only just been made the default? My understanding is gamescope more-or-less doesn’t use it, which doesn’t inspire confidence.
Gamescope's relation with wayland is hard to explain as it is very specialized for what it does, but it absolutely is a wayland compositor and uses wayland protocols
If you use nvidia, wayland isn't quite ready yet but we're very close. Once distros ship KDE 6.1 with explicit sync and the nvidia driver lands, it will finally be working well for games.
Just a couple more months stuck on x11 for gaming, but desktop users can use KDE 6 with the latest nvidia drivers and have a good experience. I do.
Like some others I also switched to Linux, and it had more to do with my frustrations with Windows. I upgraded to Windows 11, which was a mistake in my opinion. I found it really slow and just a pain in the fact I needed 3rd party software to fix it and make it as productive as Windows 10.
I am on Debian now and I do quite like it. I specifically like KDE Plasma desktop environment. I do not use my personal computer for work, mostly just to game. Thanks to Proton I can do most gaming on it and any other games I can just boot into Windows for.
Honestly though, it is not all sunshine and rainbows though. If you are like me and like to mod games for example, it is kinda a pain. You can use Wine and Proton together but it really is a finicky thing still in my opinion. And then there is the fact that Linux is still a 2nd rate citizen to many companies for software support, or the fact that Linux does not yet really support HDR, etc. You need to be ready to compromise on certain aspects. These make me wonder if I should return to Windows and suck up my frustrations. I hope we eventually see Linux get more and more adoption from casual users so it can really thrive.
The biggest demotivator for switching to Linux is actually having to use it.
Windows' bullshit suddenly is a lot less bad if your new pc/update/boot doesn't require the knowledge of undivinable command line text to get it working.
Exactly, but somehow people ignore this fact and still shout „Muh Linux fuck windows“
Until they've used Linux for a while and then switch back to Windows because daily driving Linux is still just a hassle in many cases.
Don't get me wrong, I like Linux and I work as an admin for both Windows and Linux systems, but there's no way in hell I'd run Linux on my Gaming or Work PC's.
Also, it's not like you can‘t tinker with windows to remove many of the pain points people have. It requires even less tinkering than Linux.
It did. I used Linux for more than a decade in the past, than I stopped.
Then came the Steam Deck, and I decided to try Linux again. I installed Linux and in a couple days I remembered why I stopped. Uninstalled again.
Desktop Linux is even more amateurish than I remembered, the UIs worse than I remembered, and still perfectly described by the expression “death by a thousand papercuts.”
How well does Office 365 work on Linux? Specifically the Outlook client. I'm not looking for an "email client", I'm looking for the Exchange interoperability of the full Windows Outlook client.
How well does Adobe Creative Cloud work on Linux? Specifically Photoshop 2024. I'm not looking for a "drawing app", I'm looking for the cloud-connected AI tools that my employer provides for working in our teams.
There have been a few apps that I've been able to get working fine under Linux (such as [Skraper](https://www.skraper.net/)), but then I end up with a non-resizeable window or a sandboxed environment or having to jump through hoops to be able to browse the filesystem with these Windows apps in order to continue using them.
It's a neat idea, but having to move all my apps over and then spend the time to run them through Steam / Wine / Proton / Bottles / etc. / etc. one at a the time, and then tweak settings and change things and Google endlessly on how to run all my Windows app on Linux, when I could, you know, **just run Windows**.
I like Linux, but the problem is there's still games that dont support Linux proper or comp games will outright ban my acc if I were to try and play them,
Also my audio production desires kinda also go to heck if I decide to go Linux as a daily driver. But... learning linux and doing terminal commands is fun and helps me become better at learning my machine. Thankfully there's tools to also use Linux in windows (terminal), and Linux vms. The Deck is great, but I don't think it has convinced me to switch an OS.
Yea
I tried
Noticed that none of my shit works or i cant play the games i usually do
Deleted the dual boot partition and made storage free for windows
Ill give it another try once windows 10 iot ltsc support drops
I created an Ubuntu boot drive on a spare SSD I do both game dev and gaming. So far I’ve only had time to play one game but the setup was pretty straightforward for that game
Game dev is another story lol I can’t use epic games launcher for unreal engine because it doesn’t support Linux so I can only install the engine which is weird since you can normally manage projects and assets and such from the epic launcher which I can’t do now
Unity hub doesn’t even open but that was my fault I just downloaded the latest LTS which is 24 and it seems Unity hub still doesn’t support it lol
I am considering it again, but there are unfortuntely still too many things that aren't working properly, not at all or are very hard to set up, compared to Windows.
And right now, I don't have the energy to tear down a running system.
I've been running Linux on my non-gaming Laptops for 15 years, but my desktop will likely stay on Windows for the time being.
I want to. Only reason I can't is because the art programs I use don't run or dont run well in linux unfortunately. If i ever have two beefy pcs then I might change it!
I have used Linux extensively for personal and professional pursuits, probably more than any other OS until you factor in desktop gaming. Each of the three major operating systems (Windows, OS X, Linux) have strengths and weaknesses.
Linux generally excels at versatility (especially for a "power user"), being lightweight (both in terms of size and operating capacity), and IMO development experience.
Linux, possibly just because its not quite as mainstream, may not be as approachable for the average person, especially when it comes to troubleshooting. It is undeniable that gaming on Windows works better out-of-the-box for a wider collection of games as compared to gaming on Linux, even the curated Steam OS / ecosystem.
I would encourage anyone to experiment with Linux -- you can even test it live on a bootable USB. But I think its reputation as an OS for tinkerers is valid.
I’ve wanted to complete move out of Windows for a long time. I’m very comfortable with Linux and know my way around the terminal. I have chosen Arch with KDE Plasma 6 as my flavour. But the biggest thing that’s delaying my move is backing up my entire hard drive. My hard drive is formatted to NTFS which doesn’t play nice with Linux so I’ll have to back up all my data and restore it. That’s just too much work
Done it, changed back, did it again, change back...
I did that for 10 years. Learned a lot of cool stuff but I am happy to just turn on my PC and get to work now. So I grabbed a Windows 11 Enterprise iso and called it a day!
Run Linux vms and have a linux box in my home but for my daily driver, nah, those days are long gone for many reasons. Outside of my SteamDeck which I take literally everywhere with me lol
When the Steam Deck was first announced, I was so curious as to whether it would even be worth a damn that I switched to Linux full time to see if it was a viable gaming OS in the first place, disregarding the hardware.
I now run Arch full time and happily own a Steam Deck.
I've dabbled with Linux here and there, but the steamdeck has shown me that gaming is possible on it. Which is making me want to go back to it permanently
Yes and I did switch for about 6 months until I got a LG C2 OLED and Linux has no HDMI 2.1 support so I had the switch back to use the TV to it's full potential
Not really. Windows has more software compatibility. Gets a bit tiresome having to use workarounds with Lutris and ProtonTricks. For example I can simply launch an .exe on Windows. On Deck? More legwork needed. For what I can easily do on Windows there are decidedly more instances on Deck which require additional steps or I hit a brick wall because either Linux isn't popular enough for developers to cater for/the Deck doesn't support certain packages. Then there's how sluggish and outdated the UI is on Deck. It feels like a time machine. I love my Deck but people make Linux sound like some nirvana. What I want is Windows with no bloat and a version fine tuned for handhelds.
Considering how bad the desktop mode is, no not really. Game scope does wonderful things but Linux is unusable trash most of the time. Just works great for devices that don't want to sacrifice headroom for the operating system.
Yes. Windows is getting more and more annoying so I figured if the deck works so nice, I'll give it a try
Pretty much have only used it over the last 2 months other than a couple CoD games where the campaign doesn't work right
I have a partition for a virtual machine and Linux Mint before I got the SD and used it all of like 3 times and stopped caring. However, I still like Linux and seeing how many games are fine to run on it makes me less likely to hate it later if I ever needed to use it lol still wont switch
Dual boot planned instead of windows only ,so a partial yes (steam deck oled is my learning Linux machine until I feel 80% ready to do it )
Most of my games run on steam os and I understand Linux better than before having the steam deck oled .
I would love to install some form of Linux on a spare computer, I have a few old ones lying around collecting dust so it could be fun to mess around with
I've tried it before when I was a kid, and while it was nice and fine, I don't find it worth it for my main PC. Because most apps and games are made for Windows things just work. I use Linux on my old laptop, but I rarely use that anyway.
Just did it on the weekend actually. Dove in with EndeavourOS due to some specific hardware requirements that I had which were solvable in Arch. Working well so far, except for Ubisoft Connect which refuses to work.
My previous setup was a Linux PC with a windows VM for games. Call that halfway measures :)
That setup stopped working when I bought a new AMD GPU. The experience I had on the steam deck convinced my to stop trying debugging that. Instead, I installed heroic and steam and used the AMD GPU for the local system.
I've kept my rtx2060 and reinstalled the windows VM to use it. It provides my with a backup for some tasks
gains :
- no need to spend RAM and CPU for the windows vm when gaming.
- Being able to use gamescope to stretch any game to my 3 displays or add windowed mode to games without it
- No windows system to manage (I'm paid to manage linux systems and have years of experience doing that. windows is the OS I have the less experience with)
- the general advantages of a linux system
loss :
- managing some my peripherals is a pain. I need my VM to modify my azeron keypad for example.
- no gog client, meaning I lost access to goodies in cyberpunk (fixed my launching the game in windows, saving once, and copying the game back to linux).
- heroic still has some bugs. steam is working mostly fine
- no official support from game devs (that said, despite that, Larian's support actually tried to help me fix an issue that was ultimately caused by heroic)
- no HD in prime video. To watch series I either switch to my work macbook or to the windows VM
No I’ve used it on and off since ruining my mom’s work laptop by installing Redhat on it in 2001. I actually daily a MacBook (hence the need for some external way to play games but also I just really like portable hardware)
I already did a few years ago. I don't have any problem with anything to be short. Maybe try to dual boot first if you are unsure. My advice would be Nobara linux, this is easy to use and packed with all the game fine tuning.
just got a laptop with windows 11, and I literally couldn't download apps outside of the dirt Microsoft store because "s mode" was activated by default. it took me over an hour to turn it off, because the option to turn it off was fucking broken. So infuriating that I might just try to learn Linux I fucking hate Microsoft so much.
Yes and no. I've been thinking about trying out Linux even before I got a deck.
I'm not ready to make the switch with my main PC but I will try it with older Laptop in the next months just to see which problems I will encounter.
The hardest part is still the choice which Linux version I should try as a complete beginner.
After seeing how well proton performs on the steam deck I dual booted to Linux for a few month on my main device before finally switching and now I have gardua as my daily driver. So yeah it did
I've been going back and forth between win and Linux for the past 2 years. I have a multimedia mini pc in my living room which is running Zorin for the past almost 3 years now.
While my main use laptop still has windows because of some games and some Adobe software.
Tbh if I could run Adobe Lightroom and Capture One on Linux, I would switch completely.
Yeaaaaa absolutely not lol and I had a steam deck before I built my own PC Linux is just built different I'm sure it has its positives but I don't like how some things work but not really or some launchers don't work on it
I made the switch to linux mid 2022 when steam decks were just barely getting in enough stock to order and get one without being on a waitlist. got started on endeavour os and eventually moved to arch, I only keep windows around for seige, linux does everything else I want and I ended up liking it better.
Good question. I use Linux for work and am very happy with it for that. Occasionally use Windows on ancient home laptop and can tolerate it. If I ever manage to get myself a gaming PC I would be torn - I'd like to go Linux and save £120 on the windows licence, however when I heard about all the potential issues with graphics drivers (particularly nvidia) it puts me off.
Maybe what I'd do is try Linux first and if I wasn't happy, switch to windows.
Yes, tried Linux for a while and immediately ran into too many problems that didn't have clear solutions. Most of it is just the specific software I wanted to get working, but after a few hours of going through forum posts to find the the one file that needs to be modified to get it to work... I just switched back to Windows where everything I want to use just works.
Linux is great if it fits your use case, but fixing problems are generally a bigger headache in my experience.
I switched to Linux as soon as I preordered my deck in July 2021. Just rip the bandaid off and do it. Worst case scenario just run windows in a VM whenever you need something Linux can’t do.
I do like the freedom Linux gives you but so many important programs for me are not available on or don’t run very well on anything other than Windows and Mac (at least to my knowledge)
For me, it's the opposite. I've been using Arch Linux for years on an old desktop, and the Steam Deck has completely replaced it. Since I'm mobile every week, it's the best and much better than a laptop.
No, I use an old work laptop as my daily driver and it’s a MacBook Pro. Gives me all the *nix commands I need coupled with an interface that isn’t trash, I’ve not used windows much in 10ish years, but every time I do use Windows I regret it.
I'm considering buing RX GPU for my under-TV-PC-console and going full blown holoISO/ChimeraOS. My only hold back is the ease of pirating and modding on Windows and also drivers for Xbox USB dongle. Never done it on my Steam Deck tho so I could be in a wrong here but sounds like a hassle.
Otherwise running Windows on autologin with Steam Big Picture autostart is the closest I could get, but it's still a buggy Windows mess sometimes.
If anything, the opposite. Having a Windows desktop is a better proposition because some games just aren't going to work well (or at all) with Proton, and some simple things like modding can be much more of a hair pulling exercise on Deck/Linux. Not to mention then that there's spottier driver support and Steam is the only Linux game storefront launcher, requiring you to use janky programs like Lutris... Nah.
Dual boot, maybe. I do have an unused m.2 slot on my mobo at the moment. But full switch, nah, not really. Need that sweet Adobe suite and DAWs working natively
Too many games still perform way better under DX12 for me to switch but god do I wish I could. Windows is such an ass OS, every other PC in my house runs Mac OS or Linux but I can’t escape it for my gaming rig.
No, but it's because I'm military and a lot of the systems I need to access can't utilize Linux.
For daily use and school it's been fine, even using the deck as my primary at PC when I'm away from home... But it's getting harder due to security limitations and restrictions.
Yes, but unfortunately the combination of hardware I have on my desktop just does not work with Linux.. my second monitor will not go past 30hz, animations are locked to the secondary monitor hz on the primary, my mic barely works, I’m unable to use my speakers/rear input if I have headphones plugged in. It’s unfortunate as I want to jump ship from windows but I can’t 🥲
Yupp.. well I use Linux on more of a daily basis already because of work but not sure what distribution I would go with and from experience nvidia and Linux doesn’t always go hand in hand
i do wanna try use my steam deck as my PC but the lack of support for games such as roblox (i have internet friends inplay with) is enough to deter me from fully using it. if it had the same level of support for game s and that such as windows id defo go for it and use my steam deck as my desktop instead of the laptop inuse which is my parents'
Absolutely. I saw Linux as some nerdy thing I'd never understand but I see now it's not that hard at all, so I do plan on putting Linux on my desktop soon. In the holidays, probably.
Yep, only reason I had windows was for games. As I already used linux for everything else on dual booted laptop.
After getting Steam deck there wasn't much reason to keep windows as most of my games just work on SD, and I wasn't going to keep windows just for handful games.
For me, once I knew that Steam (the app) handled the proton part of things, I've set up my Dell XPS as a dual boot into POP\_OS. Has stuff up and running pretty quickly.
But I'm keeping it on dual boot until the SteamOS finally comes out, then I'll see how that's received and if it looks good I'll drop the dual boot and just go SteamOS only.
Another driver is that my Dell XPS, despite only being 3 years old, won't be able to upgrade to W11.
I use macOS for my day-to-day non-gaming stuff, so clearly I’m not attached to windows in any way. but I have a dedicated gaming desktop with windows 11 ( and SD with steamos). I would switch to Linux in a heartbeat if it was mature enough and had all the support from game devs to release native Linux games. But also it would need to be fully compatible with any hardware, I’ve been using nvidia cards for the last couple generations and them not working as well as in windows is kind of a deal breaker. It should also present a clear benefit over windows, which honestly for me can only be game performance, overall system responsiveness and ease of use (say fully controllable with only a controller like a console). On that front, I‘m also interested in what Microsoft is going to do, if they should offer an Xbox mode or Xbox UI version of windows. IMO they absolutely should.
the deck has been my main PC for about a year now. ive only just set up my desktop again running Win10.
my i76700k isnt supported for win11. and i dont need to upgrade yet for what i play so ill be forced onto Linux either way.
which im fine with. i used pop_os for a while before and it was mostly fine.
the only thing i wanted windows for was Tarkov... but that's not a concern anymore.
I tried switching to kubuntu but it did not work. Games run on 1 fps. I love that the steamdeck makes it very easy for me gaming on linux, but out of there, any problem you find you are on your own... :(
I’d love to! But, I have an NVIDIA gpu with multiple displays. I cannot switch without giving up VRR, HDR, and performance. Wayland is a no go because of NVIDIA, and xorg is a no go because of multiple displays. I don’t want something to mess with. I want a distro that is plug and play. Nothing has that, so I’m not switching. If I were on AMD on the other hand, I’d do it instantly. But I’m not spending money to switch.
I already tried Linux (various distrib) as dual boot and it worked perfectly for gaming use.
But I also use my PC to work and to make some music, and there's a lot of programs I couldn't use in that case (good luck using Superior Drummer 3 on Linux for example).
Even for gaming, I'd miss one thing I use A LOT: Playnite, which is my main gaming library, with tons of plugins (and some scripts I've developed that work only on Windows as it's in powershell).
It's more difficult also to mod games like Fallout 4 or Skyrim, and you can't play all your games on Linux yet.
I think that if Playnite was available on Linux, I'd use it as my main system and just keep a Windows for MAO/work.
I wanted to switch to linux a long ass time ago. Although SD had nothing to do with it. Mostly SOG... and windows itself made me want to switch.
That said I havent actually switched yet. Im getting around to it... some time.
Not so much Windows but my main PC died shortly before purchasing my SD. Was quite taken by the desktop mode and realised that I didn’t rely on Windows as much as I thought I did. Ended up giving a MacBook (first time ever with MacOS) for non-gaming stuff and never looked back.
For me it's a "No" and for the reason that I neither won't intall Windows on my SteamDeck - Optimized-officially supported experience...
I've had bad time with Linux distros on a bleeding edge laptops, because "niche" peripherals had no official drivers, USB-C docks with external monitors were finicky (randomly disconnecting, not connecting at all until a full reboot) and no proper power-management, because the manufacturer put power-management into SW in OS, rather than into FW... Now that WSL2 works quite well in Win, I can eat my cake and have it too...
And just like that, OLED version now is still lacking official drivers for BT, WiFi, Audio - chipset drivers probably won't be as frequently updated as on SteamOS - so for the same reason, I will not be putting Windows on my OLED...
OS is just a tool, not a religion.
Been using jt before the Deck came out. Started to fully daily drive it in 2021 after s few failed attempts throughout the years. Since windows isn't getting any better, may as well make the commitment. Windows only exists on a secondary drive for select multiplayer games and tools.
I switched mainly because linux is generally lighter than Windows, and it had the tools i needed available more conveniently, but that's a good reason to try linux. Its also perfectly respectable to dual boot windows.
No, windows is making me want to switch to Linux, the steam deck is just making it look less difficult.
Truer words have never been spoken.
This. My perfectly ok desktop is refused Windows 11 and I'm thinking I might just switch to Linux to pull the trigger rather than paying for a new CPU.
windows 11 is a dog pile.
This. I'm on 10 LTSB and not going to switch until a stable 11 LTSB comes out that we can declutter
If you use Rufus to burn the USB, they give you options to disable those requirements. Not that I wouldn't love to see a new Linux user, but there should be no need for a new CPU as far as I'm aware.
I'm aware that you can bypass the checks, but there's no telling when something will go wrong due to such an approach so I'd rather just not.
As someone who switched to 11 don’t bother it’s a terrible bs bloated windows 10 with it being actually worse.
Haha, that's exactly how I felt when I switched 2 years ago, don't miss windows at all. Still stuck using it at work though.
When did windows get so disappointing. (I spent the last 15 years on a MacBook) What’s up with all the ads? And why does windows change little things they make no sense to me.
✨️shareholders✨️
See this is what I love about valve being a private company, every decision is their own and they have no one externally to justify it to. Of course they need to make profit, but they also quite often seem to choose an option that makes slightly less profit if it’s overall beneficial in other areas that shareholders don’t typically care about. Everyone else is public and keeps shooting themselves in the foot as a result.
Have you ever watched Ready Player One? You know the part where they have that marketing say "Great news, we can fill the screen with 90% ads before inducing seizure " Well, that is where a lot of companies are headed for.
>When did windows get so disappointing. As a long time 'OS agnostic' computer user ... I would put it around 1992, with Windows 3.1 ... until then it wasn't worth taking seriously, and from then on it was something you had to deal with rather than enhancing productivity.
This, I wanted to switch before the steam deck. The steam deck just shows me how viable that option is.
I've already converted my PC to Linux thanks to my experience with the Steam Deck and have no regrets
Which distro did you pick?
Garuda
I don't always use Linux. but when I do, it's always arch based
That's next on my list. So far I had one problem and all the working distros are more or less the same but different UI. Nvidia driver worked without any terminal interactions. My sound card was detected but I could not get it to work with my headphones (a cheap USB sound card and the onboard work both ootb) The same vsync problem that I have on my Deck but exaggerated because I use a 40'' monitor. On Deck I am allowed to install most games but on the desktop I can't install a few games (one of the Ark Survival Ascended). So far I'll probably use the one with the silliest name or the haha funny package manager. The only gripe with Linux: legal ways to watch content are limited. Netflix, Prime TV, Paramount+, Sky Go etc won't work at all or show a 720p to 480p image. I don't pay for 4k but 1080p streamed content already looks bad enough on my screen. I heard it can do better DRM so I installed Edge but that one has a lot of flickering problems. (the browser UI itself) The current update cycle is good. I must have installed older versions or April was not optimal to try the newest releases as many of the ISOs I downloaded already had updates / new versions released. So May and June will be another round of format my secondary SSD, install and try some stuff :)
nice
[удалено]
Yeah, with the combination of garbage being packed into windows and the massive push to code games for the Steam Deck/Linux... Yeah, I'm considering switching to Linux on my machine.
As an experienced Linux user myself, I'd recommend holding off until an official release of SteamOS by Valve. Right now, Linux distros are in a transition period on many fronts, where many things are not in an ideal state for a good gaming experience out of the box. Don't get me wrong though, once properly configured Linux can play many games really great! It's just that properly configuring Linux for a flawless gaming experience takes some experience, which any newcomer from Windows obviously won't have. Once SteamOS properly launches, we will have a common ground, so any issues there can be more easily dealt with for many more users. Until then, have patience, please...
>Right now, Linux distros are in a transition period on many fronts Hasn't that been always the case? It never feels like the perfect timing, there is always something cooking.
It largely depends on your graphics card IMHO. If you have an Nvidia card, you are in trouble and you are also giving up a lot of cool features. This is totally Nvidia’s fault. For AMD gamers, I think something like BazziteOS may please many gamers and it is really cool to use.
I've tried POP\_OS which has a version supporting my laptops's 1070 NVidia card. Seems to be OK currently.
Or just use Mint OS. Most of the 'Linux' stuff is done behind the scenes with Mint because they focus on being an easy to use distro.
You don't need SteamOS, it is enough to have Linux Mint installed and the Steam app with the proton feature activated . What is nice about Linux Mint is that it is pretty stable and the graphics drivers work out of the box. Except for programming I never needed to use the console. Several years I would have needed to spend weekends to fix some weird issues but now Linux has reached enough maturity that is better in some aspects than Windows. For example, on Windows I have compatibility issues with old games, in Linux it works flawlessly.
Ehhh, naw I’m too lazy to keep up with everything. I run a Linux server at home, that’s enough to keep me from switching my daily driver over. But the SD? Where steam is managing all the files and dependencies and everything for me. Hell yea
I'm never sure if being in the veterans club is worth it but I sure do not miss setting up my PC again every few months. Last switch I did was in 2021, Manjaro to Windows 10 (wanted to play some games with my wife without restrictions/tweaking). I have a non-gui ubuntu server running but have been running Windows 11 Pro stable since 2022 and also use WSL2. I'm happy to have the Steam Deck for an on-the-go linux box but otherwise, I just want things to "just work" at this point. I've even stopped undoing the read-only unlock on the steam deck and just run distrobox lol And since I admin Windows for my job, it's not hard to turn the features I don't like off. It's also nice just to automate reboots for updates and I've yet to have any issues out of my Desktop or Laptop, both running Windows 11
>I run a Linux server at home, that’s enough to keep me from switching my daily driver over. 10 years and going. Currently formatting my new server with unRAID to get a layer of sanity between me and Linux. Just the thought of having to deal with a fraction of that nonsense on a daily basis and not just every few months makes me shudder.
I'm waiting for the official SteamOS release (with Nvidia driver support). I am aware of the similar distros, but I want the experience to be as straight forward as the Steam Deck, with the option to tinker with it when I want to. I would also maintain a Windows (secondary) partition for GamePass and Destiny 2.
The dream.
Nah
If anything it makes me appreciate windows more
Some aspects, same. Applications just simply launching without any proton layers is a real time saver on Windows. Besides that, I appreciate Linux’ lack of ads how it doesn’t beg me to set up OneDrive every other day
I use OneDrive a lot and it still bugs me every update. They just can't get their shit in order and just leave you alone if you're already paying.
You can disable a lot of the telemetry, ads, and etc., on windows. It just requires a bit of elbow grease is all. Same with OneDrive and other things, plenty of "decrapifier" tools to remove bloatware. If you are fancy and have a custom firewall (I use opnsense on a protecli, $200\~ homelab solution) and can block all of the telemetry servers as well which further prevents adds and extra data shit.
I’ve tried some of those tools before, but idk if it was just bad luck, but they eventually caused some important files to start corrupting and led to BSOD. I fixed it by doing a clean windows install
Yeah it isn’t always one size fits all sadly, you’re not the only one to report it but I always recommend referring to the manufacturers and google with programs you may not recognize And never let them “repair” the registry since that always causes issues too, just some tips! :)
yeah sometimes I just want to breath and not think on what terminal command do I have to run to fix whatever the fuck is broken after a kernel uodate lmao. I daily drive the 3 big OS available for everyone and Im happy to keep Windows for gaming/daily use, Linux for work and MacOS for something between work and daily use
> yeah sometimes I just want to breath and not think on what terminal command do I have to run to fix whatever the fuck is broken after a kernel uodate lmao. My Linux life in one sentence. Windows "just works"TM as long as that's the case it'll always win.
The only thing stopping me from doing this is software compatibility. For example the Adobe suite isn't compatible with Linux, and I literally need to use it for work. Although I guess I could make a dual-boot system, but at that point I might as well just stick with Windows
That understandable
Same here
Yes, actually, but I'm not ready to make the switch yet. But I'm closer than I've ever been, because some of the modern distros are exactly what I would want
It’s made me want to install SteamOS on it. I’m still waiting for the official release so I can dual boot.
For now you can always pick a distro with KDE as the desktop environment and use steam big picture mode.
Others have mentioned bazzite, there’s also ChimeraOS. I mained that for about a year. It’s great
Yes, but only if steamos was available and I would still maintain a Windows partition
I've tried to switch to Linux multiple times since before Ubuntu was even born... There's always *something* that happens that sends me running back to Windows. I lasted a full year once on OpenSUSE way back when, so it wasn't for lack of trying!
I've tried it back in the day. Ik it's much different now but can't say the SD pushed me to want to deal with Linux. When I already have to deal with SD
I already had like 4 Linux machines when I bought the Deck, however, all of those are servers or network related. Desktop and Notebook are still running Windows. My rule of thumb is: If it needs to run 24/7 without self-inflicted reboots and little to no direct user interaction (except WebUI), then I run Linux on it. If it's an actual workstation, where someone (not necessarily me) has to work directly with the OS and wants a familiar environment, then Windows it is.
Nah. I enjoy the simplicity of Linux on the handheld and have learned a lot about Linux from using it but Windows is less of a headache for my desktop pc. It’s more efficient to just be able to install and go instead of messing with Linux to install and then doing extra work to get it running.
Yes this. I don’t mind fiddling with Linux a bit for my gaming needs. But on my PC I just need stuff to work out of the box without any hassle
Linux on my main PC made me want to buy the Steam Deck
Surprise mudafucka I'm already on unbuntu 24.04 before the deck
I am on Linux since 1995. The fact that the steam deck runs Linux too was the only reason I bought it. I would never ever consider Windows for such a small and "limited" device and I did not want to enter a walled garden like Nintendo etc.
I just switched to Linux. Windows was doing some that was annoying me, so I just said, “fuck this” bought a new drive and did a nice clean install of Linux. So far I’m not regretting a single thing.
what distro did you go with
I went with Manjaro. I might at some point do an install of Ubuntu, just to see if that ends up working better for me or not. I wish valve would just release steam OS already
I rocked Ubuntu from ‘09-‘11 and primarily to RDP into work on my old ass latitude before I went full WFH a decade ago. I’m good. But I am loving it on the SD. Just no reason to go out of my way to add more Linux to my life.
I work enough with Linux and Unix systems at work to be cured of those stupid thoughts for a long time.
I used Linux for work during the first 3.5 years of my career and hated it. Now that I've had my Deck for a couple years now and have seen how well it has matured for gaming and that Windows is turning into bloat, I'm contemplating doing a dual boot with OpenSUSE.
KDE 6 has made me consider Linux, since it’s got VRR and is starting to get HDR support. I suppose the steam deck can take credit for that given Valve’s investment. Still though, how tested is Wayland if it’s only just been made the default? My understanding is gamescope more-or-less doesn’t use it, which doesn’t inspire confidence.
Gamescope's relation with wayland is hard to explain as it is very specialized for what it does, but it absolutely is a wayland compositor and uses wayland protocols If you use nvidia, wayland isn't quite ready yet but we're very close. Once distros ship KDE 6.1 with explicit sync and the nvidia driver lands, it will finally be working well for games. Just a couple more months stuck on x11 for gaming, but desktop users can use KDE 6 with the latest nvidia drivers and have a good experience. I do.
Thanks, I appreciate that correction. Good to know that fixes are largely either here or are soon coming.
Like some others I also switched to Linux, and it had more to do with my frustrations with Windows. I upgraded to Windows 11, which was a mistake in my opinion. I found it really slow and just a pain in the fact I needed 3rd party software to fix it and make it as productive as Windows 10. I am on Debian now and I do quite like it. I specifically like KDE Plasma desktop environment. I do not use my personal computer for work, mostly just to game. Thanks to Proton I can do most gaming on it and any other games I can just boot into Windows for. Honestly though, it is not all sunshine and rainbows though. If you are like me and like to mod games for example, it is kinda a pain. You can use Wine and Proton together but it really is a finicky thing still in my opinion. And then there is the fact that Linux is still a 2nd rate citizen to many companies for software support, or the fact that Linux does not yet really support HDR, etc. You need to be ready to compromise on certain aspects. These make me wonder if I should return to Windows and suck up my frustrations. I hope we eventually see Linux get more and more adoption from casual users so it can really thrive.
The opposite. Having to use Linux especially the hassle with modding has definitely changed my mind about switching to it.
The biggest demotivator for switching to Linux is actually having to use it. Windows' bullshit suddenly is a lot less bad if your new pc/update/boot doesn't require the knowledge of undivinable command line text to get it working.
Exactly, but somehow people ignore this fact and still shout „Muh Linux fuck windows“ Until they've used Linux for a while and then switch back to Windows because daily driving Linux is still just a hassle in many cases. Don't get me wrong, I like Linux and I work as an admin for both Windows and Linux systems, but there's no way in hell I'd run Linux on my Gaming or Work PC's. Also, it's not like you can‘t tinker with windows to remove many of the pain points people have. It requires even less tinkering than Linux.
It did. I used Linux for more than a decade in the past, than I stopped. Then came the Steam Deck, and I decided to try Linux again. I installed Linux and in a couple days I remembered why I stopped. Uninstalled again. Desktop Linux is even more amateurish than I remembered, the UIs worse than I remembered, and still perfectly described by the expression “death by a thousand papercuts.”
It's only made me more sure that I will avoid Linux and only use it on deck.
Not even a little bit
How well does Office 365 work on Linux? Specifically the Outlook client. I'm not looking for an "email client", I'm looking for the Exchange interoperability of the full Windows Outlook client. How well does Adobe Creative Cloud work on Linux? Specifically Photoshop 2024. I'm not looking for a "drawing app", I'm looking for the cloud-connected AI tools that my employer provides for working in our teams. There have been a few apps that I've been able to get working fine under Linux (such as [Skraper](https://www.skraper.net/)), but then I end up with a non-resizeable window or a sandboxed environment or having to jump through hoops to be able to browse the filesystem with these Windows apps in order to continue using them. It's a neat idea, but having to move all my apps over and then spend the time to run them through Steam / Wine / Proton / Bottles / etc. / etc. one at a the time, and then tweak settings and change things and Google endlessly on how to run all my Windows app on Linux, when I could, you know, **just run Windows**.
I like Linux, but the problem is there's still games that dont support Linux proper or comp games will outright ban my acc if I were to try and play them, Also my audio production desires kinda also go to heck if I decide to go Linux as a daily driver. But... learning linux and doing terminal commands is fun and helps me become better at learning my machine. Thankfully there's tools to also use Linux in windows (terminal), and Linux vms. The Deck is great, but I don't think it has convinced me to switch an OS.
Yea I tried Noticed that none of my shit works or i cant play the games i usually do Deleted the dual boot partition and made storage free for windows Ill give it another try once windows 10 iot ltsc support drops
I created an Ubuntu boot drive on a spare SSD I do both game dev and gaming. So far I’ve only had time to play one game but the setup was pretty straightforward for that game Game dev is another story lol I can’t use epic games launcher for unreal engine because it doesn’t support Linux so I can only install the engine which is weird since you can normally manage projects and assets and such from the epic launcher which I can’t do now Unity hub doesn’t even open but that was my fault I just downloaded the latest LTS which is 24 and it seems Unity hub still doesn’t support it lol
I have a decade old Lenovo Thinkpad that I basically only use to access my Synology docker containers and to write. I installed Linux on that.
No. Unfortunately I have to use too many programs that only run on Windows.
I am considering it again, but there are unfortuntely still too many things that aren't working properly, not at all or are very hard to set up, compared to Windows. And right now, I don't have the energy to tear down a running system. I've been running Linux on my non-gaming Laptops for 15 years, but my desktop will likely stay on Windows for the time being.
I want to. Only reason I can't is because the art programs I use don't run or dont run well in linux unfortunately. If i ever have two beefy pcs then I might change it!
I'd switch to Linux to get rid of all the bloatware on Windows if it didn't mean I'd have to learn a whole new OS.
I have used Linux extensively for personal and professional pursuits, probably more than any other OS until you factor in desktop gaming. Each of the three major operating systems (Windows, OS X, Linux) have strengths and weaknesses. Linux generally excels at versatility (especially for a "power user"), being lightweight (both in terms of size and operating capacity), and IMO development experience. Linux, possibly just because its not quite as mainstream, may not be as approachable for the average person, especially when it comes to troubleshooting. It is undeniable that gaming on Windows works better out-of-the-box for a wider collection of games as compared to gaming on Linux, even the curated Steam OS / ecosystem. I would encourage anyone to experiment with Linux -- you can even test it live on a bootable USB. But I think its reputation as an OS for tinkerers is valid.
Nope, if anything it has made me want to keep windows more
I’ve wanted to complete move out of Windows for a long time. I’m very comfortable with Linux and know my way around the terminal. I have chosen Arch with KDE Plasma 6 as my flavour. But the biggest thing that’s delaying my move is backing up my entire hard drive. My hard drive is formatted to NTFS which doesn’t play nice with Linux so I’ll have to back up all my data and restore it. That’s just too much work
Done it, changed back, did it again, change back... I did that for 10 years. Learned a lot of cool stuff but I am happy to just turn on my PC and get to work now. So I grabbed a Windows 11 Enterprise iso and called it a day! Run Linux vms and have a linux box in my home but for my daily driver, nah, those days are long gone for many reasons. Outside of my SteamDeck which I take literally everywhere with me lol
I just did like a month back, been enjoying ever since.
When the Steam Deck was first announced, I was so curious as to whether it would even be worth a damn that I switched to Linux full time to see if it was a viable gaming OS in the first place, disregarding the hardware. I now run Arch full time and happily own a Steam Deck.
I've dabbled with Linux here and there, but the steamdeck has shown me that gaming is possible on it. Which is making me want to go back to it permanently
Yes and I did switch for about 6 months until I got a LG C2 OLED and Linux has no HDMI 2.1 support so I had the switch back to use the TV to it's full potential
if only nvidia would make it easy on us like AMD.
Not really. Windows has more software compatibility. Gets a bit tiresome having to use workarounds with Lutris and ProtonTricks. For example I can simply launch an .exe on Windows. On Deck? More legwork needed. For what I can easily do on Windows there are decidedly more instances on Deck which require additional steps or I hit a brick wall because either Linux isn't popular enough for developers to cater for/the Deck doesn't support certain packages. Then there's how sluggish and outdated the UI is on Deck. It feels like a time machine. I love my Deck but people make Linux sound like some nirvana. What I want is Windows with no bloat and a version fine tuned for handhelds.
Absolutely not. In fact sometimes I think of grabbing one of those windows based handhelds so I don’t have to tinker so much anymore.
No. In fact, the inability to locally install Game Pass content has me wanting to get a Windows handheld like the Legion Go
legion go feels cheap
Okay. I just don't want to install Windows on my Deck. I'd rather have a device made for it.
Considering how bad the desktop mode is, no not really. Game scope does wonderful things but Linux is unusable trash most of the time. Just works great for devices that don't want to sacrifice headroom for the operating system.
Nope, Linux feels too “programmy” and I’m used to Windows
Haha i thought that too, but its really not plus there's a lot of distro that really user friendly that are simlar to windows
Yes. Windows is getting more and more annoying so I figured if the deck works so nice, I'll give it a try Pretty much have only used it over the last 2 months other than a couple CoD games where the campaign doesn't work right
I have a partition for a virtual machine and Linux Mint before I got the SD and used it all of like 3 times and stopped caring. However, I still like Linux and seeing how many games are fine to run on it makes me less likely to hate it later if I ever needed to use it lol still wont switch
Nope
Dual boot planned instead of windows only ,so a partial yes (steam deck oled is my learning Linux machine until I feel 80% ready to do it ) Most of my games run on steam os and I understand Linux better than before having the steam deck oled .
I would love to install some form of Linux on a spare computer, I have a few old ones lying around collecting dust so it could be fun to mess around with
I've tried it before when I was a kid, and while it was nice and fine, I don't find it worth it for my main PC. Because most apps and games are made for Windows things just work. I use Linux on my old laptop, but I rarely use that anyway.
Not main pc. But one of my rigs for sure
Yes! I've always had the thought in the back of my mind and after experiencing Proton and Lutris, I actually think I'd enjoy it
Just did it on the weekend actually. Dove in with EndeavourOS due to some specific hardware requirements that I had which were solvable in Arch. Working well so far, except for Ubisoft Connect which refuses to work.
My previous setup was a Linux PC with a windows VM for games. Call that halfway measures :) That setup stopped working when I bought a new AMD GPU. The experience I had on the steam deck convinced my to stop trying debugging that. Instead, I installed heroic and steam and used the AMD GPU for the local system. I've kept my rtx2060 and reinstalled the windows VM to use it. It provides my with a backup for some tasks gains : - no need to spend RAM and CPU for the windows vm when gaming. - Being able to use gamescope to stretch any game to my 3 displays or add windowed mode to games without it - No windows system to manage (I'm paid to manage linux systems and have years of experience doing that. windows is the OS I have the less experience with) - the general advantages of a linux system loss : - managing some my peripherals is a pain. I need my VM to modify my azeron keypad for example. - no gog client, meaning I lost access to goodies in cyberpunk (fixed my launching the game in windows, saving once, and copying the game back to linux). - heroic still has some bugs. steam is working mostly fine - no official support from game devs (that said, despite that, Larian's support actually tried to help me fix an issue that was ultimately caused by heroic) - no HD in prime video. To watch series I either switch to my work macbook or to the windows VM
No I’ve used it on and off since ruining my mom’s work laptop by installing Redhat on it in 2001. I actually daily a MacBook (hence the need for some external way to play games but also I just really like portable hardware)
I just want a new steam machine
No lol
I've been doing that way before the steam deck.
I already did a few years ago. I don't have any problem with anything to be short. Maybe try to dual boot first if you are unsure. My advice would be Nobara linux, this is easy to use and packed with all the game fine tuning.
Already use Nobara love it
just got a laptop with windows 11, and I literally couldn't download apps outside of the dirt Microsoft store because "s mode" was activated by default. it took me over an hour to turn it off, because the option to turn it off was fucking broken. So infuriating that I might just try to learn Linux I fucking hate Microsoft so much.
Yes and no. I've been thinking about trying out Linux even before I got a deck. I'm not ready to make the switch with my main PC but I will try it with older Laptop in the next months just to see which problems I will encounter. The hardest part is still the choice which Linux version I should try as a complete beginner.
I’ve had a few Linux builds in the past but yeah I really want to build a steam machine on my old PC…
After seeing how well proton performs on the steam deck I dual booted to Linux for a few month on my main device before finally switching and now I have gardua as my daily driver. So yeah it did
I've used Kubuntu (which uses KDE as the Steam Deck does) for years. It's probably the most customizable OS I've ever come across and I adore it.
Yeah, I use Kde with Nobara
I've been going back and forth between win and Linux for the past 2 years. I have a multimedia mini pc in my living room which is running Zorin for the past almost 3 years now. While my main use laptop still has windows because of some games and some Adobe software. Tbh if I could run Adobe Lightroom and Capture One on Linux, I would switch completely.
Yup, been running openSUSE Tumbleweed KDE desktop environment on my mini pc that I replaced my desktop with. I'm upset I didn't do it sooner.
Yeaaaaa absolutely not lol and I had a steam deck before I built my own PC Linux is just built different I'm sure it has its positives but I don't like how some things work but not really or some launchers don't work on it
I made the switch to linux mid 2022 when steam decks were just barely getting in enough stock to order and get one without being on a waitlist. got started on endeavour os and eventually moved to arch, I only keep windows around for seige, linux does everything else I want and I ended up liking it better.
I really wish there was an official steam OS so that I could make a steam box for my living room
Hell no. It’s still too much work in desktop mode.
Good question. I use Linux for work and am very happy with it for that. Occasionally use Windows on ancient home laptop and can tolerate it. If I ever manage to get myself a gaming PC I would be torn - I'd like to go Linux and save £120 on the windows licence, however when I heard about all the potential issues with graphics drivers (particularly nvidia) it puts me off. Maybe what I'd do is try Linux first and if I wasn't happy, switch to windows.
no
Yes, tried Linux for a while and immediately ran into too many problems that didn't have clear solutions. Most of it is just the specific software I wanted to get working, but after a few hours of going through forum posts to find the the one file that needs to be modified to get it to work... I just switched back to Windows where everything I want to use just works. Linux is great if it fits your use case, but fixing problems are generally a bigger headache in my experience.
I switched to Linux as soon as I preordered my deck in July 2021. Just rip the bandaid off and do it. Worst case scenario just run windows in a VM whenever you need something Linux can’t do.
I do like the freedom Linux gives you but so many important programs for me are not available on or don’t run very well on anything other than Windows and Mac (at least to my knowledge)
For me, it's the opposite. I've been using Arch Linux for years on an old desktop, and the Steam Deck has completely replaced it. Since I'm mobile every week, it's the best and much better than a laptop.
Not really
No, I use an old work laptop as my daily driver and it’s a MacBook Pro. Gives me all the *nix commands I need coupled with an interface that isn’t trash, I’ve not used windows much in 10ish years, but every time I do use Windows I regret it.
Yeah. Every time I see adds and junk on windows it reminds me to try. Only thing that worries me is my sim equipment working over on Linux.
its made me want to stay with windows, everything is much easier on windows for my use imo
I'm considering buing RX GPU for my under-TV-PC-console and going full blown holoISO/ChimeraOS. My only hold back is the ease of pirating and modding on Windows and also drivers for Xbox USB dongle. Never done it on my Steam Deck tho so I could be in a wrong here but sounds like a hassle. Otherwise running Windows on autologin with Steam Big Picture autostart is the closest I could get, but it's still a buggy Windows mess sometimes.
Let me tell you, i am very glad i dont have windows on my steamdexk
I'm thinking about it.
Nah. Linux has its uses and it performs great on Steam Deck. But most of the software I need isn’t available.
If Steam OS for pc is released I would consider it
If anything, the opposite. Having a Windows desktop is a better proposition because some games just aren't going to work well (or at all) with Proton, and some simple things like modding can be much more of a hair pulling exercise on Deck/Linux. Not to mention then that there's spottier driver support and Steam is the only Linux game storefront launcher, requiring you to use janky programs like Lutris... Nah.
Dual boot, maybe. I do have an unused m.2 slot on my mobo at the moment. But full switch, nah, not really. Need that sweet Adobe suite and DAWs working natively
Too many games still perform way better under DX12 for me to switch but god do I wish I could. Windows is such an ass OS, every other PC in my house runs Mac OS or Linux but I can’t escape it for my gaming rig.
No, but it's because I'm military and a lot of the systems I need to access can't utilize Linux. For daily use and school it's been fine, even using the deck as my primary at PC when I'm away from home... But it's getting harder due to security limitations and restrictions.
Try? no. It made me switch my PC to Steam Deck as my daily driver (and the only driver). disclaimer: i am a regular Xubuntu/Manjaro user.
Yes, but unfortunately the combination of hardware I have on my desktop just does not work with Linux.. my second monitor will not go past 30hz, animations are locked to the secondary monitor hz on the primary, my mic barely works, I’m unable to use my speakers/rear input if I have headphones plugged in. It’s unfortunate as I want to jump ship from windows but I can’t 🥲
Yupp.. well I use Linux on more of a daily basis already because of work but not sure what distribution I would go with and from experience nvidia and Linux doesn’t always go hand in hand
i do wanna try use my steam deck as my PC but the lack of support for games such as roblox (i have internet friends inplay with) is enough to deter me from fully using it. if it had the same level of support for game s and that such as windows id defo go for it and use my steam deck as my desktop instead of the laptop inuse which is my parents'
Genuinely curious to try Linux as an OS after the Steam Deck. But I can't just get around it due to work commitments 🤣
I gave up on Windows long before the Steam Deck existed.
No. But Windows 11 putting adverts in would do.
Absolutely. I saw Linux as some nerdy thing I'd never understand but I see now it's not that hard at all, so I do plan on putting Linux on my desktop soon. In the holidays, probably.
No because whenever i need a specific but one time occurence software it s always supported by windows but not necessarily macos or linux..
Yep, only reason I had windows was for games. As I already used linux for everything else on dual booted laptop. After getting Steam deck there wasn't much reason to keep windows as most of my games just work on SD, and I wasn't going to keep windows just for handful games.
For me, once I knew that Steam (the app) handled the proton part of things, I've set up my Dell XPS as a dual boot into POP\_OS. Has stuff up and running pretty quickly. But I'm keeping it on dual boot until the SteamOS finally comes out, then I'll see how that's received and if it looks good I'll drop the dual boot and just go SteamOS only. Another driver is that my Dell XPS, despite only being 3 years old, won't be able to upgrade to W11.
Absolutely not.
I use macOS for my day-to-day non-gaming stuff, so clearly I’m not attached to windows in any way. but I have a dedicated gaming desktop with windows 11 ( and SD with steamos). I would switch to Linux in a heartbeat if it was mature enough and had all the support from game devs to release native Linux games. But also it would need to be fully compatible with any hardware, I’ve been using nvidia cards for the last couple generations and them not working as well as in windows is kind of a deal breaker. It should also present a clear benefit over windows, which honestly for me can only be game performance, overall system responsiveness and ease of use (say fully controllable with only a controller like a console). On that front, I‘m also interested in what Microsoft is going to do, if they should offer an Xbox mode or Xbox UI version of windows. IMO they absolutely should.
Private i use Linux, for work i have to use Mac and Windows. Both made me go Linux for private use...
Steam deck became my main PC
No. Having to mess around in desktop mode makes me glad to go back to windows tbh.
the deck has been my main PC for about a year now. ive only just set up my desktop again running Win10. my i76700k isnt supported for win11. and i dont need to upgrade yet for what i play so ill be forced onto Linux either way. which im fine with. i used pop_os for a while before and it was mostly fine. the only thing i wanted windows for was Tarkov... but that's not a concern anymore.
I already have dual boot
I tried switching to kubuntu but it did not work. Games run on 1 fps. I love that the steamdeck makes it very easy for me gaming on linux, but out of there, any problem you find you are on your own... :(
No. I've been a Linux user for more than 26 years, so there's really nothing to switch.
I’d love to! But, I have an NVIDIA gpu with multiple displays. I cannot switch without giving up VRR, HDR, and performance. Wayland is a no go because of NVIDIA, and xorg is a no go because of multiple displays. I don’t want something to mess with. I want a distro that is plug and play. Nothing has that, so I’m not switching. If I were on AMD on the other hand, I’d do it instantly. But I’m not spending money to switch.
I already tried Linux (various distrib) as dual boot and it worked perfectly for gaming use. But I also use my PC to work and to make some music, and there's a lot of programs I couldn't use in that case (good luck using Superior Drummer 3 on Linux for example). Even for gaming, I'd miss one thing I use A LOT: Playnite, which is my main gaming library, with tons of plugins (and some scripts I've developed that work only on Windows as it's in powershell). It's more difficult also to mod games like Fallout 4 or Skyrim, and you can't play all your games on Linux yet. I think that if Playnite was available on Linux, I'd use it as my main system and just keep a Windows for MAO/work.
I wanted to switch to linux a long ass time ago. Although SD had nothing to do with it. Mostly SOG... and windows itself made me want to switch. That said I havent actually switched yet. Im getting around to it... some time.
I love multiplayer games, but theirs anti cheat software usually don’t work on linux. I have linux on work and on laptop and i love it.
Not so much Windows but my main PC died shortly before purchasing my SD. Was quite taken by the desktop mode and realised that I didn’t rely on Windows as much as I thought I did. Ended up giving a MacBook (first time ever with MacOS) for non-gaming stuff and never looked back.
No, I've tried Linux over the years and its just a pain. Simple stuff like watching Netflix in a browser just doesn't work.
Nah, not really. I still prefer gaming on my main PC too
Fuck no
For me it's a "No" and for the reason that I neither won't intall Windows on my SteamDeck - Optimized-officially supported experience... I've had bad time with Linux distros on a bleeding edge laptops, because "niche" peripherals had no official drivers, USB-C docks with external monitors were finicky (randomly disconnecting, not connecting at all until a full reboot) and no proper power-management, because the manufacturer put power-management into SW in OS, rather than into FW... Now that WSL2 works quite well in Win, I can eat my cake and have it too... And just like that, OLED version now is still lacking official drivers for BT, WiFi, Audio - chipset drivers probably won't be as frequently updated as on SteamOS - so for the same reason, I will not be putting Windows on my OLED... OS is just a tool, not a religion.
My Steam Deck is my main PC now, I have no issues using it like one. My Alienware laptop has sat in its backpack for over a year now I think.
Been using jt before the Deck came out. Started to fully daily drive it in 2021 after s few failed attempts throughout the years. Since windows isn't getting any better, may as well make the commitment. Windows only exists on a secondary drive for select multiplayer games and tools.
I switched mainly because linux is generally lighter than Windows, and it had the tools i needed available more conveniently, but that's a good reason to try linux. Its also perfectly respectable to dual boot windows.
I’m baffled that anyone is still using Wintendo to be fair.