I’ve been a Windows user all my life and had dabbled in the Apple ecosystem for a bit. With the upcoming end of support for Windows 10 in Oct 2025, I figured I’d put myself through a huge challenge of cutting over completely to LInux without a secondary backup drive with Win 10 on it. If I could survive the struggles for a few months, I’d be golden, and if I couldn’t, then I could switch to Windows 10 LTSC and be good until 2029. The intention was to completely force myself in without a backup plan - the only way out would be to install a new Windows OS. I chose Linux Mint after careful consideration, especially considering that there’s tons of resources and help with this distro, and it’s a great onboarding ramp for Windows users. I need the familiarity since I’m in tech full time and just don’t have the energy to hassle with my PC after a long stressful day at work.

I also used this as a good excuse to upgrade my PC a bit, too. 😀

After switching in mid December, I’m happy to report that I’m still alive after 30 days. My computer hasn’t killed me. And I’ve been able to do work and game on my PC without too many hiccups. Marvel Rivals still crashes ever since the Season 1 update. Overwatch works perfect. My other games, on both Steam and GOG, work perfectly fine. But I haven’t been able to test every game out there, but I know I can use Proton DB if needed.

I even edited this screenshot in GIMP after being forged in the fires of Macromedia Fireworks and Photoshop all my life! I even stripped exif data using command line tools! I even installed this cool neofetch thing that I always saw in people screenshots of their PC or whatever, every time I saw someone’s Linux build with their thigh high socks and neofetch on the terminal!

But so far, switching to Linux Mint has been great! I’m excited to deep dive more!

Note:

  • I backed up all my data from Windows into a USB drive. I’m slowly bringing all that stuff over to my Linux Mint computer and rebuilding my music, video, photos, etc. Lot of work, but it’s so cool feeling so liberated!
  • I may also want help from you Linux nerds from time to time. I’ll make posts/memes begging for help when I get desperate. But so far, almost every issue I’ve had has been resolved via an internet search!
  • I pray that I won’t come crawling back to Windows. I don’t expect that to happen with how great my experience has been thus far.

Specs:

  • Linux Mint 22
  • Ryzen 7 9800x3d
  • Thermalright Phantom Spirit
  • MSI X670e Carbon WiFi
  • Sapphire Nitro+ RX7900 XTX
  • Corsair Vegeance 64 GB DDR5-7200
  • Gen 5 Crucial T700 (?) M.2 x 2
  • Corsair 5000d
  • Noctua case fans (Lian Li too problematic on Linux based on all the research I did in advance)
  • Seasonic Focus Gold 1000W

Old Specs Everything the same as above apart from:

  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Intel i7-12700k
  • Noctua NH-U12A
  • MSI Pro Z690-A
  • MSI RTX 3080 Gaming Z Trio
  • Samsung Gen 3/4 M.2
  • Corsair Vengeance Pro 32 GB DDR4-3600
  • Lian Li AL120 case fans
  • pureness@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    7 hours ago

    Hey I just wanted to share how I was able to get Marvel Rivals running, although I’m on a different distro it should work for you:

    In the Launch options (right click game > properties > general tab) enter this:

    SteamDeck=1 %command%

    Then, it tricks the game into believing you are on steam deck, and it should run. If you want to disable the performance metrics, just press right shift+f12.

    I’m a recent lifetime windows user to Linux but loving it! I’ve dual booted so I can still play stuff like fortnite/call of duty but surely those will come around as the user count climbs :)

    Edit to add: I found this fix on protondb.com - you can usually find others posting helpful stuff there relating to any Linux game!

    • CatZoomies@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      5·
      8 hours ago

      Thank you for this! I jotted down your launch options along with what some of the other persons here were posting. Hoping of course NetEase can get this addressed in a coming update so we don’t have to use this workaround.

      Congrats on the cutover! I don’t play Fortnite any more but my spouse wants to give it a go some time. If I play with them, I may have to install a Windows drive as a secondary device after all. Totally forgot about this game because I don’t think I currently play any games that can’t work on Linux.

      • hangonasecond@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        58 minutes ago

        If you have a dusty old console lying around, Fortnite is cross play. That was my solution for the odd match with friends.

        • CatZoomies@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          1·
          2 hours ago

          Heard about Bazzite basically being like Steam Deck. I think it’s great for a handheld, or for some one who wants a specific use case such as a PC hooked up to a TV that primarily is only for gaming.

          With the way I use a computer, first and foremost as a computer, Bazzite does not work for me. I want to boot directly into desktop and do desktop things. If that ever changes for me, I will definitely consider Bazzite and Steam OS as options.

        • x00z@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          4 hours ago

          Not at all.

          Bazzite is good for a console experience or for something like a kid gamer PC.

          Everything Bazzite does is perfectly possible on other Linux distros.