Like perhaps many others I am debating what to do with my PC at the end of support for windows 10 later this year. I have read a lot of discussions here about switching to Linux, and a lot of commentary that though it has gotten a lot more plug and play it maybe still has some weaknesses. I just want to know what those are, and if it can support what I currently do with my computer.

Basically my computer is just for gaming. I play a plethora of games both major titles and small indy games. I also use mods on my games sometimes. Beyond gaming it’s just basic web browsing.

More specific questions:

  1. I think I need to pick a “distro”, right? Based on the above, which distro may work best for me?

  2. what am I most likely to NOT be able to do, if anything? I have heard modding in particular can be challenging with Linux. Like Skyrim mods that use a script extender or rely on various Windows programs. Is that true? Are there some smaller indy games that don’t have Linux support (thinking back to the early mac days)?

  3. I would rate my computer technical ability at like… A 4/10. I haven’t done anything too crazy but can Google most issues and willing to learn. Is this realistically enough to get me up and running with Linux? I don’t have any programming experience or anything of the sort.

  4. if the final answer here involves running a windows partition, is it possible to safely still use a windows 10 partition, even after the end of support? Or does it need to be a windows 11 partition? Best case is no partition, but curious if it comes to that.

  5. anything else I might run into that I’m not expecting? Words of encouragement?

  • redlemace@lemmy.world
    6·
    2 days ago

    Long time ago I left Windows and went to linux. Yes, there is a learning curve, but once past that (digital)life became so much faster/better. I even changed my wife’s pc to linux. She knows nothing about pc’s and only said 'it looks different now" but she has much less issues on linux (elementary OS) then she had with micro$oft.

    So, as I read it, you feel like you have some time left to decide. I suggest to take a live-distro, put it on an USB stick and boot from that. Yes, it’s sometimes slow/sluggish but it works and you can get an impression of the distro. Take an other one, try that too, and one more and… Ah well, just play with a couple and see which one you like best.

    Once you have chosen (remember, it’s not a life-time decision (!), switching distro’s is relatively easy) install it by making your PC dual boot. That way you can have windows as a sort of back-up in case you need it.

    hint: take a look at https://distrowatch.com/

    • Ekpu@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 days ago

      If you can install Windows and Linux in separate harddrives / SSD. That makes live easier compared to duelboot from the same harddrive.

      For some time I had Linux on a USB-C ssd. I even run starcitizen from that without much problems. After some time i just installed the external SSD as second hardrive.

      • jwiggler@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago

        I second this – I think installing linux on another hard drive is best. It can be frustrating to jump straight into linux and realize a particular thing doesnt work, not knowing why, and realizing you can’t play games at all before doing work to fix things. Saying this as a linux sysadmin.

        For a long time I had a dual boot setup for this reason. I wasn’t sure why Ubuntu always felt so sluggish gaming (especially Rocket League, which requires a very low amount of input lag)

        Eventually I found two things that massively MASSIVELY improved my perception of the performance. First, the kernel I was running. Switching to the liquorix kernel with my NVIDIA card made a huge difference in my perceived input latency (please, if someone could correct my verbiage here. Input latency may not be technically correct.) Secondly but almost as important – my desktop compositor. I switched to KDE Plasma so I could manually turn it off and make sure that it was off. I never was certain with Gnome, even though I am more comfortable in that environment. Smooth sailing since then. But it was important for me to be able to reboot into Windows if I wanted to play with friends without running into technical difficulties.

        Now, I’m fully off of Windows for gaming and, well, everything. It’s sick.