For gaming you can just use steam. You can see which game works and the corresponding distributions/configurations on ProtonDB; Helldivers 2 get’s a GOLD status (https://www.protondb.com/app/553850).

There are probably loads of debugging software on Linux, also probably the one you are using will run just fine through wine.

I love this. I recently set up a “Linux flight” with various distros on a bunch of thumb drives to test drive the latest. I decided to stay Kubuntu but it made experimenting so quick and easy.

I have some friends and family that cant upgrade from Windows 10, so I’m going to keep the flight and walk them through trying out some personally selected distros.

Using Steam, Heroic, and Bottles you can even run Windows software almost perfectly, too. There’s never been a better time for regular folks to make the switch.

if you are shrinking or modifying an existing partition to make room, it will take quite a while

if your using to watch tv try kodi or osmc or another media OS i have a ras pi running osmc and i never had a issue and im sure you could get a ps4 controller to work an if its for games i dont know any maybe bazzite

Most problems with newer cards have been fixed with version 550. Gaming related, the only thing that will cause you pain is VR or Kernel Level AC

I’m stuck with Windows for the same reasons. I do use Linux on my laptop though and would not be opposed to switching my office machine to it as well if I can get the company I work for to make a few key software changes. I’ve had older generations of my family running Linux Mint for nearly a decade. They don’t know the difference because it’s all they’ve ever used. I have less phone calls about problem from these people than any Windows users I’ve had to deal with.

Maybe Q4OS, but if you a Gamer, which want to play the most recent games (logically in a Gaming PC), Linux sadly isn’t the best option, the most modern games are Windows only, the advantages of Linux are others. In this case the best option is to use Linux in dual boot with Windows. I hope that it change in the future.

My journey was: Kubuntu -> Tuxedo OS -> Garuda Linux.

Kubuntu was painful, lots of issues. Maybe just got unlucky, but cannot recommend it.

Tuxedo OS was phenomenal until I bought a GPU. Then stuff broke left and right. I wasn’t able to get Steam to launch anymore so I switched.

Garuda Linux is the one I still use. I had it for 53 days and had no severe issues to date. There’s still a bunch of stuff that needs ironing out, but that’s the case with all Linux distros, it’s never “fire and forget” like Windows, in my experience.

I chose Garuda because it’s advertised as “the Linux for gamers”. It’s packed with extra goodies that make life easier - you can pick and choose popular apps to be installed right away (things like Lutris, Steam, Heroic Launcher, Proton, Vivaldi browser), and you get an application that helps with maintenance.

The only major issue I had was due to my ignorance (but I kind of blame it on the OS because it was supposed to be “noob friendly” and this bit was very much not so) - just after installation and updates you’ll get the system maintenance app ask you to “merge pacdiff files”. This shows up a comparison window of two files, and if you’ve never used Linux you have no clue what’s going on. When you get that, just don’t overwrite the one on the right with the one on the left - you’ll break the entirety of your package manager. :D

Other than that: I’m having a great time. The OS looks pretty, games run great. 9/10

I’d say anything mainstream and not esoteric should do the trick. I’m talking Ubuntu, PopOS and so on.

I installed mint on a new laptop recently and it was completely painless. To be fair I’ve used Linux before but it’s been over a decade and I didn’t have any major hiccups. I installed steam and was playing games within 15 minutes of finishing the install. The UI is very familiar and comfortable for windows users and the entire ux seems to be designed around not making you use the terminal unless you have to. I highly recommend trying it out.

Bazzite is generally the go-to for gaming.

Same here. Games and general office tasks work flawlessly on Linux. I currently only launch into windows for the Adobe suite and some other image editing apps (by Topaz Labs) that I already have licenses for but that won’t run on Linux.

So far the alternatives I’ve found aren’t nearly as powerful. However I’m determined to uninstall windows by the time my licenses run out 9 or so months from now.

Have you checked out Mixxx? I haven’t used either of them myself, but I’ve read some people say that Mixxx is good and that it was patterned mainly after Serato.

I’m stuck on Fusion 360. So annoying to have that one doorstop from freedom.