Let me start by explaining where I'm coming from. I'm pretty much a standard Windows user. I liked XP, I was ok with 7 and ok with 10. But overall I don't like a lot of things about Windows I think we can all agree on; business practices, spying, lack of customization, cost, etc.
In the past, I have tried to move to Linux more than once including a failed dual boot situation. There are things I really, really like about Linux that I can't believe aren't part of Windows. Despite that I really hate Linux. I'll explain that opinion so you can trash me with facts. Just understand that this is the way I see it.
First, being primarily a Windows user means I am uncomfortable with using all of the little squiggles around the outside of the keyboard to get things done. At one point I was using the most Windows-like version where I could click and download a package which was fine, but eventually I found one that had to be done manually, so this feels like inconsistency. In the dual boot situation I found myself using Windows constantly because I could not get online with Linux for some reason, which meant I had to boot in Windows to research the problem only in the end to have people tell me that the components of the computer I built were too new and I would have to wait for someone to write drivers. There are a lot of equivalent programs in Linux to Windows and I use some of them now, like Open Office, Audacity(which I love), Firefox( which I hate) and probably more I can't think of at the moment. I currently have a computer attached to my TV that I made really cheap from parts I had laying around and I'm running Mint on it. The only thing it is used for is watching YouTube videos on the big screen, usually exercise videos. It IS a problem. It loads up ridiculously slow.
So my experience has been bad overall every time I try and yes I realize I'm not doing it right. I'm not a typical Linux user.
But here's the thing, I WANT to be a Linux user mostly because I hate Microsoft so much. And now especially because according to Lemmy Windows 11 is a shit show of advertising and other crap and apparently my roughly 2 year old and still fairly powerful desktop does not meet their requirements due to that stupid chip it needs to have. I do not wish to buy a new computer and I do not wish to be a Windows slave again.
So the question is, is there hope for me giving this another try? I'm not a power user but I do use my computer for a lot of things. I will get specific here.
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Surfing the net. It needs to NOT lag or fail to connect.
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I play games with my friend online every Monday. Most of the games are on Steam. So far we have played: Borderlands Borderlands 2 Borderlands 3 Borderlands the pre sequel Tiny Tina's Wonderland Diablo 4 Grimm Dawn Aliens fire team elite
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I edit videos. I use Sony Vegas pro 13. It was expensive and I'm used to it. It is important to me.
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I do some word processing and spreadsheet stuff. Currently I use Open Office as I mentioned.
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Audio conversion and manipulation with Audacity.
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Drawing and photo manipulation. I use a variety of programs. The most important ones in order are CorelCad. It is basically AutoCad and was expensive to buy and I'm used to it. Fusion 360, also important for 3D printing. Prusa slicer for 3D printing and one called Photofiltre. It's a simple free program I believe does have a Linux version. These are important to me.
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Programming microcontrollers for projects using the Arduino IDE.
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I use a program called Vetric which programs the tool path for my CNC router.
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A number of smaller more rarely used programs like one to convert a font into hexadecimal, one that normalizes mp3 files, one that captures what I do on the screen, etc.
If I had it my way, I would just continue using Windows 10. I more or less know how it works and it really doesn't give me any problems. However with this end of life thing approaching I will eventually need to migrate somehow for security's sake, right? I mean I don't even know if half of these programs will be compatible with Windows 11.
I should also mention that I'm a goal oriented person. I just want to use it, I don't want to tinker with it. That goes for pretty much any tool. I consider the OS a tool.
So given that encyclopedia of information, do you think I could/should give Linux another try? If so, which distro should I go with that will be the most compatible with my hardware and usage?
Regarding hardware, I'm not home now so just genetically I have an AMD Rhyzen 7 processor, a Radeon video card, sort of upper mid tier, 32 GB of RAM, decent motherboard and a boatload of storage.
Feel free to ask questions and I will now don my flameproof jacket for the absolute shit storm of criticism in guessing that's heading my way. Thank you in advance.
Which distro(s) did you try?
I've been a linux user for 20-25 years (exclusively for 10), and I find that Linux Mint works pretty well out of the box. I've heard others recommend other distros for the same reason, but I'll let someone with first hand experience recommend them, as Mint is my go-to distro for desktops and laptops.
And just a tip: Take people who go "Don't use X distro because of Y" with a grain of salt. All distros have their own quirks (Mint's being relatively old packages), but whatever works for you is the best distro for you, and that's the most important part.
I recently got myself a brand spanking new and relatively high end laptop, and everything worked out of the box. The only "problem" was that I wasn't satisfied with the wifi performance (it worked, just not as fast as it should), so I installed a different kernel module. ome to think of it, I had to select NVIDIA proprietary driver as well, due to it defaulting to an open source driver. But it's just a few mouseclicks (yes, all GUI) to get that sorted.
Allegedly AMD has better support for linux than NVIDIA does, so I guess that's a good omen for you.
The rest worked flawlessly, including the proprietary lenovo hotkeys that requires it's own Lenovo program on windows - I was prepared to live without those, but I'm glad I don't have to. Fn+Q to change power/performance/cooling balance on the fly is pretty neat.
I have no idea how to edit videos, and I've never touched any software for doing so, so I can't help you there. Same goes for CAD stuff. I think it's safe to assume that doing arduino stuff on linux is well supported, though.
Well I did this a long time ago so I don't really remember. Some guy had prepared a version that was chock full of stuff that Windows users would want. It was pretty cool but I think maybe too much.
I believe the second try was Ubuntu.
I have an old laptop I use as well. It has Windows 10 on it too. I don't know what to do there either. I mean screw Microsoft for making people literally throw away perfectly good computers.