As counterintuitive or paradoxical as this may seem, I find Linux (Gnome desktop in particular) to be a better suited environment for productivity than any other OS. Now that MacOS is having an identity crisis, it's on Linux where I feel more encouraged to work and where working feels better (no annoyances or bloat, it's snappy, it's simple, doesn't look like iOS, it's visually coherent, and doesn't get in your way).

But despite its feel, the issue with Linux and productivity always comes down to software. So it depends entirely on what do you use your computer for and on whether you find a way to circumvent any limitations that may come along.

As for gaming, definitely give it a try, Lutris makes it super easy to play and manage your games and the same can be said of Steam. You could try Pop_Os! or any other user-friendly distro and be up and running in no time.

A topic that will always spark some interesting debates, that's for sure.

Both are good in their own ways, but it boils down to user needs and preferences. Linux emphasises learning and discovery, whereas Windows, being behind a locked door, is a different type of experience, as in "you can have it, but on our terms". And in the words of Todd Howard "it just works". Well, most of the time.

For daily, basic tasks and not only that, Linux does a good enough job. As for gaming, it's serviceable, it has improved considerably these past years, but still has a way to go. Still, as long as developers will favor Windows over Linux, there's only so much the community can do. For example...

Privacy and security-wise, Linux does a better job overall. The user is in control of their OS and data, as long as they're not making silly decisions. On this front, Windows has many flaws and an unexperienced user won't know how to handle them properly. It also requires willingness to adapt and learn I guess, but to a certain degree.

So prioritise you needs, realise what you're using your PC for and then you will have a good idea of what to go for.

Best scenario, run Windows and Linux on different machines (or drives) and switch between them according to your needs, that way you will have the best of both worlds.


No kidding, I like Gnome a lot, it doesn't get în your way, it's responsive, fast, pleasant to look at even. I think System 76 did a heck of a job with their implementation in Pop OS. I know this is not a popular opinion, but I like it as it is, maybe with minor tweaks.

Nope, I still prefer apples to pears :-P

Jokes aside, Linux can be everything but it still is a very shitty platform for gaming.

Actually it was the exact same with Windows 7. Had an HD die, replaced it. Couldn't get the key to activate. Laptop maker passed me to MS, MS passed me back in a continual loop. Never did get to activate it and aside from the annoying little watermark on the desktop and no wallpaper, it worked normally.

Only popular cause linux fandom is very toxic.
they act like an overdozed vegan they constantly have to spam about how linux is the allmighty even thou every statistics shows the complete opposite
less than 2% playerbase uses linux , it even lost marketshare , clearly something is fishy if it is the best os ...

Clearly Linux fandom is a cult
this is the basic linux experience

windows user play on the their OS
linux user play with the their OS

I tested ~1200 games on my Linux gaming machine, running a Debian Sid.

Not all of them are Windows-only games of course, a lot are native Linux ones. But still, the Windows-only ones are a big chunk of that, and they work well on Linux.

From my Windows days, I think there is only one single game I did not manage to get fully working: Crimson Skies.

Please don't post surprise links to sites that auto-play video. (Also, if you're a web developer, please don't make your site auto-play video. Yes, that means that you shouldn't follow YouTube's example, even if your site is focused on video.)

Also, please provide a text description for those who don't want to watch a video, or those who can't watch it in the first place.

It's better than Windows in various ways and *on top of that* gaming is awesome.

To put it in numbers - 100% of the games I have and play work great on Linux nowadays. Most of them worked out of the box almost, but for many some tinkering was required. It's up to you to decide how 'advanced' the tinkering required was and whether or not the tinkering on Windows would have been similar too to optimise the gaming experience (I know I would tinker quite a bit on Win10). If I'm honest, some games required A LOT of tinkering and troubleshooting to get them to work smoothly on Linux. But once set up, it's done and it works, so at least it's a one-off time sink.

Are there games that either don't work, or work poorly on Linux? Yes, of course. But they are very few these days. Kernel level anti-cheat multiplayer games (EAC like in Rocket League from Epic etc.) don't work, and probably never will through Wine. DX12 games take a big performance hit currently, if you can get them to work. So if your priority are those games or playing in DX12 mode (I'm sure there are some even on GOG), then you won't fulfill your gaming needs on Linux. Simple as that.

Otherwise, game on.

Still, I used to recommend Linux to most people even gamers, mainly due to Proton and it's 'click Play to play the game' method of gaming. I no longer recommend Linux to everyone. There is a learning curve, you will likely have to run a bunch of commands in the terminal, and you will need to troubleshoot to get everything running as smoothly as possible. Not everyone is capable nor willing to do that. In fact, a lot of people aren't. Which is a shame, as they'll never know how good Linux is and how far Linux gaming has come.

You sound very salty about not being able to figure out how to game on Linux ;)

If you think statistics of popularity can tell you about the quality or advantages of a product - there are often cases where this thinking is just plain wrong. Very often the product with the smaller market share is superior, but they just can't dominate due to high barriers of entry into the market, anti-competitive practices, or general ignorance. More popular doesn't necessarily mean better.

Yessss, I'm also a big fan of Pop's looks, there're some things here and there that I'd change (trash icon, omg), but overall the necessary tweaks can be minimal (on 3.38 I like Dash to doc, custom hot corners, impatience, night slider, and soft brightness).
P.S: I just remembered we were talking about this on the other thread, I'm such a moron, lol.

Even if the situation has improved, I'd say Linux isn't a viable option for many creative professionals yet. I'm referring specifically to freelancers more than prosumers, individuals who may have certain requirements (delivering a certain file format, for example), or who are involved in several areas of a given production which may require the use of different professional applications. This last point can sometimes be circumvented in Linux but both Windows and Mac present much less friction and better support on that aspect. So I'd argue that the limited use of Linux in this field isn't, for the most part, a communication issue.

And, whilst it's awesome to have Linux versions for Blender, Nuke, and Resolve amongst others, ubiquitous applications such as those of the Adobe Suite aren't here yet, and the same goes for industry standards such as AMC or Pro Tools. Here's hoping this will change in the near future!

Now that I think of it, Tux the penguin certainly looks a bit cultish. Let's hope we are of the hippie ones, those people are doing god's work (huh!).

I left Windows around the Windows 98 era, all of the games that I owned up until then work on Linux without issue. In fact, a few of them no longer work on any modern version of Windows. They've been broken since Windows XP but they work smoothly on Linux.

The rest of my collection is DRM FREE titles but I have a few adult kids on Steam and playing other non-Steam windows based games using tools like Lutris or services like GFN or Stadia and they love it.

As far as I know the only thing stopping many Windows games is DRM and Anti-cheat that kicks out Linux and some Mac users.

HZD seems to have some particular issues that aren't necessarily GPU-bound: people at https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/4125 have been talking about CPU governors possibly being involved. On my machine there's noticeable lag when anything moves except the camera, which is perfectly responsive, and it's the same whether my graphics settings are 'favour performance' or 'ultra'.

It's not at all obvious from the text that it's a video, and I still consider it bad design to have a site auto-play video, even if that site is something like YouTube (or another video site). Hence, someone might not think to check before following the link.

NoScript may block too much, since web developers have been overusing and abusing JavaScript over the years. uBlock Origin doesn't block videos that aren't ads.

Also, on mobile, it's not so easy to check where a link will go without following it. (You have to put your finger on the link and hold it there; lift too soon and it takes you to the site you might not have wanted to visit.) Furthermore, mobile browsers tend not to allow add-ons; the only reason I have an adblocker on my phone's browser is that I am using a Firefox variant.

By the way, while I use x86 Linux for (most) gaming, the computer I'm actually typing this on is actually even more exotic; a Raspberry Pi. There *are* games that will run on it (there's an official Raspberry Pi version of Celeste Classic 2, for example), but the platform is even less popular among game developmers and users in general.

(Note that the Raspberry Pi is also less powerful than other systems used for gaming, even if it's a Raspberry Pi 4. A developer that targets that Pi will need to optimize the game to run well on the Pi, much like developers have been doing for the Nintendo Switch.)

You're not gonna like this one then :D

Diabotical developer blocks Linux users from playing and says "Just run Windows like the rest of the population."

DIABOLITICAL :D
omg this cultist is insane