this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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Could be small or big.

My answer has always been that, Linux can't handle everything I'd ask out of it that I normally can with Windows. I know the games issue has been progressing far from the days when that used to have been an archaic flaw with Linux for the longest time. Games might not be the issue except for some concerns I have for some games.

I was taking some time a few moments ago, to check if a program called Firestorm Viewer would work on Linux Mint which could've been my distro of choice. And the description written on the linux page described exactly the kind of concerns I'd have for compatibility and usability from going Windows to Linux.

They said that their viewer was tested and designed to function mostly with Ubuntu and while it could work with other distros, it's not to be expected to be smooth.

That's the kind of sentiment and concern I have always had with Linux if I were to go from Windows to it. There are programs and tools on Windows that I have that are used for specific purposes and I know they will not function on Linux. Furthermore, incase anything breaks down, any and all solutions would only be applicable to that thing that would be far easier to solve than just being SOL if I was on Linux.

It is something as a user that I just can't simply afford to deal with on a regular basis if I made the switch.

So while I may not have too much of an issue running games, I won't have too much of an issue using alternatives, I won't have to deal with the Windows ecosystem .etc I will just be running into other walls that would simply make me second guess my decision and make me regret switching to the point where I would dip back into Windows in a hurry.

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[โ€“] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (8 children)

Every office job ever runs on Windows & Office. Fact of life, cannot change it.

Maybe excluding the smallest businesses where the people are actually still human.

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[โ€“] monovergent@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

My main workflow is on Linux, but I do have to keep a couple of Windows machines around. One laptop for work stuff (bought out of pocket, employer has BYOD policy, go figure) that needs or works more reliably on Windows. Then a repurposed e-waste laptop at home for the occasional Windows-only utility or proprietary interface software for various old gadgets. The latter forces me to have a physical Windows machine since getting bespoke hardware to pass through reliably to a Windows VM isn't a high ROI activity.

[โ€“] JandroDelSol@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

i don have enough technical knowledge to be confident I wouldn't just fuck up my entire computer tbh. I'll probably try it out when my hubby helps me build a proper pc, but that's not happening for a while

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[โ€“] gibs@hexbear.net 3 points 3 days ago

VR support, that's it for me.

[โ€“] Vanth@reddthat.com 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (9 children)

Personal: Linux with a secondary, occasionaly used box for things that only seem to work on Windows. Would just do a VM if I didn't already have a spare hand-me-down box.

Work: I'm not fighting that battle. If they deploy Windows, I'm using Windows.

Going 100% Linux, even just in personal use, is still not feasible for someone who doesn't want to make it one of their primary hobbies.

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[โ€“] WalrusDragonOnABike@reddthat.com 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I used Zorin back in like 2014 on a cheap laptop that didn't have a good enough battery or much RAM, so windows was pretty annoying on it. The hotkeys didn't work, but that was still better than dealing with windows on it.

A few years later, I tried dual-booting for my work laptop with Mint and it would break frequently. After reinstalling both OSes for like the 4th time in a year, I just gave up and went back to windows only due to specific software I needed windows for at the time.

Been meaning to give Linux another try, but been procrastinating on it like lots of other projects.

I'm lazy and already have windows installed/know how to use it.

[โ€“] nothingcorporate@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I switched to Bazzite 9 months ago, it's played every single game I've tried. No more need for excuses.

[โ€“] TwoHardCore@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

I uninstalled my Windows 7 box and installed Mint on it recently and it seems to work okay, except there is no sound. I've tried all the troubleshooting stuff I read online, tried switching sound-cards, but no sound. I've got a Debian distro now on my USB, so I'll try that one day.

It won't take long for me to give up on Linux and to just continue to use Win10.

[โ€“] Zexks@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I have about 7 or 8 machines running some version of linux. I try to switch as a daily machine every decade or so and works fine for a couple of weeks. Then something needs an update, that update then updates some dependencies which breaks a half dozen other programs. Half of those have new updates for it the other half dont. Of the half that do about half of those also update even more dependencies which then breaks even more programs. This spirals for a month or two sometimes settling out sometimes not. Eventually i get tire of fixing the machine and just want to use it so i go back to my windows box i havent had to fuck with since i put it together. Wait a decade or so and the cycle repeats. Just waiting on that time when the cycle breaks and im still using a linux box. Maybe another 30 some odd years and it will be ready.

[โ€“] wideopenarms@hexbear.net 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I tried messing with my boot settings since it was required for playing the new battlefield open beta or whatever. After changing the settings, my computer could no longer find the boot drive and I was stuck in BIOS. Managed to revert and everything was ok, but with all that will be involved in transitioning to Linux, I don't feel like risking my PC for that when everything works now, as much as I would love to be on Linux.

I know dual boot exists, I'm not interested - have to cut my storage volume to do that and I'd rather it be all or nothing.

I know I can test drive Linux by booting from a USB drive, not interested cause I've already done it in the past and it was fine, but it doesn't fix the issues with transitioning.

I know I can back up all my data and proceed from that point - so what, all my data is backed up, my drives are formatted, and then what do I do if I run into the issue of not being able to boot from that drive again? Or even another issue I don't know about yet that bricks my shit?

Beyond all of that, transitioning will involve a lot of work and investigating to set everything as I like it and fix any problems I run into. I only have so much time in the day and so much attention to give things and with the risk consideration added on, it's just not worth the time and effort and attention it would take.

That said, I'm considering once I get a lot of free time to commit to it somehow or I replace my current pc

[โ€“] mesamunefire@piefed.social 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

At work its because all the tools work on it. That's it.

Although there's a minority that is moving to phone and Mac. And they are growing. Its interesting to see the transition last 2 years. A lot of the vendors have put their products online after covid so there is less and less reasons to use windows.

And the last crowd strike issue made management OK with deploying on Linux. So about 2/3 of the servers a that are in existence are now on Linux. Guess between windows server and Linux are the most stable?

[โ€“] 0_0j@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago
[โ€“] Turious@leaf.dance 0 points 2 days ago

Small? My biggest issue is tiny and probably fixable but not to my skill set. A big workflow for me is finding images in browser and dragging them to a folder to save. Linux can do it but doesn't save the file extensions and renames the file to a number.

Bigger would be there it's no replacement for Irfanview. There are multiple tools that add up to its functionality but not as easy or fast.

Bigger yet would be VR support. Some games in general, really. Most of what I play works on my Steam deck so I know Linux covers 80% of my gaming needs excepting VR.

[โ€“] Fondots@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

My PC is hooked up to my main TV as a gaming/home theater thing.

I think my setup is pretty cool, it's synced up to my Philips hue lights, surround sound, the whole shebang.

For whatever reason, I assume some sort of DRM nonsense, the light sync doesn't work through the hue sync box and I have to use the PC app

The Hue app doesn't support Linux, and from what I can find the app doesn't work right through proton/WINE/etc. there's a handful of people trying to cobble together their own Linux hue sync apps but none of them seem like they're quite there yet.

I'm pretty sure that with the advancements made in the last few years I can probably run just about any game or program I want (most of what I use aside from games is FOSS anyway) but I do still have a bit of a bad taste lingering in my mouth from trying to get games and stuff running on Linux over a decade ago.

[โ€“] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 2 points 3 days ago

You could always dual boot - have a secondary drive to ease into Linux and keep your Windows drive as you work on setting things up/functioning in Linux.

[โ€“] ByteMe@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I'm in the middle of my thesis, wouldn't like to mess anything up.

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