Okay I know this sounds like click bait but trust me switching over to linux requires you to first master the open source software that you will be replacing your windows/mac counterparts with. Doing it in an unfamiliar OS with no fallback to rely on is tough, frustrating and will turn you off of trying linux. DISCLAIMER: I know that some people cannot switch to linux because open source / Linux software is not good enough yet. But I urge you to keep track of them and when so you can know when they are good enough.
The Solution
So I suggest you keep using windows, switch all your apps to open or closed source software that is available on linux. Learn them, use them and if you are in a pinch and need to use your windows only software it will still be there. Once you are at a point where you never use the windows only software you can then think of switching over to linux.
The Alternatives
So to help you out I’ll list my favorites for each use case.
MS Office -> Only Office
- Not for folks who use obscure macros and are deep into MS Office
- Has Collaboration and integration with almost all popular cloud services…
- Has a MS Office like UI and the best compatibility with MS Office.
Adobe Premiere -> Da Vinci Resolve
- It is closed source but available on linux
- Great UI, competitive features and a free version
Outlook -> Thunderbird
- Recently went through massive updates and now has a modern design.
- Templates, multi account management, content based filters, html signatures, it is all there.
Epic Games, GOG, PRIME -> Heroic
- Easy to use, 1 click install, no hassel
- Beautiful UI
- Automatically imports all the games you have bought
PDF Editor -> LibreOffice Draw
- Suprisingly good for text manipulation, moving around images and alot more.
- There might be slight incompatibilities (I haven’t noticed anything huge)
- But hey, it’s free
How do I pick a distro there are so many! NO
So finally after switching all the apps you think you are ready? Do not fall into the rabbit hole of changing your entire OS every two days, you will be in a toxic relationship with it.
I hate updates and my hardware is not that new
- Mint - UI looks a bit dated but it is rock solid
- Ubuntu - Yes, I know snaps are bad, but you can just ignore them
I have new hardware but I want sane updates
- Fedora
- Open Suse Tumbleweed
I live on the bleeding edge baby, both hardware and software
- Arch … btw
Anyways what is more important is the DE than the distro for a beginner, trust me. Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, etc. you can try them all in a VM and see which one you like.
SO TLDR: Don’t switch to linux! Switch to linux apps.
Was ready to downvote but this is actually a really good guide, well done OP! The one issue I will raise, though, because I faced it myself, is that as long as you’re still using Windows, it is way too easy to just go back to using the Windows programs not the open source ones. Only through switching to Linux can you really “throw yourself into the deep end” and force yourself to learn these new things. Microsoft has made themselves the “path of least resistance” (or at least that of “most momentum” for a reason) and if you’ve been using a computer for a while, it’s a lot easier to break the habits and realise the benefits by giving yourself no other option than it is by trying to discipline yourself into using the new options.
Agreed, this has been my experience as well. I tried switching to full time Linux multiple times. I had already used it on my laptop for years but on my desktop I kept going back to Windows because things on Windows just worked the way I wanted and thought that for some things there weren’t any Linux alternatives.
That was until two years ago I challenged myself to only use Linux for a month. I’ve been using Linux on my desktop ever since and only use Windows now and then to play a single game that doesn’t work on Linux due to anti cheat.
Use libreoffice over open office.
Seconded, why not OnlyOffice? (maybe parent commenter got names confused 🤷♂️ no judgement)
as for OpenOffice vs Libre Office— IIRC Libre has more recent development on it, which IMHO feels like a good sign for open source software; it’s kept more up to date
I don’t understand the difficulty. My kid who used Windows for at least 7 years installed Ubuntu and just started using it. Why is this difficult for people? I helped him boot the computer from a USB stick and that’s it.
Here is the app store, install programs from here.
Ok.
I think some folk want to pretend using Linux is hard so that they can feel more… Uh… Technical for using it.
It’s actually hilarious how disconnected some Linux folks are lmao
The average person
- doesn’t know what an operating system is
- can barely work with windows, has had many struggles learning windows
- is scared of change
- doesn’t know about the existence of a BIOS
- will never be able to boot anything else but default by themselves
- doesn’t know how to troubleshoot anything about computers
- literally does not know or care about the existence of Linux
I know these things are changing, but anyone saying people are able to switch to Linux by themselves and its easy and doable for the average person is fucking delusional, this post is one of the most reasonable takes I’ve seen on the sub
If all you do is browse the web, as is the case for a a lot of people, the OS does not matter. Heck, my neighbor does not even have a computer, does everything on his phone.
The average old person perhaps. Young people are not afraid of change in most cases. They don’t have that barrier of thinking learning something new is difficult. It just happens as they click around. And they have friends, and they ask their friends. Just like we did when we were young. I don’t think you asked your dad how to use windows… :)
I honestly think that if you would have Linux on laptops and you gave it to young people, they would have no problems finding out how to install programs and use the web browser. And that’s the start of the learning experience.
We can all get smart and snarky about “average persons” but then again, who says the OP was for average person.
Your “average” person is not even on Reddit, let alone Lemmy, and if by chance they stumble along they are probably not clicking posts like this.
So when you stop laughing from “hilarious disconnected Linux folks”, maybe sleep on it, then try thinking about this.
In context of this community and this thread, no, Linux is not all that horrible compared to Windows.
Yup, I think a lot of people just use their web browser for everything, and they can definitely just switch. Outside of work, how many non-techies have set up their email to use a native program? Very few, in my experience.
I think documents are sometimes the exception, since there’s a sizable (perhaps older) group that like to use Word for everything.
My mom is 80 years old and I got her on Mint years ago - mostly because I was tired of fixing the mistakes Windows let her make.
My mom is a walking disaster with computers but she got used to it and now she can’t mess up anything, and she doesn’t worry about messing up anything anymore too. If she can do it, anyone can do it.
I switched as a kid too, but that makes it really easy because I never ended up depending on a bunch of proprietary Windows only apps. I never learned stuff like Photoshop and Illustrator and Premiere, not even on pirated versions like most kids do. Photoshop CS2 technically ran under wine but the experience was so miserable I learned GIMP instead. My last Windows was XP.
The older you get the more “serious” software you have too, like tax stuff, the whole Windows-centered workflow at work. The deeper you are into the ecosystem the worse it is.
The issue I see over and over and over is not that using Linux in itself is that hard, it’s dealbreaker software and hardware. Oh your capture card isn’t supported. Your audio mixer’s not supported. It sucks. So basically what OP said: you have to switch to Linux friendly software first, then it’s basically just swapping the OS and not flipping your entire computing experience over.
Luckily, I don’t depend on Adobe stuff, but knowing some professional photographers, you sort of can’t live without Photoshop. I feel like GIMP has severely stagnated - many of the features are there, but buried, while non-destructive editing integral to a modern workflow seems eons away. (I find this weird, especially considering how good and mostly intuitive a project like Inkscape is - I find a lot of things easier than Illustrator.) I kind of want to learn GPU shaders and GPU compute (I’m mostly a Python guy with up to Calculus II experience, some bezier curve know-how, and more math on the way, for reference, for reference) so I could create a fast open graphics editor as backlash for Adobe’s AI buffoonery, though my project management skills aren’t great at the moment.
The thing is alot of people who work really well in the windows environment and have been doing so for a while will now have to face both a new environment and new tools. Then there is the problem of time … If you are trying to work while also troubleshooting your OS with none of the tools that you know how to troubleshoot with it could be frustrating.
Being a linux user for 23 years and a linux promoter and installer for newbies, I don’t agree with so many of your recommendations and priorities.
My concern with this take is that it positions the switch as all downsides. You do not get any of the Linux benefits, just the compromised experience on Windows. You may decide it is not worth it even before switching.
