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.
For me, inkscape is the easier PDF editor.
I semi-agree. I did that, switching to Inkscape, Firefox, and LibreOffice in the weeks before I realized I should just make the switch. What actually helped me get the experience though was running various distros in VirtualBox, which I’d done in various forms since 2017 or so starting with Ubuntu 16.04, then going through each subsequent version up to 20.04, trying (and ultimately using as a main VM) Debian Buster, Bullseye and Bookworm (Testing at the time). In the final few weeks of daily-driving Windows, I did some VM distrohopping with Arch and NixOS before ultimately choosing Debian Bookworm Testing for my first bare metal install on my main device (it was originally intended as a test to see how I would do things if I did transition to Linux before it just turned into my main distro. On an unrelated note, I had installed Debian on an old Fujitsu Lifebook before then.). That Testing install has survived to the present day and is currently on Trixie.
You know there is almost more stuff advising how to switch to Linux than there is stuff for existing users or people with their feet in both worlds. There are plenty of people who used Linux but only for server, or as a dual boot, or on one machine but not another. I think they would benefit from advice on how to fully switch over or how to use both systems to full effectiveness together. Like I only fully switched to Linux maybe 6 months ago after going back and forth for years.
We also need to be thinking about how to get people from beginner level to intermediate, and then on to advanced levels. There isn’t a clear progression path forward. It could be something like: Linux Mint -> Arch -> Nix. I believe projects like Arco Linux are striving to fulfill this gap from beginner to advanced.
Another option if you have a laptop and desktop is to test the waters slowly with the laptop, and keep your desktop as is. It’s what I did for a long while to get used to things on Linux.
If there is a critical problem with my Linux instalation on my laptop, it’s OK because all the real stuff I care about is still on the desktop. So I’m free to wipe the laptop at a moments notice. It’s the easiest way to learn in my experience.
Let’s not forget that switching to Linux isn’t always the right choice. In some industries the software doesnt have high enough quality Linux equivalents.
