Windows 11 vs macOS in 2024 will be a mess, so I'm learning Linux

[admin]

With Windows 11 and macOS getting ever more alike and swamped with AI-like features that take away your control, one writer is giving up and learning Linux in 2024.

Windows 11 vs macOS in 2024 will be a mess, so I'm learning Linux : Read more

 

[rklrkl64]

Assuming Alex uses Windows 10 or 11 as a daily driver, then WSL 2 is an obvious first step. You can pick a distro from the Windows Store (newbies might be advised to go for Ubuntu simply for popularity reasons) and there's even support now to run graphical Linux programs while staying in the Windows desktop.

If you're after the full Linux graphical desktop experience, then maybe Virtualbox running a Linux VM would be your next step. If you really want to get your hands dirty, dual booting Linux and Windows on bare metal can be an option (I'm assuming Alex wouldn't be in a place to give up Windows entirely at this point).

Be warned that you should put Linux on a separate physical drive from Windows in a dual boot setup. If they share the same drive, Windows will wipe the Linux bootloader (usually Grub) when Windows updates (which is outrageous, but that's Microsoft for you), meaning the machine will revert to exclusively booting to Windows only again. This is fixable, but involves booting into a live Linux distro and re-installing Grub, which is beyond most newbies' skill level.

If you're looking to take the final leap and remove Windows completely, then you're going to have to make sure Linux can run all the app/games you consider "essential". There's bound to be some of those that are Windows-only and don't run acceptably or at all on Linux, even using translation layers like WINE/Proton. You might be able to find close cross-platform alternatives (think Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, GIMP, VLC, Audacity, OBS etc.) that you can run on both Windows and Linux for a while to get used to them before dumping Windows.

As for me, I was dual booting for many years, with Linux being my primary desktop and Windows booted into exclusively to play games. With Steam's Proton, Lutris, Heroic Games Launcher and the fact I don't play multi-player games, almost every single game I have works in Linux now. When I got a new PC in Dec 2022, I only installed Linux on it and also wiped Windows off my old PC, so I finished the journey a year ago that Alex is just starting. It's great my entire house is now Windows-free and, yes, I've got a Steam Deck with SteamOS on it of course. Windows, to me, was only good for gaming and Linux has mostly caught up in that area, which used to be its only weakness.

 

[DasGlow]

I am with you on that journey. After years of using Windows I finally found the guts to wipe it from my laptop and installed Linux Mint instead. I made sure that everything that counts for me is working with Linux,too. So, there should be no downside for me. Let's make 2024 the year were we learn Linux.

 

[tmarsden]

Just to be clear Linux doesn’t underpin windows or macOS. Unix, or rather a BSD variant, does underpin macOS.

Learning Linux is good to give you a new perspective on things but I wouldn’t hold my breath hoping it will magically make you more productive. It might actually be counterproductive if you account for common Linux behaviors like distro hopping or tweaking.

You cite how moving files around is easy on Linux with some simple commands, which it is, but using the robocopy command on windows you can do the same thing. My point is don’t expect Linux to be some magic bullet. It comes with its own cons just like the others and you’ll have to try it out to see if you can live with them. Don’t wipe your windows install just yet. Learn Linux in a VM or dual boot configuration. Good luck!

 

[delusionn]

I will never understand the idea of choosing your OS as a lifestyle brand decision rather than choosing your OS based on which apps you want to run or what your work and entertainment requirements demand.

 

[qrp]

What I like best about Linux is the ability to reload it. It seems that several times a year I run my laptop into the ground because I cannot resist fiddling with the controls and I make a mess of it. Rather than trying a multitude of ways to repair it I can restore my OS in about 15 minutes and maybe another 30 minutes to fine-tune it. Try that with windows (I have tried it!)

 

[USAFRet]

What I like best about Linux is the ability to reload it. It seems that several times a year I run my laptop into the ground because I cannot resist fiddling with the controls and I make a mess of it. Rather than trying a multitude of ways to repair it I can restore my OS in about 15 minutes and maybe another 30 minutes to fine-tune it. Try that with windows (I have tried it!)

A reasonable backup plan will do exactly the same, or better, in Windows.

A few weeks ago, a really crappy software package dropped all sorts of malware on my system, even after being told not to.

30 minute recovery from the previous nights full drive backup....all done.
Exactly as it was, no follow on 'fine tuning'.

YMMV.

 

[artisticcheese]

Assuming Alex uses Windows 10 or 11 as a daily driver, then WSL 2 is an obvious first step. You can pick a distro from the Windows Store (newbies might be advised to go for Ubuntu simply for popularity reasons) and there's even support now to run graphical Linux programs while staying in the Windows desktop.

If you're after the full Linux graphical desktop experience, then maybe Virtualbox running a Linux VM would be your next step. If you really want to get your hands dirty, dual booting Linux and Windows on bare metal can be an option (I'm assuming Alex wouldn't be in a place to give up Windows entirely at this point).

Be warned that you should put Linux on a separate physical drive from Windows in a dual boot setup. If they share the same drive, Windows will wipe the Linux bootloader (usually Grub) when Windows updates (which is outrageous, but that's Microsoft for you), meaning the machine will revert to exclusively booting to Windows only again. This is fixable, but involves booting into a live Linux distro and re-installing Grub, which is beyond most newbies' skill level.

If you're looking to take the final leap and remove Windows completely, then you're going to have to make sure Linux can run all the app/games you consider "essential". There's bound to be some of those that are Windows-only and don't run acceptably or at all on Linux, even using translation layers like WINE/Proton. You might be able to find close cross-platform alternatives (think Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, GIMP, VLC, Audacity, OBS etc.) that you can run on both Windows and Linux for a while to get used to them before dumping Windows.

As for me, I was dual booting for many years, with Linux being my primary desktop and Windows booted into exclusively to play games. With Steam's Proton, Lutris, Heroic Games Launcher and the fact I don't play multi-player games, almost every single game I have works in Linux now. When I got a new PC in Dec 2022, I only installed Linux on it and also wiped Windows off my old PC, so I finished the journey a year ago that Alex is just starting. It's great my entire house is now Windows-free and, yes, I've got a Steam Deck with SteamOS on it of course. Windows, to me, was only good for gaming and Linux has mostly caught up in that area, which used to be its only weakness.

WSL2 can run GUI applications in Windows as well