If you are new to Linux I would recommend buying a second drive or dual-booting for a bit just to ease into it. It has helped me persist with the transition because I always have the option of booting into Windows for a few hours if there’s something that I’m just too tired/frustrated to deal with at that given moment. Over time I’ve found myself booting into Windows less and less, to the extent that I’ll be able to drop it completely later this year without the big learning curve/wave of troubleshooting that I encountered the first time I tried to switch cold turkey.
I can second this! For me it meant that I could finish my game of modded fallout new vegas, and connect to my work’s microsoft vpn nonsense (IT support didn’t fancy trying it on Mint but that’s another story!)
I now have a personal OS that I like, and a windows partition for those few things that I can’t be bothered to troubleshoot.
So far the list is just those things and the Unity Engine as Visual Studio debugs better than code in my experience. :)
Having the option to flick back is great :) In the XP days, I loved the WUBI(?) tool that let you install ubuntu dual boot as an exe, but I think that’s not a thing these days., :)
Currently playing fallout New Vegas modded on Linux! Of course if you already did it, remodding and transferring the saves would be frustrating, but it is actually pretty simple once you learn how to use Steam Tinker Launch.
Oh fantastic! :) Thank you, next playthrough I will get things going on Linux in that case, as that’s new to me! :) Like a fool I tried nexus mods vortex in Wine initially because I didn’t know better!
@Ilandar this is a good solution . Another would be to just not jump ship head first, but rather replace everything wth FOSS alternatives instead if they’re not available on Linux (e.g.: replace MS Office with LibreOffice, Photoshop with GIMP or something else, etc.) and use them for a while. Most of the programs should also be available for Windows, and if not you could also use WSL to run them.
Once you get used to these programs, the actual Linux transition should be easier.
Yes, that’s a great strategy and one I began before even transitioning across. I guess the only reason I didn’t initially mention it is because I’ve found many Windows users immediately switch off the moment you tell them they might need to consider non-proprietary apps and services. There are a lot of really solid and reliable workarounds these days that mean you can keep some of that Windows workflow if you really want to, so I feel like maybe it’s best to just let them try the operating system first and see how much they can get away with.
@Ilandar you’re right, I didn’t think about this. However I might add that there are still programs that do not function well even under Wine. For example, the latest version of Office is always problematic to set up.
As others said, trial and error, and patience. My two cents, as a Windows convert who likes to game, I did PopOS. If you have an nvidia card they have a version with the drivers baked in. Steam was relatively easy, there were only a few things I had to go to the terminal for. Now it’s my daily driver and I actually just uninstalled Windows a few months ago.
I’ll legitimately be moving to Linux today. This just broke the camel’s back for me.
One of us.
If you are new to Linux I would recommend buying a second drive or dual-booting for a bit just to ease into it. It has helped me persist with the transition because I always have the option of booting into Windows for a few hours if there’s something that I’m just too tired/frustrated to deal with at that given moment. Over time I’ve found myself booting into Windows less and less, to the extent that I’ll be able to drop it completely later this year without the big learning curve/wave of troubleshooting that I encountered the first time I tried to switch cold turkey.
I can second this! For me it meant that I could finish my game of modded fallout new vegas, and connect to my work’s microsoft vpn nonsense (IT support didn’t fancy trying it on Mint but that’s another story!)
I now have a personal OS that I like, and a windows partition for those few things that I can’t be bothered to troubleshoot.
So far the list is just those things and the Unity Engine as Visual Studio debugs better than code in my experience. :)
Having the option to flick back is great :) In the XP days, I loved the WUBI(?) tool that let you install ubuntu dual boot as an exe, but I think that’s not a thing these days., :)
Currently playing fallout New Vegas modded on Linux! Of course if you already did it, remodding and transferring the saves would be frustrating, but it is actually pretty simple once you learn how to use Steam Tinker Launch.
Oh fantastic! :) Thank you, next playthrough I will get things going on Linux in that case, as that’s new to me! :) Like a fool I tried nexus mods vortex in Wine initially because I didn’t know better!
@Ilandar this is a good solution . Another would be to just not jump ship head first, but rather replace everything wth FOSS alternatives instead if they’re not available on Linux (e.g.: replace MS Office with LibreOffice, Photoshop with GIMP or something else, etc.) and use them for a while. Most of the programs should also be available for Windows, and if not you could also use WSL to run them.
Once you get used to these programs, the actual Linux transition should be easier.
@Onii-Chan
Yes, that’s a great strategy and one I began before even transitioning across. I guess the only reason I didn’t initially mention it is because I’ve found many Windows users immediately switch off the moment you tell them they might need to consider non-proprietary apps and services. There are a lot of really solid and reliable workarounds these days that mean you can keep some of that Windows workflow if you really want to, so I feel like maybe it’s best to just let them try the operating system first and see how much they can get away with.
@Ilandar you’re right, I didn’t think about this. However I might add that there are still programs that do not function well even under Wine. For example, the latest version of Office is always problematic to set up.
Awesome! There are so many good communities on Lemmy for Linux noobs and enthusiasts! Be patient, and take snapshots!
@Onii-Chan @UngodlyAudrey I suggest starting with Mint Linux and see how it goes. Or Kubuntu.
Your comment inspired me and I just finished moving over. So thx.
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As others said, trial and error, and patience. My two cents, as a Windows convert who likes to game, I did PopOS. If you have an nvidia card they have a version with the drivers baked in. Steam was relatively easy, there were only a few things I had to go to the terminal for. Now it’s my daily driver and I actually just uninstalled Windows a few months ago.
I suggest EndavourOS, fedora kde spin or Nobara
Congrats, I’d recommend Linux mint. Feel free to DM me/reply to this comment if you have any questions