Background – I’ve been a Unix / Linux sysadmin since the early 2000s. Hence I’m no stranger to Unix environments.

With the recent shennanigans by Microsoft pushing ads to their start menu as well as their insistence on making everything AI (not to mention their Recall “feature”), I finally decided enough was enough. Time to ditch Windows.

Previously only ONE thing held me back from moving – games. Yup I need the ability to run games on Linux if ever moved over. Now, Linux does!

With the rise of the Steamdeck (which runs on Archlinux), Valve has invested considerable resources into making games work. The byproduct is, gaming on Linux is now not only possible, but in some cases, better than on Windows. Also a good number of games today now even have Linux-native versions (eg Dying Light, X2 to X4 from Egosoft, etc).

As of this writing I’ve been on Linux for 1 year. The only time(s) I ever booted up Windows 10 is to install their “Patch Tuesday” stuff. Come October 2025, I will probably remove the Windows SSD and keep it in the drawer for “super emergency” use.

My early days of Linux is more of figuring out how to run games. Linux runs Steam games fine. GOG games can also be easily added to Steam and run, just like in Windows. Epic/Origin etc all can easily be installed via their respective clients and played – no different from Windows.

You need LUTRIS (lutris.net) to install the Epic and EA clients though. Once installed you use them like you would in Windows. Yes, Battlenet also available.

Also if you want to run other stuff (or other indie games not on Steam or other popular platforms), try Bottles (https://usebottles.com/). You can run a Windows EXE inside a bottle and each bottle can be 1 single app (or a bunch of apps, depending on how you configure it).

Modern Linux is as easy as, or in fact, easier, than Windows to install. Most stuff is hands-off from the moment you click INSTALL and enter your ID and password. In fact there’s really no need to use the scary TERMINAL at all for a typical modern Linux user today. It is basically the same as Windows – you use a mouse, you click stuff, stuff works. My background in Linux sysadmin wasn’t even needed. I can be as layman as my mom and install/use it.

Also, it helped that I have been using “Free Software” and “Open Source Software” for a long time. For example, I have been using Libreoffice since 2018, GIMP (photoshop alternative) since mid-2000s, and VLC for video/media files since forever. The move to Linux was not a big shock – these are all available on Linux and looks/works exactly the same as they do on Windows.

If you also wanna move to Linux, you might be gobsmacked by the different versions of it. My advice – if you want minimal hassle, and just wanna install it and everything “just works” – use Linux Mint (linuxmint.com). Some people may also recommend Ubuntu, but I personally feel you will have an easier time using (not just installing) Linux Mint than Ubuntu.