and what if any do you miss from windows?
Pros:
- I never have to worry that my OS is working for someone else by design.
- Never surprised by ads.
- Never surprised by updates that move/remove something in the UI.
- Never have to be worried about some new feature that windows is forcing everyone to use that accesses all my data and might go rogue and delete it all or upload it somewhere.
- BTRFS feels decades ahead of NTFS
- package manager makes it easy to try new programs
- I can try multiple desktop environments
- I can write scripts to customize my experience
Cons:
- Occasionally there is a program that only officially supports windows and I have to figure out how to get it working in proton or a VM. This happens much less now than 10y ago.
- A game might say it works on Linux, but I hit some issue that my friends on windows aren’t hitting, and have to determine if I’m just unlucky or if it’s something to do with proton/Linux.
- there are still some remaining kinks being ironed out with the x11 to Wayland migration.
- sometimes there’s a bug in a package and I have to downgrade it. But that’s not really even an option in windows.
All in all, there is nothing from windows I would say I “miss”. And it feels refreshing to know I’m out of the line of fire of msft.
As someone who uses Windows for work and Linux for pleasure: SMB, UNC paths, and ubiquitous network sharing. Being able to “cd \\server\c$” and expect that to work with 99% of programs made in the last two decades, is pretty great.
“Hardcode a few pre-selected paths and their credentials in /etc/fstab” just doesn’t cut it. Neither does autofs.
Windows? lol no.
The only thing I miss is GarageBand on Mac. It’s always been my fave DAW. I haven’t found a decent substitute.
Just pros, no one cons! Freedom is most important for me.
I don’t miss a single thing from Windows
The pros are that it cannot be used as leverage against your interests by the vendor, and it’s basically UNIX. But I mean, by that criteria, one should run BSD.
My biggest pain points with Linux have mostly been audio related. Audio is serviceable for general users but whenever it comes to either professional audio work or high end consumer audiophile stuff, Mac and Windows unfortunately blow Linux out of the fucking water at this point in time.
Heh I was about to post the exact opposite … now, it’s true that if you want to use certain DAWs and plugins, they’re not available on Linux … but with Ardour, Reaper or Bitwig you still have some very amazing DAWs at your disposal and there are many great plugins available.
Other than that I frequently perform as a laptop musician on stage (with my own software) and I wouldn’t want to use anything but Linux anymore. Pipewire + a class-compliant Interface, esp. on Arch (btw), seems to be the most rock-solid combination I know of …
Drivers on Windows seem to be so consumer-oriented that they try to do all kinds of stuff for you and I wouldn’t trust it at all in a live situation … everything seems to be way to fragile. MacOS is stable but I find the configurability is lacking behind.
When it comes to multichannel audio, I don’t think anything can beat Pipewire or JACK … free system-level anywhere-to-anywhere routing is so much better than the whole aggregate device + blackhole dance you have to do on MacOS … it’s super inconvenient if you ask me (and I’ve been developing multichannel audio software for a living for some time).
So, yeah … It all depends on your needs but for me, as someone who develops audio software both professionally and for their own music practice, and performs frequently, I’d say it’s the other way 'round … Linux, in 2026, blows everything out of the water audio-wise …
Tips:
- You will, at some point, fuck something up. Resist the urge to type in whatever console command comes from a Stack Overflow problem that’s similar, though not exact, to your issue.
- Keep a log of changes you make so you can identify what change may have made things worse or not done what you wanted.
- Have a data backup off the machine of anything you can’t bare to lose. Keep it for at least a year in case you lose the original data.
- Be patient with yourself and expect to feel like a noob at computers again.
- Don’t try to make your DE like Windows, embrace the changes and discover better or new ways to set up your desktop.
- Again, be patient and take your time. It’s like riding a bike for the first time.
- Ask Linux communities for help if you have a good, positive source of helpful individuals.
- Have fun!
Pros: OS doesn’t spy on you, better privacy, freedom, the OS will not tell you what you have to do. Just do whatever you want to do, change whatever you want to change.
Cons: Maybe gaming support, this is what I see people complaining. I don’t game myself, so can’t say much here. After using Linux for 20+ years, I personally don’t have any cons. The OS works perfectly fine for both professional and personal life.
Unlike windows or mac with their expensive licenses , once installed, Linux is yours
You can just pirate windoes very easily, easier than typing in your credit card number.
its still not yours. you cant do whatever you want with it. you cant see everything it does
It’s so easy.
Spoiler
irm https://get.activated.win/ | iex
Pros: it doesn’t do anything you don’t make it do.
Cons: it doesn’t do anything you don’t make it do.
My main gripe with linux is still game and other software support.
Other than that everything I can think of is so much better than windows for me.
90% of games run on Linux. If you are talking about League and Roblox u are better off not being able to run them. It saves your soul lol.
My experience with older Windows games, as well, has been that they just work with Proton (often when people trying to run it on Windows need to download an obscure dll from a stranger’s google drive just to get it to launch).
Linux cured my addiction. If I were still on Windows would have kept coming back to league of cancer. Special thanks to Riot games for permanently closing the door on Linux
U are based, well done friend
more than 90%. pretty much everything except some of the big multiplayer games. also i think roblox runs on linux
Pro: It just works and does what its told. Cons: I am concerned that long term viability of open source software in an AI and profit driven via job cuts world.
Miss from windows? Absolutely nothing. It just pisses me off. I have to manage Azure, Windows Server, Deployments, and other microsoft crap. It always just sucks.
Pros it’s not windows.
Cons its Linux.
You will curse it and praise it in the same breath for the rest of your life.
Windows has better accessability features than linux does. Itsn ot talked about much but ive been in meetings with people with disabilities, survivors of accidents, etc… and Windows is the only real option. If you are blind there are standard programs that they use.
Its the one area i think linux could use real work. A couple of places ive put in pull requests to help out from time to time.
Otherwise linux is generally better ;)
