So many people now are posting on social media and video sites about making the switch to Linux. I personally have been working that angle for few years now. I run Linux at home mostly as servers and occasionally as a desktop when my need warrants it. As a IT Specialist that uses Linux all day and supports users that also run Linux desktops, I was a person who went home to a Windows desktop to play games and edit photos and videos. My requirements kept me cemented into the Windows ecosystem unless I wanted changes. I had also tested running a Linux desktop back in the day in 2016 and earlier and my result was the desktop needed more work.
Over the years the desktops improved and my daily (via work) experience was the Gnome Display Manager on Ubuntu. In 2018, it looked better and was getting close to what I liked. By 2020, I started to see Gnome putting more effort into unburying settings people might use daily. I could tell they were taking some notes from mobile devices and ChromeOS. Things were shaping up nicely. By 2022 I started running with a Laptop always running Linux. My Desktop was still Windows, but unless I was doing something really locked into Windows, I took a Linux Laptop with me when mobile.
What Was Different?
Changes were coming, I knew it. I have been driving Windows for a long time and I was used to the apps I worked with. Even a simple notepad app would work a little different. This is where having a Linux Laptop helped the most. I stopped looking for apps on Windows and start to look for apps that ran on both. I also started to grow some new muscle memory for Gnome and Linux because it was just what was in front of me. It wasn’t all painful. A way to think about it is we didn’t get born knowing Windows, we learned it just like anything else. So you will need to put some effort in, but in the year 2026 you would be surprised at how little that might be.
Ok, lets address the Terminal real quick because almost everyone unfamiliar will be thinking it and expect it to be painful. Will you need to open a terminal? Maybe, but more things work without needing the terminal than ever before. If you came from Windows 11, the best one to one comparison is, have you ever needed to open “Control Panel” (not “Settings”). If the “Settings” app was enough, then likely you are the type of user to not need the Terminal. But it isn’t as scary as you might think. Can you break things, sure. But I’ve seen people break Windows so many times too and didn’t open the Command Prompt even once.
Hardware, especially mid range not too old and not too new will typically work right at the start. Linux stores information on how to use hardware inside it’s main self (kernel). Windows offloads that to drivers that you need to find and install. Some come with Windows, but they are the basic ones that may not have all the features. But all in all it’s all drivers. Linux grew from needing to figure out how to use everything or get code from various vendors that were willing to share. Is there still the concept or “drivers” in Linux, yes. They are called Kernel Modules and an example would be Nvidia’s. But Linux comes with it’s own for Nvidia and most every other GPU. Same can be said for sound, bluetooth, and network. Really the only ones you need to find things for is when you have something specialize or something too new or too old. I have one old laptop (about 10 years) with a Wifi card that is so old I do need to do something special to add back that support. Likely that won’t be you.
Give It Some Thought
Think about what you do? Many people spend a lot of time in the browser and that’s mostly the same on any operating system, even more so if your favorite browser exists in both places. For me this was Google Chrome and really, once installed everything there just worked out. So if this is you, your parents, your kids, or your elderly family, then this could be just what you want.
Gaming on Linux has never been easier. Linux is troubled by the fact that most game manufacturers ignore that Linux exists. Things like “wine” (Windows Emulator) and “Proton” exist. These tools will attempt to run your games (or even apps) in an environment that has all (well most of) the function calls Windows has. It tricks the apps into thinking they are still in Kansas, heh. And sites like protondb.com can give you an idea if your games will run and what you might need to do in case it’s not 100%. Pretty much everything I play on Steam if there and either 100% (Platinum) or needs some tweaks (Gold). It’s important to show game developers that Linux is an option they should target. Any app can run on any OS as long as it was considered when they made it, so the more people that come back on their reports as running on Linux the better.
Otherwise, there are other apps you can use. There are already quite a few Office Suite clones out there. More desktop apps are also showing up as web based apps. But anything will require some learning and may come with some limits. Having limits doesn’t mean limited, a change in how you do things may get you where you need to be and in some cases you might find a better overall solution. Otherwise, most anything the average person does on Windows can be done in a modern Linux.
Creatives
If you’re a creative, this is your call out. Photo and Video editing has options, but Adobe isn’t it. That’s changing, but not there yet and not with Adobe’s help. You’ll need to think about what apps you use and what options there are on Linux. I’ll suggest some options at the end from my testing.
Audio is another animal. ASIO does not exist. And some audio interfaces will not work, do some research. Otherwise, basic audio will work and there are plenty of tools to take advantage of them. But you’re already in the realm of highly likely needing to use the Terminal at least once. All I can say is there is a lot of information out there but don’t just paste anything into your terminal blindly. Take a moment to read it to try to understand what it does. Some solutions may apply to a different version of Linus than you have. It’s like finding a solution for Windows XP and expect it to blindly work for Windows 11. Many people’s frustrations with Linux can be from pulling a solution that is too old or may have been generalized in an obvious way that a simple read through might catch.
Takeaways
If you do a little work and research, it can be done for most people. Linux can be an amazing OS if you give it a shot. I’ll be posting something soon to give recommendations on there to start if you are interested or you can find the pile of other already existing videos and posts covering this already.
App Suggestions
Below is a simple list of Software I have tried to cover some tasks. This is by no means exhaustive and I can almost guarantee there are more if you look.
| Windows App / Tasks | Linux Apps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Office | LibreOffice, OnlyOffice | Both free, each offer different benefits. Interfaces may take a little muscle memory to pick up. |
| Adobe Photoshop | PhotoPea (web), Gimp (limited), PhotoSuite | Both PhotoPea and PhotoSuite replicate Photoshop well enough that most users will be up and working shortly and work with PSD/PSB file natively. Gimp, while powerful would require a lot of relearning. PhotoGimp is a patch to Gimp that makes it look more like PhotoShop, thus easing the transition while still being Gimp under the hood. PhotoCraft wasn’t mentioned because PhotoSuite is apparently based on it. |
| Adobe Lightroom | digiKam, darktable, LightCraft* | digiKam is a good folder level Photo Manager, great for most basic edits. darktable is very powerful tool and almost a great replacement but it’s way of thinking is different than Lightroom and many people switching will quickly get confused. Those that stuck through it found the effort worth it. LightCraft is a new entry and many would be walk away due to it’s heavy use to AI in it’s development. But it’s interface is more familiar and its potential is still growing. It can also import Lightroom Catalogs. * It’s very early days and I don’t recommend it yet, but keep an eye on it. |
