I’ve been seeing all these posts about Linux lately, and looking at them, I can honestly see the appeal. I’d love having so much autonomy over the OS I use, and customize it however I like, even having so many options to choose from when it comes to distros. The only thing holding me back, however, is incompatibility issues. A lot of programs I work with very often are Windows-exclusive, and alternatives supporting Linux are rare. So I guess I’m stuck with Windows, since I deem those particular programs really important.
Any advice from Linux nerds here? All constructive replies are very appreciated.
Depends on the program.
- Games: Proton works well 99% of the time.
- Office: I use LibreOffice as much as possible. At work, I use the Web version of MS Office; it doesn’t have all features of the desktop version but it’s good enough for my use case.
- Media editing (music, image, video): GIMP, Krita, Kdenlive and Ardour are more than enough for my personal use.
In general, I would recommend trying the Linux alternative, and if it’s not good enough, use a Windows VM or dual-boot. If you spend 90% of your time in Photoshop or any other professional software without a Linux version or feature-complete alternative, you should stay on Windows, and maybe use Linux only when you’re not working.
I second this, OP, this is pretty much the state of it, but I do recommend trying out a Linux program called Wine, it can run some windows programs in your Linux environment. It’s not always the best, but I run a circuit making program there and I only had a bit of issue once. I just wanted to mention wine since some stuff works well with it, but now I’m realizing a VM might be better if it’s multiple programs lol. Oh well.
Which circuit maker?
LTspice
Have you compared kdenlive to shotcut? Wondering how they compare as I’ve been working with SC for a few months an dfinally getting used to it, but the lack of a titler feature is a glaring omission.
Unless you have very specialized requirements (and quite possibly you do) the solution is usually to unhook yourself from thinking of needing specific programs and to instead focus on needing to perform specific tasks. (Then finding the Linux way to perform that task.)
Barring that, the codeweavers suggestion is a good one. I used it in my early days when I thought I couldn’t live without particular pieces of Windows software and although that was several years ago, even then it was pretty good about being able to easily run arbitrary Windows software. IMO it’s cheap enough to be worth the investment.
If you truly have bespoke requirements that just can’t be satisfied by either of the above, staying on Windows may legitimately be your best option.
More generally - if you decide to take this step, expect to have to learn to use a computer substantially differently than you have in the past. It’s not harder; in many ways it’s easier. But if you are very experienced and comfortable with Windows, a lot of concepts are going to feel foreign to you. Tackle one task at a time and your experiences will build upon each other. Go into it expecting to have to learn, and you’ll do fine. Bizarrely I find the least tech-savvy folks sometimes have the easiest time transitioning.
Use an alternative, or
Use Wine/Proton, or
Use a web app if it exists, or
Run Windows in a VM.
For me, the first 3 options covers 99.9% of my usage. It’s been a long time since I had to worry about installing Windows in a VM.
But to be fair, my requirements to use Windows software are very limited and non-critical. If:
A lot of programs I work with very often are Windows-exclusive
…then I would certainly consider keeping a Windows laptop around. Right tool for the job and all that.
You’re no more stuck with Windows than a Mac user is stuck on a Mac.
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I’m a Linux admin at work and I use Linux for my main system.
I do need to administer some Windows only things too. I got them to give me an older desktop system running windows that I leave running in my cube.
Anytime I need to do Windows stuff I remote into that machine.
Well you can’t really use something not useful to you. Yes Linux is very nice but at the end of the day you gotta use the thing that gets the job done.
Agree.
Take this from someone who has spent entirely too long fighting to make certain software and games work on Linux…seriously way too much time.
Just dual boot. It’s the best of both worlds. You can spend your time in Linux but when you want to play that game or need to use your special software you can just switch into it.
It also gives you the flexibility to try alternative software but you always know you have the real deal on your windows partition if you get stuck.
Depends on the game and version of windows…old games with new windows 99% of time won´t work.
It always depends on the game and the software. Sometimes even games and software that should run well on Linux have issues. At some point you’ll realize you’re spending more time troubleshooting thab enjoying the game or using the software.
I’ve had that realization with Apex. It works fine 80% flawlessly on PopOS. But over the last year there has been a bug or something that throws an error. It’s always after updates. A file fails to update all the way so I have to manually revalidate game files and download the ones that are inevitably broken.
I was spending 5-10-15minutes fighting this issue each time I wanted to play and I have a finite amount of time these days. So as soon as the error happens, I restart into windows and play.
It’s unfortunate since it’s been flawless until recently, but at the end of the day I want to play apex not troubleshoot proton,respawn,steam, and PopOS.
Since many years i do not play because have no time for that, including the fixing the issues. Used to play and like to fix issues because that is a good learning technique.
If they are Windows exclusive then your best bet is to simply run Windows in a virtual machine inside Linux and run the applications from there.
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How did you manage with video performance? I don’t game and have had a lot of experience with both vbox and kvm. Kvm performance for video is excruciatingly slow. It got to a point I said “that does it” and went back to vbox.
Yea KVM is great but it’s not so easy to pass device’s through. Whereas in Virtualbox you go to the menu, select devices, the type of device (eg usb) and then select the device (eg printer) to have it show up on Windows.
I switched to Linux from Windows 3.11 because Microsoft software didn’t do what it was supposed to.
My method is that I don’t even know what’s available for Windows, so I don’t miss it at all. The opposite isn’t true though, and time spent in a Microsoft environment can quickly become painful.
My only regular contact with Windows is the Steam partition which hasn’t been used for quite some time. I have a laptop that has a small win11 partition that I boot every now and then to see what they’re up to these days.
However, in the end, the only real answer is that if you really need a piece of software, you just run whatever system that supports it. It’s not a religion, you use whatever is convenient for you at a given time.
Ooh, Win 3.11? Which version of Linux did you switch to at the time?
I don’t recall the kernel version, but my first was Red Hat 5.2 in the late 90s. I didn’t switch to Linux permanently though, had it on dual-boot. But eventually it was SuSE that won me over, with their YaST tool and polished KDE implementation - seemed lightyears ahead of Win 9x and ME at the time.
At the time, I installed slackware with a lot of floppies.
Now, after trying quite a few, I settled on OpenSuSE Tumbleweed. It has one of the best KDE desktops, and basically just works, whatever you do with it. It’s comfortable and boring which I see as great qualities.
Can you give us specific examples of the programs you use, and what you use them for?
Certified Linux answer
I mean, it took me awhile to learn the names of all the software I currently use. And in some fields, it’s still “Yeah there’s not a good substitute.”
When I needed Windows for a piece of software, I ran Windows on another computer. Later I got into a position where I didn’t need to use that software. 😁
- Use alternative that is FLOSS
- Use alternative in the browser
- Try WINE/Proton
- Use Windows VM
- Use dedicated Windows machine
Libre Office completely takes care of my Office needs.
if the documents exchanged by others used complex macros written on VBA using excel it looks pretty bad on Libreoffice.
Office 365 online can be a good stopgap for those cases if you need it.
I simply resorted to using a windows+office VM for work, back when I was exchanging office documents with coworkers a lot. Even subtle things like font rendering would be different, making a 2 page doc into a 3 pages, etc. (Rendering, not just support - mscorefonts was already installed)
Or reference managers. I’m in academia and it’s a pain because I can’t edit anything on Linux without breaking the fine, I tried everything, LibreOffice, Only office… Nothing works.
I’d say make a wholehearted attempt to try open alternatives even if you stay on Windows for the time being. I had been doing so for a few years before I even considered Linux and by the time I finally did switch the transition was a lot smoother.
That being said I’ve been surprised by how much stuff actually does run under WINE!
Web apps (for MS Office/Teams), Wine (mostly for games and random apps), and for everything else, an optimized Tiny11 Core VM + WinApps for seamless windows/integration with Linux. My Tiny11 only uses 0-1% CPU and 600MB RAM on idle so I’ve got no issues running it in the background, besides it takes only a couple of seconds to launch, if I wanted to start it on demand.
I’ve also got a portable SSD with a copy of Windows installed on it, just in case I need it for some firmware updates or something (although I’m on a Thinkpad so pretty much everything can be updated via LVFS, but I keep it around just in case + it’s portable so there’s no harm in having it around).
Winapps is pretty cool! Thanks for sharing. I didnt know that existed till now.
I’ve been looking at Tiny10 and 11, have you run into any particular problems using it?
I only use it to run productivity apps inside a VM (Adobe Reader etc), so no issues here.
I think the most problems people have with it is running it on real hardware, since it lacks drivers and stuff.
hmmm, good to know I may have to track down drivers for a regular install, I missed that. Thanks for the feedback!
We ignore them, mostly. You cannot miss what you don’t know.
There are plenty of options however to access software not available natively. Both VMs and Remote Desktop solution work for a wide range applications. Web-based solution can be as good as desktop programs.
So many casual applications are now either web-based or on your (not FOSS) phone, so for my personal use the thought of using Windows has never crossed my mind. Professionally, I resort to remote Windows or a Mac.
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