I Spent a Year on Linux and Don't Miss Windows [2025]

It was an overcast January morning when I did something I thought I'd never do: I deleted Windows from my only computer. Just completely wiped it. No dual-boot safety net. No backup plan. The Ubuntu installer gave me one final warning that this would erase everything on my drive, and I clicked through anyway. My hands were shaking a little.

That was a year ago. And honestly? I don't miss Windows at all.

I'm not some Linux zealot who's been living in the terminal for two decades. I didn't switch because I have some ideological beef with Microsoft. I switched because I was tired. Tired of Windows updates that rebooted my machine at the worst possible times. Tired of driver issues. Tired of the feeling that my operating system was doing things I didn't ask it to do. Tired of paying attention to an OS when I just wanted it to get out of my way.

What surprised me most wasn't that Linux works (it does). It's that the entire experience is nothing like what people told me to expect. The horror stories about incompatibility, the constant command-line debugging, the sense that you're always one typo away from breaking everything, they're mostly wrong. Or at least, they're not the whole story.

Let me walk you through what this year actually looked like. Not the promotional version. Not the "Linux is flawless" version. The real version, with the bad nights and the small victories and the growing confidence that comes from learning to fix your own problems.

TL; DR

• The switch isn't as hard as people think: Even without command-line experience, the learning curve is manageable if you're willing to troubleshoot.
• Linux forces you to understand your system: Unlike Windows, where everything is hidden, you'll learn how your computer actually works.
• The first week is rough, then it gets better: Initial setup involves frustration, but daily use becomes genuinely smooth.
• There are real trade-offs: Some software doesn't work well, gaming has friction, and you can't just call tech support.
• You might actually prefer it: Once you're comfortable, the freedom and control of Linux becomes genuinely hard to give up.

Estimated data shows that about 70% of games run well through Proton on Linux, with 20% being native and 10% not working due to compatibility issues.

Why I Left Windows (And Why You Might Be Thinking About It Too)

My relationship with Windows had been deteriorating for years. It wasn't one thing. It was the accumulation of a thousand small frustrations that added up to genuine resentment.

There's the update situation. Windows would decide, sometimes at 2 AM, that today was the day to restart and install updates. No negotiation. No "let me finish what I'm doing." I've lost work to those surprise reboots. I've had to restart presentations because Windows decided that moment was critical for installing the latest patch. That's not hyperbole. That happened.

Then there's the privacy stuff. I'm not a tinfoil hat person, but Windows collects an astonishing amount of data about what you do, and the settings to turn that off are deliberately scattered across seventeen different menus and registry hacks. Every few updates, Microsoft would flip my privacy settings back to their defaults. It felt adversarial.

Driver issues were constant. I'd plug in a USB device and Windows would spend ten minutes searching for drivers, finding nothing, then I'd have to go hunting online. Linux handles the same hardware immediately, every time. It just works because the kernel supports thousands of devices out of the box.

And here's the thing that really got to me: Windows feels bloated. It's doing stuff in the background that I never asked for. Indexing files I don't need indexed. Running services I don't recognize. The system tray is a graveyard of applications I can't kill without breaking something else. It's like owning a house where the landlord is always rearranging your furniture without asking.

I wasn't looking for the "best" OS. I was looking for one that would stop getting in the way.

Approximately 85% of modern games run at full speed on Linux using Proton, making it a viable option for most gamers. (Estimated data)

The First Night: A Masterclass in Panic

I'd done maybe two hours of research before committing. I'd watched some YouTube videos. I'd read a Reddit thread or two. I felt prepared. I was not prepared.

The Ubuntu installer was straightforward enough. Point at the drive, confirm that yes, I really do want to erase Windows, and walk away while it does its thing. Forty-five minutes later, I was staring at a desktop that looked nothing like Windows, and I had no idea what I was doing.

First problem: Nothing was installed. Not the programs I use daily. Not the drivers for my second SSD. Not even a lot of the basic utilities I'd taken for granted on Windows. On Windows, you boot up to a functional computer. On Linux, you boot up to an empty room and you have to furnish it yourself.

I opened what I thought was an app store and found the Snap Store, which is kind of like the Apple App Store but feels more fragile somehow. Some of the programs I needed weren't there. Some had different names. I ended up in a terminal typing commands I didn't fully understand to install things using something called "apt," which is basically Linux's package manager. Every command output a wall of text that made no sense to me.

Then I tried to connect that second SSD. It should have been simple. Plug it in, access it like I did on Windows. Instead, Linux recognized the drive but wouldn't mount it to my file system. I spent two hours digging through file system tables and mount points and realized I needed to manually add an entry in something called fstab.

At 11 PM, I rage-quit. I seriously considered reinstalling Windows. I went to bed thinking I'd made a catastrophic mistake.

But here's what's interesting. The next morning, with fresh eyes and no pressure, I figured out the fstab issue in about five minutes. And that moment taught me something crucial: most Linux problems are completely solvable. They're just solvable differently than Windows problems.

Understanding Linux Isn't Complicated (But It Requires Different Thinking)

Once I got past that first terrible night, something shifted. Linux stopped being this mysterious, dangerous thing and became more like a complex system I could actually understand.

The biggest mindset shift was this: Linux doesn't hide things from you. Windows abstracts everything. Drivers? Hidden. File system? Hidden. Running services? Hidden. You interact with the surface, and the internals are treated like some kind of trade secret. If something goes wrong, you have to call tech support or hope you find the exact right Google result.

Linux is the opposite. Everything is visible. Everything is accessible. If your system isn't doing what you want, you can open a text editor and change a config file. You can look at what processes are running. You can see exactly what's happening at each layer.

This sounds terrifying if you're used to Windows. It actually becomes really reassuring once you get used to it.

The command line is where this becomes most obvious. Yeah, I was terrified of the terminal at first. But here's the thing: the terminal is just an interface to your system. It's actually more straightforward than clicking through eight nested menus. When you type a command, you know exactly what you're asking the computer to do. There's no hidden magic. There's no weird dialog box with checkboxes you don't understand.

Learning commands took time, but it wasn't nearly as hard as I expected. Most commands have logical names. ls lists files. mkdir makes directories. grep searches for text. You install something with apt install packagename. Once you learn the handful of commands you actually use regularly, the rest is just looking things up when you need them.

Estimated data suggests that system bloat and update interruptions are the most frustrating aspects of using Windows, with privacy concerns and driver issues also contributing significantly.

Month Two: Ubuntu to Fedora (AKA My First Religious Experience)

I stayed on Ubuntu for about three months. It's stable, it's popular, and there are about eight billion tutorials available for any problem you might encounter. For a beginner, that's incredibly valuable.

But around month three, I started reading about something called the "rolling release model" versus the "point release model," and I realized Ubuntu was using a model I didn't actually prefer. Ubuntu releases a new major version every two years, and between those releases, you're on a basically frozen version of software. Everything is stable, but nothing updates.

Fedora uses a rolling release model. Updates come much more frequently, sometimes daily. New versions of software arrive weeks or months ahead of Ubuntu. The trade-off is slightly more instability, more chances for bugs.

I decided to switch. Installing Fedora was genuinely smooth, and within a few hours, I realized I'd found my preferred environment. Fedora is newer, snappier, and the communities around it (especially the Fedora and Red Hat ecosystem) are incredibly technical and responsive.

Switching distros also taught me something important: Linux distros are genuinely interchangeable. They're all running the same kernel. The differences are mostly aesthetic and philosophical. Ubuntu feels like it's trying to be "beginner friendly." Fedora feels like it's trying to be cutting-edge. But they're both Linux, and you can transfer skills between them almost immediately.

That's wildly different from Windows-to-Mac or Windows-to-Linux. Once you're in the Linux ecosystem, moving between distributions is like moving to a different apartment in the same city. It's different, but you already know how the city works.

The Desktop Environment Wars (Or: How I Realized Design Is Important)

One of the most confusing things about Linux is the concept of the desktop environment. On Windows, there's one desktop. On macOS, there's one desktop. On Linux, there are approximately seventeen different desktops, and they're all completely different.

KDE Plasma. GNOME. Cinnamon. XFCE. Budgie. i3. They range from "looks like Windows XP" to "looks like a spaceship from 2050" to "is just a black screen and you control everything with the keyboard."

This is actually Linux's greatest strength and its most confusing feature to newcomers. Want your Linux desktop to look like macOS? Download KDE Plasma and configure it to have that aesthetic. Want it to look like Windows 95? There's a desktop environment for that (and yes, I've used it, and yes, it's weirdly functional). Want to use almost no mouse and control everything with keyboard shortcuts? i3 will do that.

I cycled through four different desktop environments in my first year.

I started with GNOME, which comes standard on Ubuntu. GNOME is trying really hard to be modern and minimal. It's elegant, but it's also kind of dogmatic about how you should work. I found it frustratingly restrictive.

Then I tried Cinnamon, which is inspired by how Windows works. This was good for easing the transition, but it felt a bit dated once I'd gotten more comfortable with Linux.

I spent a few weeks with KDE Plasma, which is feature-rich and incredibly customizable. KDE is the OS for people who want to control everything. Every pixel can be adjusted. Every behavior can be modified. This is great until you spend four hours tweaking your window decorations and realize you haven't actually gotten any work done.

Eventually, I settled on something simpler again. Not GNOME, but not overly complex either. I wanted something that was beautiful, functional, and wouldn't distract me.

Here's what I learned from this process: desktop environments don't matter that much. What matters is that you find one that doesn't actively annoy you. You can be productive on any of them. The differences are really about aesthetics and philosophy, not actual capability.

KDE Plasma is rated highest for customization, while i3 is less user-friendly for newcomers. Estimated data based on typical user feedback.

Daily Work: The Part Where Linux Actually Has to Prove Itself

I use my computer for real work. Web development, some video editing, writing, photo editing, a little bit of design work. Not casual social media scrolling. I need software that actually works, and I need it reliably.

Here's the honest truth: Linux delivered completely.

For development work, Linux is actually superior to Windows. The terminal is so much better integrated that the entire development experience is smoother. Git works perfectly. Building software is faster. Most development tools were designed with Linux in mind, so they run natively and quickly.

I use VSCode for most of my coding, and it's literally identical on Linux and Windows. Same with the command-line tools I use. Actually, most of those tools run better on Linux because they're in their native environment.

For writing, I use a combination of tools. I write in Markdown in a text editor, and the entire workflow is streamlined on Linux in ways I never experienced on Windows. There's less friction between me and the words I'm trying to write.

Photo and video editing are where things get slightly spicier. I use GIMP for photo work, which is the Linux equivalent of Photoshop. It's not Photoshop, but it's very capable for what I need. For video editing, I use DaVinci Resolve, which was originally designed for Linux and runs beautifully.

Here's where I'll be honest: if you're a professional designer or someone who needs the full Adobe Creative Cloud pipeline, Linux is currently going to be frustrating. Adobe doesn't support Linux natively, and workarounds exist but are not ideal. That's a real limitation, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

For everything else, though, I've found the software situation to be completely adequate. In many cases, it's better than Windows.

Gaming on Linux: The Complicated Truth

I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I do play games. I play a lot of indie games. I play some older games. I occasionally jump into something current.

On Windows, this is simple. You buy a game, you install it, you play it.

On Linux, it's more complicated, but it's much less complicated than it was even two or three years ago.

Most modern games use something called Proton, which is a compatibility layer that translates Windows graphics calls to Linux graphics calls. It's essentially an emulation layer, but it's so efficient that most games run at full speed with no performance penalty.

I've tested this extensively. I play games that run natively on Linux, games that run through Proton, and a few games that just don't work on Linux at all. My experience:

Native Linux games: Run perfectly. This includes basically all indie games made in the last five years, plus some major releases.

Games through Proton: About 85-90% of games run flawlessly. Performance is usually identical to Windows. Some games have minor graphical issues that don't affect playability.

Games that don't work: Maybe 5-10% of new releases. Typically games with aggressive anti-cheat systems that specifically detect Proton. Also some older games with Windows-specific DRM.

Is this a perfect solution? No. But it's pretty good, and it's getting better every month.

The real issue with gaming on Linux isn't the technology. It's the friction. You have to look up whether a game is compatible before buying it. You might have to install additional software. You definitely can't just click "play" and expect it to work every single time without checking a compatibility database first.

For someone who just wants to play games without thinking about the OS, that friction is real. For someone who's comfortable with a bit of extra setup, it's not even that annoying.

Estimated data suggests that frequent Windows updates and driver issues were the most significant factors influencing the switch to Linux.

The Community: Why Linux Actually Has the Best Support

This might sound backwards, but Linux's open-source nature actually means you get better support than you'd ever get from Microsoft.

When something goes wrong on Windows, you call tech support and talk to someone reading from a script. You post in the Windows forums and hope Microsoft's community moderators notice your post. Ninety percent of the time, your problem goes unsolved.

When something goes wrong on Linux, you have the entire source code. You have thousands of developers who build the software you're using, and many of them are just... available. They're on GitHub. They're on Reddit. They answer questions.

I've asked questions on Reddit about obscure Linux issues and gotten detailed answers within minutes from people who clearly understand the system at a deep level. I've had issues where a friend pointed me to the exact line of code that was causing the problem.

The culture of Linux communities is also genuinely helpful. Beginners are welcomed. Stupid questions are answered patiently. No one makes you feel bad for not knowing something, because everyone in the community had to learn at some point.

This is one of the most underrated advantages of Linux. You're not interacting with a corporate support apparatus. You're tapping into a global network of people who are genuinely interested in the software working.

System Administration: Where Linux Becomes Genuinely Empowering

One of the most profound changes I've experienced is how my relationship with my computer has shifted. On Windows, I was a user. On Linux, I'm more like an administrator.

This sounds technical, but the practical implication is huge: I have complete control over my system.

Want to automate something? Write a bash script. Want to optimize your system? Edit your system configuration files. Want to understand exactly what your computer is doing at any given moment? Open the system monitor and look at process details.

On Windows, these things are either impossible or heavily restricted. You hit a wall very quickly. On Linux, there is no wall. There's just the limit of your knowledge, and that can be expanded.

I've written scripts that automatically back up my data. I've configured my system to automatically mount network drives when I log in. I've optimized how my system handles memory and CPU priority for different types of work.

None of this is particularly advanced. But it's all stuff that would either be impossible or require third-party paid software on Windows.

This control is genuinely addictive. Once you have it, going back to a locked-down OS where the manufacturer makes all the decisions for you feels restrictive.

Linux shows superior performance on older hardware, especially in boot time and overall responsiveness. Estimated data based on typical user experience.

The Real Challenges (And Why They're Not Dealbreakers)

I need to be completely honest about the downsides. Linux isn't perfect, and there are genuine reasons why it's not the dominant OS.

The learning curve is real. Not insurmountable, but it's there. The first month involves problem-solving that you wouldn't need to do on Windows. Things that "just work" on Windows sometimes require research on Linux.

Some software is unavailable. If you're dependent on specific proprietary software, you might be stuck. This is particularly true in professional design, some audio production workflows, and enterprise software.

Standardization is fragmented. There are so many distros and desktop environments that sometimes it feels like the ecosystem is fighting itself. A solution for one distro might not work on another.

The default settings are often wrong for new users. Linux assumes you're somewhat technically competent, so the defaults are sometimes not the most user-friendly. You might need to tweak things to get the experience you want.

Hardware support is occasionally spotty. Especially with newer hardware or specialized devices, you sometimes discover that drivers don't exist or don't work properly.

But here's the thing: none of these are dealbreakers for most people. They're just trade-offs.

Windows has trade-offs too. They're just different. You trade control for convenience. You trade privacy for integration. You trade system understanding for simplicity.

Linux asks you to trade convenience for control. For me, that's a deal I'm happy to make.

The Security Aspect: Is Linux Actually More Secure?

You'll hear a lot of claims that Linux is more secure than Windows. Let me give you the nuanced answer.

Linux has different security characteristics than Windows, not necessarily better ones.

Linux is generally better at preventing a single application from compromising your entire system. The permission model is more granular. Running untrusted code is harder because you can't just click "yes" to install something with elevated privileges. You need to explicitly grant permissions.

But Linux also has vulnerabilities. Recent years have seen serious exploits in the Linux kernel itself. The difference is that the Linux community patches them quickly, and you have visibility into what happened.

Windows has definitely improved its security over the years, but you're always operating with somewhat of a black box. You don't know what vulnerabilities might exist or how long they've been there.

The honest take: Linux is more secure if you're technically competent and know how to maintain it. It's less secure if you're someone who ignores security best practices, because the system will happily let you do dangerous things.

Windows tries to protect you from yourself, which is actually a legitimate advantage if you're not careful. Linux assumes you know what you're doing and respects your autonomy.

The Performance Question: Does Linux Run Faster?

I'll answer this simply: yes, but with caveats.

Linux is genuinely more efficient with system resources. The kernel is leaner. Applications start faster. Multitasking is smoother. On identical hardware, Linux will feel faster than Windows.

BUT, Windows has gotten much better in recent years. Windows 11 is actually pretty efficient. And if your hardware is decent, the difference might be imperceptible in daily use.

Where it matters most is on older hardware. I resurrected a laptop from 2015 with only 4GB of RAM and a mechanical hard drive. On Windows 10, it was unusable. After a year, every action took 5-10 seconds. On Linux, it's actually snappy.

That's a genuine advantage. If you want to extend the useful life of older computers, Linux is exceptional.

Privacy: The One Area Where Linux Wins Decisively

This is the area where Linux is unambiguously better, and it's important enough to warrant discussion.

Windows collects astonishing amounts of data. Every keystroke in the search box. What apps you use. How long you use them. Diagnostic telemetry about your hardware. Your browsing habits. The files you access.

Microsoft claims this is all de-identified and used for "improving the platform," but the practice is aggressive enough that it bothers a lot of people, including me.

Linux collects essentially nothing. Ubuntu has telemetry, but it's minimal and disabled by default. Most other distros have basically zero collection. The software you run is open-source, meaning anyone can audit it to make sure it's not doing suspicious things.

If privacy matters to you, this alone is a compelling reason to switch. You're not trusting a corporation to use your data responsibly. You have actual technical guarantees about what data is and isn't being collected.

Customization: More Control Than You'd Think

I've mentioned customization a few times, but I want to dig deeper because it's genuinely one of the most transformative aspects of Linux.

On Windows or macOS, you customize by installing apps that sit on top of the OS and do what they're designed to do. You're limited to the options the developers included.

On Linux, you customize by editing configuration files. You can change how the keyboard works, how the desktop looks, how the system allocates resources, how windows behave, everything.

I've spent hours configuring my system to work exactly how I want. I can move my mouse to a specific corner of the screen and have a specific application open. I can configure different keyboard layouts for different applications. I can set up complex automation that does exactly what I need.

Most people don't want this level of control. But if you do, Linux provides it. And once you have it, you realize how much you were compromising on other systems.

Software Ecosystem: Better Than People Think

One of the biggest misconceptions about Linux is that the software situation is dire. It's not. It's actually pretty good.

For development, Linux is the gold standard. Best tools, native support, integrated workflows.

For document creation, there's LibreOffice, which handles 90% of what you'd use Office for. For the remaining 10%, Microsoft Office actually does have a web version that you can use, though it's not ideal.

For graphics, GIMP is legitimately capable. There's also Inkscape for vector work, which is actually quite good.

For audio, you've got Audacity, which is excellent for basic editing. For more advanced work, there's Ardour, which is a professional-grade DAW.

For media, you've got VLC, which plays literally everything. MPV for high-quality video playback. Kodi for media center stuff.

For productivity, the ecosystem is solid. Calendar apps, note-taking apps, project management apps. Most have Linux versions or you can use web versions.

The gap between what's available on Linux and what's available on Windows is much smaller than it was even five years ago.

The Real Conclusion: It's Not About Linux vs. Windows

After a year on Linux, the conclusion I've come to isn't that "Linux is better." It's more nuanced than that.

Linux is better for me, in this moment in my life, doing the work I do, with my tolerance for troubleshooting and my appreciation for control.

Linux would probably be worse for my parents. They want an OS that just works, where everything is familiar, and they can call tech support if something breaks. Windows is better for them.

Linux is arguably better for developers, system administrators, and anyone who works with their computer in technical ways. For casual users, it depends on their software needs and their comfort with occasional friction.

What I've come to appreciate is that the operating system wars are mostly pointless. They're different tools for different jobs. What matters is matching the right tool to your needs.

What I will say unequivocally is that Linux deserves serious consideration. Not as a novelty. Not as an ideological statement. But as a legitimate alternative that might actually be better suited to what you're doing.

The year I spent on Linux taught me more about how computers work than the previous fifteen years did. It made me a more capable user. It gave me control back. And it reminded me that just because we've all been using Windows for three decades doesn't mean it's the best tool for the job.

Some things I'm leaving behind: surprise reboots, privacy violations, driver hunting, paying for utilities that probably should be free, feeling like my OS is working against me.

Some things I gained: confidence in troubleshooting, understanding of how my system actually works, privacy by default, a community of people who genuinely want to help, freedom to modify things I disagree with.

That's a trade I'd make again in a heartbeat.

FAQ

Is Linux actually hard to learn for someone with no terminal experience?

Not really, but it requires a different mindset than Windows. The first week is rough, but you don't need to be a command-line wizard to use Linux daily. Most common tasks can be done through graphical interfaces, and you'll gradually learn terminal commands as you need them. The learning curve is real but not insurmountable if you're patient with yourself.

What Linux distro should I choose if I'm a beginner?

Start with Ubuntu or Linux Mint. Both have massive communities, tons of tutorials, beginner-friendly installers, and active forums. Don't overthink it. You can always switch distros later without losing your data or having to relearn everything. The fundamentals are the same across distributions.

Will my software work on Linux?

Most of it will, but some won't. Development tools, productivity software, and media tools have Linux versions or solid alternatives. Gaming works surprisingly well through Proton compatibility. Where you'll hit friction is specialized professional software (Adobe Creative Cloud, certain enterprise tools) and some niche applications. Check before you switch if you depend on something specific.

Is Linux secure?

Linux has different security characteristics than Windows, not necessarily better. The granular permission model is excellent at containing problems, but you're responsible for following best practices. You have more transparency about what's happening on your system, which is an advantage. There's no secret telemetry collecting data about you like there is on Windows.

Can I still play games on Linux?

Yes, and it's better than most people think. Through Proton (a compatibility layer), about 85-90% of modern games run at full speed with no noticeable performance difference. Native Linux games work perfectly. Some games with aggressive anti-cheat don't work. The experience is genuinely viable for most gamers.

How do I get help if something breaks on Linux?

The Linux community is incredibly helpful and responsive. Google your error message plus "Reddit" or "Stack Overflow" and you'll find solutions to most problems. Communities like r/linux4noobs are explicitly designed to help beginners. The open-source nature means developers are often directly available and responsive. You'll actually get better support than you would calling Microsoft.

Will my hardware work on Linux?

Most of it will. Recent computers and common devices have excellent Linux support. Older hardware and some specialized devices might have issues. Before you switch, check if your specific hardware (especially wifi cards and graphics cards) has Linux drivers available.

Is Linux free?

Yes. The OS itself is completely free, as are almost all the applications you'll use. You don't pay for the OS, you don't pay for antivirus, you don't pay for most utilities. This is a genuine financial advantage and removes any licensing restrictions.

Can I use Linux and Windows on the same computer?

Yes, through dual-booting or virtual machines. But if you're committed to switching, you don't need this safety net. I thought I would, but I didn't end up using Windows after I switched to Linux.

What are the biggest downsides of Linux?

The learning curve is real, some software is unavailable, hardware support can be spotty for new devices, and the ecosystem is fragmented across different distros. But these are trade-offs, not dealbreakers. Every OS has downsides. Linux's downsides are different from Windows' downsides, not necessarily worse.

Resources for Getting Started

If you're thinking about making the jump, here are the practical first steps:

Try it first: Download Ubuntu or Linux Mint, create a bootable USB drive, and try the "live" version without installing. You can use Linux for an hour or two without committing to anything.

Have a backup plan: If you have important data, back it up. Then proceed with confidence. You can always reinstall Windows if you really want to.

Join communities early: Before you switch, join communities like r/linux4noobs, r/linux, or the official forums for your chosen distro. Get a feel for the culture and have a place to ask questions.

Expect the first week to be rough: That's normal. Give yourself at least two weeks before deciding it's not for you. The learning curve steepens in week one, then flattens out dramatically.

Don't overthink the distro choice: Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Fedora are all great starting points. You're not making a permanent decision. The differences are mostly philosophical.

Linux isn't for everyone. But it might be for you. And if it is, it might just transform how you think about your computer.

Key Takeaways

• Switching to Linux isn't as hard as people think—the first week is rough, but then it becomes smooth daily driving.
• Linux forces you to understand your system deeply, which makes you a more capable user even if something breaks.
• The real advantage isn't just control—it's freedom from Windows' intrusive updates, telemetry, and bloat.
• Desktop environments are highly customizable; if you don't like one, switch to another without losing your data.
• Gaming on Linux works surprisingly well (85-90% of modern games), but requires slightly more research than Windows.
• Privacy is where Linux wins decisively—there's zero corporate telemetry collecting data about what you do.
• You'll get better technical support from the Linux community than from Microsoft's corporate support apparatus.
• Some professional software isn't available on Linux, but for most work and tasks, the software ecosystem is solid and improving.

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