Over the past few months, I’ve been experimenting more and more with alternatives to Windows 11, specifically trying a handful of different Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and even Arch. One thing I’ve realized is that I can’t really make Linux my primary operating system for work because it doesn’t have all the apps I need, so I’ve stuck to my Mac Mini for that.
But here’s the thing — I also realize that the apps I need put me in a fairly niche minority. If you’re thinking of switching to Linux, the truth of the matter is you can probably do that just fine. Most people don’t need the apps I do, and Linux is doing surprisingly well. Here’s why.
The struggles of moving to Linux
It’s not as bad as it seems
I completely understand if you think moving to Linux is a scary endeavour, and I’ve been in that position for a long time, too. Windows is such a mainstay of the PC world, with so much money poured into it by Microsoft, who also great relationships with the companies that make processors and PCs. Linux is often perceived as being mostly developed by the community with limited support from hardware makers, so it makes sense to be worried.
But in reality, the basics of using Linux are generally not as troublesome as you would think. While some Linux distributions are a little more cryptic, installing something like Ubuntu or Linux Mint is actually quite easy, and if you have someone to guide you, it’s a generally breezy process. There will be some things to adjust to, of course. Updating packages can be a bit different, using the terminal/console to perform certain actions is a little less intuitive, but for the most part, things just work. You may run into some issues here and there, but most things can be fixed with a Google search and a few commands. For me, it took some time to adapt, but I mostly became okay with how things work.
One of the main persisting issues I have seems to be audio. My laptop running Linux Mint still sounds overly quiet for some reason I’ve never been able to figure out, but this can be fixed by using a headset, for example. Some internal speakers on laptops may have issues, especially with smaller brands that are harder to support. I also had some issues with audio on Ubuntu, though it seems to be hit or miss. Admittedly, I haven’t been compelled to look for more permanent fixes, however, because I know any of these computers wouldn’t be my main machines anyway. There’s a good chance you can work around these things, too.
Linux can even look like Windows
Customization is on another level
Even if you’re worried that Linux just doesn’t work exactly like Windows does, there are options out there to make it feel surprisingly close so the experience is far more familiar. Recently, I checked out a distribution called AnduinOS, which is based on Ubuntu and the GNOME desktop environment. Thanks to GNOME Extensions, AnduinOS feels incredibly close to Windows 11, except it’s even more customizable.
You get the taskbar and Start menu as you’ve always known them (even the default wallpaper is familiar), but you can customize them to suit your needs even better. For example, the Windows 11 Start menu is very rigid, but on AnduinOS, you can choose from over a dozen different layouts that include different ways to organize and display apps and system links. You can also customize the taskbar by moving icons around, make it transparent, and so on.
AnduinOS even includes GNOME Extensions that restore some Windows features like clipboard history and the emoji panel, and they arguably work even better here, too. It really isn’t as hard a transition as some might initially think.
App support is my biggest hurdle
Editing video and photos is hard
The real reason why I can’t really move to Linux full-time isn’t any of the above, however. The main problem for me is the apps, and specifically, two kinds of apps that are a bit harder to work with for me. First off, there’s video editing, where I use DaVinci Resolve for my work. Resolve is available for Linux, but this version of the app requires a discrete AMD or Nvidia GPU, whereas I typically work with the integrated Intel graphics. There are alternatives like Kdenlive, but I’ve tried that program once and it’s nearly unusable for me, so it’s just a no-go.
An arguably bigger reason, however, is photo editing. There are some good alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom on Linux, but they’re still not great and nowhere near as easy to use. I used Ubuntu for some time and tried both Darktable and Rawtherapee, and while they were serviceable (more so the latter), the interface is so much more convoluted and the final results simply don’t look as good. Adobe Lightroom makes it so easy to edit RAW photos and produces consistently great results without too much of a problem. It’s so hard to get things right with these alternatives, and it just wastes a lot more of my time when I’m trying to get work done.
However, these are the only real examples of things that I can’t reasonably do on a Linux PC, and that’s where it gets interesting.
Most people don’t need these apps
Linux can do nearly everything else
I’m sure there will be others like me who can’t move to Linux for the same reasons. There will be some apps that simply can’t run on Linux, and that’s a big problem for some of us. But I also believe that this audience is a minority of the people who could benefit from switching to Linux. Most people using a computer aren’t using it for heavy photo and video editing. They’re using it to browse the web or edit documents, and really Linux can do all of that with no worries whatsoever.
Let’s start with the big one, browsing the internet. It’s commonly said that most computers these days are Chrome machines anyway, and that’s frankly not far from the truth. Most of the time you spend on your computer is using a web browser to do a wide range of things. I write my articles directly in the CMS used by XDA, I look for news in the browser, I go to social media using my browser. Even communication apps are mostly web-based, so things like Slack, Teams, and other personal messaging tools are all in the browser. And the thing is, the vast majority of desktop browsers work on Linux, and just as well as they do on Windows. Even if you’re using a less common browser, there’s a good chance you’re safe. Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Floorp, Zen — all of these browsers run on Linux as well as Windows or macOS. The only exceptions I know of are Opera GX and Opera Air, which are a bit too niche. I use Vivaldi for my web browsing, and it runs without any issues or cut features on Linux. Chances are that’s the case for you, too.
Then there are things like Microsoft Office, which, yes, isn’t on Linux, either. But again, for most people, Office replacements are more than good enough. You’re probably already using Google Sheets and Docs in your browser, and you can keep doing that just as well. Otherwise, you have options like LibreOffice, and even WPS Office (a personal favorite of mine) that work just fine on Linux. Some more advanced features may be limited, but not everyone needs those.
And a lot of the smaller things you might think don’t work on Linux are there, too. Discord and Slack both have Linux apps, for example. So does Spotify. I use a messaging app called Beeper to bring all my messaging services together, and even this lesser-known app has a Linux version. A lot of things you use are already available on Linux, either through dedicated apps or web apps that work anywhere. You may have to look into your specific cases, but I truly believe that the majority of users would survive just fine using Linux.
Moving to Linux isn’t so scary
It’s completely valid to be worried about switching to a whole new platform like Linux, but when you get down to it and take some time to look at what you need to do, the transition can actually be a lot easier. While Linux isn’t on my main desktop PC, the laptop I’ve been using the most lately is running Linux Mint since I only use it for fairly basic things like browsing the web and using Discord. It works completely fine for that.
If you’re looking to ditch Windows, I strongly encourage you to give Linux a shot. Spin up a virtual machine or dual-boot it at first, and you’ll find that most of what you want to do works just fine on Linux, and you may not miss Windows at all. And it will only get better if more people start using it.
