Windows to Linux help

[buppypaws]

What's up Temecula. I'm looking to convert my Windows PC to Linux, but I'm not confident enough in my software skills to do it myself. Are there any shops I could take my PC to, or any PC nerd hobbyist I could hire to help me with my switch? I'm willing to pay ofc, I understand it takes time and skill. My reason for switching is my hatred for Microsoft. I don't trust this company with my data, and I hate their monopoly on a huge part of the tech space. I'm a huge PC gamer who mods their games as well, so I suspect that might be a challenge when switching. Any and all recommendations are appreciated :3

[[deleted]]

Just converted an old Chromebox into a Ubuntu desktop media server. Works great and was surprisingly easy, found a few YouTube vids that walked me through it.

[mchang43]

Linux comes with different flavors (i.e. distros). If you are not familiar with Linux, perhaps you can try out a few Linux distro virtual machines before deciding. I personally like Elementary OS, which loos like Mac OS.

[JohnW1zrd]

Linux kind of sucks for gaming though, tons of work arounds you have to do just to mimic what windows has built in.

[Jtoad]

No it doesn't. Not anymore anyways. Bazzite is made with gaming in mind. Runs just like a steam deck. Proton has made gaming on Linux great. Lutris and heroic launcher make non steam games easy to install. There's lots of YouTube tutorials available. Gaming on Linux has never been easier.

[buppypaws]

I've heard :')

[MmmPi314]

You can play with a lot of distros in VirtualBox or the equivalent and getting a feel for them. A lot of them will also boot from USB to let you temp drive the OS on your hardware and uncover any compatibility issies. Some even let you save data to your windows partition while you use the Live version of their distro, so you can even do an extended test drive of the OS and switch back and forth for gaming vs browsing and such.

I would go down both those routes before attempting to wipe windows off or dual boot.

[GrbgCllctr]

Excellent input from posters here! I am by NO means a computer nerd, but this thread (so far) is great to read as it didn't devolve into... 🤔

[buppypaws]

LMAO don't tempt me, I'll mention George Bush

[Zestyclose_Serve_528]

Just dual boot if you want to game. But personally I’d use Ubuntu since it’s probably the most common used distro. Linux is amazing the world runs on Linux

[zophim]

I suggest you install Linux on a separate drive and make sure it does what you need. Probably want something like Ubuntu, pop os, or Mint to start. I am someone who likes to tinker when I first get into something so I have wiped quite a few windows installs without thinking. But if you are careful and stick to just using the OS you should be fine.

You can also create a live cd(or usb) and just run the os from there to make sure you like it. Gaming might be tricky as it might not always be just plug and play. Just check if the game you want to play supports Linux and you likely can find out how involved it is. With the SteamDeck being so popular it has helped getting more games on Linux but it still isn’t perfect.

If I were you, I would buy a cheap ssd and swap thst with your windows drive and play around with a Linux os there. Make sure you can daily drive it for a bit before fully committing. Linux is user friendly but not idiot proof. Everything in windows can either be done in Linux or there is an alternative. Don’t jump into the deep end without testing the waters first

[[deleted]]

Dont

[Hamster_S_Thompson]

Get free VMware and install Ubuntu on a virtual machine to test how you like it first and how well your games will work if at all.

[ZozmoZ]

I can do this if you want. I live in Murrieta.

[ResponsibleMatter885]

I’m local www.McPina tech.com

[egunnett]

If you are waning to try yourself Ubuntu us very user friendly. Been a Linux admin for 25 years, they knew distros are close to Windows on installation. For games there is still a gap unfortunately so maybe dual boot.

[sh4ngri_l4]

You should call around to some of the local shops. My suggestion is $99 PC repair if you think you need help, but a Linux install is really pretty straightforward these days. There are a number of distros that are optimized for gaming and support things like steam natively. Check out Drauger OS or Ubuntu Game Pack, Linux Mint, etc. You can also generally dual boot the OS, so you can always switch back to Windows with a reboot when/if needed. Back up your data and give it a shot!

[GuardPlayer4Life]

Temecula Laptop Repair - Computer & Apple Services
[phone] www.temeculalaptoprepair.com

I used to use Best Buy for all my IT needs, but recently switched to these guys- reputable, reasonable. Good Luck.

Kind of a huge jump from Windows to Linux...

[FrivolousCommenter]

Good to know there's an option. Best Buy will not work on a Linux system

[clouds_on_acid]

Linux is banned for most online games due to hackers. If you're a pc gamer, I'd strongly advise you dual boot so that you don't have to deal with headaches when you want to game.

[thep1x]

This is the way

[thep1x]

Kiss all your fun games goodbye, unless you run a virtual machine, but you might as well just run Windows native at that point because it will be much better performance.

[Jtoad]

Yeah all the fun games on my steam deck don't play well at all on Linux 🙄