I got this same pop up ad on my work computer. Beyond stupid.
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025
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Honestly I've been eyeing Linux more and more, but it also scares me a little. What I'm mostly worried about is losing any functionality I've gotten used to.
I've been using Mint since November. Love it. It's made using my PC new and fun again. There are only two things I cannot figure out yet, and that's putting roms on my PS2 hard drive, and connecting my TI-86 calculator. Luckily, those are both things I can do on my XP machine.
I use Mint. I'm not a tech savvy person at all. It was so easy. I love it, being free from windows is a breath of fresh air. Never have ads down my throat, my OS doesn't use MY computer to spy on me. Break the chains of capitalism!
Happy cakeday
Do it. I was where you are 2 months ago. Everything isn't perfect to where it was but I don't mind it and am not looking back.
Dumb question. Can you play games that don't officially support Linux? The oblivion remaster that came out today for instance
I'm due for an OS reinstall and maybe this is the time for the switch
I'm playing the Oblivion remaster and it works great.
From personal experience testing some games before, indie games ran better performance than they do on windows while AAA games ran worse.
That was years ago tho. Apparently steamdeck uses linux and valve has started helping to the contributors working on linux gaming.
https://www.protondb.com/ if you didn't know about protondb it's really helpful to look for game compatibility. Proton is what lets most windows games run on linux, and is easy to turn on in the steam compatibility settings.
I'm at the point now that I don't even bother checking ProtonDB unless it's a really expensive purchase. Most things work out of the box for me. With some games that have a native Linux client, the Windows version will actually run better for me.
I've been using Cachy OS and Marvel Rivals, Deep Rock Galactic, Deep Rock Galactic Survivor, Crusader Kings 3, and UFO 50 have all worked out of the box including multiplayer. Turmoil and Helldivers 2 required a "tweak" which was switching back from Cachy's version of Proton to the default Steam one. (Turmoil had minor graphical glitches and Helldivers 2 wouldn't work on multiplayer until I did that.)
Linux gaming is worlds better than it has been in ages.
Oblivion remaster works out of the box in Linux.
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I'm a big Linux advocate these days and my best advice is to set realistic expectations. If your intent is to recreate your Windows experience exactly, you'll always be left disappointed. There's simply nothing better than OneNote at what it does, but I migrated my note taking habits over to Obsidian and I'm perfectly happy there now. Turns out I didn't need 90% of OneNote's immense functionality.
At the end of the day though, Linux is FOSS: it's made by people, for people, to solve the computing problems people have. There are a variety of solutions out there. Reexamine your workflows and be open to fitting new solutions to them, there are just SO MANY choices out there for how to handle most problems.
Aside from that, there's always going to be a small learning curve. People tend to view that as simply a hassle that takes time to overcome and while that's not entirely wrong, it very much undercuts the real value of learning how to operate and maintain the OS that you most likely use every day, all day. It's extremely hard to accurately describe the value of investing that time and having an OS that isn't bloated with corporate nonsense and fighting you to dictate your workflows into their intended patterns so they can agitate you with ads and paid services at every step. There's a reason we all come out sounding like zealots and while I acknowledge it can feel a little cult-ish, who you gonna trust? Your online nerd community or a corporation who has shown time and time again that they do not value you as an individual user?
Well said. I switched to Mint on my laptop recently and just the serenity of not being pestered by the OS constantly fills me with contentment. Also, the fan was running constantly due to Windows background processes before and now it is silent unless I'm doing heavy work. Feels good.
Your comment nailed it. I just switched a couple of weeks back and it really wasn't awful. There is a bit of a learning curve, mostly around setting up your system the way you want it, but there are so many good text and video tutorials available.
Now I have a system that just works, has improved my laptop's battery life by over 20% (the fan is no longer cranking the whole time it's on), and actually has greater functionality than when I was on Windows without all the shit I don't want.
My main concern is for my hobbies, like games and such. I've heard that games can have a bit of difficulty running on Linux, and graphics drivers too.
Pasting my comment here from another on this thread.
I've been using Cachy OS and Marvel Rivals, Deep Rock Galactic, Deep Rock Galactic Survivor, Crusader Kings 3, and UFO 50 have all worked out of the box including multiplayer. Turmoil and Helldivers 2 required a "tweak" which was switching back from Cachy's version of Proton to the default Steam one. (Turmoil had minor graphical glitches and Helldivers 2 wouldn't work on multiplayer until I did that.)
Linux gaming is worlds better than it has been in ages.
As someone who has used linux since 2009, I remember the days when linux "gaming" was super tux cart and some clone of minesweeper, that's it. Linux has gotten SO much better in regards to gaming and will only continue to do so.
A lot of the advice out there is anecdotal - ask a dozen people, get a dozen answers.
For my part, I installed plain Arch on a custom built system. I use the Nvidia proprietary drivers for my 3080 and I've had no issues with drivers or gaming. If you're talking retro, RetroArch or other assorted emulators have you covered no prob. If you're talking modern stuff, Elden Ring works online with its Easy Anti-Cheat and I play a ton of Trackmania which chains Uplay launcher (ugh) and have even managed to install mods with Openplanet which is a Windows only mod manager. One time my friend was telling me about an old Windows 3.1 pinball game. I downloaded it from abandonware (https://www.myabandonware.com/game/3-d-ultra-pinball-creep-night-3fh) and just launched the installer with WINE, it even placed a shortcut for it on my app launcher (kinda hated that actually 😅). I feel like that worked more flawlessly than it would have on Windows 11. Most games simply launch with Proton, however sometimes you do get weird issues that may involve trying some different versions of Proton. Dark Souls III for example still gets angry at anything beyond 8.X or whatever.
I think a lot of people look at the troubleshooting you have to do in Linux and dread it as an utter failstate of the system. Not true. In Windows when your system is hosed you're likely down for a reinstall or patiently waiting for Microsoft to do their part and patch it. On Linux, when something goes wrong you pop the hood and take a look. You don't HAVE to do it, you GET to do it.
Moral of the story is, your best bet is to try a dual boot if you can and give it a go yourself. I suspect the issues a lot of people are having is because they get too carried away with customizations and system configs. I try to keep most things basic unless I have a really good reason to alter them.
I don't want to talk about other peoples experiences when it comes to games and graphics drivers on linux. I can just mention my own experiences with it. As a disclaimer I have used linux for years, just not as my main desktop.
Graphics drivers I have not had any issue with, they've been pretty plug and play. Games I've found can be a bit hit and miss, most will just work fine right away through proton or wine while others can require a bit of tweaking and troubleshooting to get running properly. I have yet to run into a game that just would not run at all however, but that could also just be that the games that wouldn't run are ones that didn't interest me already.
Also me whenever a new version of windows came out or I just to reinstall for some reason. It never felt the same as it was.
I've switched to Linux a long time ago. You'll get used to it and it will be the new normal if you give it a chance and understand that it is different.
People worry too much about it, just give it a spin.
My thinking was that one day, microsoft will pull the rug beneath my feet and i will lose a ton of data and features brutally. I did the switch 3 weeks ago to fedora and i have no regrets, i actually gained many features for free
I switched to Fedora KDE a couple years ago and am happy, but the desktop Linux experience does have it's rough edges. Do research and experiment before you make the full switch
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Recently I installed Linux mint on my laptop, and then my main PC died so I replaced it with windows 11. I've had the unique experience of setting them both up from scratch alongside each other.
Windows 11 took longer to set up (4 days), but was 80% via GUI, and the 20% I did in PowerShell was mostly using winget with very few failures. I used ChatGPT for some planning and checklist and also used it to craft a PowerShell script that would silently install about 35 applications that I was too lazy to do manually by downloading the exe's, but I could have gotten there without it.
Mint took 2 days to set up but was 80% terminal, and I would not have been able to install half the things I wanted without the help of ChatGPT crafting baffling workarounds for me that I would not have found on my own.
In the end, both systems are 95% how I want them, with 5% unattainable due to their own unique issues.
I'll continue to use both for now, and see how I go in a year or so.
Edit: I must add that I am extraordinarily fussy about my OS configuration, it needs to look, act, and respond exactly how I want it to or I'm dissatisfied
The fact it took you that long to set up either OS tells us you're definitely the problem here.
I got mint up and running with zero terminal input. It was so slick. Idk what you did, but maybe just try booting mint up yourself and leave chat gp out of it.
Which additional software in all did you install after boot though?
I literally just want Windows 7 again but with security updates, driver support, and back end technology upgrades.
For now I'm settling with Window's current state with some Linux use mixed in with the intent to nearly fully migrate for my next desktop build. I'll only use Windows for whatever games refuse to budge on anti-cheat, assuming by then I'm even still interested in playing pvp games at all considering how enshittified they are with engagement based matchmaking and FOMO battlepasses.
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Man, this is genuinely painful to watch unfold... Yeah, yeah, Linux, I know, already started migrating, but let your feelings speak for a second, sib!
Think back to how much joy and sheer functionality Windows used to encompass. Even Vista, I swear! It was a poorly optimised mess bloated to hell and back with overlapping features, but it was bursting with a genuine desire to innovate. I honestly don't remember ever having as bad a time with Vista as I do with 10, even when I used to run it on an overheating MSI.
Not to mention XP and 7, which were, I dare say, the best operating systems I've ever used, almost interchangeably if we go for XP SP3 with more unofficial tweaks. I'm not trying to diminish the improvements brought on by 8 and 10, they did have some much needed upgrades for vital features and functionalities, that's undeniable. But everything good came wrapped up (or, rather, jumbled up like 10 sets of wired earbuds you just found in a pocket of the coat you pulled out of the washing machine) with sooo much intrusive crap, that it defeats the purpose...
Gotta grieve that shit...
I'd been a Windows user for around 30 years and I'd probably qualify as a fanboy. I'm sure I hit all seven stages of grief to some extent over Windows' enshittification.
But switching to Linux has given me all the good feelings about my computer. So I'm good now.
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I didn't even let my latest laptop boot to Windows when I first turned it on, the Linux USB stick went in right away. But for those who use Windows for one reason or another, always perform a clean install; manufacturers love including all sorts of crap by default.
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It's not entirely clear from the post, but allow me to provide some further context as I received this same pop-up myself.
I had purchased a legit Windows 10 Pro license with my own money for a custom built PC. Was always a trim installation because that's how I roll. Still got this out of nowhere when I booted back into my Windows partition the other day, was unclear what app or process pushed it. Some update either added a new app responsible for pushing these desktop level ads or enabled a pre-existing notification feature I had previously disabled. Just a typical Win10 toast notification a few moments after logging in. Dismissed it quickly and did not care to investigate, but that's about as bad as you can really get, IMHO. They've slowly been pushing the bounds, but here we are: ads straight to the desktop.
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