2 months ago, I decided to try Linux, and it's one of the best decisions I've made in a while!
My install of Winows 10 was slowly decaying. It would consistently take 2-4 hours to boot up, so I had to pretty much keep it on 24/7. I remember constantly having to open task manager and end annoying and pointless tasks that I couldn't disable that were eating up my PC's meager resources. Windows 10 support was ending, and I didn't want to downgrade to Windows 11. I was sick and tired of Microsoft.
I decided to try Linux Mint because people were saying that it's the most familiar-feeling distro for Windows users. I'm using Mint with the Cinnamon desktop, and it just feels like Windows but better. I very rarely have to use the terminal, and it's usually only for super niche things. Pretty much every function you'd need has a GUI, and most things just work the way you'd expect them to.
One of my favorite things about switching to Linux is the performance boost. My 8 year old laptop is running better than it did when it was new. Another thing I like is that I don't feel like my OS is constantly wearing down my computer and spying on me like I did with Windows.
One difficult aspect is that not all Windows software will run on Linux. However, the fact that Linux has tools to run software not intended for it is amazing to me. I was able to get programs like Sony Vegas and FL Studio to run perfectly fine with a compatibility layer called Wine.
And for stuff that doesn't run on Linux, there are a ton of free open source alternatives that run natively. For art programs, there's libresprite, gimp, and kolourpaint. For office software, there's libreoffice, which comes preinstalled on Linux Mint and is so good that I'd also recommend it to Windows users.
It's also surprisingly easy to run games on Linux. Because Valve's hardware is Linux-based, most Steam games run just fine. You can also use the Proton compatibility layer to run non-Steam games too.
I'd say the most difficult part about trying Linux is the installation process. It's really important to create the installation medium correctly and be really careful when formatting the drive you're going to install the OS on. You also have to make sure that you make an EFI partition when installing it on a fresh drive if it's the only drive in your computer.
I think Linux is really good for anyone who's at least slightly more knowledgeable about computers than the average person and cares about things like privacy and a sense of ownership of your computer. The most important things about the process is patience and a willingness to look things up and learn.
The biggest pros for me are the peace of mind that comes from using free open source software and the fact that it's probably at least doubled my computer's lifespan.
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