Finally Switching to Linux

After unwanted updates, slow performance, high RAM usage, and many bugs with audio and display (for example on my laptop, it would crash shortly after waking from sleep because of a known Windows bug), I decided I had put up with Windows for long enough. Since I got my first laptop back in 2023, I've always used Windows. At that time, I didn't know nearly as much as I do now, not even knowing about Linux, so I just went with Windows (which was preinstalled). In the last few years, I learned about Linux and heard much about it. I was hesitant to switch, however, because pretty much everything just worked on Windows and I knew not everything supported Linux. I tried Mint on a spare laptop and it worked pretty well, but I wasn't ready to install it on my main PC (which I built at the beginning of 2025).

That changed on a random Monday in September of 2026. I got out a USB drive, downloaded an ISO, and installed Linux on my PC. Linux seemed to be getting better and better by the week and so I was like "why not." For the distro, I chose Kubuntu. Kubuntu is Ubuntu but with KDE Plasma instead of GNOME, which I liked for customization and ease of use. I liked the Ubuntu base because of the support, documentation, and reliability.

I enjoyed using Linux quite a bit over the next few weeks. I customized the window appearance and taskbar, installed my apps, and set up anything else I needed. It took a few days to get used to installing apps, having .deb and AppImages, but it all worked out well. Now I didn't have to deal with waiting for updates when all I wanted to do was restart, or fight with Windows over display and audio settings. In addition, Linux used less RAM than Windows. Even though I have 32 GB of RAM, I always have a lot, and I mean a lot of browser tabs open, so I needed as much available as possible.

The only thing I've found so far that I don't like about Linux is the application and game support. Most of the games I play are completely fine, but several apps I use (e.g., Notion, Figma, CapCut, and a few more) don't have Linux apps. PWAs did help with this though, as Notion and Figma have quality web apps.

Overall, I think Linux is definitely better than Windows (as long as there isn't an app you desperately need). I hope in the near future more apps and games will support Linux, and I can be completely free of Windows (I still have it installed on my main laptop, which has even more Windows-related issues).