Considering switching to Linux, but I have many questions.
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Gaming - I enjoy gaming and want a Distro that will let me play most games. I have read that keeping nVidia drivers up to date can be (was?) a problem. I currently use steam for 99% of my gaming, I’m aware steam is porting a lot for SteamOS, but what are the limitations of this? Will I have to wait for a port before I can play a new game? Are there stability issues?
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I’ve developed a lot of pretty basic macros for excel in Visual Basic, I’m not a programmer by any means, but I can write some algorithms to do QoL coding. Is making the switch to open office seamless? Will my .xlsx docs incur formatting issues? Will my macros translate to whatever editor is used in open office? Does open office use the same codes for cell functions? Are there statistic package add-ons like with excel? Essentially, I’m asking how much work is ahead of me if I make this switch?
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I do enjoy the old version of outlook and work with many people who use outlook calendars for scheduling. Is there a similar program that will work with the same functionality on their end? (E.g. a mail client that will allow me to accept calendar invites from others and confirm it on both ends?).
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I am familiar with Visual Studio and use it as my IDE for very basic programming (I like to tinker with automating certain tasks in games, again by no means a programmer). Is there an equivalent FOSS version that would have a low learning curve coming from Microsoft’s IDE?
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- I can recommend VSCodium. It is based on the open-sourced code of VSCode. On many distros you will find it in the default repositories.
- Gaming on Linux is nearly effortless within the Steam ecosystem. Outside if that, it requires a little more technical proficiency and a willingness or excitement for learning. Lutris, Heroic, and Bottles are all tools that can help you run non-Steam Windows software on Linux. Your mileage WILL vary depending on what you want to run. Non-games are very hit-and-miss.
- Use LibreOffice, not OpenOffice. Formulas should work natively, but macros may need to be reimplemented since LibreOffice Calc uses a different “Basic” than Excel.
- That depends on what you mean by “Outlook”. I’d wager most Linux users automatically pick Thunderbird, which is a fairly basic mail client compared to the MS Office version of Outlook. It is comparable to the lightweight built-in Windows Outlook, though. I prefer Evolution as my mail client, which is closer to Apple Mail or Windows Outlook. Try some things out and see what you like.
- VSCode and VSCodium are readily available FOSS editors. There is also Kate, which comes with many KDE-based distros. Jetbrains IDEs work very well on Linux, whether you use free community, free non-commercial, or paid versions.
Gaming - go to protondb.com and look for the games you at regularly. If something g you at isn’t supported (mostly specific online multiplayer games) then you’re out of luck. Most games work seamlessly.
Watch some YouTube videos about people showing how to install Nvidia drivers to get an idea of how complicated it is.
- I am familiar with Visual Studio and use it as my IDE for very basic programming (I like to tinker with automating certain tasks in games, again by no means a programmer). Is there an equivalent FOSS version that would have a low learning curve coming from Microsoft’s IDE?
VSCode is the heir-apparent to Visual Studio.
It is FOSS (mostly). To get the pure FOSS version, look for VSCodium, instead. Both run natively on Linux, were destined to mimic Visual Studio, but applying some usability lessons learned.
In my opinion, the feature set is equivalent, except some cases VSCode/VSCodium is dramatically better.
I used to run Visual Studio and VSCodium side by side, but I haven’t been tempted to open Visual Studio in several years.
OpenOffice has seen essentially no development since 2011, when the trademark got transferred to Oracle after they bought Sun Microsystems.
The project got forked into LibreOffice to dodge the trademark issue, but it’s the same devs, practically the same project, but now under a non-profit organization. Well, and with 14 more years of development.
So, use LibreOffice instead of OpenOffice. It will most likely come pre-installed on whichever Linux distro you go with. But you can also try it out on Windows beforehand, if you have concerns.
Just a headsup incase you try it on windows 11 before you do on linux:
LibreOffice, out of the box, is slow and buggy sometimes on windows 11 and the user interface doesn’t look as smooth as on linux. You might have to tweak some graphics settings to bearable.
LibreOffice looks and works significantly better on Linux.
Ive personally not encountered any of the issues listed above for Libreoffice on Windows, it runs just as well on my win10 system as it does my Linux system (dual boot). That said, I have yet to try it out on Win11 amd if I do, it will be virtualized vs running on bare metal.
Glad to it’s been working fine on win10!
I have encountered the same issues as above on multiple different devices running win11 and that’s why I wanted to make a heads-up.
Two separate linux installations, in the otherhand, had no issues at all running libreoffice.
Makes me wonder if its a win11 specific thing, which honestly wouldnt surprise me in the slightest.
I haven’t delved deep into the problem but yeah, also wouldn’t surprise me if it’s about win11 specifically.
Install Mint, install Windows in a VM, slowly move over.
A VM is a great way to still get the MS Office features you need by running office in a virtualized Windows machine.
Don’t trust any comment that promises that everything works fine on Linux or says it is an easy ride. These are blatant lies. There are reasons why only 2 or 3% of the world population uses Linux. I’m pretty sure I’m getting downvoted by some Linux fanboys/girls for stating this fact.
You always need do some research, do tricks, hacks, or configuration. Sometimes it works on first try, sometimes you ask yourself why you do this and want to go back to windows.
Don’t worry there are guides. And before doing something you don’t truly understand ask on social media / chats about the problem. People will help.
