It has been a while since I switched to Linux as the daily driver over Windows.
Yes, I still have a dual boot system with Windows, coming handy for some games. But, largely, I have been a full-time Linux user for more than half a decade now. And, that says a lot.
Of course, Linux as the preferred desktop operating system was not the best choice always, because of some major annoyances.
Fortunately, that has changed since long, and if you have not tried Linux for a while, you would not know that. So, let me highlight some of those to help you decide if you should give Linux another chance.
Installation
The major pain point for most Linux distributions was the unintuitive installation.
While it was possible for you to get it working on your system, it was not easy for every user. You needed to know a couple of things in great details before you attempted an installation.
If you ever tried installing Linux around 2010, you would understand this.
Now, that is a thing of the past. The installation process is now streamlined across almost every Linux distribution. I mean, even Arch Linux has an installer now, even if it is command line based. Some Arch-based distributions like EndeavourOS and Garuda Linux can also be installed by users with a tiny bit of Linux knowledge.
And installing Ubuntu has never been so easy and the installer automatically identifies if Windows is installed, lets you manually partition it, choose encryption and filesystem.
Overall, it is a straightforward, and hassle-free experience nowadays.
Dual Booting
It is also easier to install Linux distributions alongside Windows, as they detect the presence of Windows, and will present the options with the grub bootloader screen once installed.
That’s not it. Several mainstream distributions also support secure boot with UEFI. And I have find Ubuntu installer smart enough to
Like I mentioned, I have a dual boot setup with EndeavourOS, and Windows 10.
Yes, an Arch-based distribution and the notorious Windows together. So, you can easily have Ubuntu-based distributions set up without any help.
The Look & Feel
Considering Linux was always tagged as a thing for “nerds” or “experts”, it did not show any potential for its look and feel in the first decade of its existence.
However, the tables have turned now.
Many prefer the look/feel of certain Linux distributions over the likes of Windows and macOS.
And, I am not exaggerating it. For example, just look at Zorin OS, Pop!_OS, Ubuntu, and elementary OS.
There are many more distributions that offer a pretty out-of-the-box experience.
I recently had an impressive experience with Archcraft, and I would seriously not choose a Windows/macOS look over it.
Not to forget, you can go miles ahead if you start customizing the look yourself.
You get a mad amount of customization capabilities with Linux. Of course, you will need to invest a significant time in it (like every good thing), but once you know how to do it, you can put your creativity into it as much as possible.
Virtual Machines
If you are not ready to install Linux on bare metal, you can totally try it on as a virtual machine.
Some distributions provide an optimized virtual machine image, and some don’t. However, even without a special VM image, you can easily set it up as a virtual machine and play around to experiment and test.
There are many other benefits of using Linux as a virtual machine as well.
Ankush Das
Not to forget, you can find several useful virtualization software available for Linux.
Graphics Card Support
Yes, the NVIDIA graphics card support has always been on the notorious side because they choose not to open source their driver. However, distros now support installations for NVIDIA graphics systems by pre-installing proprietary drivers by default.
While there are still some issues to be ironed out, but it works most of the time.
Want proof? I use EndeavourOS with RTX 3060 Ti as shown in the screenshot above. And, yes, that works for me.
Secure Boot Support
Earlier, we used to entirely disable secure boot because Linux distributions did not boot up with it enabled.
However, that has changed with some options like Ubuntu and openSUSE. You can enable secure boot with these distributions and continue using them as usual.
Yes, it needs a bit of research before you try doing that. So, you can follow Ubuntu’s official documentation for reference.
Using Printers
Printers have been considered the enemy of computer users for a long time.
The driver support for printers was always a special annoyance for Linux (and Windows too). Without the correct driver installed, it was always a hassle to successfully connect the printer to your computer.
But, nowadays, it is mostly plug and play. Especially, when plenty of modern printers support wireless (Wi-Fi) options and the ability to connect to it via IP address.
So, theoretically, you should not encounter any issues with it.
Of course, if you have a particularly older printer that has limited compatibility, it might still struggle to connect, but most of the new ones should not have an issue.
HiDPI Support
With advancements in technology, high-resolution displays have become common.
However, to clearly have your desktop visible with such high-res monitors, you need fractional scaling support to make up for a comfortable viewing experience.
Fortunately, now, almost every major distribution like Ubuntu or Linux Mint includes HiDPI or fractional scaling support.
Abhishek Prakash
Kernel Patching
Most of the modern desktop Linux users probably never encountered this. That includes me 😉
But as I have seen in online discussions, more than a decade back, it was not uncommon for alert Linux users to keep tracks of CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), download a kernel patch (piece of Kernel code) and manually install it.
However, with the improvement in distribution development cycles, and features like Ubuntu Livepatch, the manual intervention is almost unnecessary, specially for the desktop users.
Mainstream distributions like Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora etc. take care of providing kernel and even security updates for the software distributed through the official repositories.
Of course, some mission-critical use-cases might require the expertise, but for home and desktop users, it is a thing of the past.
Conclusion
Again, I am not saying the Linux experience on desktop has become perfect. There is no perfect operating system, after all. Check the web and forums and you’ll find people struggling with Windows and macOS, too.
Things have improved and the people who have been using Linux for the past 15-20 years or so would relate more to this article.
Of course, things do change over time and this should not surprise us. I just wanted to take (some of) you on a trip down the memory lane and remind you of things that used to be part of your Linux experience.
What do you think has been the most annoying thing for Linux in the past? And, what do you think should be fixed in the near future? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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