With Windows 10 reaching end of life a few weeks ago, and the endless horrors I constantly hear about Windows 11, I decided now was the time to finally take the plunge. I wiped my main PC clean and installed Linux Mint in its place (and convinced my partner Kisa to install Bazzite on her old gaming laptop).

Having owned a Steam Deck for several years now, as well as Mint being the OS of choice for a computer resale shop I like to visit, I've already had time to acclimate to Linux and its quirks. And I have to say that I really like how much more customizable it is, to a degree that I never could with Windows. (Plus the complete lack of bloat, spyware, and AI garbage is a HUGE selling point in 2025!)
I also cannot overstate how fantastic Steam's Proton service is for making nearly all their games Linux compatible, save for a few AAA games that refuse to run due to anti-cheat crap.

I can't say there hasn't been a few hiccups along the way -- getting all my old creature comforts back such as screensavers, mouse macros, RGB lighting, and a few old .exe programs that don't play nice with Wine or Proton. But it's been a good way to learn how to tinker under the hood following many guides online and I feel up to the challenge. And of course, finding a good replacement for Photoshop is going to be a daunting task.

At some point I would love to get my hands on a spare computer just to have something to muck around in other Linux distros with. There's so much for me to learn still!

At the risk of sounding like a vegan, I am quite happy I made the switch and I highly encourage more people to do the same.