cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/30792652
Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?
If you bought your computer after 2010, there’s most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.
Installing an operating system may sound difficult, but you don’t have to do it alone. With any luck, there are people in your area ready to help!
5 Reasons to upgrade your old computer to Linux:
- No New Hardware, No Licensing Costs
- Enhanced Privacy
- Good For The Planet
- Community & Professional Support
- Better User Control
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If anyone is interested to try out Linux distros, you can do it in your web browser at https://distrosea.com/
Alright, what do people like for gaming? And can I play helldivers on it?
For gaming you can just use steam. You can see which game works and the corresponding distributions/configurations on ProtonDB; Helldivers 2 get’s a GOLD status (https://www.protondb.com/app/553850).
The other nice thing about Linux is that there are several Live versions you can try out on your computer without making any changes to your Windows installation.
This also lets you see if check and see if Linux fully supports your hardware (just in case you have a weird network or audio card). If the Live version of Linux works, the installed version will, as well.
Most installers let you set up a dual boot on the same hard drive, too.
I love this. I recently set up a “Linux flight” with various distros on a bunch of thumb drives to test drive the latest. I decided to stay Kubuntu but it made experimenting so quick and easy.
I have some friends and family that cant upgrade from Windows 10, so I’m going to keep the flight and walk them through trying out some personally selected distros.
Using Steam, Heroic, and Bottles you can even run Windows software almost perfectly, too. There’s never been a better time for regular folks to make the switch.
https://remedybg.itch.io/remedybg
I’m currently using this software, what kind of replacements do I have for it on Linux, that have an actual GUI, and not just command line?
Came to Lemmy while my disk manager is processing my new partition.
If it goes well, I’m switching today.
So, probably some time early tomorrow morning. Because I’m not great with reading instructions.
Edit: it’s still processing. It feels like it shouldn’t take this long to partition…
What distro would be good for an old (coming up to ten years) Windows 10 under-TV Steam box with a GTX870? Its job is basically to boot straight into big picture mode with no login screen and be operated by a PS4 controller, but I figure I can’t just keep it on Win10 without security patches.
if your using to watch tv try kodi or osmc or another media OS i have a ras pi running osmc and i never had a issue and im sure you could get a ps4 controller to work an if its for games i dont know any maybe bazzite
Oh sorry I edited out the word Steam by mistake.
I haven’t used it myself, but I hear Bazzite provides an experience similar to SteamOS. Note that some competitive online games with kernel-level anti-cheat won’t work on Linux. Most other games should run fine, though.
How viable are modern nvidia cards (like 4070) on linux today? Mainly for gaming. I’ve heard there are some driver issues that can cause problems, any truth to this claim?
Most problems with newer cards have been fixed with version 550. Gaming related, the only thing that will cause you pain is VR or Kernel Level AC
Thanks. So just use official Nvidia drivers and I’m good to go? Thinking of moving to fedora if it maters.
I started with Bazzite and moved from there to Garuda. Both have an Nvidia version that just takes care of that for you. I’ve never had to worry about drivers.
As someone getting back to pcs and trying linux, it warms my heart because I am scared of VR and shite at online games. This is the place for me.
Linux has gotten incredibly better for gaming. Now Bluetooth controllers connect just as easy as Windows, and Steam has Proton built in so that when you run a Windows only game, Steam will automatically install the appropriate Proton and Wine software – just make sure to turn on compatibility mode in the Steam launcher settings. Every game I ran so far runs fine on Linux.
It couldn’t be a better time to switch to Linux.
im not a big fan of linux, mainly cause of multiplayer game and photoshop compatibility, but i would honestly would help out some old folks with a linuxmint install or a free ltsc for few bucks. any way to get on this list?
I’m stuck with Windows for the same reasons. I do use Linux on my laptop though and would not be opposed to switching my office machine to it as well if I can get the company I work for to make a few key software changes. I’ve had older generations of my family running Linux Mint for nearly a decade. They don’t know the difference because it’s all they’ve ever used. I have less phone calls about problem from these people than any Windows users I’ve had to deal with.
Had the same idea last month. Feels great to get away from MS and to learn about Linux, re-igniting my interest in computers after years or just double clicking everything with no understanding of what processes are going on behind the scenes.
I already shifted to Linux Zorin OS. It’s the best option for ex-Windows users like me. Sleek and modern with low learning curve.
Can I bother anyone in this thread to help with suggestions for a Linux distro that works for a gaming PC that won’t require me to have a computer science degree? I’m not afraid of some troubleshooting here and there, but I’m
kind ofdumb.Edit: I should have known there’d be a shotgun load of different distros, good thing I’ve been gifted with e-“waste” for years, I’ve got some tinkering to do. Hyper-fixation, here I come.
My journey was: Kubuntu -> Tuxedo OS -> Garuda Linux.
Kubuntu was painful, lots of issues. Maybe just got unlucky, but cannot recommend it.
Tuxedo OS was phenomenal until I bought a GPU. Then stuff broke left and right. I wasn’t able to get Steam to launch anymore so I switched.
Garuda Linux is the one I still use. I had it for 53 days and had no severe issues to date. There’s still a bunch of stuff that needs ironing out, but that’s the case with all Linux distros, it’s never “fire and forget” like Windows, in my experience.
I chose Garuda because it’s advertised as “the Linux for gamers”. It’s packed with extra goodies that make life easier - you can pick and choose popular apps to be installed right away (things like Lutris, Steam, Heroic Launcher, Proton, Vivaldi browser), and you get an application that helps with maintenance.
The only major issue I had was due to my ignorance (but I kind of blame it on the OS because it was supposed to be “noob friendly” and this bit was very much not so) - just after installation and updates you’ll get the system maintenance app ask you to “merge pacdiff files”. This shows up a comparison window of two files, and if you’ve never used Linux you have no clue what’s going on. When you get that, just don’t overwrite the one on the right with the one on the left - you’ll break the entirety of your package manager. :D
Other than that: I’m having a great time. The OS looks pretty, games run great. 9/10
Bazzite is generally the go-to for gaming.
Thank you!
Bazzite is phenomenal. Just know that it works a little differently than what I’d call “legacy” distros. So when googling things, just know that a lot of instructions for Linux won’t work for you.
If you run into trouble, hop on the discord and someone will help you.
Might be helpful to append “fedora” to any searches, as that’s the distro that serves as the base for Bazzite
I installed mint on a new laptop recently and it was completely painless. To be fair I’ve used Linux before but it’s been over a decade and I didn’t have any major hiccups. I installed steam and was playing games within 15 minutes of finishing the install. The UI is very familiar and comfortable for windows users and the entire ux seems to be designed around not making you use the terminal unless you have to. I highly recommend trying it out.
I’d say anything mainstream and not esoteric should do the trick. I’m talking Ubuntu, PopOS and so on.
My partner is currently running PopOS. They somehow managed to combine the chronically outdated Ubuntu packages with a rather counterintuitive UI.
Updates frequently fail, commonly used packages like gamescope aren’t available, overall wouldn’t recommend.oh… never actually tried it myself. welp too bad, it seemed like a fair distro to check out. nvm…
Maybe Q4OS, but if you a Gamer, which want to play the most recent games (logically in a Gaming PC), Linux sadly isn’t the best option, the most modern games are Windows only, the advantages of Linux are others. In this case the best option is to use Linux in dual boot with Windows. I hope that it change in the future.
For those which need to use Windows, here three mandatorio FOSS apps (the best IMHO)
- hellzerg Optimizer to eliminate bloat- and spyware
- WindHawk for those which don’t like this terrible childish Fisher Price UI of Windows 11
- Portmaster to monitor and if needed blocking unwanted traffic and telemetries (optional paid SPN service)
With these you can use Windows 11, showing the middlefinger to M$
I’ve been dry-running a Linux only world for a few months now, dual booting and running everything on the Linux partition, only using windows when necessary. So far basically all my games run well under proton and the few non-free programs I care about work well enough under wine. I think tomorrow is the day I blow away the windows partition.
Same here. Games and general office tasks work flawlessly on Linux. I currently only launch into windows for the Adobe suite and some other image editing apps (by Topaz Labs) that I already have licenses for but that won’t run on Linux.
So far the alternatives I’ve found aren’t nearly as powerful. However I’m determined to uninstall windows by the time my licenses run out 9 or so months from now.
So far I think I can live without Topaz, Photoshop and some other image stuff long term, but to be honest if that turns out to be wrong, I’m inclined to buy a cheap Mac Mini specifically for photo stuff rather than keep Windows around anymore.
Hm. That’s worth considering, yeah. But I want to get away from Adobe. I dislike just about every single change they made to any of their programs in the last 5 years… And any change their made to their business model in the last 15 years or so.
I’ve been on Linux for 10 months or so, but I still have Windows installed on a separate disk. I guess if I needed the space I’d worry about deleting it, but I’m good for now. I have booted into Windows only a handful of times over those 10 months, and the stretches get longer and longer.
My PC had been running like shit for a while and I was already weighing up options for replacing it, when I got the popup message from MS about Windows 10 expiring, and how my only option was to dump the PC. So I installed Linux out of pure spite. Runs like a dream now. Thanks Microsoft!
