10/19/2025

Windows is kind of terrible now, isn't it? Windows wanting people to talk to their computers and have Copilot do everything for them, the ads, the bloat, and the Windows 10 end of service apocalypse combined with Windows 11 not supporting a lot of PCs despite Microsoft really, really wanting people to use 11, I have never seen so many people on my searches considering a switch to a different OS. I do use Windows 11, it's just a worse Windows 10, but recent news has made me think of the idea of moving to Linux. I do not think I'm going Mac even though I have an iPhone and an iPad. It is sort of funny, but for a lot of the same reasons why I haven't jumped onto Linux, I'm not planning on giving up Windows just yet.

The biggest reason why I am still sticking with Windows 11 for now is that I remember trying to install Linux once in the late 2000s. I wanted it to be a dual boot with Linux Mint, because I tried it out as a USB boot and I really liked it. Somehow, it ended with my PC not being able to boot into Windows anymore. I do not know what happened, but what I do know is that I do not want to destroy a computer with about 6 years of history on it. I was able to boot into the Linux Mint USB drive and rescue a few files. I really wish I could have rescued more, but I think I was limited by what USB thumb drives I had in whenever that was. If I could tell my past self anything, I would have told him to rescue those early FL Studio files, which I never backed up. They were probably terrible anyway and it's likely they would not load in modern FL Studio, but I still sometimes think about what I lost.

I decided to look through everything I do on my current Windows PC, and this is what I figured out through research, from least amoust of issues to most:

• Web browsing: This should not be a problem at all; Linux has both Chrome and Firefox. The only major problem is DRM; I might not be able to use my Linux PC to watch Xfinity Stream. I can just use my iPad for that.
• Emulation: Even as someone who doesn't like using RetroArch on PC, though will begrudgingly use it if I ever get into RetroAchievements, all of the emulators I actively use on PC have Linux versions.
• Programming: MonoGame is on Linux, even Visual Studio Code is on Linux! The potential for me being a game programmer again does make me want to keep a Windows installation for what will probably be the majority of my potential market.
• Streaming: OBS has a Linux version, and I do not have any special Windows-only plugins as far as I can tell. Logi Options+ is not on Linux, which allows me to set no low light compensation as the default. It will be a problem if I have to turn that off manually every time, and it would especially be a problem if I can't!
• Video Games in General: Steam has a Linux client, Epic and GOG are supported by Lutris.
• Rhythm Games: Project OutFox and ITGMania have Linux versions, and Beatoraja, being a Java program, is only slightly more difficult to run on Linux. I heard EZ2ON and DJMAX Respect run well on Proton on Linux with only minor issues involving the video, which are easy to fix.
• Music: foobar2000 is not on Linux. I'm sure it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to find a program that plays MP3s and FLAC files. One big problem might be VGM files, but there are plenty of options there even if they're not in the same player.
• Image Editing: Paint Dot Net is so good, and there are no other image editing programs that are as lightweight or as flexible as it. I dread the idea of learning to use the GIMP. I remember looking up how to put a border around text, something I can do with one mouse click in PDN, and...yeah, it's no PDN.
• Video Production: Vegas, the program I used to make my intro that I use for my Twitch streams, is Windows only. Shotcut, DaVinci Resolve, and HandBrake can run on Linux.
• Konaste Games: IIDX Infinitas and DDR Grand Prix are Windows only. There does seem to be some fan effort to get those games to run on Linux via Wine, but it's not perfect and it will probably never be unless Konami decides to make them playable on the Steam Deck and accidentally makes them playable on OSes like the Steam Deck. Or, y'know, put them on consoles. I am not holding my breath on that one.
• Music Production: FL Studio may have a Mac OS version, but there's no Linux version. This is a big one, as I use FL Studio to cut songs for Stepmania as well as make songs. It's possible I could use something like Ardour to replace the former, but I have a lot of songs on FL Studio I do not want to lose, I am so used to FL Studio, and I have way too many FLEX packs to give it up.
• BMS Creation: None of the BMS creation tools run on Linux. In fact, all of them are Windows only. Combined with the lack of FL Studio, this is one of the biggest reasons why I cannot give up Windows.

More than likely, I'm going to be installing Bazzite on a PC that already has Windows on it, and I may just make it a dual boot and cross my fingers whatever happened with my old Vaio doesn't happen with this one. It would be the best of both worlds; Windows 11 for music production, BMS, and maybe Konami's famous Bemani series, Bazzite for everything else. Sounds like a good plan for my next PC if my top of the line PC for 2018 finally shows its age.