Switching to Linux

By OPGman
Published on June 12, 2024
Last updated on July 6, 2025

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Why Linux?
    1. Privacy
    2. Security
    3. Freedom
  3. Linux Overview
    1. What's a distro?
    2. Installing Linux
    3. Desktop Environments
    4. Installing Software
      1. Native Programs
      2. Windows Programs
    5. File System
    6. Security
    7. Graphics
    8. Misc Notes
  4. Choosing a Distro
  5. Software Compatibility
    1. Program List
    2. Getting Around Compatibility Issues
  6. Conclusion

Introduction

As a long time Windows user, the idea of switching to Linux used to be nothing but a joke to me. Over the past couple years however, I've gotten fed up with many of the things Microsoft is doing with Windows, and I started looking into Linux as a daily driver. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was a suitable alternative, and eventually all of my PCs were switched over to it. This guide will cover why I think Linux is generally a better alternative to Windows, how to get started using it, and many of the differences between Linux and Windows that you should know.

Before we start, please take note of a couple things:

Why Linux?

You might be wondering why you should switch to Linux, if Windows or macOS is currently working fine for you. The short answer is concerns regarding privacy, security, and freedom, but I'll explain in detail what I mean by that. If I somehow already convinced you to switch, you can skip to the Linux Overview section.

Privacy


You may not realize it, but the concept of privacy in the digital world is slowly degrading, and has been since the early 2000s. Governments, companies, and other groups are interested in collecting a wide variety of information about you, for several different reasons. This guide will only cover certain companies collecting your data, however, as it is the most relevant in the context of Linux.

Microsoft is well known for including things in Windows that put your privacy at risk. Windows 10 and 11 are full of trackers and telemetry that send data that uniquely identifies you back to Microsoft, and OneDrive is known to upload your documents to the cloud without your consent. Even if you turn these things off or delete them, there's a chance they will reactivate or reinstall after a Windows update. On top of that, Windows 11 now includes a feature called Recall that takes pictures of everything you see on your screen, every 5 seconds, and has an AI analyze them so the information in them can be "recalled" later. Originally, this feature was enabled by default and the screenshots were stored in an unencrypted database on your PC. While these issues have since been fixed, the privacy concerns of having an AI monitor everything you do still remain, especially since Microsoft can make it enabled by default again, or change their privacy policy to retrieve the data collected by the AI at any time.

Apple isn't much better. They've recorded people's conversations with Siri, failed to remove iCloud files that users deleted, and allegedly tracked app activity even when the setting was turned off. While most of Apple's privacy controversies involved the mobile space rather than macOS, this history shows that, just like Microsoft, they cannot be trusted with ensuring the privacy of their users.

Most software made by Microsoft and Apple is closed-source, meaning nobody outside of the company knows exactly what code is running on your computer. There are ways to find out without having the source code, but they're extremely technical and typically require extensive research by cybersecurity professionals. Most Linux distros on the other hand do not have any sort of data collection, and even the few that do have it turned off by default. Your privacy is much safer because most software for Linux (including Linux itself) is open source, so not only is it nearly impossible to hide malicious code that steals your data, there's also very little incentive for these projects to be collecting your data to begin with, because most of them are not in it for the money.

Some people think that online privacy doesn't matter if they have nothing to hide. I couldn't disagree more. This section is already long enough so I'm not going to rant about that, but if you're willing to have your mind changed, this article tells you everything you need to know. This website in general is a fantastic resource for everything related to online privacy.

Security


You can't have privacy without security, and while nothing is ever 100% secure, Linux-based systems are by far the most secure out of all the mainstream operating systems for several reasons:

  1. Security through obscurity. Simply put, Linux is significantly less popular in the desktop space than both Windows and macOS, so malware creators have less incentive to target it. This could certainly change as Linux grows in popularity among desktop users, but there are other factors that still limit the effectiveness of malware on Linux.
  2. Linux uses file and group permissions to determine who is allowed to access and modify what. System files are protected with these permissions, and cannot be modified by any program unless it is running with root permissions, which requires the user to input a password.
  3. Windows admin permissions can be used by anyone without a password, provided they're on an admin account. Not only are people accustomed to clicking “yes” for the user account control prompt without reading it, but there are several exploits that allow an attacker to completely bypass the UAC prompt without the user ever knowing.
  4. Unlike Windows, Linux does not allow any random program to run code at the kernel level, also called ring 0. This is extremely important, as ring 0 gives programs full access to your entire system. This is why most video game anti-cheats will not run on Linux. Many of them run at the kernel level on Windows so they can monitor for cheating by reading the memory of other programs. The only way to run programs at the kernel level on Linux is to compile them from source and install them into the kernel, which doesn't work for proprietary software like malware and anti-cheats.
  5. Many Linux programs (and the Linux kernel itself) are open source, and created by many different people. If you have a bad actor injecting malware into a program or distro, not only are they likely to affect only a very small portion of all Linux users, but those affected users also have the choice of removing that program, installing an older version, or simply not updating to the affected version. Windows and macOS are developed exclusively by corporations and are not open source, so if they want to do something malicious or unwanted, it's eventually going to affect everyone due to forced updates, and you likely won't be able to do much about it.
  6. Apps from certain package managers such as Flatpak and Snap run in a sandbox, which basically forces the app to run in its own bubble where it has limited access to system files and cannot easily interact with other apps. Many companies choose to distribute their closed-source apps through these package managers because it helps assure the user that the app is safe. While you can technically achieve the same result on Windows, it's nowhere near as straightforward as this. This isn't to say that Flatpaks and Snaps are 100% secure, but the groups that manage these systems are constantly improving security and ensuring that any threats are quickly taken care of.
  7. Most Windows 10 users will stop receiving security updates on October 14, 2025. After that, you run the risk of using a compromised system if a security flaw is discovered and exploited, because it will not be fixed. You could upgrade to Windows 11 if it supports your hardware, or get a year of extended security updates for Windows 10, but neither of these options are ideal from a privacy standpoint.

Freedom


While freedom in terms of what you can do with your software isn't nearly as important as privacy and security, it's still worth mentioning because it's a big part of Linux's identity. Unlike Windows and macOS, Linux gives you absolute control over the entire system (provided you have admin privileges). You're free to install, modify, and remove absolutely anything, including parts that really shouldn't be touched because doing so could break the entire system. With Windows and macOS, you're stuck with whatever functionality Microsoft and Apple want you to have. There are many parts of both operating systems that simply cannot be removed, disabled, or modified no matter how hard you try.

Linux Overview

This section will cover the basics of Linux as well as some of its quirks that you should be aware of to avoid confusion later on.

What's a distro?


Distro is short for distribution. It's typically considered to be an operating system that runs on the Linux kernel, comes with various free open-source software (FOSS) pre-installed, is designed for desktop use, and is available to be used and distributed freely by the public. The problem is that there are many definitions and some operating systems might fit this definition but are still not considered distros, and vice versa.

You might hear someone refer to a distro as GNU/Linux. This is in reference to the GNU operating system. A lot of distros adhere to the philosophy of GNU, which is basically to build an operating system using only FOSS, but some distros include proprietary software, so they are not GNU/Linux systems by definition.

The semantics of it is confusing and pretty much pointless to try to understand. The key takeaway is that most desktop operating systems that run on Linux are considered distros.

Installing Linux


Installing a beginner-friendly distro is pretty straightforward, just follow the instructions it gives you as you go. What isn't always straightforward, however, is actually getting Linux to boot. Many distros just give you the ISO file and don't elaborate as to what you're supposed to do with it, so that's what this section will be about.

There's three things you're going to need to get Linux to boot: A USB drive large enough for your distro, a working Windows, Linux, or macOS PC, and balenaEtcher installed on that PC. (Just be aware that balenaEtcher has some minor privacy issues despite being open source. If you're familiar with alternatives such as Raspberry Pi Imager or Rufus, I would use one of those instead, but for beginners balenaEtcher is the easiest to download and use on all platforms.) Once you have all of that, follow these steps:

  1. Plug in the USB and open balenaEtcher.
  2. Select the ISO file you downloaded from the website of the distro you want to use.
  3. Select the USB drive you want to install it to.
  4. Hit the flash button. It might take a while depending on the size of the ISO and the speed of the drive.
  5. Once balenaEtcher says it's finished, plug the USB into the PC you want to install Linux on, and reboot the PC into the BIOS. If you're not sure how to get into the BIOS, spamming the F12 or delete key as the PC is rebooting usually works. Otherwise, you'll have to check the manual for your motherboard or laptop.
  6. From here, the steps will be vague because every motherboard is different. Look around the BIOS for an option for USB booting. If you find it, make sure it's enabled. If you don't find it, don't worry about it.
  7. Go to the boot section and change the first boot option to the USB drive you just plugged in. Save your changes and reboot.
  8. If you did everything correctly, your PC should have booted the USB. You might see the bootloader selection screen, or it might have booted straight into the live image. If you're at the bootloader selection screen, just press enter to select the default option. From there, you can install the distro by following the steps it gives you.

Desktop Environments


Desktop environments are basically the front end meat of the operating system. They include things like the taskbar, start menu, wallpaper, desktop icons, and the alt+tab menu. Unlike Windows, there are several desktop environments available for Linux, and they all have distinct features. Some of the most popular include KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, Xfce, LXQt, and MATE. Most distros come with a desktop environment pre-installed, and many let you choose between different ones before or during installation.

Installing Software


Native Programs

When you install a program on Windows, you typically have to download individual exe or msi files, unless you're using the Microsoft Store. Linux is similar in some ways, and vastly different in other ways. It really depends on the distro you're running and the software you want to download. For example, Debian and Ubuntu-based distros can typically install programs from .deb files, while other distros can't. Some distros also come with a GUI software manager similar to the Microsoft Store that lets you download a wide range of software without having to touch the terminal. If you are using a beginner-friendly distro, you will almost never have to manually install something through the terminal.

Whether the software manager has a GUI frontend or not, one thing that pretty much all of them have in common is that they can install and update both system files and regular programs, even automatically in some cases. It is not uncommon to update Firefox and the Linux kernel at the same time, for example. While on the topic of system files, a common misconception is that Linux never requires a restart after updating system files. This likely stemmed from the enterprise world where Linux servers are meant to have very little downtime, but home users should always be shutting down their PCs at the end of the day, and restarting after a system update.

Where do these updates come from though? Who maintains them? When a program is downloaded through the software manager, it comes from a file server called a repository, or repo for short. These repos are typically hosted by the maintainer of the distro. Many distros offer multiple repos that hold different types of software, such as new releases that are being tested for stability. To ensure that everyone has a fast and stable connection to the repo, they are typically hosted by a bunch of different servers around the world, called mirrors. Different organizations not directly affiliated with the distro maintainer might also host mirrors. Most beginner-friendly distros will automatically choose the mirror with the lowest ping to ensure that you have a fast and stable connection.

There are a lot of options for installing and updating software on Linux, and talking about everything would make this section extremely long. It's best to read up on the documentation provided by whatever distro you end up choosing to figure out how to use the software manager. Even distros with very little documentation should mention it since it's a core feature.

Windows Programs

One of the main reasons people stay away from Linux is that the programs they use or the games they play on Windows don't run on Linux, or so they think. Over the past few years, there have been significant improvements toward this. Many Windows apps are capable of running on Linux through pieces of complex software called compatibility layers. These layers basically translate code written for Windows into code that Linux can understand, in real time, with little to no performance loss (and sometimes even an increase). There are three main programs you can use to run Windows programs on Linux:

There are also programs that provide a GUI frontend and additional backend support for these layers to ensure maximum compatibility. The two big ones are Lutris and Bottles. They both have their pros and cons but I personally use Lutris for all of my Windows programs that aren't on Steam. Bottles is nice when it works but I've personally found it to be kind of finicky.

File System


There are several things you should note about how files work in Linux, as some things are vastly different from Windows:

Security


I already discussed a lot of the security features Linux has in the previous section, so this subsection will only be discussing a few things that weren't covered there.

Graphics


Misc Notes


Choosing a Distro

If you're brand new to Linux and want to jump in right away without having to worry about picking a distro, skip this section and just go with Mint. It's a good general-purpose OS with a clean and minimalist desktop environment that'll feel familiar if you're coming from Windows. You can always live boot or dual boot before fully committing to a distro, so if you don't like it you can just try another one.

If you're interested in seeing what's out there and what the differences are between popular distros, you can continue reading through this section. Just note that I won't be covering niche or obscure distros here. Anything that isn't already popular isn't worth using for most people, since you're much more likely to run into problems regarding usability, stability, software availability, and documentation.

Also note that all of the distros here are ordered by a beginner friendliness ranking that I personally chose. A 10/10 doesn't mean it's the best overall, it just means beginners will likely have a very easy time adjusting to it.

Software Compatibility

The following list contains popular Windows programs and how they run on Linux (if at all). Good alternatives that are confirmed to work on Linux are also listed where applicable. Steam games are not listed here. For those, you should visit ProtonDB.

Program List


Getting Around Compatibility Issues


If you'd really like to switch to Linux but can't due to an app that isn't compatible, theres a few things you can try:

Conclusion

If you're wondering whether or not you should switch to Linux, my answer is YES! Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates after October 2025, and Windows 11 is getting worse with every update. Meanwhile, all aspects of Linux are constantly improving, and there's a ton of different options to choose from. I only made the switch in early 2024 after being a life-long Windows user because it was evident to me that Microsoft wasn't interested in actually making Windows better; they just want to appease their shareholders by chasing trends and adding features that the average user couldn't care less about, and sacrificing people's privacy and security while doing so. They've already overstepped their boundaries with Recall, so who knows what they're going to be trying throughout Windows 11's lifespan.

Despite being a Windows user for so long (and even liking Windows 11 at launch), I haven't looked back at all since I switched. Seeing what Linux and the rest of the open source community has to offer really changed my perspective. Take the tabbed file explorer in Windows 11 for example. I was hyped for this feature, not realizing that various file browsers for Linux have had it for years. Unlike Windows, you don't have to wait several years for useful features like that to be added because of company politics or bureaucracy. The only limitations when it comes to Linux are your free time and technical skills, which brings me to my final point.

Some people argue that Linux isn't good for people who aren't familiar with computers due to its complex nature. While there is some truth to this, Linux doesn't have to be complex to the average user. Choosing the right distro and configuring it properly can make them feel right at home. Mint, for example, has an option for auto updates, which is critical for people who don't know much about computers because it would otherwise never get updated. No matter what your technical background is, I think Linux is at least worth trying. Theres many ways to do it, it doesn't take much to get started, and most importantly, it's free!