I Ditched Microsoft Windows For Good
Migrating from Windows 11 to Linux
We have already greatly reduced the amount of work that the whole society must do for its actual productivity, but only a little of this has translated itself into leisure for workers because much nonproductive activity is required to accompany productive activity. The main causes of this are bureaucracy and isometric struggles against competition. -The GNU Manifesto
As someone whose first version of Windows was 3.1, and has distinct memories of “the time before”, it’s funny how far Windows has come, and how far it’s fallen over the years. There have been definite high points. By the end of its life, Windows 10 was peak, S-tier Windows, in my experience. I put off installing Windows 11 for a long time because I knew I would hate it based on what I read about it. And it’s true: Windows 11 is proof that Microsoft seems determined to piss off their users through implementing terrible user experiences and making mind-boggling design decisions.
Consider, for example, this minor but annoying Windows 11 irritation: the inability to relocate the taskbar from the bottom of the screen. I have a dual-screen laptop, with a main screen where you’d expect it and a secondary screen below it, on the same plane as the keyboard. Because of my screen configuration, it makes way more sense for me to have the taskbar on the top of the screen, otherwise it bisects my two displays. And yet, some designer at Microsoft decided that the ability to move the taskbar was unimportant. After all, who would ever need anything but the default? (See: Do Users Prefer Fewer Preferences)
The Resource Hog
That Windows in general is resource intensive and bloated is memeable at this point. And Windows 11 earns that reputation. The minimum required amount of RAM to run Windows 11 jumped to 4 GB compared to the 2 GB required for Windows 10. Likewise, 64 GB of storage is taken up by Windows 11, compared to Windows 10’s paltry 20 GB. In practice, I suspect it’s far more than 64 GB as well, as my old laptop with barely any software installed or files downloaded used over a third of the 1 TB hard drive just running Windows and doing little else. Beyond that, my laptop, which is admittedly a few years old at this point, although still a very capable machine, struggled mightily just to boot into Windows 11, the boot process with the feeling and the sound of a wounded 747 coming in for a crash landing.
Why not Linux?
I’m not really a newbie to Linux. In fact, I’ve grown quite comfortable working with a Linux command line due to my work on Ubuntu web servers. A previous old Macbook Pro I had a decade ago found second life as an Ubuntu laptop for a number of years before it finally died its second death. And in fact, there was a part of me that resisted moving to Linux in the first place, as it feels in a way like acknowledging my aging hardware — the new life my devices experience moving to a more efficient operating system just draws attention to these creaky old bones that needed second wind to begin with. Those misgivings aside, I dove in by wiping my hard drive to commit.
Picking A Distro
I had the benefit of recently moving my files to a self-hosted cloud on Seafile. This gave me flexibility because I could just wipe the hard drive and try out a new Linux distro on a whim. I was drawn at first to Arch Linux, but decided I didn’t want the commitment involved in maintaining and updating it. So instead I tried out Mint on Cinnamon at first.
I probably should have used something like Distrochooser to inform my selection process. Truth was, I tried out Mint because I had heard good things about it and it wasn’t Ubuntu. Ubuntu is great, but I’ve used it before and I was ready to try something different. My stint with Mint was short-lived, however, as I eventually learned what I was looking for in a distro through subsequent experimentation landing on Fedora as my distribution of choice.
If you’re curious, you can read my thoughts about Linux Mint and what eventually drove me to choose Fedora.
Is Linux Finally for Everybody?
Desktop Linux has come a long way in recent years. More and more applications work on Linux. Yesterday’s technical barriers of entry have been eliminated by sleek, modern, user-friendly distros. The results of Steam’s December 2025 Hardware and Software Survey showed 3.58% of Steam gamers are gaming on Linux, beating out the previous month’s already record high of 3.20%. While these numbers are likely skewed by the popularity of the Steam Deck, which runs on a Debian and Arch-based distro of Linux, they’re still impressive in terms of gamer adoption, gamers being a historically difficult-to-please crowd.
Do signs like these point to imminent widescale adoption? Is It finally time for Linux to go mainstream? I think we’re likely nearing that tipping point, but ultimately the choice of operating system is an individual one, and one’s individual needs will need to dictate what operating system works for you.
Windows Never Again
For me, now that I’m on the other side I couldn’t be happier. I can’t see myself returning to Windows any time soon for any reason. In the interests of full transparency, the transition hasn’t been flawless, or without its bumps.
Through my unscientific testing and personal experiences I would summarize my key findings like so:
- All the distributions of Linux I tried were more performant than Windows 11, while consuming less system resources.
- Package managers and the process of installing software varies slightly according to the distribution, however I was able to eventually install most of the software I used in Windows 11 on a regular basis on Fedora. There were some gnawing exceptions to this.
- As far as Linux distributions go, for a Windows feel and navigation, consider trying Linux Mint on Cinnamon. For more of a Mac-inspired user experience, consider Gnome.
The greatest lesson from all of this: don’t be afraid of change. It’s doesn’t take that long to wipe your hard drive and install a new operating system.