A Year with Linux on my Desktop
About a year ago I switched my desktop computer from Windows to Ubuntu. It was a tough decision as I had been using Windows at home and at work for around 30 years and I was very comfortable with it. You can read about the switch here.
After a year with Linux, I can say quite definitively that it’s been a great experience and I don’t miss Windows at all I especially don’t miss the automatic updates that always seemed to force a long reboot. Updates on Linux are fast and when they do require a reboot to fully complete, it doesn’t constantly nag me to do so.
I even setup another desktop computer for my wife and grand-kids to use and they haven’t complained about it not being Windows. Once you install some applications and show them what to click on, it’s a non issue. As a matter of fact, I think that in some ways Ubuntu is easier for them to use.
So far, Ubuntu has been a solid desktop environment I haven’t had any real trouble finding replacement applications for the things I need. Obviously web applications work the same on Linux as they did on Windows so there’s absolutely no difference there. Many of the same applications I used on windows are available for Linux and when I needed to find a replacement, I often found that I preferred the Linux or Open Source version to the Windows version.
Here’s a list of the main desktop applications I’m using:
- Office Suite: OnlyOffice
- Web Browsers: Brave and Firefox
- Virtual Machine management: Virtual Machine Manager
- Email Client: BlueMail
- SQL Database Management: DBeaver
- Video Conversion: Handbrake
- DVD/Blue-ray Ripping: MakeMKV
- Media File Renaming: FileBot
- Development Tools: Arduino IDE, Visual Studio Code, Git
Hardware compatibility was one of my biggest concerns but the only thing that doesn’t work with Ubuntu is an old USB label printer that I’ve had for years. Other than that, everything I’ve plugged into it has worked.
So, after a full year with Linux on my desktop I’ve got to say that it’s been a very positive experience. If you’re tired of Windows, you really should give one of the many Linux desktop distros a try. You might just find that it’s worth the switch.
