Switcher 2026: The Agony and Hoped-For Ecstasy of Linux ⭐️

Linux is compelling because it’s free and might work on a PC you already own. But there are challenges. So many challenges.

This starts with the sheer number of versions of this OS, called distributions. The most commonly recommended distributions are mainstream options like Linux Mint and Ubuntu Linux that Windows users will find to be mostly familiar. And while those are solid choices, I have tended to use and recommend a different set of distributions: Zorin OS, which is perhaps the best option for those who want something like Windows, or the more minimalist and Mac-like Elementary OS.

But now, in preparation for a coming monthly focus on switching from Windows, I’ve branched out even further. I’ve tested some familiar stalwarts I’ve not looked at in a while, like Debian, the secure and stable base of so many other distributions. I’ve looked at some new and unfamiliar choices, like the minimalist Zenclora, the Windows 11-inspired AnduinOS that’s made by a Microsoft engineer, and others. And I’ve examined whether the Linux that’s built into Chrome OS and Chrome OS Flex is good enough to put that web-based set of platforms over the top.

This work is ongoing, and it feels like I stumble upon a potentially interesting new Linux distribution almost every time I look, so we’ll see where this leads. But the challenges of even experimenting with Linux, let alone using it and then potentially switching, are so vast that this platform can feel overly daunting, even for those who think of themselves as technically inclined. This is true for all kinds of reasons, but it starts with hardware compatibility and then often ends with disappointment when you finally find some combination of a Linux distribution and a PC that works fine, but the apps or services you rely on aren’t available. Again, there are so many challenges here.

You can undercut those challenges–or at least delay them–in various ways. The most obvious is using virtualization software like Microsoft Hyper-V or Oracle VirtualBox to do initial tests of whatever distribution(s). But the fun starts once you’re ready to move on to real hardware. Here, you will run into any number of problems, and these problems introduce themselves at every step of the process.

For example, if you’re coming from Windows, you will use Windows to download the ISO for whatever distribution and a third-party utility like Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive installer. And then you will reboot the PC and, hopefully, boot it with that installer. It doesn’t always work. And there are many reasons why this could be so.

As silly as this sounds, it could be as simple as the installer not being made correctly. Depending on the utility you used to create it, you may need to try again, perhaps with different options. Or try a different utility like balenaEtcher or Ventoy. Or something.

It could be the USB port too. I prefer USB sticks with a Type-C port on one end and a Type-A port on the other, and in numerous instances, the port I use on the PC is what makes the difference. The installer disk won’t boot off a USB-C port, but it will off a USB-A port. For some reason.

Secure Boot is another blocker, and it remains a problem for many–but not all–Linux distributions. If you’ve tried everything and the installer still won’t boot, it may be Secure Boot. In which case you have to go into the system firmware (which many still call the BIOS for some reason) and disable this feature. Which will cause all kinds of problems with the Windows installation that’s already on that PC, including but not limited to it booting into the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE), where it will demand that you type in a lengthy BitLocker recovery code before letting you back into Windows. Fun!

If you’re lucky–and it’s the right phase of the moon–and you do get your PC to boot a Linux installation disk you created, you can then (usually) test that distribution without installing it: Most Linux installers include a “live” version of the OS you can just run right off the USB stick. That’s good, but you need to really test hardware compatibility, and make sure key components like the graphics chipset and whatever ports and sensors are working properly. Even if it all checks out, know that facial recognition like we get in Windows will never work in Linux, and fingerprint recognition is as uncommon as Sasquatch.

Worse, the underlying platform matters deeply. Snapdragon X/Arm is a complete non-starter right now, though there are promises of better results in the future. And modernish Intel-based PCs work well far more often than those based on AMD, which stinks since the latter are otherwise superior. Regardless, your mileage will vary, and while I’m lucky to have multiple PCs I can use for testing purposes, most do not. When I find that a certain installer/distribution/PC combination doesn’t work well, I can at least move on to the next PC and see if that makes a difference.

If all goes well and a live install of Linux seems to be working, you can try installing it on the PC. Here, you can typically dual-boot with Windows or just wipe out the entire disk and go for it. I usually do the latter, as the PCs I’m using aren’t essential to me from a Windows perspective, but dual-boot is the better option for most. And that, too, will either be impossible or difficult, and there’s always the possibility that some future Windows update will wipe out the boot menu that lets you choose the OS at boot time. Because Microsoft.

Or, maybe the stars align and everything–or, enough of everything–works fine. This is when you can start installing apps and signing into online services and seeing what else can go wrong. The possibilities for that are sadly endless. Web browsers are well represented on Linux, as are many developer tools. But once you get past that, your mileage won’t just vary; it will be low.

Microsoft Office, all the Adobe apps, and virtually every cloud storage service from OneDrive to Google Drive is either completely incompatible or, at best, lackluster on Linux, especially in native app form. So you have a choice to make, or probably many choices. You can look for alternatives, which are often difficult to use and learn, like The GIMP, and painfully unfamiliar. Or you can just use web apps when possible. Which begs the question: Why not just use Chrome OS Flex on that PC instead?

(That was mostly rhetorical, but here’s one reason: Chrome OS Flex does not support dual-booting natively.)

I’ve had some odd trouble lately installing apps that I know work, or should work, on Linux, but don’t. The most painful of these is the app I write in, Typora, which does technically support Linux. I don’t know why, but I’ve not successfully installed this app on any version of Linux I’ve used over the past month or so except for one. Something is broken.

One of the big promises of Linux is using it to play videogames. Thanks to Valve’s work creating SteamOS and its hardware game PCs, Linux is now the second-best platform for gamers after Windows. It’s a distant number two, to be sure, but it’s also leagues ahead of the Mac, somehow. This is vaguely confusing, given how good the Mac is otherwise. But the issues that dog Linux continue with gaming, at least in my experience. And because of the unique performance and graphical fidelity needs in gaming, that makes the compatibility issues all the more difficult. You may or may not have multiple PCs that you could use to run Linux, but you almost certainly don’t have multiple gaming-class PCs from which to choose. If this doesn’t work, you’re done.

Even if you can find alternatives to the apps or services you need or figure out how to make gaming work, you will deal with a plethora of app package formats, file systems, app stores and repositories, the command line–and do not you dare believe anyone who tells you that Linux is so easy now you’ll never need the command line; that’s a lie–and all kinds of technical issues that most of us just don’t know how to handle. As a decades-long Windows user, I’m never worried about what I’ll do if Windows won’t boot or stops working correctly; I understand this system. On Linux, I’d be lost at sea, not sure how to proceed. And so would most people.

The central issue with Linux, from my perspective, is all the uncertainty that’s tied to the issues noted above. You just never know what you’re going to get. If you think about what I typically write about, whether it’s on the site or in books, what I’m always looking for is a reproducible how-to that will solve or work around some problem or otherwise get you where you want to be. Linux is anything but reproducible, and it bothers me. I want to be able to write, or say, if you do this, then that will happen. With Linux, there are many caveats to just about everything, and I can’t always resolve problems, let alone help anyone else do so.

This is troubling, but the central premise of switching to Linux is that it could–or should–work on a PC you already own, and there’s an obvious appeal to that. Given the extensive experimentation possibilities across so many distributions, and the fact that many will simply try Linux out on the side for some time, Linux doesn’t have to be an or, it can be an and, a temporary and moving target at first until something sticks. So I will keep trying … until something, or some number of things, sticks.