Today, I switched the last of my Windows machines to Linux: my gaming PC. I’ve been using Linux on servers for many years but was a bit apprehensive for gaming.
Turns out it just… works. Just installed steam and turned proton on, have zero performance or other issues. I’m using Ubuntu 25.04 for the 6.14 kernels NT emulation performance tweaks. Aside from there not being a catalyst driver for it and so I can’t undervolt my card everything is great.
I’m glad gamers are finally escaping Microsoft’s grasp. The latest corporate bloatware is simply too ineffective for users that are always looking to squeeze as much oomph out of their machines as possible.
I switched to Mint in January and it’s been great. Most games just work straight out of Steam. I have Skyrim modded to an insane level and it can be a little finicky but works.
What really cemented it for me was when I wanted to run an old 32-bit weather software package. I decided to try adding it to Steam, and it…just worked. Like native.
Yeah if you have your games on Steam it seems to (mostly) just work. Other services get a bit more janky. Xbox App is, sadly, impossible as far as I can tell.
It pleases me to read these things. I worked for M$ and coupled with more intense reasons I left Win/OSX about 10 years ago, and have never looked back. Carry the flame.
What games are you playing and what hardware are you running?
Linux has come a long way regarding the ability to easily play games made to run on Windows. It’s never been so easy and well performing. However, in my experience, it’s not quite “just works” yet. Yes, some Windows games will “just work,” but for now that’s still the exception to the rule in my experience.
I use Arch btw, with a i9-9900 and an Nvidia RTX 2070. I still have to tweak settings, research what others are tweaking, I have a few hours of research and tinkering invested into stopping up close jitters in VR(still unresolved), my graphic settings have to be lower than normal for decent performance and I do not enjoy the same frames I’ve enjoyed on Windows with this same machine.
I could probably get some better performance squeezed out of these games, but it’s going to cost me time and tinkering.
tl;dr I don’t think we’re in “just works” territory yet, but we’re getting closer and the progress over the recent years has been amazing. I can’t wait to be rid of Windows forever.
I don’t think we’re in “just works” territory yet, but we’re getting closer
Based on the types of things you’re talking about, Windows and macOS are also not “just works.” I have to do stuff like that periodically for a lot of games regardless of OS.
If your primary reason for using Linux is to play all the newest games, don’t use Linux. You cannot expect open source to compete with a game software monopoly. They intentionally have it this way. That being said, you can use Proton and Wine to play most games, but again, if you absolutely must play the newest releases and that’s your reason for going Linux, don’t main Linux.
For a few years what I did was just dual boot Mint with Win 10. I did most things on Linux as I tried to learn it, but would boot back to Win for certain work reasons or to play the newest game. Now that I don’t care about new games so much, I erased my dual boot partition and am 100% Linux. I play many games on Steam, which is made on Linux, and I’m just fine.
Try faugus launcher maybe, the games that I had issues with (pirated, wouldnt launch) all worked instantly with that
I’ll have to look into this, thanks for the suggestion. Been installing games with Lutris, then if they don’t work I try all the proton versions there, then try non-steam games and still run into some that I just give up on. Having a mounted ISO on games that ask for a disk on startup I haven’t figure out a way to get Lutris/Steam to recognize yet. Hopefully this will help.
I have found that games like The Sims, and Stardew Valley are the most consistent at working easily. Which is good, spouse enjoys those
Most of my games seem fine but I also havent tried vr or any flight sims since I swapped, stopped playing those a while before, most games seem fine, some need like 10 minutes for the shaders to load tho, but ive skipped that and had no issues so idk what thats about
I moved to Kubuntu recently. I’m overall happier, but I’ve had a number of pain points.
-
I bought DaVinci Resolve thinking they supported Linux. They do, just very poorly. Figuring out how to get that up and running was a faff. Davinci Resolve also doesn’t support AAC audio on MP4 files on Linux, so I had to write a script to transcode the audio of media to WAV. It also doesn’t play nice with window management. Overall, using resolve has been a huge pain.
-
I use Insta360s software just to stitch 360 video, getting that set up with bottles wasn’t the most straightforward but it works now.
-
I still haven’t figured out Fusion360, and I really don’t want to spend the time learning a new software. I learned it before I’d started making an effort to only use cross-platform tools.
-
I bought the Xbox Store version of Forza Horizon 5 so I could play it on my PC and Xbox. I no longer have the Xbox, and I’d have to re-buy it on Steam if I wanted to play it.
-
My Index just isn’t detected on Ubuntu. It was on Windows. I’ve tried a bunch of things, but it just doesn’t show up, so I haven’t been able to play VR. It might have a bad cable, but I’m not sure. Weird that it showed up before and doesn’t in Kubuntu.
Linux is all about finding alternatives. There is an alternate workflow, but you might have to deal with inconveniences or put in effort to learn something new. It’s been a lot of work. Also, I might need to dual boot windows to play VR stuff.
davinci sucks on linux, but like the one good thing is pirating it is downloading official version and pasting two terminal commands, everything else is hard or impossible to pirate
I have trouble with caching not working, still getting slow playback, masks cause a crash/freeze, turning performance mode off helped across my system tho with crashes, haven’t tested it since, I think the profile was off for my laptop or something, seems to be a common issue.
Mine works about the same on Linux as it did on Windows. I paid for it so no need to pirate it. If I hadn’t paid for it I probably would’ve started using something else.
Have a look at the Linux VR Adventures Wiki for possible VR solutions.
EDIT: And this compatibility site akin to ProtonDB I just found out about.
Fusion isn’t going to function fully. I think the cloud integration pipeline messes with it. You’re better off with OnShape.
FreeCAD is fine with addons but it’s just not streamlined in my experience.
If it weren’t for CAD I’d have a linux workstation.
+1 for onshape. I use both fusion and onshape. I used to be a diehard fusion user but onshape has won me over.
-
I had the exact same experience: been doing Linux since the 90s, both for fun and professionaly - the latter mainly in pure server configurations - finaly got around to moving my home PC (which is mainly for gaming) to Linux (using Pop!OS, since I have a Nvidia graphics card and it just supports it out of the box) and it just worked.
Only problem I have with it is that on startup of X I usually get a blank screen and have to switch my monitor OFF and back ON again.
Oh, and startup times are a fraction of Windows startup times (my Windows 10 work machine literally takes longer to wake up from hybernation than my home Linux PC takes to cold boot, and they have equivalent SSDs.
I think I got more hassle with Windows than I do with Linux.
… I can’t undervolt my card…
People usually use/recommend LACT for undervolting/overlocking on Linux
Cool I will try it thanks.
I had same experience. Linux install was less headache compared to windows since the only drivers I needed were nvidia.
It just works. Crazy how windows makes you forget that.
Fr try reinstalling Windows on a laptop and watch, helplessly, as the installation medium comes with zero drivers. Multi-billion dollar company my ass…
like an hour and a half superslow install, cachyos was so fast I thought it was an error
Installing linux: step 1: install linux. (If distro eithout nvidia drivers, step 2: run 3 commands in console or use discover)
Installing windows: step 1: install windows. Step 2:activate windows, step 3: install drivers for every piece of hardware attatched to your pc, step 4 use cmd, regedit and/or sketchy download to debloat windows
step 2: run 3 commands in console or use discover
Just one, no? Usually the installation instructions will tell you which package to install for your GPU.
By installing drivers do you mean: search the manufacturers website online, navigate through all the scam website to try to find the legit one, dig through the website to find your hardware, download a random executable file, execute it, select next next next, no I don’t want to install mcafee, next, install.
Step 5. Watch it reboot overnight and download even more useless bloat
Oh and step 7: Spend 10 minutes quitting, restarting discord and then restarting your pc to fix innumerable and common audio bugs caused by terrible windows drivers.
Oh yeah, and every restart takes 10 minutes of “preparing updates”
Or quit out of your game to restart and install updates.
To its credit (of which there is little), Windows can handle most things these days just fine without externally obtained drivers. Gradually improving since 7 onwards. The only sore spots really are proper gfx drivers and printers. 10 and beyond will also gracefully handle being drive-swapped into completely different hardware.
If it’s a reinstall, activation is automatic for OEM licences.
Step 4, yes, what a shitshow. Way too many hoops and hurdles to go through just to get a functional OS without the bloat and guff.
“just fine” is not what gamers want, besides sometimes new drivers offer sizeable boosts to stability and framerates.
the last few times step 4 ended badly, all of the debloat tools i found did a bit too much
Installing windows step 4 if you’re playing games not off the main stores, install:
- DirectX 9 Jun 2010
- Visual C++ Redistributables (2008 - whatever the latest is)
- .NET Framework 3.5 (if you wanna play older games. You have to do this from from programs and features)
Use Wine and Proton instead,
I did not count it since steam does it automatically usually.
Both Microsoft and Nvidia are multi-trillion dollar companies.
My only hangup is installing repacks or modding games. It for sure works, but it’s a bigger headache. I use mint on my daily driver laptop otherwise.
Iv always just run the modding software in the same wine/proton instance as the game and it just works like on windows.
Other then wabbajack for Bethesda games because the devs behind that are fucking asshats who break their shit on purpose if you try to use it outside how they want you to use it.
It’s always been very easy to mod.
Just in case you didn’t know, odd numbered Ubuntu versions (in your case 25) are considered short term releases and won’t be maintained beyond a year or two.
Unless you really need that version, you’ll want to install 26 when it comes out next April (upgrade should be very seamless).
Even numbered versions are supported long term, often for several years.
It’s not just odd releases, it’s also releases that end in 10. 24.10 is short term too.
For new users, if you’re within a year of the next LTS, just use the most recent release and switch to the LTS cadence once it launches.
24.04 doesn’t have 6.14: https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_6.14#NT_synchronization_primitive_driver_for_faster_games
You made the right call, for your situation.
They’re just letting you know that you will want to apply each annual upgrade when they come out, to ensure your system stays secure.
This may contrast with any Ubuntu-running friends you may have, who may not be applying updates annually.
Once you’ve upgraded to
28 (in ~ 2028)26.04, you can safely skip the next four years of upgrades, if you feel like it, because28it will(probably)be the next Long Term Support (LTS) release.TIL that Ubuntu release denotes the year and month. I thought it was just quirky versioning…
LTS for Ubuntu are every two years; April of the even years. Next LTS will be 26.04, then 28.04 etc.
Sweet. That’s more often than I realized. Thank you.
Assuming you’re playing games through Proton rather than vanilla Wine, kernels before 6.14 already have fsync which is used by Proton and effectively does the same thing as ntsync.
I don’t think either has ntsync support enabled by default, but it’s supposed to have better accuracy or performance, thanks to putting the needed APIs directly in the kernel, right?
I’m running Fedora and since kernel 6.11 my laptop can’t wake from sleep, so I keep the kernel back to 6.10, where everything works.
But at the same time I have quite heavy troubles with wine/proton. Probably 80% of the games I tried either don’t run at all or only run at <3 FPS. And I’m talking about 10+yo games on a Nvidia 4070 Mobile.
Could it be that the issues come from Wine/Proton expecting ntsync and not having that available?
Good info, but I guess I just upgrade my way to 2604
Don’t get too hung up on it. It was an fyi not a “stop what you’re doing you newb!”
We need people to test the latest, bleeding edge. So you’re helping with that! But since you’re new to Linux I wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into.
It’s not that odd numbers are less stable. It’s more that they aren’t supported for long term. Many of the lessons learned are pushed to the next version though so either way you’re doing good.
I’m not a PC gamer so for me stamina and longevity matter more to me than bleeding edge technology.
Can’t you just upgrade to the next release? (It’s been more than 10 years since I installed/used Ubuntu)
Unless you really need that version, you’ll want to install 26 when it comes out next April (upgrade should be very seamless).
Holy hell, the Ubuntu ISO is 6.3GB now. Soon it may not even fit onto a DL DVD.
Who still uses DVD to install anything?
We’ve moved on to usb sticks
You’ve moved on to usb sticks
Me too, so we
That don’t mean people don’t still burn discs just because you and whoever else doesn’t.
Yeah and we’re still we.
And my axe!
Who on earth still burns disks (other than pizzas) in 2025?
Me, they retain data alot longer than any solid state data storage device. They are much more usable for archival storage. Also I burn CD’s to listen to music on my Stereo.
According to Google, burned CDs and DVDs retain data for 5-10 years.
SSDs are between a few years and a few decades, depending on the age, type and quality of the SSD. Same goes for USB sticks.
HDDs are between 10 and 20 years.
Tape drives are at 30+ years.
I have CD-R demo discs from the early 00’s that still play fine. Also according to Wikipedia: “On July 3, 1991, the first recording of a concert directly to CD was made using a Yamaha YPDR 601. The concert was performed by Claudio Baglioni at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome, Italy. At that time, it was generally anticipated that recordable CDs would have a lifetime of no more than 10 years. However, as of July 2020 the CD from this live recording still plays back with no uncorrectable errors.”
Edit: Yes, a tape drive would be ideal but i’m poor af.
It’s always a game of statistics.
You might have some 20yo disks that play fine, but there’s enough 10yo disks that don’t play fine. Also, especially with audio disks, having some data loss on them won’t be noticeable. You could probably have up to 10% of data loss on the CD without hearing much of a difference.
Things are very different for data storage though. Here losing a single bit (e.g. of an encrypted/compressed file) might make the whole file unreadable. And if it’s a critical file that might make the whole disk useless.
Audio CD is a very low-data-density format. There’s a ton of data on there that doesn’t matter (as exemplified by the fact that MP3 CDs can easily hold 6 times as much audio as a regular, uncompressed Audio CD). This low data density creates redundancy.
The data retention values above aren’t about “After X years all of the data disappears” but about “This is how long the data will be fully retained without a single bit of data loss”.
I also have HDDs from ~2000 that still work fine. The probably oldest piece of tech I own is a Gameboy, which has its BIOS in a ROM, and that one still works fine, even though it’s older than 30 years now. But for one I don’t own enough Gameboys to know whether I got an outlier here and I don’t have the means to check if every single bit on that ROM is still identical to the original.
I like them. It spins, it makes a sound when being used, it looks cool, I have to be a bit more gentle with it.
Yesterday I installed cachyos and I was shocked to see that the 3gb install image was actually a net install and I couldn’t install it offline. I used my phone as hotspot thinking “how much data would download it anyway, maybe it just needs internet to do geo2ip for suggesting locale” (it actually does that) but instead it downloaded another 3gb
How many floppies is that?
4,375,000,000 of the 3 1/2" disks. Sierra would be proud.
One, at least.
Zip disk users rise up.
Good thing there’s BD-Rs
Yeh, Linux doesn’t have to be scary these days.
Made the switch myself about a year ago. Installed 24.04 LTS and it has done very well.
My main issues have been dealing with a few things I run not playing the nicest with ubuntu or when trying to flash ESP8266 or ESP32 boards through the web browser.
Gaming wise everything I have installed via Steam works fine though sometimes needs a reboot.
Overall been happy with it and glad to get off the forced upgrade with bloatware train.
Welcome and enjoy!
