For a few years, I have been using Linux in virtual machines and WSL under a Windows host. However, in mid-June - a full month ago now, I decided enough was enough, and I would make the switch fully to Linux.

By this point, I could comfortably use the terminal and had success installing distributions such as Arch Linux in a virtual machine. I pride myself on being tech-savvy, allowing me to use Linux to its full extent.

Setup + Configuration

My first step, of course, was chosing the distribution I would run. After doing extensive research and testing in virtual machines and live environments, I finally settled on Arcolinux - A minimal Arch-Based distribution, mainly created to make the Arch Linux installation more streamlined and provide more out-of-the-box - eliminating the risk of me bricking my laptop with botched configuration and drivers.

After this, I had to decide on a desktop environment. Initally, I was heavily considering using a window manager such as i3, which I had used extensively in the past. However, in the interest of having a desktop that was not too big of a departure from what I'm used to, I settled on KDE Plasma.

After running through Arcolinux's graphical installation, it was time for me to begin configuring my system, mainly focusing on customizing my desktop. I decided to use the Scratchy theme, with Psion colours, Gruvbox style, Psion window decorations.

Usage

Over my time using Arcolinux, I have noticed a significant performance increase, and a lot less memory overhead. During my time on Windows 11, I would be constantly running out of memory as the base system would use a significant amount. The optimisations provided by the Linux kernel and lighter memory cost of Plasma allows me to use my system for things that would simply not be possible on Windows.

Additionally, programming in Linux has been a far more pleasant experience. The terminal is far easier to navigate and use, and using a package manager has made installing dependencies a far less intrusive process. Linux also provides far easier-to-use APIs for low-level languages such as C and C++, making network programming and TUI programming far more streamlined.

I have found that Linux has no shortage of software alternatives for products such as Microsoft Office, and compatibility layers such as Wine and Proton make running windows software possible, if a little bit janky at times.

Games

So far, playing games has been mostly problem free. However, due to limitations in Wine and Proton, windows-only games can have significant performance issues or just not function. During my time using Linux, games such as Project Zomboid have become almost unplayable due to crashes. However, games I play consistently such as Minecraft work without a hitch. I have even have success running more resource-intensive games such as Deep Rock Galactic.

Conclusion

Overall, using Linux has been a freeing and relatively problem-free experience so far, and I will continue to use it as my daily-driver operating system. I have not looked back since ditching Windows, and with the way the OS is heading with features such as Recall, I will be unlikely to switch back in the future.

If you have any thoughts on this post, don't be afraid to reach out! I am available to contact via email, the guestbook, or my Discord server.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next post!
- Tori