With the recent release of Windows 11, I realized that my gaming PC was not able to run it. The new requirements of the TPM chip and a recent processor left me with two choices, stay on Windows 10 until it runs out of support in 2025, or buy a new gaming PC that met Windows 11 requirements. Buying a new machine did not sit with me well, my current PC is plenty fast enough to run current games it seemed like a bad decision especially to buy a PC during the graphic card and chip shortages that have been ongoing.
Initially, I choose the 3rd option, a registry hack / power-shell script which allowed me to install windows 11 onto my PC regardless of the fact my PC was below minimum spec. This worked surprisingly well (considering Microsoft minimum spec says it shouldn’t) however I thought now might be a chance to try out Linux to see if it’s any better than the last time I tried it several years ago.
Linux comes in many different distro’s and so after some research, I decided to try one called Pop!_OS. The main reasons I choose this distro were it is available with NVIDIA graphics drivers already installed and the store (packet manager) has Steam already there, ready to be selected and installed. It looked like the path of least resistance to switching from Windows.
My initial experience has been generally positive; I’ve had this installed on my machine for a couple of weeks now. At the moment there is very little reason for me to switch back to windows, below is a list of pros/cons I’ve found so far (in no real order) . With use, I’ll add more posts covering my thoughts on the system.
Pop!_OS +++
- Try before you commit. Download the iso, burn it to a USB stick, run Pop_OS from the USB stick. Great to ensure your machine is compatible before installing.
- Nvidia Drivers baked right in..
- Steam available to download from the built in Pop!_Shop meaning great game support for my Steam library
- Steam also works with controllers, so great controller support. 🙂 (steam thing I guess but hey!)
- Lutris available to download, helps with running none steam games (eg. Battlenet)
- Easy to use desktop, easy to find settings not really a shock coming from Windows 10/11.
- Everything worked out of the box*. (*pretty much only issue I’ve had is bluetooth see cons)
- Free (thou’ I haven’t bought a Windows in years!)
- Drive support for NTFS, meaning if you have files on a seperate HDD they should still work
- Easy to install.
- So far, simple to fix a few minor issues I’ve had, these issues also exist in windows to some extent.
- Easy to find applications in the shop, or install them if they are not there.
- Google cloud storage built in (if you set it up), right there in the file browser like an extra drive.
- VS Code is available; so I can carry on development. 🙂
Pop!_OS —
- No Microsoft Gaming App, so if you have Game Pass Ultimate for PC you wont be able to install any of the games 🙁 . Obviously you can still run the games from a browser .
- No real anti-cheat support in modern FPS’s. Quake Live works a treat :D, Modern Cod / Halo or any game that features anti-cheat technology isn’t going to work** (Note :- Apparently Valve are adding anti-cheat support to Proton, so this might change in the future).
- Sound, after picking my speaker in the audio settings, reboot, defaults back to my microphone :(. I have since fixed this using the terminal so it’s possible to fix this problem.
- Games (in steam) run full screen and on first launch run in Ultra settings. Satisfactory looked amazing when I ran it, but it ran at 5fps. Not a massive problem, just remember to check / change the settings when launching a game. Games are NOT likely to run in a window thou’..
- Bluetooth support* – Really not sure it works, might be my adaptor (cheap usb one works in windows). If bluetooth devices are important to you, make sure it is supported before installing.
For now, I’m sticking on Pop!_OS, Steam games support should only improve with the impending launch of the SteamDeck. Although it might be unlikely, I sort of hope Microsoft adds Linux support to their game pass app especially with the upcoming launch of SteamDeck.
I’m quite happy with the OS at the moment, however, I do have a laptop that still has Windows on it in case I need to use something windows centric.