I googled it and did my search well but I still wanted to ask people to hear some thoughts and opinions. I got an MSI laptop now and like most, I use Windows for a long time. But I'm bored a lot of using the same OS. I've been searching which Linux OS I could use and found eOS and thought that's it. I love it. I'm a intermediate programmer and coder but I'm not a pro, but I'm working on it. And I actually play hundreds of games on Steam, both old and new and keep buying. So I may call myself a gamer easily. I found out some old and new games doesn't support Linux and I'm not sure if they ever will. I also installed eOS on VirtualBox but I couldn't completely feel its sensation, its stabilization, you know what I mean? It was slow and unstable. I know it won't be the same when/if I would install it directly on my SSD. Someday soon I'll test eOS on my partitioned SSD to see its real performance. I really, really want to install it in place of Windows but I sadly got doubts. I'm sure I can get used to it but should I? How's its gaming and daily performance. Will I always have to deal with some problems or will there be so many troubles that will make my day awful and let me search codes online for hours and ask here questions? Will all of my drivers work (GTX 950M - i5 4210U - Intel HD 4600 etc. [MSI GP62-2QE])? How will I make unsupported softwares work, such as SteelSeries Engine 3 and some not-well-known, made in PRC keyboard's software etc.? Please let me hear what you people think. What would you do? Thank you already!
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Lots of questions here, but they mostly rely on opinion. We cover focused Q&A best here. The discussion questions are better brought to the elementary Reddit.– wolfNov 21, 2016 at 22:10
2 Answers
Because this is a subjective question I’m sure you will get different opinions here (especially as it is an elementary OS User forum). Firstly elementary is stable (I have similar specifications to you) and the drivers are supported.
I spend much of my time helping Windows user transition to Linux (specifically elementary) and there are clues in your question that you might not be ready. Steam OS will work great with your GTX but will not play your old Windows catalogue. Do some additional research and check out linux applications like "Wine" and "Play on Linux" to confirm your older games will play.
If there is other Windows software your rely on I also suggest you check out alternativeto.net to see if there is a Linux equivalent. If it was not for your legacy software my suggestion would have been to jump right in especially with your programming skills. I made the decision 9 years ago, I use elementary OS everyday and my kids use Steam on it.
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Thank you for sharing your experiences. I somehow feel like I'll not regret. Anyway, it's not end of the world, I can go back to Windows anytime but this isn't what I want. I want to push the limits to get used to using eOS and being part of this community. I believe it's time but what makes me actually worry about is that unsupported games/softwares that I can't give up so easily. As you just said, I might not be ready. But if I'm not, how will I? I'll be hearing more opinions about it!– mawendirNov 13, 2016 at 22:02
I suggest reading these two articles since I can't be any better in stating my point of view. (I will put a extract of them for those who want to decide if the articles are worth reading):
"A couple of years ago, gaming on Linux was a joke. There were a few open source games that, while fun, were nothing compared to the Call of Dutys, Battlefields, Skyrims, and Grand Theft Autos of the day. Yes, there were a handful of people that they got their game working on Wine by spending 3 days configuring it and accepting defeat on certain features. But serious gamers never bothered to go through all that work. Today, things are definitely better. Ubuntu, Steam, and others are working hard on making gaming not only possible, but decent on Linux. Unfortunately though, it still has a long way to go before contending with Windows. A serious gamer could not live on Linux."
Source: http://downtoearthlinux.com/posts/11-reasons-to-avoid-linux/
Since the above article can be perceived as a hard critic against Linux there are many truths in it. On the other hand the author "John Morris" describes himself as a passionate Linux enthusiast.
Another article, less polemical, I hope, concludes:
"I would advise you to dual boot Linux with Windows . Use Linux as your main desktop and if you want to play games, boot into Windows. This could be a compromised solution."
Source: https://itsfoss.com/linux-gaming-guide/
Hope it helps.
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Thank you! That's exactly what I did today. With dual boot, I use Linux and Windows together. I only boot Windows when I want to play games. Though it's an amazing feeling to use eOS, I'm trying to fix some bugs, such as my Wingpanel disappeared and I did everything to get it back but didn't work. Searched everywhere but nothing. I think I'll ask here to get a help and will keep checking this thread if anyone shares their opinions. See you!– mawendirNov 14, 2016 at 16:01
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@mawendir. If you are satisfied with any of these answers (and do not expect more opinions). I beg you mark your question as answered. Doing it so it's more useful for others. If you consider both answers helpful you should decide which one helped you more as it's not possible to choose more than an answer. Thank you. Nov 14, 2016 at 17:51
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Hello. I'll mark my question as answered when I'm satisfied but I still don't feel like I get the answer I'm looking for. Thank you for your help again.– mawendirNov 14, 2016 at 20:01