I replaced Windows with Linux, and there’s only one feature I miss

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Modern Linux distros have gotten easier to install.
• You're most likely to succeed with standard x86-based hardware.
• Be prepared to copy and paste lots of commands into a terminal window.

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Switching to Linux used to be difficult, but not anymore. No less an authority than ZDNET's own Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols said so recently: "Is Linux easy to use? Yes! The days when you had to be a tech wizard to run Linux are long over. If you can run Windows, you can run Linux."

I've even recommended installing Linux as one possible option for anyone who wants to keep using a PC that Microsoft says is too old to upgrade to Windows 11 and that no longer supports Windows 10.

Also: How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 - for free

So, in the interest of science, I decided to try for myself. Not to make some dramatic platform shift, but rather to identify what kind of issues you, dear reader, are likely to run into if you attempt to migrate away from the familiarity of a Windows PC (or Mac) to Linux.

Was it easy? That's not exactly the way I'd describe my experience, which required a lot of stops and starts and a painful amount of time copying complicated, unfamiliar commands and pasting them into terminal windows to get things like a built-in webcam working.

Along the way, I got some very helpful advice courtesy of Google's Gemini chatbot, which generally steered me in the right direction and even offered one crucial bit of advice that turned out to be the key to a successful install.

I had to try three different distributions before finally settling on one that worked. Eventually, I succeeded in getting two working Linux PCs, which are capable of doing almost everything I need them to do -- in many cases using the same software and online services I used on their Windows predecessors. In fact, the only feature I seriously miss is Windows Hello and its ability to handle authentication using facial recognition instead of long, random passwords; that feature isn't natively supported in Linux.

Also: Your PC's critical security certificates may be about to expire - how to check

If you're thinking of making the switch, you'll need to ask the same questions I did. I offer this report to help you learn from my experience.

Will your hardware run Linux?

My very first problem was one I've written about before: Linux isn't generally compatible with Arm-based machines. Alas, two of the spare machines I had hoped to use for this project are outfitted with Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.

I had high hopes for my Dell XPS 13 9345. It's a delightful machine, and its Intel-based variant is even available with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. But I had no luck trying to install any Linux distro on it, thanks to that alien Snapdragon SoC. My trusty AI assistant suggested I might have been able to work around that issue by manually extracting proprietary firmware blobs from the Windows partition and then editing some device trees, which is precisely the sort of detail that makes Linux so baffling for mere mortals. I decided against that science project.

Also: Windows 11 has 1 billion users - and they're furious

After striking out with my Arm-based machines, I looked around for candidates with Intel inside. Good news: I have two of them hanging around my office! Bad news: They are both Microsoft Surface devices, which adds an extra layer of complexity to this project.

The first is a Surface Go 2, a six-year-old machine that just barely squeaked in under the Windows 11 compatibility wire with its Intel Core m3-8100y CPU. But it's been a dud at Windows 11, so why not try Linux?

The other is a Surface Pro 8, which is five years old but still performs well on Windows 11. It's powered by an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 and should be an excellent performer on any modern Linux distro.

The trouble with these two machines is that Surface tablets have a few hardware components that work differently than industry-standard Windows PCs like those sold by Dell, Lenovo, and HP. If I had started with a PC built by one of those OEMs, this task would have been much easier. Instead, I needed a special Linux kernel to get the touchscreen, pen, and camera working. Fortunately, there's a very active linux-surface group on GitHub that supports both of these machines. The installation instructions are well-written and clear, but they are not easy,

Which distro should you choose?

I started with Ubuntu Linux. It's an extremely popular distribution. Microsoft supports it natively in its Hyper-V virtualization platform for Windows, and Dell sells new laptops with Ubuntu preinstalled. Surely those are good omens?

Alas, it was not to be. I was able to install Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) on both of my test machines, but I ran into insurmountable problems trying to get a more recent version installed, and I was never able to get the webcam working. After a few hours of struggling, I formatted the partition and moved on.

The next stop was Zorin OS 18, which ZDNET's other Linux dude, Jack Wallen, called his favorite Windows replacement. I had no trouble getting started with Zorin on either of my two test machines, but getting the linux-surface kernel and support for both the Surface touchscreen and webcam was just a big sticky mess, involving many unsuccessful Linux terminal sessions.

After I aimed a blast of extremely salty language at Gemini, it apologized and recommended that I try Fedora 43 instead. And you know what? It was right.

Fedora's support for Surface devices means it just worked -- mostly.

How hard is the installation process?

If you can create a bootable flash drive, you can probably get Linux up and running on your former (x86-based) Windows PC. In fact, I set up both of my test machines as dual-boot installations. Mostly, everything works. Did you notice I said mostly? Yeah, not everything works.

The hardest part was the part that has always been the hardest part about Linux: getting my webcam to work. In Ubuntu and Zorin OS, that required yet more terminal sessions that mostly did not work and inspired more salty language.

After I installed Fedora 43, my luck seemed to change. On the Surface Go 2, in fact, every built-in hardware device, including the webcam, worked without any extra effort. The one exception? The Windows Hello camera. I really miss biometric sign-in! A third-party project called Howdy apparently offers facial recognition using the infrared cameras on a Windows device, but I was unable to get it working and gave up after an hour or two.

I was able to get a YubiKey hardware key set up as my primary login, but I still have to type a password to decrypt my system drive at startup. Logging in to that system without the hardware key would mean typing a 20-character, randomly generated password. Which is just, ugh, a bad user experience. On top of that, the Fedora installation doesn't seem to understand how to sleep when I close the Type Cover on the Surface Go, so it just keeps going until the battery hits 0%. And then I have to make sure I am close to a power outlet when I restart. I'm sure Gemini can help me figure this out. Just give me a few hours. 

Meanwhile, I have Zorin OS 18 Core on the Surface Pro 8, and it goes to sleep as expected. I guess if I need a webcam, I can plug my old Logitech webcam into a USB port and pray that it works.

How does Linux work as a daily driver?

I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the keyboard shortcuts I rely on work the same in Linux as they do in Windows. Even tapping the Windows key works as a way to get started with the system's app launcher.

Installing apps was a bit of a challenge initially. I found the process easier than most Windows refugees might, because I have a lot of experience with using the Windows Package Manager (winget) to access repositories for Windows. Once I got my core apps installed, everything was pretty easy, all things considered.

I did not bother trying to install any native Windows apps using Wine. But I really didn't need to. All of my basic productivity apps -- 1Password, Obsidian, and even Microsoft Edge -- were easy enough to install, and I had no trouble using my cloud-based Office files in Edge on Linux.

All in all, this was not a friction-free experience. I do not recommend it for novices or for anyone who wants a PC that is easy to operate and troubleshoot. But if you're a reasonably knowledgeable PC hobbyist and you're willing to accept a learning curve that includes time in a terminal session, Linux is a perfectly acceptable alternative. I do not recommend that you tell your tech-challenged relatives to try the upgrade on their own. They'd be better off with a Mac, honestly.