So back on 2024-06-08 I wrote this article describing how Microsoft is screwing its base again. Well I am a man of my word and I stuck to my guns. I moved off of Windows 11 about 90% and into Arch Linux. I am very pleased with my transition, but it was anything but simple. Therefore, I am not going to lie to anyone and say how easy it is to move to Linux. It’s not. I have attempted many times to move from Windows to Linux over the years and I have failed miserably. I have the uncanny ability to destroy my Linux installation. I’ve done it more than once. Each time, the whole experience left me in such a worried and nervous way I wouldn’t bother with it again for a long time. Well this time was no different, I made several goofs along the way while figuring out which distribution of Linux I was going to get in bed with. I settled on Arch Linux because it has an amazing amount of documentation. My primary reason for voting on using Arch Linux was simply that it is the same operating system that is used as the basis for SteamOS which is what the Steam Deck is running. Ergo if Steam runs on SteamOS, then Steam will run on Arch Linux which means I can continue to play video games. It worked out great.
The purpose of this article
This is not a guide on installing Arch Linux and all of the crazy minutia that went into tweaking everything to work the way I want it to.
This is more of a loose guide on stating that getting away from Windows is mostly possible, it all depends on your needs.
Dispelling common misconceptions
- The most disappointing thing is if you have a dependency on Office365, meaning Microsoft Office programs such as Word or Excel – these WILL NOT run in Linux.
- When other folks have said that they work in Linux they are talking about older versions of stand alone office that can be installed using Wine. No thank you.
- Further more anyone who says, “Just use the web version” more than likely doesn’t use these office programs in a strong professional way. That’s not a jab, it’s a fact, there are things you CANNOT do with the web version. If you are a power user of these programs you will find out very quickly what doesn’t work.
- Therefore, if you have a dependency on Office 365, you will be accessing it via the web when you can, and you will be using a virtual machine running Windows 11 so you can use that program. End of story.
- Anyone suggesting Star Office or Libre Office as replacements are just wrong – sorry these are not adequate replacements.
- If you have a dependency on Microsoft OneDrive, there are options for you. I will discuss this as a separate article.
- One option will always be to just not use Microsoft OneDrive, but that’s easier said than done.
- Accessing it through the web is okay, but not a replacement for folder synchronization.
- The “vault” feature is accessible in the web which is great news.
- Wine is really not going to save you most of the time.
- As fantastic as Wine is, it’s not going to work most of the time unless someone put effort into making it work.
- I have had experiences already where I installed a program using Wine and then a month later it stopped working.
- Do what you can to break your dependency on your Windows based programs. Use Linux native programs where you can.
- If you desperately need to run a program in Windows, consider using a Virtual Machine if it doesn’t work in Wine. This is very inconvenient, but it is an alternative.
- There is a common misconception that you do not need anti-virus when running Linux. I strongly recommend you reject this idea as anything that runs code can be compromised. This is naive thinking at best. It’s true that Windows is the target of most attacks, but it doesn’t make Linux or Mac immune. Apple was arrogant enough to tell its consumers this lies until they too started being attacked. Don’t get caught with your pants down.
Program repositories
I have been on Arch Linux now for several months, at least four to five, and I am extremely happy. It’s not for everyone because it is very “do it yourself” oriented. If you are a software developer, I think you will like it. If you are not, then consider alternatives like Ubuntu or the very popular Mint Linux. No matter what, it’s a paradigm mind shift to get into thinking in Linux and I am still getting used to some things.
Arch Linux has the stand point that they will not ship more with the OS than they need to. Therefore, it is up to you to install every single program (package) you want. They provide the bare basics.
KDE programs
I use KDE Plasma as my desktop environment. It has always been my preferred desktop environment. I can’t explain it, I just don’t like Gnome.
To my shock, KDE, has come an extremely long way. I am so impressed. They have replacement programs for nearly everything a basic Windows environment would provide. Therefore, if you are looking for a basic program such as an image viewer or PDF viewer, they have you covered. And that’s only to name a very few.
KDE is not flawless, but damn it – it works well. There are some very minor stability issues, but frankly it’s far more stable than Windows’ explorer.exe by a long stretch. I have watched KDE desktop crash and come right back without losing any of my windows. I cannot say that about explorer. It does have some goofy issues such as windows not snapping properly to corner of the monitor, but it’s not stopping me from getting anything done either. Small inconvenience. I don’t miss seeing the “explorer has stopped responding” error box.
Arch Linux provided programs
There are two flavors of Arch Linux provided repositories:
- Arch Linux official packages
- Arch Linux User Repository or more commonly known as AUR
The main difference between these two repositories is the packages are officially compiled and ready to use with Arch Linux via the pacman package manager. Whereas the AUR are user contributed repositories where you are required to compile and make the binaries. Most users opt to use yay to make this happen.
Fun fact, you can use yay to also handle regular Arch Linux package management as it’s just a wrapper around pacman.
Flatpaks and Snaps
This really surprised me to see and wasn’t something I was at all familiar with this time around getting back into Linux. Some people don’t care for this methodology because these are a very bloated means of providing a program, but they work damn well so I don’t care. Both Flatpaks and Snaps are a way to encapsulate all of the requirements of a program into a neat little package that then runs in a sandboxed environment made for your operating system. It’s as close to a Windows program installation as it gets so should feel very natural and comfortable to refugee Windows users.
These really have saved the day for me in a number of cases. They are a million times easier to deal with over AUR.
Program comparisons
What good is an operating system if it doesn’t have any programs to facilitate you? This is the main reason that the Windows phone was an absolute catastrophic failure. Great hardware, mediocre operating system, zero applications. The lack of necessary applications is what killed it. Linux is no different in this regard, having support for popular or at least equivalent applications is necessary to make Linux “usable”. Using Linux can be hard, but honestly once you get it setup, you are not really tinkering with it much more than you have to.
Therefore, here is a list of programs that I have adopted in lieu of Windows counterparts. If there is no equivalent I will explain why and what the work around is.
If you do not see notes, it’s because the program works as expected and there is nothing more to say.
Right-click open the links if you want to view them to avoid leaving this page.
| Windows | Linux | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | telegram-desktop | package | |
| Signal | signal-desktop | package | Not always stable, but works fine 99.99%. |
| Discord | discord | package | Operates fine. However, it is a pain when there is an update. Do not attempt to update it from within the program itself otherwise it locks up. To fix this, just update via pacman. |
| Firefox | firefox | package | |
| Fonts | adobe-source-han-sans-jp-fonts adobe-source-han-serif-jp-fonts noto-fonts-cjk ttf-freefont ttf-arphic-uming ttf-baekmuk | package | This is not something you normally have to deal with because Windows already just provides all of the fonts you would normally need. I happen to look at a lot of Asian languages more often than I realized and therefore required font packs for these fonts to actually render otherwise you just get a bunch of squares. |
| Chrome | google-chrome | AUR | Not available as a standard package. This is when I learned about yay after I downloaded the repository, compiled it and made the binaries myself. Otherwise works exactly as expected. You cannot update it from inside of Chrome itself, therefore when you see a hint about updating just update it using yay. |
| Visual Studio Code | Visual Studio Code | Flatpak | There is an AUR version. I don’t recommend using it, it was very incomplete. The Flatpak version works fine. This is how I learned about Flatpak. |
| Bambu Studio | Bambu Studio | Flatpak | There is an AUR version, but there is a Flatpak which is just easier to install. |
| OneNote | Obsidian | Flatpak | I have been pretty fed up with Microsoft Office OneNote for a while, so this was a welcomed find. I pay for the sync feature, but Obsidian has proven to be a far more competent product over OneNote in every way. You can import all of your OneNote notes directly into Obsidian. It’s a fantastic product and is available for your mobile phone too. Using the OneNote web version was an absolute nightmare. |
| Snagit | spectacle | KDE | This is a situation where I was heart broken I could no longer use Snagit. It would not install with Wine, I tried everything. I came to find out that KDE had a snippet program built right in called spectacle! You just press Print Screen as you would normally to activate it. I paid for Snagit for many years, so now I stopped my subscription and just won’t use it anymore. |
| f.lux | night light | KDE | I got very used to using flux to help my eyes out at night. I searched for alternatives and come to find out it’s built right into KDE. It’s called nightlight and it’s accessible via your task bar. |
| Paint.net | pinta | package | I was very sad when I couldn’t install paint.net using Wine. Again it just wouldn’t work! Too many windows API dependencies. My friend recommended pinta and it works fine. An alternative is gimp, but I really don’t like gimp. It’s very difficult to use. |
| Windows phone link | kdeconnect | package | This one was a shocker to me. I was convinced there wouldn’t not be an equivalent and there absolutely was! KDE Connect isn’t great, but it’s something! Allows me to handle SMS from my desktop and I really do depend on this so again a welcomed change. Windows Phone Link is a Windows Store exclusive. |
| Windows RDP | Rustdesk | Flatpak | There is no Linux based Windows RDP equivalent. There is a very terrible RDP provided by KDE where you can RDP into your Linux box from a Windows machine ONLY. It sucks. If you need to connect to a Windows machine from a Linux box Rustdesk is amazing! If you do like it, I recommend setting up your own server to keep it private. |
| Windows system restore checkpoint | Timeshift | package | These are not perfectly equivalent, but it gets the job done. Timeshift enables you to take snapshots of your most important system files so that if you completely hose your Linux installation you can rollback. Read more here about the installation. It’s not as simple as just installing on package. |
| Notepad++ | Kate | KDE | This was another punch in the gut. I love Notepad++, I have been using it for a very long time and it is not compatible on Linux. I don’t think I tried it in Wine yet. However, KDE Kate is a great equivalent. I also use VS Code and Obsidian so I am pretty much covered for quick notes and scripting. |
| Malwarebytes | clamav | package | I still don’t have this working properly, but I will keep trying until I get it working. Therefore, I cannot comment on how good or bad it is. I still use Malwarebytes on my phone, browsers, and other Windows instances. ClamAV is a somewhat complicated install so read the instructions carefully. |
| AutoDesk Fusion 360 | FreeCAD | Flatpak | These are far from equivalent and the truth is there isn’t a good replacement for Fusion 360. There are claims that some people have gotten Fusion 360 to run on Linux and it’s mixed results at best. I could not get it to work to save my life. I have been using different programs instead trying to find an alternative. Blender, FreeCAD, and when necessary Fusion 360 inside of a Windows VM which is a miserable experience. |
| Printing | cups | package | As expected, printing isn’t as easy in Linux as it is in Windows. In Windows it’s a fairly brain dead process. Linux is a little more involved. You require a package named cups, but it’s far more complicated than this especially if you have a network connected printer. I recommend patiently using this guide. KDE provides a number of useful utilities to help along with the process. |
| VM Ware | vmware-workstation | AUR | This is a difficult install. There are multiple steps and packages. You may have to create a swapfile if you don’t have one already. All of the instructions are here. Follow them very carefully. There are going to be some bumps setting up VMs, but it will work. I am actively using it without any problems. |
| Steam | steam | package | This is difficult install. There are multiple steps, packages, and video card driver considerations. Very patiently follow these instructions here. What is encouraging is it works incredibly well! I have been playing games like Dead by Daylight and Hell Divers 2 without any issues! |
| ScanSnap | None | None | I could not find a realistic alternative to my scanning software, ScanSnap Home (formerly ScanSnap Manager) that I use together with my Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 ADF scanner. I will explain more below. |
| OneDrive | Many options | N/A | I came up with a solution that is working incredibly well for me to handle the incompatibility of OneDrive with Linux. I have a dependency on OneDrive right now that I cannot break, but plan to in the future. I will explain this in a separate article. There are many alternatives to OneDrive and there are programs that work together with OneDrive for Linux, you just need to choose one. |
| Foobar2000 | audacious | package | This was another gut punch. I love Foobar2000 to play my mp3s. It’s what I used after Winamp went defunct. I did successfully install Foobar2000 in Wine and it was working, but then mysteriously stopped working. I found Audacious and it’s a great alternative. It’s not perfect because it couldn’t decode some of my files, but works good enough for me now. |
| PDF-XChange Editor Plus | PDF-XChange Editor Plus | Wine | This is one of the only programs I have been able to successfully install with Wine and have minimal issues. I do an incredible amount of PDF editing so the fact that this still works made me very happy. I have multiple paid licenses for this program, so I would like to keep using it. |
| Adobe Acrobat reader | okular | package | If you are just looking to view PDFs, you don’t need Acrobat for that. KDE has a decent program called Okular that is just a PDF viewer. It works mostly good. I stopped using Acrobat years ago because it’s horrific bloatware. I used to be a paying customer too, but once I found PDF-XChange (formerly Tracker-Software) I had no reason to return. |
| Windows photo viewer | gwenview | package | I like the default photo viewer from Windows. It’s a decent, easy to use, minimalistic viewer/editor. Luckily KDE has an equivalent called Gwenview. It works nearly the same and is also a minimalistic viewer/editor. You can review, crop, rotate, and more. |
The other 10% of programs
Anything that would not install using Wine, or I could not find a decent replacement for I have continued to use in Windows.
| Program | System | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AutoDesk Fusion 360 | VM | You can use Fusion 360 inside of a Virtual Machine, but you are going to run into problems with 3D acceleration. It’s not a good experience which is why I kept searching for alternatives. I am still looking and evaluating. |
| ScanSnap Home | Physical | ScanSnap Home, no matter what I did, would malfunction when run inside of a Virtual Machine. I spoke with Richo, the now parent company of Fujitsu scanners, and they informed me that the latency introduced by the VM is enough to cause these funky problems. I had absolutely no idea scanners were this sensitive. Therefore, my current alternative is using an Intel NUC that is dedicated to just scanning and document editing. I remote in using Rustdesk. It’s incredibly stupid, but I don’t have an alternative right now. I have tried other scanning software such as gscan2pdf and it’s not good. gscan2pdf will perform scans, but it does it in an incredibly unfriendly, unrefined, and clumsy way. I will eventually find a Linux native solution, but it’s just not urgent right now when I have a work around. |
| EZ CD Audio Converter | VM | I tried installing this in Wine and it wouldn’t work. I spoke with the software author and they explained it wouldn’t work because of strong coupling to the Windows API. This is a common issue. I installed it on my VM and it worked with a USB CD reader surprisingly. I do rip CD often enough where I need this. Not the biggest problem as I can use the same Intel NUC to handle this as a physical connection need be. I have paid licenses for this program and I have been using it for a long time. |
| Microsoft Office 365 | VM | This works just fine on a Virtual Machine and it is necessary when you have to do certain advanced things in Excel or even Word. OneNote hardly functions as is, but was somehow worse in the Web version. It’s embarrassing for Microsoft. Anyhow, no matter what you do this is not going to work in Linux, so you must run it inside of Windows. |
Software development
I am a Windows developer by trade, so I have been doing all of my software development inside of a Windows Virtual Machine for years now. Therefore, everything I would normally need for software development has continued to exist in the same VM. I am going to do everything in my power to eliminate the need for Windows to do development. I want to do my software development in Linux. I like to segregate my worlds of personal, gaming, finance, and software development into virtual machines. It separates the mass number of dependencies and keeps everything organized by doing it this way.
Conclusion
You can get off of Windows about 90%. Microsoft can gargle my balls for what they are doing to Windows. Windows 11 is a gigantic dumpster fire of inconvenience. I genuinely have no idea what they are thinking. They literally have pushed the adoption rate of Linux from about 1% to almost 5% which shows how angry people are with Windows. Throw their spyware garbage into the mix by forcing their stupid CoPilot crap into the OS and yeah, I’m done.
I am going to make it my mission to find a way to make my dependency on Windows 0%, but realistically speaking I don’t think it will be possible because of Office 365. Even if I eliminate all of my other dependencies, Microsoft does have a corner on the Office software market.
I have been off of Windows for months now and I couldn’t be happier. My OS doesn’t bother me anymore with stupid suggestions, it just runs my damn programs as it should be doing.
Genuinely, fuck you Microsoft.
I generated the thumbnail using CoPilot web version:
