Hey all,
I used to use Linux for a few years. Distro-hopped a bit, used Manjaro, Kubuntu, Mint, and Debian. I want to go back, but what I want is stability. I want to be able to do my regular day-to-day tasks without any sacrifices to my regular performance and stability on Windows 10.
Using Linux, I had the following issues:
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Manjaro - for a first-timer, I think the problems here were pretty self-explanatory
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Kubuntu - worked like a charm, up until I needed to update to the latest version, which it refused to do no matter what I did, causing me to swap to Mint. Reinstalled at a later date only for the entire distro to crash every so often with simple tasks like minimising and maximising windows, opening browser tabs, etc.
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Mint - worked, but disliked the layout, swapped to Debian
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Debian - Most in line with values, but could not for the life of me figure out how to install the Nvidia drivers. I reinstalled the distro multiple times after following the official tutorial to install the drivers to a tee... which would brick the distro entirely each time. Also had same issue with simple tasks like minimising and maximising windows, navigating browser tabs, etc. crashing my system.
I want to enjoy Linux, but I also want basic functionality. For all the crap I rightfully give Windows, it's never crashed on me, whereas with the two distros I mainly used, it would crash probably once or twice a day. I'm not a AAA gamer, and I don't feel it's a hard ask to play a game like osu! without constant stuttering when it runs effortlessly on Windows.
I went back to Windows because I simply couldn't deal with the issues anymore, I had to get a whole new computer and I feel that the constant issues with stability I had and needing to constantly manually turn the power on and off because of the crashes, and reinstalling distros for mundane reasons wore out my SSD much sooner than it should have.
If anybody can help me find something that I can be confident in to simply work without major issues, I would greatly appreciate it. I feel trapped, I want to ditch Windows, but also don't want to deal with those nonstop issues all over again.
In defense of distros, the Nvidia nonfree drivers being absolute hell to install is not really the distro's fault. It has ALWAYS been a hellfest on every single distro I've ever touched. The only one it even remotely installs smoothly on is Ubuntu, and even then, not that well.
Been meaning to replace my GPU with an equivalent by AMD. Only thing keeping me back is cost, and knowing if an AMD equivalent would be compatible with my motherboard.
If you're using a desktop, there's no compatibility worries for motherboard and gpu. They all use PCI-e ports and are standard.