It definitely has gotten a lot better in the nVidia driver side but it’s not on AMD levels yet. But this is my experience with a 960 and 3080Ti. My 6800XT and 5700XT have been smooth sailing.

I am someone that is a Microsoft professional by trade and have been for about 20 years. I have absorbed everything that Microsoft has ever done in the Windows, Server and Cloud ecosystems, but Windows 11 was what really broke this lovely glass dream.

Under Windows 10, I was ale to create a custom image and use advanced policies to block the crap, Windows 11 on the other hand you can still do the same but with every update, it reverts settings back to their “default” without notification or even recorded information.

I would say to anyone that has the “but Windows is better for gaming…” you are living in the 00s to early 10s! With the Wine program and Valves Proton program, I am able to run all games that I own (1000+ games… I am a Valve sales bundle addict alright?!?). I am able to play games such as Star Citizen, Planetside 2, PalWorld, Helldivers 2 with a few clicks of a button, and only a couple of clicks if the game is Proton gold or above.

From my testing on several distros I would say start with something friendly such as Mint Cinnamon or PopOS (linux die hards, remember not everyone wants to spend time figuring things out on a daily basis and these OS from my experience are the most Windows-esque - i mean I started with Garuda and I am stubborn to learn it instead of jumping to another distro). Then spend a bit of time just getting the basics of a Linux system of your choice, such as the file system and how to install packages (apps). Don’t forget you also have platforms such as YouTube that people will show you click for click on what to do!

But… yes there is a but… if you have an nVidia GPU your experience might not be as smooth. If you want to take a leap and have the best experience, have at least an AMD GPU and even better an AMD system. Unfortunately this is purely on nVidia still having their finger up their ass on open source drivers.

Ditched Windows late last year and jump to Linux as my main driver. I’ve had Linux servers for years but it is completely different when it’s your main driver.

I mainly play games and from the over 100 games that I tried to play only 2 had issues and I was unable to get them working (BattleField 4 and FaF Forever).

Honestly Wine and subsequently Proton is the true game changer when it comes to games BUT I’m on an all AMD hardware and had 0 issues with driver stability, however a friend of mine on an Intel/nVidia has had a couple of issues which were eventually resolved but took a bit of wait for fixes and updates.

Rimworld the game that I have over 500 hours and still dont know how to play it but I love it. I heard that the minimum amount of hours to get the game is about 1000 (/s).

I am with you. On my first try I died early on and then I hit YouTube for a couple of lets plays. If you are interested, they are Big Brain Energy and Francis John

I am currently playing my first save on vanilla with a few QoL mods but looking at the mods list there is a lot more amazing content to be had. I think I am going to enjoy this game for sometime.

Thank you very much for such a detailed list. I had a look through all of them and X series is something that I am very fond of.

However, I have added Transcendence and Nebulous Fleet Command on my next to play list.

I’m with you, I got a lot of hours in it but still come back every few months for a new map.

But although I’ve done mega bases, deathworld, Bobs and Space Exploration, I don’t want to do them again even though I thoroughly enjoyed them.

My love is the early game and up to launching a rocket. Anyone with me on this?

Saw couple of friends playing it and thought to give it a try… But oh boy… 45 hours in less than 2 weeks.

Send someone can say that I’m enjoying it.

Windows 11 was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me as an MS specialist with 20+ years of experience.

Under Windows 10, making a golden image was all you needed to make sure that malware (yes some MS services share the same traits as malware!), bloatware and telemetry were not active, even on major updates (a couple of exceptions but overall that was the case)

Windows 11 no matter what you do, on a major update it will reset to Microsoft’s “recommend” settings even wiping out task scheduler scripts and reg entries. That is malware behaviour and should be treated as such.

Honestly, I know I will sound like a broken record but if you have any value on your privacy, get on Linux. There are distros out there that are very friendly but remember with anything new, there is a learning curve and the steepness is based on how willing you are to learn, don’t be afraid.

Factorio without bitters. The music of desolance, alone on the planet trying to get efficient so you can leave and go home. I don’t know why it is so relaxing, but it is… just having time to plan and build exactly what you had in mind is bliss.

On the other hand if you want some adrenaline, play bitters in deathworld.

As someone who still does LAN weekends with a few friends a couple of times a year, this is a hard one especially if you have 6+ players, however here are my suggestions.

Supreme Commander using the FAF Client - huge scale RTS with up to 16 people in a single map (8v8).

Left4Dead Versus - 8 people go 4v4 so two teams in your case. Dedicated server recommend.

Unreal Tournament 2005/3 - lots of games modes and supports a lot of people but you may need a dedicated server.

Gary’s Mod PropHunt, Bomberman etc - Great sandbox game - can be a bit junky to setup up but excellent if you get it right

Blur - racing game which may be hard to find as it is not being sold anywhere but an excellent multiplayer one

Factorio - way slower pace than any games mentioned, but if you play Deathworld is an adrenaline rush and fun coop. Up to 500 people so 15-16 people is no sweat. Also good for long term goals for continuing play.

Human Fall Flat - funny physics puzzle game up to 4 people. Great for competition as you can make it 4 teams of 4 and have a leaderboard.

Planetside 2 - FPSMMO - epic battles and still very active

That’s a lot of typing already - let me know if you want more suggestions - happy gaming

Not on my PC but I will update later.

Thank you this is the kind of thing that I was after.

That’s an amazing jump and congratulations on doing it.

After contemplating for 3-4 years about switching my main rig to Linux, I did it on Friday just gone.

Note for the below, I have a full AMD system.

• I went with Garuda Dragonized distro as it is gaming focused and has all the game related stuff included.
• took me less than 30mins going from gaming on Win11 to Linux, but I did the research before.
• there are a few tweaks if you use Steam but you have Lutris to help you.
• of the 35 ish games installed, all of them work without issues, but they need updating once you enable compatibility to Proton.
• the default theme is too flashy but you can select to bring it down a few notches

Technical

• if you have secondary SSD or HDD, dedicated to games or files like I did, it is advisable to have them backed up to an external drive as you will need to re-partition them from NTFS to use them properly in Linux
• with Garuda Dragonized Gaming, all drivers are installed but follow the Wizard at the beginning and check all that apply to you. It will save you time.

Good luck and looking forward to having you on Linux!