This post idea was inspired by a recent post by Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de in this community.
I have been a Windows user for my entire life. I recall having an iMac in my bedroom as a small boy, maybe 7-8, playing random offline games on it, but aside from that, my experience growing up was with Windows 98, XP, Vista, 8 and 10. I wouldn't say I was ever a "power user" per se, although I could do several tasks that were more technical if needed, like locating driver files, updating .dlls, configuring compatibility settings, etc. I think being a good Googler made me seem more capable to my family than I really was, and I'm sure a lot of people here would share my experience!
With the impending sundowning of Windows 10, an OS that I "begrudgingly accepted" (rather than actually enjoyed using, as with Vista), and realizing that 11 was only going to bring more ads, force-installed applications, background processes that were nigh-impossible to disable without a lot of tomfoolery, AI bullshit and general bloat, I figured that I would try dual-booting Ubuntu, installing it on a partition of my storage HDD. Windows did not want to play ball, no matter how much I begged and pleaded and bargained, and eventually I was met at a point where I had to decide what to do going forward. My system was just not behaving the way I wanted to with two OSes ("This town ain't big enough for the both of us"), and figured,
Oh, what the hell. I'll primary Ubuntu and when I need to use Windows I'll run it on a thumb drive or something.
Well, it's been several weeks now and, even with a couple bumps along the way, I have not booted into Windows once since the switchover. How many of you had a similar experience? I was frankly a bit scared of CLI and thinking that I was going to brick my PC before I even had a chance to use it, so I kept all my personal files safely tucked away in a removed HDD until the break-in process was relatively complete. As time has gone on, I've gotten comfortable enough to have a backed up copy of my files on here, and every new program I go to install that I used on Windows has worked swimmingly on Linux.
I can only thank the helpful, enthusiastic people here in the Linux community for making my experience so smooth. It's rare you encounter a group of people where you can post what is ostensibly a stupid question, and be pummeled with dozens of well-formed, thoughtful, detailed responses to the question. There's very little of that infamous grandiosity and self-righteousness that I've heard runs rampant in the Linux world, and maybe Lemmings are just more prone to being helpful than the wider internet, but for what it's worth, I appreciate everything you all have done here so far.
I feel so much more capable as a computer user with Linux than I ever did on Windows. I'm automating tasks, I'm fine-tuning network drivers, I'm getting in the weeds of file architecture, and it's all been a real blast to learn about. I actually feel a desire to learn so that I can help others have a similar experience to what I had coming into this.
Always nice to read so great posts. Welcome to a brand new world of possibilities. I promise your journey will be long but full of self accomplishments, learnings, satisfaction. You will probably run into one or two times when you'll have to search for a solution but in these situations the Linux community will always be there for you and you'll feel so proud to have learn something along the way.
You realize how much Linux is different to other OS only when you live with it. There's a real philosophy, it's not just some branding wording. If you feel adventurous enough you'll certainly see your mindset and way of thinking evolving as time goes. You have so much possibilities to discover, I'm jealous of this sentiment of new user you'll experience. I've personaly used to tweak Windows back in the days and its limitations (amongst other things) is one of the main reasons why I switched to Linux. Twenty years later I'm wondering how I didn't know earlier that another world existed.
Beyond the fact that Linux has improved my workflow drastically compared to my Windows/MacOS colleagues, it also helped me grow intellectually. The best part is that it never ends because there's always a new tool, app, distro to experiment, play with, and learn from.
Working with a system and not adapting to it or fighting against it is a huge difference. Linux has so many options that you can litterally build the system that fits your specific needs and liking to perfection (and even better than you can think now). It's just a matter of few efforts. We're not used to make efforts nowadays and prefer opting for the laziness of being the slaves of a system/brand but I can guarantee you will be rewarded for these efforts beyond your expectations.
Enjoy your new life!