I’ve used both pretty extensively (years daily driving each) but these days I just use stock KDE, with maybe a couple little adjustments to the taskbar. I like both. I can adapt to different desktop workflows, GNOME’s is good, but I found myself always using plugins to make it work more like a windows desktop. I generally like the KDE suite of default applications a lot more than GNOME’s, like Dolphin is just a better file manager than nautilus. And if I’m going to use KDE applications and a windows-styled desktop layout, at that point I might as well just use KDE.

I recall it using some different design philosophies behind managing windows than I was familiar with, I’d honestly just recommend trying it out in a live USB or a vm so you can see for yourself. It uses a desktop called Pantheon that they make specifically for elementary OS. Specifically, the X button on the window is in the top left, maximize is in the top right, and there’s no minimize button.

Wifi card drivers can be an issue, that you should be able to see in the live USB before you try installing though. It’s not a matter of any specific distribution and more whether or not your wifi card has working drivers.

My recommendation given where you are coming from would probably be something like elementary OS. https://elementary.io/

It has some differences in it’s workflow though, and if you don’t find that appealing I see that many others have already recommended distributions with Gnome such as Fedora.

For Doom 3, it does work with the original engine but I do recommend playing using the dhewm3 source port. It supports linux natively and has high resolution and framerate support.

If she absolutely needs desktop microsoft office, you can always consider trying winapps. It runs a full windows VM but makes the applications show up on the linux desktop like they were native applications. https://github.com/winapps-org/winapps

Given it’s not including competitive multiplayer, I’d be surprised if they included anti-cheat in this release.

https://abacstallion.com/2024/07/03/valve-finally-fixes-team-fortress-2/ That really is an exaggeration. I play FPS games on PC, mostly older ones from before kernel level anti cheat, and cheating is rare. Quake Live is one of my more commonly played ones and I may have run Into a single cheater there. I remember MW2 having an aimbot problem… But it also lacked any anti cheat or report/banning system.

Anti-cheat that isn’t kernel-level has been around for ages - and even with the kernel level anti-cheat people still manage to cheat. I don’t think a special OS with it’s own kernel, just for gaming, would be practical. Most people aren’t going to install something like that, hell, most people that use a PC have no idea how installing an OS functions. Just have anti-cheat that isn’t kernel level, and have a robust report/banning system. Team Fortress 2 was practically unplayable for a long time due to it’s botting problems, but they managed to resolve it without kernel level anti-cheat.

People do in fact, still manage to cheat on consoles. Also, a locked down ecosystem for games is very far from a solution and comes with many of it’s own drawbacks.

As someone else here already said, the desktop market isn’t where they make their money. Licenses for enterprise computing is where they make their money, and until we see most major businesses ditching windows entirely, we won’t see them worried.

I think once you’re into concepts like a “stack”, you’re working with very niche specific software that most users will never touch. And absolutely, use what fulfills your needs. The vast majority of people I know that ever use a computer, just use it as google chrome. Web browsers work great in Linux. Depending on your needs, a lot of creative software works great on Linux too.

My display is 144hz and I’ve played quite a few games at that framerate. When you’re talking about smoothness, what you’re actually talking about is frame time. A consistent FPS at 30 is smooth, if there’s not inconsistent frametime and stutters.

Idk man, I’ve enjoyed many a game at 30 fps. 60 is my general target but acting like it’s a minimum to have a fun time is ridiculous.

People are just now realizing that a mass network of always online cameras on most doors in your neighborhood is bad, actually?

I’m not sure how you managed to get that to function, I’ve tried many times to get any calendar to work with the one in KDE and given up every time

It doesn’t sync to KDE’s calendar app, unfortunately, but it does sync to Gnome’s. It’s one of the pain points I had swapping to KDE.

Some of those issues are addressable, even though they definitely suck, depending on how badly someone wants to swap to Linux. I have a PC I connect to my TV, and while it’s built in wifi doesn’t work on linux, I was able to buy a PCI wifi card and put it in, which works. You can do similar for Bluetooth. Currently I just use it over Ethernet. For laptops, it’s a pain but there are USB wifi/bluetooth devices you can get. Fingerprint readers are tougher, I believe, but I feel less critical. Either way, use what works best for you!

In the case of dark souls, you can quit out at any time and your progress is saved. If you’re in a boss fight, it’ll just put you in front of the boss door when you reload your save. It’s saving automatically constantly. Bonfires are more for setting your respawn point when you die, and fast travel, among other features that vary from game to game. That level of tension can absolutely be done without forcing you to lose progress if say, your power goes out or you have to go.

There are different Linux distributions that do offer paid support, as far as the OS goes. So if you’re interested in professional paid support for the OS, something like Zorin OS or Ubuntu may be an option. I’ve seen others recommend Linux mint, and that’s my go-to for someone not familiar with Linux. It’s popular and even if whatever repair shop you’re taking it into isn’t familiar, they can find the resources online to fix whatever problem you may have. But being totally practical, even if you dislike windows, if it’s able to do what you need, and the people that you know are familiar with it, is it worth the effort to swap for you and your use case?

I’ve been using linux for years, after windows 10 forced an update at the beginning of a college class I needed the laptop for, and that update took longer than the class. Today though, I use Garuda Linux, but I’ve hopped around between a variety of distros. For many years I’ve kept a small SSD with Windows 10 on it, so I could play League of Legends or run software I couldn’t get to work in WINE. But with EOL now here, and my PC not supported by 11, I finally just cleared that drive so I can store games or movies/shows on it.