I spent a 12 months on Linux Mint, however I am going to by no means use it once more for these causes

Linux Mint has a popularity for being the pleasant face of Linux and the proper first step. The one individuals level to once they say switching from Windows is simpler than you’d suppose. I believed that for some time. I put in it on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y70, received comfy, and figured I’d lastly made the leap for good. What adopted was a few 12 months of regretting that alternative totally, and I’d take it again if I may. I want extra individuals informed you what to anticipate when you switch from Windows to Linux.

Older laptops actually wrestle with Linux Mint

Older {hardware} gives you loads of complications

I’ve a Lenovo IdeaPad Y70, and it took Linux poorly. On some machines, Mint simply reads the laptop computer improper, and that occurred on mine. The first huge drawback was when my laptop computer simply determined wi-fi was off, so Wi-Fi and Bluetooth died fully, even when every thing was nice.

The factor about Linux is that nothing on display tells you tips on how to repair it if it’s a problem like this. You’re going to need to undergo boards to determine it out. The difficulty is that the wi-fi chips in loads of older laptops have been constructed with Windows in mind, not Mint. Mint’s built-in drivers are generic, so that they get shaky with these chips. You may run Wi-Fi and Bluetooth collectively and watch the connection drop each jiffy. Or you shut the lid, open it, and the cardboard simply would not get up.

Getting it secure often means putting in a driver from exterior Mint’s regular sources or messing with startup settings. It is not laborious, however a brand new Linux person would by no means take into consideration making an attempt it.

What I believe killed my laptop computer began with Mint defaulting to a free open-source driver for NVIDIA cards. It works, however it might’t run the cardboard at full velocity, so it sits in its slowest mode in video games. Switching to NVIDIA’s official driver in Driver Manager fixes the velocity, but it surely results in one other drawback.

Basically, each time Mint updates its core software program, that driver needs to be rebuilt to match. On older playing cards, the rebuild generally simply fails as a result of the driving force is not being saved present for newer Mint variations anymore.

You reboot after a routine replace and get a black display, which is precisely my state of affairs proper now. I’m too lazy to only rebuild it, however this is able to by no means have occurred if I hadn’t put in Mint to start with. It took nearly a 12 months to occur, but it surely did not come out of nowhere.

Games and artistic apps simply run worse on Mint

Creative apps and video games gives you a tough time

Switching to Linux Mint isn’t an important concept should you work with artistic instruments. The software program you want simply would not work there, and you will want to seek out options. For instance, Reallusion’s iClone, Character Creator, and Cartoon Animator haven’t any Linux variations in any respect.

A digital machine would not prevent both, since virtualized graphics cannot faucet into actual GPU acceleration. There are methods round this, however none are simple, and that is the largest difficulty with artistic apps and Steam. Using them is both a problem or simply not so good as it’s on Windows or Mac.

Steam’s Proton does a stable job translating Windows video games, however Mint’s desktop setting isn’t serving to. The default Cinnamon desktop runs on the older X11 show system, and its Muffin compositor will get in the best way of clean gaming.

If you’ve got ever run a recreation full display by way of Proton, you may really feel the distinction from Windows should you play sufficient video games. You won’t discover something in a turn-based recreation, however do not even take into consideration a first-person shooter or any aggressive recreation.

This actually bothered me as a result of everybody pushing Linux glosses over this. While you may play video games or work on artistic apps on Mint, it is simply not pretty much as good proper out of the field, and it is a huge difficulty if that is one thing you care quite a bit about.

Getting new gear to work is a big gamble

Gaming peripherals on Linux Mint are a ache, and most of the people do not discover that out till they fight it. If you purchase a pleasant mouse from Logitech, Razer, or Corsair, you may probably want drivers. That’s the place the problem begins. These corporations write their software program for Windows and macOS, not Linux.

The mouse itself works nice for primary pointing and clicking, however every thing that makes it well worth the cash is locked away. You cannot rebind buttons, change the DPI, modify the polling price, or arrange lighting profiles. Trying to run the Windows installer by way of WINE often goes nowhere as a result of these packages rely on Windows-specific drivers and background providers that simply do not have an equal on Linux Mint.

So you are caught hoping a group instrument like Piper or OpenRGB helps your particular mouse. Those instruments aren’t an actual repair, since they are often flaky and may truly brick your machine if one thing goes improper.

This is just about the problem with each new machine that wants drivers. Streaming mics lean laborious on their companion apps for the options they’re marketed with. So you may file audio simply nice, however you pay further for options that solely work by way of the companion app.

If you need compression, separate mixes in your stream and headphones, or a dialed-in mic curve, you construct that your self with PipeWire and no matter open-source plugins you may string collectively.

Fixing issues takes manner an excessive amount of analysis

You need to do all of the digging your self

The worst half is that when one thing breaks on Linux Mint, you are fully by yourself. Usually, the issue is not your app. It’s the OS itself, so there aren’t any clear solutions. On Windows or Mac, you may no less than name somebody or stroll right into a retailer. If the app is appearing up, you may get assist from the creators. If you are on Mint, it is simply you and whoever you are keen to rent or hearken to.

So you are googling, digging by way of previous discussion board posts, scrolling Reddit, hoping someone hit the identical bug and really wrote it up. Every tiny difficulty will turn out to be an investigation that would eat up hours.

And the solutions you discover nearly by no means say, “go to Settings and click on this.” They inform you to open the Terminal or one thing difficult. That’s just about why I inform individuals to not consider the hype; it is much more work. While there are nice causes to be taught Linux Mint, I made a decision it wasn’t well worth the bother anymore.

Linux is not all the time the most suitable choice

Linux Mint is not unhealthy software program, and I do know it is nice for lots of people. It’s well-built for what it’s, and individuals who use it as a primary desktop for looking and paperwork will in all probability by no means run into most of those points. The drawback is the hole between the way it’s marketed and what you truly get while you carry actual {hardware}, gaming, and other forms of apps over. Don’t change on a whim as a result of it is a huge resolution.