what things would i lose or gain if i switched to linux?

broadly, gain flexibility, lose familiarity. just try it and see.

one thing i’ll spell out, you’ve likely never had to consider the logic by which windows loads dll versions. essentially, if you put a modified dll file in the same folder as an executable, when the executable calls for it that modified dll will be loaded instead of the system’s builtin version. game and software cracks sometimes rely on this principle. but on linux via wine/proton, that isn’t the case. so you’ll need to configure wine/proton to do a “dll override” in some cases (i.e when your game/software crack utilizes a modified dll). the process is pretty straight-forward, the main thing is knowing you need to do it.

Ciao, first of all, there are games that use kernel-level anti-cheat software that will not work. The good news is that many companies, seeing the growth of the Linux market, are taking remedial action. For example, EA recently announced that it will adapt its anti-cheat software for Linux. For pirated games, you can install fit-girl with bottles and use bottles to run the games as well. Technically, they should work even after years, because bottles creates a container with all the dependencies it needs to run and is isolated from the rest of the OS. It probably won’t be easy to learn how to use Linux tools right away, but it’s mostly a matter of habit, so first of all, be patient if some things don’t work right away. If you have problems, you can always ask the community. For simpler problems, AI can also be useful.

If you are invested in Windows software… don’t run Linux. Being able to run Windows software is like a “patch” to get you by until you find a Linux equivalent. Pretending you can have your cake and eat it too will just leave you disappointed.

Linux has amazing software… but in most cases it feels very different from Windows. If you learn why it is different then you may start to appreciate Linux for what it gives you rather than what it takes from you.

You lose:

• Your corporate shackles

You gain:

• Limitless bragging rights

You try it and see if it fits you. This is not a religion. You use what works for you.

Depends really on the games and software you require.

For games, check:

• https://www.protondb.com/ - people post their experiences with games if they work or not.
• https://areweanticheatyet.com/ - lists of anticheat enabled games which work or not.

In general, indies and singleplayer games generally work fine. Battlefield/Fortnite/etc hugely popular multiplayer stuff with kernel-level anticheats generally doesn’t.

I’ve only ever set up few printers to work on linux, and they’ve been bigger office printers. And they’ve all worked with minimal effort. Absolutely no idea about home printers.

1. Ubuntu is a great place to start! You might also look at Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop or Pop_OS. All 3 are great for beginners and have lasted me since the time of Win Vista. I never felt that I out grew them.

2. Gaming: use the other links in this post to see if they work. Typically, the older the game, the better chance you can get it to work. Don’t be afraid of following tutorials - tweaking and trying things, just be patient, read it once all the way through before you do it, and google what you don’t understand. It’ll take time but I’ve always felt it’s worth it.

3. Brave, yup native linux version. Some might suggest going to firefox or using vivaldi, but you do you Boo - 0 judgement space. (Political reasons - the Brave CEO is a cryptobro, etc)

4. Ahoy matey, welcome aboarrrd. Get yourself a good vpn service, stick to the major distros, and you’ll probably be right at home.

5. More than likely, your printer will just work. That easy. I’ve had several printers and scanners, hated them all, no end of troubles with mac and windows - not at all with linux in the last 15 years. The man that does most of the work for linux printing is a gawt damn saint.

6. You should be right at home in Ubuntu. Gnome does a decent job of getting out of your way once you get used to it. Keep your guard up, I would assume windows malware might still be able to run in wine and it def will in a vm.

Bottom line is you can trust Linux. The learning curve is worth not having an adversarial relationship with your computer.

You would rid yourself of the Windows virus you probably currently have on your computer.

i use an hp printer,and need to be able to use it on linux.

Then research if your specific model has compatibility issues (AFAIK HP stuff generally works well, but… it’s up to you to check before buying)

i expect to be able to use the laptop and not think about the os too much

That will happen, if you are lucky or if you buy hardware that specifically supports linux.

Would you expect macos to run on a dell computer? would you expect windows to run on a mac? linux has much broad compatibility but is no different: if it doesn’t work on your PC it’s not linux’s fault.

my goal of using linux is being far from malware

Just follow basic hygiene and you’ll be fine. Most importantly, don’t install malware yourself (chrome is available on linux too and, sadly, it’s also widely used).

You can get an HP printer without much worry. Games are pretty easy but pirates games are trickier since they might rely on some cracks that are hard to replicate (not my forte). If they are older, you could run them in a virtual machine without much difficulty. I recommend getting a simple Linux mint in a virtual box to see if you like it.

Gaming, cracks and mods would be the biggest issue. Linux gaming happens on Steam, outside of that you’re pretty much never guaranteed to get it running.
So if you have a large library of pirated games, Linux might not be for you.