Windows is awful. Some tell themselves it’s a necessary evil to get through the day, but let’s be real, we all hate it. I’ve dreamed of ditching Windows for many years. But every time I’ve tried Linux, I haven’t been able to stick with it.
Until now, that is!
A year ago I decided to try Fedora for the first time. I’ve always been daunted by it. People talk about it as if it’s a hardcore tinkerer’s operating system, best for those who already live and breathe Linux, and who aren’t daunted by constant issues caused by cutting edge updates.
But after not being totally satisfied with more entry-level distros like Linux Mint and Zorin OS, I was keen to try something different. In 2024 I attempted to go full-time with Linux Mint, and although there was much to appreciate, I felt like I was often fighting against the OS to get it to do what I needed it to do. I’m still a big fan of these Ubuntu-based operating systems — I’ve set up Zorin OS as a Windows replacement for several family members. But as a power user, they just don’t satisfy my needs.
For me, a desktop operating system needs to:
- be reliable (relatively stable and crash-free)
- be efficient (quiet, easy to use, effortless to complete simple tasks)
- run all the software (there shouldn’t be anything I’m simply unable to do)
For me, Fedora ticks all of these boxes.
I was surprised to find Fedora 42 KDE Plasma incredibly welcoming and accessible. Contrary to what I’d heard about it being advanced and complicated, I actually consider it to be the most “ready to go” flavour of Linux I’ve ever used.
It’s better than Windows, though that’s a very low bar. It’s heaps faster than Windows 11. Not just in everyday tasks, but also in most video games (thanks Proton!). And out of the box Fedora is actually incredibly easy to use… I came thinking I’d need to tweak and customise for ages before I was happy with the setup, but that’s not the case.
(Granted, I suppose I do have a fair bit of Linux experience at this point. After tinkering with Debian on Chromebooks years ago, and using Unraid for servers, I’m certainly no longer afraid of the Terminal.)
There a lots of great touches throughout the Fedora operating system. Useful little quality of life features like the “Extract here and delete archive” option in Dolphin’s (file browser) context menu. When I saw it, I thought that’s such a no-brainer, why hasn’t it always been an option across every operating system ever? How often do you really want to keep a zip file after extracting it?
That’s not to say there are no issues. Fedora’s cutting edge update stream is one of the best and worst things about it. Imperfect updates have broken things for me over hte last year:
- for a little while Flatpaks wouldn’t open
- for a month Zed wouldn’t launch
- Feishin wouldn’t play audio smoothly to monitor over HDMI
But Fedora’s updates are fast and comprehensive and all of these issues disappeared on their own within a couple of weeks. All I needed was a little patience.
That’s not to say I was trapped with these issues though. These were all issues that I probably could have fixed if I put in some time and effort. That’s one of my favourite things about Linux… since the code keeping everything running is easy to see (and largely open source), most issues really are fixable.
When something breaks on Linux, there’s a reason. A reason that can usually be discovered. It’s possible to actually investigate what’s occurring, as opposed to Windows, where the background code is so obfuscated that if you want to fix something you may as well throw a wishing stone into a well and try again later.
The biggest thing that’s prevented me from sticking with Linux is the past is the difficulty of running a mainstream video editing application. I’ve found Davinci Resolve relatively fiddly to set up on every Linux distro, and Fedora is no exception. Things are better than they’ve ever been though, and I do now have Davinci running adequately. This was made achievable by some very helpful Github projects: Davinci Helper is what got me going last year, but more recently I’ve preferred the Davincibox setup.
Every other piece of software is much more effortless. I’ve replaced Adobe Lightroom with Darktable and Visual Studio Code with Zed (although VS Code does run fine on Linux). Every other application I use is already Linux-friendly.
All in all, I’ve never been happier with my computer! With Fedora I feel like I’m in full control of my powerful desktop PC, and I very rarely have any headaches. I’m excited by the endless customisation and improvements that’s possible when you live in the Linux ecosystem. I’m thrilled to be out of the clutches of seriously-fairly-evil big tech. And I genuinely feel awful for everyone who’s still having to put up with Windows.
It turns out, this really was the year of the Linux desktop. For me, anyway. And with the Steam Machine launching very soon… I reckon 2026 will be the year of Linux for a lot of people.
