Verdict?
I’ve had about 4 months to settle in to it all. A lot of my daily stuff has become second nature. Sure, I still boot in to Windows for things but, apart from the software mentioned I can’t say I’ve needed Windows for much else. If anything, Ubuntu has improved my day to day even more. I love the Software… store, I guess you could call it. It’s so easy to find new applications to install, and all of it free. There’s a wealth of software immediately available to me. Things like GIMP, PHPStorm, Krita, VLC, Spotify etc. All easily available, within moments, without me having to go to their individual websites, find the download page, find the link for my OS, download, run setup… you get the idea. It’s a wonderful thing that will probably have me trying out new software now far more than I otherwise would. Plus you can uninstall software, on Linux, without the worry of it leaving ‘garbage’ behind, as you get on Windows.
As time went on I found myself ditching the Gnome desktop and going with KDE. It feels a bit more professional, and my applications get a bit more real estate, thanks to the smaller task bar, and no menu bar, at the top. Small things that make all the difference.
I love how much power and flexibility Linux gives you too. Just as I had with my Amiga there is more of a feeling that the OS is ‘yours’, and you’re free to do whatever you want with it. I never quite felt that with Windows despite how familiar I got with it, over the years. I love that I can ssh in to my PC, from my Windows (for now) laptop and admin it from my living room; installing new packages, running various services and logs. Pretty much everything I do with my daily Linux VMs/servers, and all safe in the knowledge that it is not going to require a reboot and lose my connection.
My workflow has improved massively, as well. It is so much easier to get a project I’ve been working on, in the office, up and running on my Linux desktop. Plus git in a real terminal is far more pleasant to use. Yes, Windows has git bash, which is pretty good at replicating the Linux experience, but everything feels so much more tightly integrated. It’s an incredibly powerful and slick development environment.
It’s also true that, now that I’m juggling three different desktops (Linux/Windows/MacOS) my muscle memory isn’t exactly having a good time of it, for now. Especially true when I fire up an application that’s similar to a Windows one, and all the keyboard shortcuts are different. I guess, as time goes on, the Linux application shortcuts will become more prominent
It hasn’t been without it’s niggles but I am more than happy to deal with those. On the whole, the switch has gone better than expected and I’m quite settled in my new home.
I wish I had done this sooner.