As the title say’s, my Windows 10 install broke, but I’m still unsure whether or not to reinstall Windows 10 or install Linux.

Context:

A few months back, Windows 10 updates started to fail on my desktop. I had considered just reinstalling the OS but as my machine was working just fine I simply tolerated it.

Today, when my machine auto-updated it broke something. At first I thought the update worked. But soon I realized that the taskbar was acting odd. All the shortcuts I had placed on my taskbar were working as usual, but when I right clicked them nothing would happen. I clicked on the start menu and the search bar but nothing happened. Most of the widgets on the right side of the taskbar weren’t working such as Volume, Wi-Fi, Date & Time, and Notifications. I assumed it was just the taskbar that was broken but when I tried to use the windows key to open the settings menu, it didn’t work either, nor did it’s keyboard shortcut.

It seems the update had broken some apps that, though didn’t prevent Windows from starting, made navigating it a lot more difficult.

I’ve used Linux before. I had a Linux Mint, and EndeavourOS virtual machine installed on my computer. More recently, I installed EndeavourOS on an old laptop I had lying around, and have been using it daily for about a month now. Although I’ve had my difficulties, I’ve been loving my experience.

Though I’m still a Linux newbie I’ve been meaning to give Linux a real shot on my desktop for a couple weeks now, but as my machine was working just fine I didn’t really feel any necessity to make the switch.

But with my Windows install breaking, I feel like its time to give Linux a real shot.

My Questions:

I want to install Fedora on my desktop but I still have a few questions pertaining to Linux and my desktop specs.

I’m running a GTX 1660. I’ve heard a lot of bad things about running Linux with an NVIDIA GPU so I’d like a few things clarified.

  • How would I install NVIDIA drivers?
  • Does Wayland work with NVIDIA?
  • A lot of distros are moving to Wayland. How would I ensure I stay on an Xorg session?
  • I enjoy modding Bethesda games. Does Mod Organizer work fully on Linux?
  • I’ve had difficulties running my steam games through proton on my laptop. Does proton work with Fedora?
  • With said difficulties with proton, would installing Steam as a flatpak work or will it cause issues?
  • Can you really not play any games with anti-cheat?

If you believe Fedora wouldn’t be the best distro for me I’m welcome to hear any suggestions, though I’m not enthusiastic about running anything Debian based nor installing vanilla Arch.

I’m sorry if I’m coming off as lazy for not doing my research. I’ve tried to research many of these questions before but found no concrete answers.

To all those who took the time to respond to my post.

Thank You!

Edit: I’ve made a new post

  • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de
    4·
    10 months ago

    Sounds like an opportunity has opened up to you. And I don’t know if you have anything to lose here. I’d take it and go on an adventure.

    I mean, don’t do it if you got important stuff to finish. Or if you cannot adapt to a new workflow. But -for example- Fedora is super easy to install. And in the long run Linux will save you time and headache and it’s tough and somewhat easy to maintain. And you can always delete it and switch back to Windows if you like.

    NVidia isn’t the best, but lots of people use it and it works somewhat alright.

      • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de
        1·
        10 months ago

        Usually it’s just about the NVidia drivers. I’ve never had an laptop where those tools detected or installed anything else. I mean all the drivers are supposed to come with the Linux kernel per default, and you don’t need to worry.