[Ubuntu 24.04 LTS]My experience so far (the good, bad and the ugly) after switching from Windows a second time, likely for good now...for real.

Hello,

Long time Windows user here and casual desktop PC user in general for, ugh, two decades now. Started using a PC with Windows XP in the 2000s and stuck with it up until 7 then stuck with that till 10 and now moving to Linux, specificslly Ubuntu LTS. I have changed 3 computers in the process, first was pre built, second entirely custom built by myself, the latest (not the greatest) half prebuilt and half added parts by me.

My first experience with Linux was Ubuntu and Mint about a decade ago but I could not use either long term due to lack of support for games. Recently with all the troubles brewing with Windows 10 and the controversies related to the OS becoming more and more like legalized spyware and combined with the fact I no longer prioritize gaming as much I decided to try Linux once more and was pleasantly surprised.

The good parts:

• GUI responsiveness has never felt better, with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS not only is it up to Windows level but sometimes it feels faster to use the GUI;

• gaming support for the few legacy games that I still play is good enough and I cannot stress enough how big of a change that is when in the past I could not run those programs at all;

• driver support, using an nvidia GPU is much better on Ubuntu compared to other distros given it offers a simple GUI option to switch to the latest driver tested and supported, with other distros it still takes too much work to figure out how to install proprietary drivers;

• the design of the GUI after going through the settings is absolutely amazing, I like so much the way I made it look I doubt myself why I feel this way since I never really cared much about the GUI as long as it was minimal and easy to use. Frankly I feel like I m being medicated with happy pills, can t get over how nice it is;

• this might be more of a gnome thing than Ubuntu but I absolutely support the design decisions to have a Settings App where all/most settings are concentrated, copying in a good way how Settings is arranged on mobile devices like smartphones. The same for how apps and utilities are displayed when pressing the Super key (Windows key) or the Ubuntu button on the dash.

• Steam worked the best out of the distros I tried like Mint Cinamon, Mate, openSuse Leap nad MicroOS and Fedora Silverblue. Out of all of those the combination of RAM usage, GUI responsiveness, ease of use especially with installing video card driver and overall design of the GUI was best on Ubuntu. For me Cinamon and KDE runs much slower that gnome 46.

The bad

• the thing that gave me the most satisfaction was once again the way I could set up the desktop environment theme from the available settings without needing to use the terminal once. I cannot stress enough how the insistance of Linux old timers to depend on the terminal instead of the GUI is off putting for casual users such as myself. It is not about not wanting to ever use it to fox some esotheric trouble now and then but it should never be required for general things that are expected to be done through the GUI. For example there was no option in the settings to hide the top gnome panel. I had to install both gnome Tweaks and Extensions from the App Center which in itself was a hassle because neither of these 2 appeared when I searched, instead could be, found out later, selected from the suggestion of the search bar of the App Center and only after installing them did they appear as a result when searching for them. Additionally I still needed to add the Just Perfection extension all so I could untick one single box to hide the gnome top bar, panel whatever it is called in the desktop. From online searches this used to be an option for Gnome Tweaks but was later removed for whatever consideration but regardless it should have been an option in the default Settings. Same with adjusting font size and type and what I am still missing a Show Desktop button or incon for the Dock.

The ugly

• remaining with the lack of GUI settings that are expected by default I could never find out how to make opened apps to 1 Highlight which one was in focus from the dock icons and 2. How to show preview of the multiple windows or instances of a specific opened app icon in the Dock by hovering or clicking on the icon, the closest I found was to right click on it and left click on the top most option to show opened windows, a subpar and unacceptable compromise, for me at least. The lack of a show desktop icon also took me through a multiple hours wasted saga to make a bash script I never figured out how to do using the terminal and nano commands and eventually gave up and accepted to have to use Superkey+D to toggle between minimize all opened apps and windows and restore them.

• while I lauded and praised the Settings window that brings everything into a single place, it still feels like some things are disjointed and not properly thought out. Like I mentioned Gnome Tweaks and Extensions options should have been integrated into the Settings app or window under Appearance or Display. Lokewise the Update apps of which there are 2 plus the additional driver which is part of one of those and having a separate icon feels disjointed and not well implemented into tge Settings where it should be placed under a single separate categry or maybe two, one with graphics driver selection and anothef with Updates. Additionally the "About" information regarding the hardware and software should be a dedicated category placed either first of last in the list on the left. Also still can t get over the fact that nobody cared enough to make a show desktop button icon for the Dock or show preview of opened apps when hovering the cursot on opened apps in the Dock or have a special obvious highlight of the app in focus.

Overall I still think it is a huge improvement over the past and I more than likely will stay with Linux from now on. The GUI is much improved, responsiveness is amazing, gaming support even if it requires a bit of tinkering with Proton on Steam and there are a few bugs here and therd is good enough if it means no longer needing Windows 10 or 11 and while some GUI things still are missing some obvious polish and logical thinking, it is almost there to convince casual desktop PC users to say goodbye to Microsoft, for good this time.

PS still obssesed with how my theme is set up. If you guys wanna see, please give some instructions on how to share screenshots, I am not familiar how they are shared on reddit.