Hey everyone! I'm planning to switch from Windows 11 to Linux on my MSI Katana 17 B13V laptop, which has an RTX 4060, an i7 13620H, and 16GB RAM. I want to get used to Linux in advance because I'll be traveling abroad in about a year, and I primarily need it for work and gaming. I know I might face a 10-20% performance decrease in gaming, and I'm fine with that. I'm looking to play games like Space Engineers, Minecraft, Cyberpunk, F1, and Star Citizen, and I'll also be using editing software like DaVinci Resolve and Photoshop CS6. I've heard that running Photoshop on Linux is really difficult, so should I just switch to GIMP instead? I prefer not to run a dual-boot setup and have already transferred everything from my PC to my laptop. When I back things up, do I need to reinstall a lot of stuff, or can I just copy folders over? Are folder structures in Linux similar to Windows? What do you recommend I install to get started? As a complete beginner to Linux, I'd really appreciate any advice you can offer!
5 Answers
Installing Windows software on Linux can really be a pain. There are tools like PlayOnLinux that might help, but big programs like Photoshop are tough. GIMP is free and runs perfectly fine on Linux. Also, the directory structure is different; everything is under the root (/) directory. You'll have your home files in /home/username, and that’s where you find your Documents and Downloads.
If you're new to Linux, I highly recommend trying Linux Mint. It's user-friendly and very straightforward to set up. You can get Photoshop running on Linux, but it can be tricky, so transitioning to GIMP would be a safer choice if you just want something that works without much hassle. If you have more questions, feel free to ask!
For distros, I'd suggest Fedora or Arch-based systems. Fedora is easier, while Arch gives you more control. You can run DaVinci Resolve on Linux too, but it can be tricky. Just be prepared for some learning. And don’t stress too much about switching—there's a supportive community out there to help!
For graphics, you can try running Photoshop in the browser at photoshop.adobe.com. It won’t be as fancy as the desktop version, but it functions and allows you to create PWA apps, which makes it feel a bit more integrated. I do it for Office and it's been great.
Remember, Linux and Windows have fundamentally different systems. Windows programs usually don't work on Linux, so focus on learning the new software. Many games run just fine with Steam's Proton, but you'll have to reinstall them on your Linux drives. Keep your Windows files on a separate partition if you want access from Linux.
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