Thinking About Switching to Linux—What’s the Best Approach for Music Production and Gaming?

Honestly, it's probably best to stick with Windows for music production. Plus, be cautious about gaming since many big multiplayer titles don’t support Linux due to anti-cheat issues. If you're mostly playing those kinds of games, it might cause more hassle than it's worth.

You could give Ableton a shot on WINE in a virtual machine to see if it's tolerable for you. Just keep in mind that getting Windows plugins to work on Linux can be hit or miss.

Running Ableton on Linux through WINE can be tricky, and the audio latency could really affect your workflow. If Ableton is essential for your music, I’d suggest dual booting to keep Windows. If you’re looking to try Linux, consider using Bitwig, which is compatible and has ex-Ableton developers on board. Ubuntu is user-friendly for audio work, but you'll want to install Ubuntu Studio for the best performance.

Switching depends on how much frustration you can handle and your available time for troubleshooting. If you have the patience, experimenting with Linux could pay off.

Learning programs like Ardour, Bitwig, or LMMS could be a good route if you want to switch, but if you’re already comfortable with Ableton, it might be easier to just stick with Windows.