Windows 10 is close to being dead now, with support ending this year. So why not try out Linux? Instead of getting a whole new system and having to deal with the increasing amount of AI junk and adverts in Windows 11.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve used a linux distro for personal use, but I’ve got a laptop that probably needs to move over. That being said, I would still LIKE to play some windows exclusive games on that machine. Is wine still the go to for fudging compatibility? How good is it? Will I be able to download windows only steam games with relatively low effort for such uses?
My personal experience gaming solely on Linux for about two years is a 100% success rate running Windows games. Mind you I don’t play anything that has anti-cheat. And maybe 85%-90% without needing to fiddle with anything.
Fair point. I dislike competitive multiplayer games. Also why I don’t encounter anything with anti-cheat, as that’s the primary (maybe only?) type of game it’s used for.
But absolutely an important consideration for those that do like competitive multiplayer.
I moved from windows to ubuntu a few months ago. My entire steam library works when I do this. The only games I’ve heard don’t work are LoL and CoD. Maybe a few more?
There’s also Lutris, https://lutris.net/, which uses wine and other software underneath, but with a nice GUI and a lot of scripts to further make playing your games on Linux easier.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve used a linux distro for personal use, but I’ve got a laptop that probably needs to move over. That being said, I would still LIKE to play some windows exclusive games on that machine. Is wine still the go to for fudging compatibility? How good is it? Will I be able to download windows only steam games with relatively low effort for such uses?
Proton / wine is modern day magic
Most Windows only steam games work out of the box (you do have to enable it in the right click menu > Compatibility options, per game)
Games that use Anti-cheat aren’t likely to work (it depends on the Anti-cheat used and how it’s configured)
ProtonDB is a good resource for checking if/which games work, or fixes and workarounds
You can use proton or wine on non steam games, but that requires additional setup that I’m not familiar with
My personal experience gaming solely on Linux for about two years is a 100% success rate running Windows games. Mind you I don’t play anything that has anti-cheat. And maybe 85%-90% without needing to fiddle with anything.
Depends entirely on your games list.
If you only play indies and singleplayer, it will probably work out.
If you play AAA and competitive multiplayer, not so much.
Fair point. I dislike competitive multiplayer games. Also why I don’t encounter anything with anti-cheat, as that’s the primary (maybe only?) type of game it’s used for.
But absolutely an important consideration for those that do like competitive multiplayer.
I moved from windows to ubuntu a few months ago. My entire steam library works when I do this. The only games I’ve heard don’t work are LoL and CoD. Maybe a few more?
Okay dank I had no awareness of proton, this is very encouraging! Thanks!
Linux gamer here. Can confirm: both Proton and ProtonDB are wonderful.
There’s also Lutris, https://lutris.net/, which uses wine and other software underneath, but with a nice GUI and a lot of scripts to further make playing your games on Linux easier.