I've been developing on Windows for over a decade. Visual Studio, PowerShell, WSL2 - I had it all set up perfectly. But curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to try Linux as my daily driver.
Why I Made the Switch
It started with Docker. Running containers on Windows always felt clunky. Then came the constant Windows updates interrupting my workflow. The final straw? I spent three hours troubleshooting a Node.js path issue that just... worked on Linux.
The First Week Was Rough
I won't sugarcoat it. I picked Ubuntu 22.04, and the first week was painful. Where's the software? How do I install things? What's a PPA? I broke my installation twice trying to customize the desktop.
But then something clicked. Package managers make sense. The terminal became my friend. And suddenly, I wasn't fighting my OS anymore.
What I Love
Performance is incredible. My laptop runs cooler and faster. Development tools just work - no PATH issues, no permission problems, no "restart required" messages.
The freedom is addicting. Don't like your desktop environment? Switch it. Want to customize everything? Go ahead. Need to automate something? Bash scripts are built-in.
What I Miss
Adobe Creative Cloud doesn't exist on Linux. I keep a Windows partition just for Photoshop. Gaming is better than it used to be thanks to Proton, but some games still won't run.
Microsoft Office web apps work fine, but they're not the same as the desktop versions. And let's be honest - sometimes I just want things to work without reading documentation.
Would I Recommend It?
If you're a developer, especially working with web or backend technologies, absolutely try it. You'll learn so much about how systems actually work.
If you're a gamer or creative professional, maybe stick with Windows or Mac. The software gap is real.
My Setup
I'm running Pop!_OS now (switched from Ubuntu). VS Code, Docker, Node, Python - everything runs natively. I use Timeshift for backups because I learned that lesson the hard way.
The Bottom Line
Linux made me a better developer. I understand my tools better. I can troubleshoot issues faster. And I actually enjoy using my computer again.
Would I go back? Maybe if Windows 12 impresses me. But right now? I'm staying put.