Windows kept nagging me with AI features I never asked for. So I ditched it for Linux last weekend.

Honestly? It’s been surprisingly smooth. My gaming mouse only works inside games, which is hilarious. But everything else just… works. No setup drama. No driver hunts. Just a quiet OS that leaves me alone.

Let me walk you through what happened.

Why I Finally Made the Switch

Microsoft won’t stop pushing features nobody wants. Change your browser back to Edge. Try this AI assistant. Rate your Windows experience. It’s exhausting.

Plus, I write about tech for a living. I need to know if Linux is actually viable now, or if it’s still the hobby OS everyone claims it used to be.

So I picked CachyOS. It’s optimized for modern hardware and supposedly easy for gaming. I backed up my Windows drive and jumped in.

Installation: Surprisingly Painless

The installer walked me through everything. Pick a bootloader. Choose a desktop environment. Set up partitions. Done in six minutes.

Gaming mouse only works inside games but not on desktop

I went with KDE Plasma for the desktop because it has good gaming support. Installed everything on a separate physical drive from Windows, so updates won’t break anything.

Then I hit my first problem. Mouse clicks didn’t work. I could move the cursor fine, but clicking did nothing.

Turns out my ancient Mad Catz gaming mouse has a known bug with Linux desktops. Solution? Keep it unplugged unless I’m gaming. When I launch a game, I plug it in and it works perfectly. Outside games? Buttons stop responding again.

It’s ridiculous. A gaming mouse that literally only works for gaming. But I’m not buying new hardware just to avoid a minor inconvenience.

Everything Else Just Works

Multiple Linux app installation systems providing one-click software installs

My Nvidia GPU drivers installed automatically. Monitor, speakers, webcam all detected instantly. Even my nightmare printer prints without hassle.

I expected hardware to be the hard part. It wasn’t.

Apps install through multiple systems on Linux. Official repositories, Flatpak, Snap, the Arch User Repository. It sounds chaotic, but Cachy’s welcome screen lists popular apps with one-click installs.

I grabbed Chromium, Discord, Slack, and Audacity in minutes. Added 1Password from the Arch repo. All work fine.

Proton compatibility layer enables Windows games on Linux through Steam

Gaming Actually Works Now

Steam and Epic both have Linux support now. I installed Heroic Games Launcher, which handles Epic, GOG, and Amazon libraries.

Downloaded The Outer Worlds to test. It runs through Proton, a Windows compatibility layer. Game launches, saves sync from the cloud, everything performs smoothly.

This is where Linux used to fall apart. Not anymore. Modern games mostly just work.

Well, except Minecraft Bedrock Edition. Microsoft doesn’t make a Linux version, probably because they’re Microsoft. My kids play on iPads using Bedrock, so I can’t join them.

Java Edition works fine on Linux, but it doesn’t have cross-play with Bedrock. There’s supposedly a way to run the Android app, but I couldn’t get it working yet.

So I’ll boot back into Windows for family Minecraft nights. Not ideal, but manageable.

What’s Missing

Arc browser doesn’t have a Linux build. Firefox and Chromium work fine as replacements for now.

Airtable, Spotify, and Apple Music don’t have official Linux apps either. They all work in the browser, which is acceptable short-term. I’ll hunt for native alternatives later.

Switching from Windows AI features to CachyOS Linux desktop

I haven’t set up cloud storage sync yet. Haven’t configured backups. Haven’t tested my camera gear or audio interface.

But for basic work and gaming? It’s been fine.

No Regrets Yet

This is definitely the honeymoon phase. I’ve used Linux for less than a week. Haven’t tried anything complex. Haven’t edited photos or done video work.

Gaming on Linux with Steam Proton and Epic Games

But the difference in daily experience is striking. My OS isn’t constantly trying to upsell me. No AI features I didn’t ask for. No nagging to switch browsers or search engines.

It just sits there and lets me work. That’s all I want.

Will I crawl back to Windows the first time something breaks? Maybe. My job requires staying familiar with all major operating systems anyway, so I can’t use Linux exclusively.

But right now, this feels sustainable. Not because Linux is perfect. Because Windows got so annoying that even dealing with occasional Linux quirks feels like an upgrade.

The bar was low. Linux cleared it easily.