I've migrated my main PC to Linux. I was long overdue the shift from an ideological point of view, so when the Windows installation ceased to go to sleep reliably, I knew what I had to do.
The disto I've chosen is Debian stable. I only considered the big mainstream community-based distros, and ended up on Debian over Arch due to not wanting a rolling release. Debian is perhaps not the most beginner-friendly choice, but I have used Linux on various servers for a long time, so I don't consider myself a complete beginner.
I had planned the switchover for a long time, writing down all the programs and their use cases in a spreadsheet and going through them one by one, looking for Linux compatibility or a FOSS alternative. Even with all the planning, the setup and configuration has taken three evenings and is still not completely ready.
Most importantly, I am mostly free as in freedom, and the OS doesn't feel like an enemy.
Also, since everything is just a file, batching and automating work is much easier than on Windows.
The computer boots faster and network mounts (which I manage as systemd mount units) are more reliable than on Windows.
Not everything has been smooth sailing, though. Nvidia drivers were a hassle to install. I'd probably stayed on Nouveau if I wasn't studying CS and potentially wanting to use CUDA.
KDE Plasma doesn't feel very polished. However, I dislike GNOME enough to put up with it. I'm also not interested in a tiling WM, at least not yet.
Getting hardware sensor readings is a hassle. I've gotten it mostly working, but I decided that it is easier to set fan curves on the firmware level than on the software level. This means one compromise: I cannot set the bottom intake fans to follow the GPU temperature like on Windows.
My Logitech G600 mice don't work properly. Sure, the basic mouse functionality and even the thumb buttons work, and the RGB and DPI can be managed via piper. However, the scrollwheel tilt and the G-Shift buttons, although seemingly exposed via piper, cannot actually be remapped. This was also the case on Windows while in onboard mode. I checked the buttons with evtest, and they send non-standard ABS_MISC event codes with values 16 for right tilt, 8 for left tilt, 32 for G-Sync, and most bizarrely, value 0 for release for all three. Compare this to the scrollwheel tilts of the ubiquitous Logitech RX-250 that send the standard REL_HWHEEL event codes and just work. I guess the ability to bind non-scrollwheel events to scrollwheel tilt might be desirable in a gaming mouse like the G600, but something about this just feels unnecessarily proprietary. I also guess I could custom map the event codes in software, but given I don't currently play any games where I'd need an MMO mouse but I do absolutely want functioning horizontal scrolling, I think it is simpler to just switch to an RX-250, given it's sensor DPI value happens to be exactly 2 × the DPI I use, making it easy to just multiply by 0.5. Also, the G600 is discontinued, so if I'd need an MMO mouse in the future, it'd be the best to switch to something replaceable anyways.
Rest in peace Windows installation 2020–2026.
I hope I won't miss you.