I used linux in the past, both privately and work-related, but the last time was over 10 years ago, so I’m a bit out of touch. I am in need of a new PC, but it’ll be a good year before I have the funds, so for now I am making due with an i5 7500 and a gtx 1660. I do have 32 GB so there’s that. I finally feel confident enough to make the permanent switch to linux from windows as all of the programs I use are either available on linux or have a good/better equivalent. The only thing I fear will hold me back is games. I know Steam has Proton now which will run most games, but how does it compare? The games I play most are Skyrim (heavily modded) , RDR2, Witcher 3, Transport fever, Civilization, Crusader kings 3 and Cities Skylines (uninstalled atm waiting for 2). I’m on the fence to either wait until I can afford a new PC and dual boot or make the switch now and deal with a few gaming problems. Thing is, what kind of problems may I expect? Anyone able and knowledgeable to give me some advice?
EDIT: Wow, those are a lot of replies; thank you everyone! You really helped me. I will make the switch sooner rather than later.
One of the great things about Linux is picking your distro. However, I’d suggest sticking with the latest version of Ubuntu desktop if you want to game.
Way more users means problems get solved there first (after Steam Deck, of course). File system support is good, and while I don’t use NTFS partitions anymore, they worked fine for me. The user count also means larger communities of support.
If down the road you want to branch out, go for it! But play it safe for now. If you’re used to Windows, install WinTile and Dash-to-Panel extensions in GNOME to make things familiar.
KDE is better than GNOME for Windows familiarity. GNOME feels like it’s trying to emulate the experience of MacOS while KDE feels like it’s trying to give a Windows-like experience.
That is a classical windows mentality. “gnome is cheap macos clone”. Gnome tries just to create a minimal and distraction free and polished DE. KDE tries to bulldose as many features as possible and that sacrifices stability and UX. Analogy would be similar to having a leaky water pipe in the roof. Gnome would fix the leaking pipe meanwhile KDE would give you a bucket and a few towels to clean that up in different ways.
Arch is better for gaming imo.