Hi. 10-year Linux user here. Here is my concise guide to making the switch from Windows to Linux:

Step 1: Start trying out open source software on your Windows machine. A lot of my first year of using Linux full-time was googling “linux equivalent for [software name].” See what you think of LibreOffice, Blender, FreeCAD, Shotcut, Inkscape, GIMP, Krita, whatever programs you would use for your workflows.

Step 2: Try out Linux in a VM. You’ll probably use a package called Virtualbox, which lets you install Linux in a file on your computer, and run it in a window. This is a great way to just…try out Linux distros without doing any permanent changes to your computer. Speaking of distros, yes there are thousands of them, yes that choice can be paralyzing. I recommend trying Linux Mint, Kubuntu, and Pop!_OS. These are designed with good out-of-box experiences and beginner friendliness in mind and are designed as daily drivers rather than as tinkering projects.

Step 3: Live USB. If you’ve ever installed Windows, you’re probably familiar with the “you put the disc/USB stick in, boot to it, and it dumps you straight into the installer which runs at like 800x600 and you have to fully install Windows to get to the desktop” process. Not Linux; most Linux distros use what they call a Live environment, where from the disc/USB stick it boots to a fully functional version of the desktop. Nothing gets written to your machine’s internal hard drive, but now you’re running the OS on bare metal and not in a virtual machine, you can now genuinely test it for compatibility with your hardware.

Step 4: Run the installer. I’m not going to cover this process, you can find guides easily on the internet, including how to dual boot with Windows if you’re not ready to fully burn that bridge. But now you’re actually moving in.

Answers to some FAQs:

• Do I need to use the terminal? Probably on occasion. Microsoft has trained a few generations of computer users to hate and fear the CLI by making theirs horrible. Think about the kind of things you need to edit the registry or dive into configuration files on Windows, and that’s the kind of thing you’ll need to use the terminal for on Linux. If you ask for technical help on a Linux forum or Lemmy community, you will likely be asked to run a terminal command, for the simple reason that “run lsblk and copy-paste the return” is way easier to do in a text forum. There are several “Linux terminal basics” videos out there that take around an hour and show you how do do things like make folders, create and delete files, install software etc. from the terminal, which is worth learning how to do, it will help your understanding of the Linux desktop. It’s a good way to learn how the Linux file system works.

• Do I need to know how to program? No. Scripting and programming tools will fall to hand easier on a Linux system, but if you create art in GIMP and play games in Steam and whatnot you won’t need to write any code.

• Will my [weird program or esoteric hardware work] Maybe, maybe not. I have seen it go both ways, I have hardware that works in Linux better than in Windows, I have seen things that don’t work in Linux at all. If you have a gaming mouse or keyboard, it may be that the vendor’s software for configuring the RGB lighting or remapping the buttons doesn’t work. On the other hand I use a Spacemouse in CAD software and it works fine. Ultimately you will have to test this.

Good luck, and Welcome to the Linux community!