I like gnomes features but not gnome itself. Cinnamon is good, but has its faults. Plasma is better but is missing online features (calendar for example can’t be used to create events or sync with your cloud accounts). Really would like to see how Comic a desktop turns out when it’s ready.

I agree, for a new user everything including installing nvidia drivers is in a GUI. And if you run into issue due to the size of both Mint and its base Ubuntu, searching for the problems usually results in a solution.

Usually their out going ones are like half off during sales. Currently the 7 is at half off $630 CAD. Which I think is what I paid for my 6 and is the same price as the Forerunner… onsale.

That said the 7 is the newest fenix id buy now that Garmin is ditching the MIPs display for AMOLED.

Really hate that we are moving away from front lit MIPs displays. Only the Enduro has it and it’s not cheap.

It was very very onsale, and at the time I was bouldering so I wanted to track it.

Currently using it as a swim watch and if I get a new pebble, I will still be using it as my exercise computer.

I have a Pebble Time and when the app stopped working a Garmin Fenix.

I use my smart watch predominantly for Text notifications, call screening and music control.

In the past this was to extend my phone to last more than a day. But now it’s so I don’t need to dig up my phone when I get a notification or call. Great for monitoring things when you are driving or walking.

The biggest benefits of these devices is the insane battery life. Like a Garmin the battery is in weeks not hours. So charging is infrequent unlike the phone.

Pebble though is still the best in this field since their watches use epaper for their displays. So it actually works as a watch. And their devices are application focused, so if it doesn’t come with a timer, you can always download one.

Garmin watches are good, but their move to OLED pushed me away from buying another. And their locked down system makes me concerned with its future as a smart watch. As a sport and activity tracker it’s unrivalled. But I will buy a new pebble before another Garmin.

While I agree with a native port. I think work around like this is also good too since it shows demand. I mean it’s why there is a good level of hype around Linux Gaming thanks to Steam and its Proton compatibility layer.

So long as Affinity isn’t blocked from running like what adobe does. I think this is fine until a universal binary is possible.

Got caught in that trap at my first coding job. Made a sort formula and a sr dev asked my I didn’t just use the array.sort.

My answer: I didn’t know it was there.

There are a lot of good reasons from other users in this thread which explains why not to trust the company. My reason is that Manjaro as an OS is broken.

I’ve ran it on 2 laptops and both had system breaking bugs which corrupted the install after a few months. I tried installing just from their repo I’ve tried being careful when I update but every time the system would one day update and never turn back on.

Arch especially AUR supported arch is amazing. But Manjaro isn’t the way to use it.

I mean I downloaded it to see what Zorin 18 looked like. Didn’t get far when my keyboard stopped working in the VM

I thought all my files were already uploaded to Onedrive?

😱

I live in a house designed by a boomer. Networking comes in the upper floor while nothing is in the lower

These power over Ethernet is the only way I can get networking down stairs.

Tried Linux to play games on after steam deck started getting good. Though my it was fine.

Then I got a new laptop. Tried to install windows 11. Required internet to setup. I installed Linux and haven’t looked back.

🥲

I just want to say that the V in this specific MVP wasn’t Viable

I going to point out the V wasn’t for Viable

Yup, my tower still has my Windows 10 drive in it. If I need it it’s there, but for the most part I don’t need it.

Step 1) Find a Distro which you are comfortable with using. Over the years I’ve tried Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch, and I’ve settled on Linux Mint since it’s familiar to me, but also easy to use and lots of forums with trouble shooting since it’s based on Ubuntu/Debian. Arch is my close second if you want the bleeding edge and are OK with stability.

Step 2) Find the right UI. Most distro’s default desktop environments are good, but I found Cinnamon and KDE Plasma to be perfect for me. If you are looking for a more Mac like experience Gnome is a good starting point too. Though you can customize any distro to look like any OS with enough time and effort.

Step 3) Software.

Games is a solved problem these days. Steam works natively and Proton is good enough for lie 99% of your games. You just need to enable it and you will be good to go. If you are playing non steam games, Heroic is a simple application which works, though if you are installing anything more complicated, i.e. a CD game Lutris is your friend. Not sure about gamepass as the Microsoft store is Windows exclusive.

Office Software: LibreOffice is installed by default on all OS’s and is based off of OpenOffice, but it’s actually still in development.

Photoshop: Yeah this is going to be your make or break it situation. Photoshop has no real substitute in linux. GIMP isn’t bad, but is only good for image manipulation not creation. Kirta is more of an art studio rather than Photoshop. What I personally do is a lot of work. Affinity Photo is a close second place for Photoshop but it’s Mac/Windows only. Good News, with Proton you can run it. Bad News it’s a pain in the rear to do so. I strongly suggest Bottles and the ElementalWarrior build of Wine to get it working there are some guides on how to do it. But again it’s a pain in the rear.

In some regards how I get around Windows Limitation is just have a virtual machine with windows on it to run when I need it. Doesn’t need much power and I use it when I need it. I…e backing up my iPhone or sending music files to it.

Ubuntu, I was drawn in with the 3D cube and the ability to play games. The only game I had compatible then was TF2. So I left.

Back to it full time now, almost all games work, and on Mint

I went with Alma and was not disappointed