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gpu: nvidia gtx 560 ti (yes its old but i dont have the money to replace it)
cpu: 4 core amd at 4.4ghz per core (should more then make up for the shortfall gpu wise and its a 64bit processor)
ram: 8gb ddr3 (may be ddr2 but pretty sure its 3)
Ok so having just ummmed and arrred over the title i should perhaps explain.
Me and windows 8.1 are not seeing eye to eye, it crashes a lot, it does not like my gpu anymore, and one of my favorite games tells me the 64bit version is unstable on windows and i should use the linux version (kerbal space program) and i was told on a few forums a while back i would be better going to linux, so here i am to ask about it.
Now the thing is i only really use my pc for two things, gaming and dealing with my monthly budget, the later is done on google drive so the os doesnt really mater. and on my laptop i use plex to watch pre-recorded tv at work (shhhh dont tell the boss)
From what i can see if i want to ditch windows i would need to use steam os (the installation method of that looks totally bizare and has put me off my goal quite a bit, but i have downloaded it http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395741989999/ ) or ubuntu which is a version of linux thats ment to be user friendly, so i have that too.
But here is where i start to get confused, a guide i read tells me i should not use the linux version of steam to play my steam games as it will limit me to a handful of games ??? but to install a windows emulator called wine OR a full blown virtual pc to run windows inside of (now my experience of emulators is limited but i got to believe thier will be considerble strain on the system running a windows game in an emulator (and the fact it said wine cant run directx 10, im assuming 11 and when out 12 would be an issue too) and if im running a whole system in a virtual machine inside linux that has to be even worse from a system resource perspective! ....but then i dont know, hence the topic
the games i play the most are :
Titan fall (via EA Origin)
kerbal space program (via steam)
minecraft (via multimc)
Elite Dangerous (via Thier launcher)
Sims 4 (via Origin)
then i flick around between multiple games on steam (i have 389 and tend to bounce between them)
So my questions,
1) can i really ditch windows and still be able to play all my games just as well as if i was still using windows?
2) any tips?
3) steamOS or ubuntu? (or other)
4) is linux now user friendly (ie no more having type out commands in a dos box just to get one item working ?)
any help advice appreciated
found wine is not an emulator but to make it effective you need to manually tweak it....ok so thats out
steam os has an iso
theres a program called yumi that allows you to make a flash drive with multiple os's (easier to test them)
so far i have on it:
windows 8 (if i need to roll back ...sadly i have to go win 8 then 8.1 or my product key wont work...stupid damn windows) (not on it yet as its downloading)
Ubuntu 14
windows 10 technical preview (supposed to be that win 10 is better for gaming then 8...but ofcourse its beta and unstable and im sure you guys dont care about windows lol)
steamOSiso added as unlisted iso (grub)
i have no idea which ill start with but i got a few hours before i get to go home and try, so far im thinking windows 10 as from what i can read linux just is not good for the average gamer (20 views and no replies suggest as well that its not a new user friendly enviroment either )
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In openSuSE you have a Systemcontrolcenter (Yast), too.
Download a Livesystem, maybe KDE, from Ubuntu and openSuSE and try both.
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You might want to try Linux Mint (http://www.linuxmint.com/. It is aimed at people coming from Windows to Linux, so if you're used to Windows, you may like it better than Ubuntu. If you want to do something other than just gaming, don't go the SteamOS route: that's purely focused on Steam gaming (not even Desura or GOG, although you could get them to work). It's also still in beta.
I personally like the Steam-client on Linux, and it also has more than a handful of games: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=&sort_by=_ASC&os=linux&page=1#sort_by=_ASC&category1=998&os=linux&page=1 (918 and counting).
If you are prepared to tweak Wine, you can get The Sims 4 working, but not Titanfall or Elite: Dangerous (although Elite: Dangerous is likely to get a Linux version in the future). If you don't want to tweak yourself, you can use PlayOnLinux (https://www.playonlinux.com/en/supported_apps-1-0.html, as that's a more user-friendly version of Wine (you can download pre-configured scripts made by the community). The downside to Wine and PlayOnLinux though, is that it's not universal: some games work, others don't. :(
Enter the Virtual Machine: with a program like VirtualBox you can basically run Windows inside of Linux. In a virtual machine you don't have to configure every game individually, and all games will work. It's a bit more resource-intensive, but your PC should be able to handle it (is your processor an AMD FX-4300?).
You can also dual-boot, when you install Linux alongside Windows, and at boot you get the choice to use Linux or Windows. But if you're inside Windows and want to go to Linux (or vice versa), you would have to restart your PC.
So, to answer your questions:
1) No, at least Titanfall won't work without Windows (Windows in a virtual machine is fine though). Elite: Dangerous has hints of coming to Linux in the future, The Sims 4 works through Wine, and Kerbal Space Program and Minecraft are supported natively. Have a look at the Linux games on Steam, and see how many you already own.
2) Try Linux Mint, don't use vanilla Wine but try PlayOnLinux instead, use a virtual machine for playing Titanfall, Elite: Dangerous (for the time being) and The Sims 4 (to have less hassle with Wine).
3) Linux Mint, or maybe Ubuntu.
4) Not exactly sure what you mean by that, do you mean the terminal? If so, you don't really have to use it on most distros (if you don't like it, avoid Arch Linux and Gentoo). It can be very handy, though.
Hope this helps!
I recommend you look into dual-booting. If you can get another hard drive or if you have plenty of space on your current hard drive you could install Linux on it and see if you can live with it. That way you don't really lose anything and you can get back to Windows very easily. You could eventually switch to Linux as your main OS and then boot back to Windows for those games that simply won't work on Linux.
As for the OS, I'd recommend Ubuntu or its variants. Kubuntu, for example, might seem very familiar to a Windows user. Mint is also a good option to consider. It's made specifically to be a newcomer-friendly distribution and it looks cool without much tweaking required. Overall it doesn't matter too much which distro you pick as long as it's relatively new but because there are so many Ubuntu and Mint users out there it's very easy to get help with them and both of them are ready out-of-the-box, unlike some more advanced Linux distributions out there.
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it can be hard to tell windows software-caused crashes from unstable hardware
It can be a good thing to set up your system as dual boot, just to get a "second opinion" on whether the hardware is reliable or something needs replaced. Linux installers even frequently create a boot option that runs a thorough memory test instead of booting an OS, since memory issues are a common hardware problem leading to crashes.
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I also think that it's better for you to dual boot it with Windows if you're not sure if you can ditch it or not :)
Then you can try Wine and if you don't feel the need to boot on Windows anymore.... great!
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If there are some games that you really want to play, keep Windows.
I'm also running an NVidia GTX 560 ti and Mint handles the proprietary driver well. Just click the Hardware icon under Administration and it prompts to install it.
One note about running Elite Dangerous in a VM: I have not managed to get my Saitek X52 running with it. I'm still having to dual boot to play that game. :(
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Will never be as good as native gaming though. with a few exceptions where games run better on WINE than Windows (but that's quite rare).
You could also see Linux as a chance to explore lots of new games you may not have played before :D. Choice isn't as limited as it used to be.