this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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(page 4) 18 comments
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[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I'm under no illusions that Linux is a viable alternative for everyone, but if you're just using your computer as a web terminal and light gaming system, a decent Linux system + Steam makes for a very usable option these days.

I have exactly one computer in my house that has Windows on it. It was provided by my employer, and I turn it on maybe once every two weeks or so, for special-purpose activities that can't be done on my Linux laptop. And most of the time, for most activities my Linux laptop is the clearly superior performer - it's not even close, despite their similar hardware specs.

I don't think everyone should - or can - switch. But if you've got an old beater laptop gathering dust, try popping Ubuntu or something on it, see how it performs. See if it's something you could legitimately switch to full or part time.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

How or why does Linux have a higher performance for you?

[–] whileloop@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Probably just down to less stuff running in the background using up CPU cycles. I can't imagine it makes a huge difference, but more than nothing.

[–] codanaut@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Depending on the situation, it actually can make huge differences.  For instance, I built my computer in 2010 it’s 13yrs old now. it can’t run windows 11 and while it can run windows 10 it runs like complete shit. Start up would take forever even on a fresh install, half the time Windows freezes just trying to get to the desktop after a fresh reboot. at idle background processes from windows would leave me running over 50% CPU usage just idling and opening anything like Firefox and Discord at the same time would jump to 100% CPU usage.

On Linux it runs just as good as the day I built it. Startup takes around 30 seconds and I can actually start working the moment I’m on the desktop, no freezing or waiting for background startup processes to finish. I currently at this moment have around 20 workspaces (aka virtual desktops) open across three monitors, within those work spaces is hundreds of tabs open in Firefox, simultaneously playing RuneScape and dwarf fortress. A bunch of terminals, SSH sessions, and other miscellaneous work stuff running. a ton of docker containers running, I also have both discord with a call going and Spotify playing in the background and I am setting at 30% CPU usage with the occasional spike to 50%. I can actually use my computer to do a ton of stuff and have power left over while windows would max out and freeze up just the start up, even on fresh installs. And it’s not just this one old computer, I can consistently see rather large performance differences going from Windows to Linux across the number of different computers. 

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