Five months ago, I made my first splash into the world of open-source operating systems when I gave Linux Mint a try as a Windows fanboy. At first, it was just a fun side project, after seeing PewDiePie do the same thing and wanting to see what all the fuss was all about. I didn't expect to actually use it daily, as my opinions of Linux were based on a single impression I had over a decade ago, where I just fed everything I wanted to run through WINE and got frustrated with it.

However, Linux Mint was different. I was surprised to see most of the stuff I liked on Windows could migrate over to Linux, and the stuff that didn't had a suitable open-source replacement. Well, here I am, five months later, running Fedora KDE Plasma and realising that I missed a lot fewer things than I thought I would.

I don't miss the apps I had to leave behind

Probably because I didn't have to leave much behind at all

One of the big worries I had when I moved to Linux was transferring all the apps I used on Windows. Certainly, apps like Discord, Google Chrome, and even my cloud PC service, Shadow, didn't have Linux versions that I could simply download and install, right?

Fortunately, I was wrong. Not only do the majority of the apps I used on Windows have a Linux version, but they were all listed in the software repository that comes with the operating system. All I had to do was search for the apps I wanted, click download, and bam; I was ready to go. Even Shadow, which doesn't appear on a repository, had a manual Linux download on its website.

There were two apps that didn't have a Linux version: Paint.net and ShareX. Paint.net was a simple image editor that I used in place of GIMP when I just wanted to do something minimal with an image. Given that GIMP was available on Linux before it was on Windows, getting it on my system was a given. I then replaced Paint.net with Pinta.

ShareX, on the other hand, is a pretty powerful screenshotting tool. It could quickly take region, screen, and window screenshots, plus came with additional features like GIF and MP4 creation. This was replaced by, surprisingly, the default screenshotting tool that comes with Fedora KDE Plasma, called Spectacle. It doesn't do everything ShareX does, but it does everything I need, so I'm pleased.

I don't miss the ease of use of Windows

In fact, I think I prefer applying the elbow grease

Another element that worried me about Linux is how little it holds your hand. Windows is made with convenience in mind; you barely have to apply any effort to get things working. In comparison, having to run commands in Terminal for things that didn't have a GUI worried me a little.

Fortunately, I got used to it after a while. During my first few days, I would Google what I wanted to do, find the first Reddit thread that seemed to hold the answer to my problem, and then begin blindly whacking in the commands from the replies into my Terminal until whatever was broken stopped being broken, which is definitely not the best approach. However, it did teach me a lot about the Terminal, the types of commands you can execute, and how Linux handles things like user permissions. I wouldn't have learned all that stuff if I were still in "download thing, double click it, use thing" mode.

I don't miss Windows itself

The biggest surprise I felt

Since I started five months ago, I have maintained a dual-boot setup on my PC. Fedora KDE Plasma resides in one partition, and Windows 10 in another. However, since I switched to Fedora completely, I think I've booted into Windows about two or three times in total.

I no longer miss Windows. Sure, Windows has a nice UI, but so does KDE Plasma. Although the most popular apps run on Windows, they're also available on Linux for the most part. In fact, it feels like I took all the positives from Windows while scrapping all the negatives, such as the non-invasive operating system updaters, AI assistants, and product advertisements.

It has reached the point where I often forget I have Windows 10 installed. In fact, I'm so comfortable using Fedora that I sometimes accidentally download the Windows installer for apps, because my brain still thinks I'm on Windows. It's reached the point where I'm wholly comfortable with Fedora and its functionality, replacing Windows 10 in its entirety. I no longer need Windows 10.

Will I remove the Windows 10 partition? Maybe not, but I am tempted. I know the second I nuke it, I'll need it to install an app or something. And while installing a second Linux distro sounds fun, I do have a laptop I've been tinkering with other OSes on. However, once the Windows 10 extended support runs out, or my PC blows up, I'm probably going to wean myself off of Windows entirely.