I dual boot Linux + Windows (technically triple boot - I have a third drive with a different distro for dev work) and I haven’t needed to boot to windows a single time in the ~5 months I’ve been testing out Linux gaming. Not a single game has required any tweaking with proton settings either. My plan is to remove Windows entirely if I make it through the year without needing it.
No issues with drivers, no issues with peripherals (Wired speakers, Bluetooth headset, usb headset, webcam), with 3 displays at different resolutions/framerates/orientations. Running Ryzen 9800x3d and an RTX 4070ti.
Games I’ve played on Linux cover a pretty wide spectrum too.
- Arc Raiders
- Stalker 2
- Kingdom come deliverance 2
- Doom the dark ages
- Timberborn
- Pacific Drive
- Baulders Gate 3
- Disco Elysium
- Peak
- Alan Wake 2
- RV there yet
- Yapyap
- Pentinence
and probably others I’m forgetting.
I honestly wasn’t expecting the experience to be this smooth. Windows days as the gaming default feel numbered.
It doesn't, actually. I vividly remember trying and failing to play some old games on Windows. GTA San Andreas, I think. Didn't even launch due to missing DirectX libraries or whatever. I hunted down and installed all the redistributables and DLLs. Still didn't run.
So much for the fabled backwards compatibility of Windows. Microsoft clearly does not give a shit anymore. Wouldn't be surprised if Linux with Proton becomes better at running games than Windows one day.