I have found Linux to have excellent HW support for all older hardware. Only notable exception is fingerprint readers. Granted, it’s been years since I tried gaming.
Funny anecdote about FP readers: got an XPS 13 for work. At first I tried to make do with Windows, and everytime I tried to register my fingerprints, the laptop rebooted instantly. Then I got fed up jumping through hoops to set up my workflow, installed Ubuntu, installed the FP reader driver, and it worked like a charm.
As for gaming, I finally got rid on Windows on my gaming PC (AMD GPU), and all my games work very nicely (I don’t play multiplayer games). Most problems were fixed by selecting another proton version through Steam, biggest issue I had was manually updating the fucking Ubisoft launcher thing for AC Syndicate.
I don’t think the fingerprint reader is the problem it is how the OS supports it. I tried with my framework laptop and it just stopped logging me in after a misread or something like that.
I have found Linux to have excellent HW support for all older hardware. Only notable exception is fingerprint readers. Granted, it’s been years since I tried gaming.
Funny anecdote about FP readers: got an XPS 13 for work. At first I tried to make do with Windows, and everytime I tried to register my fingerprints, the laptop rebooted instantly. Then I got fed up jumping through hoops to set up my workflow, installed Ubuntu, installed the FP reader driver, and it worked like a charm.
As for gaming, I finally got rid on Windows on my gaming PC (AMD GPU), and all my games work very nicely (I don’t play multiplayer games). Most problems were fixed by selecting another proton version through Steam, biggest issue I had was manually updating the fucking Ubisoft launcher thing for AC Syndicate.
I don’t look up Linux compatibility for hardware, everything just works
If a game doesn’t support Linux then I don’t support the game
It’s like people trying to run Linux or Mac software on Windows - they just don’t do it.
I don’t think the fingerprint reader is the problem it is how the OS supports it. I tried with my framework laptop and it just stopped logging me in after a misread or something like that.