As the title say’s, my Windows 10 install broke, but I’m still unsure whether or not to reinstall Windows 10 or install Linux.

Context:

A few months back, Windows 10 updates started to fail on my desktop. I had considered just reinstalling the OS but as my machine was working just fine I simply tolerated it.

Today, when my machine auto-updated it broke something. At first I thought the update worked. But soon I realized that the taskbar was acting odd. All the shortcuts I had placed on my taskbar were working as usual, but when I right clicked them nothing would happen. I clicked on the start menu and the search bar but nothing happened. Most of the widgets on the right side of the taskbar weren’t working such as Volume, Wi-Fi, Date & Time, and Notifications. I assumed it was just the taskbar that was broken but when I tried to use the windows key to open the settings menu, it didn’t work either, nor did it’s keyboard shortcut.

It seems the update had broken some apps that, though didn’t prevent Windows from starting, made navigating it a lot more difficult.

I’ve used Linux before. I had a Linux Mint, and EndeavourOS virtual machine installed on my computer. More recently, I installed EndeavourOS on an old laptop I had lying around, and have been using it daily for about a month now. Although I’ve had my difficulties, I’ve been loving my experience.

Though I’m still a Linux newbie I’ve been meaning to give Linux a real shot on my desktop for a couple weeks now, but as my machine was working just fine I didn’t really feel any necessity to make the switch.

But with my Windows install breaking, I feel like its time to give Linux a real shot.

My Questions:

I want to install Fedora on my desktop but I still have a few questions pertaining to Linux and my desktop specs.

I’m running a GTX 1660. I’ve heard a lot of bad things about running Linux with an NVIDIA GPU so I’d like a few things clarified.

  • How would I install NVIDIA drivers?
  • Does Wayland work with NVIDIA?
  • A lot of distros are moving to Wayland. How would I ensure I stay on an Xorg session?
  • I enjoy modding Bethesda games. Does Mod Organizer work fully on Linux?
  • I’ve had difficulties running my steam games through proton on my laptop. Does proton work with Fedora?
  • With said difficulties with proton, would installing Steam as a flatpak work or will it cause issues?
  • Can you really not play any games with anti-cheat?

If you believe Fedora wouldn’t be the best distro for me I’m welcome to hear any suggestions, though I’m not enthusiastic about running anything Debian based nor installing vanilla Arch.

I’m sorry if I’m coming off as lazy for not doing my research. I’ve tried to research many of these questions before but found no concrete answers.

To all those who took the time to respond to my post.

Thank You!

Edit: I’ve made a new post

  • Krafty KactusEnglish
    6•4 months ago

    I don’t know anything about Mod Organizer but I’ll take a crack at the ones I actually know something about.

    1. My main computer is a laptop with an Nvidia GPU and the only big issue I have with Wayland is that the HDMI interface doesn’t work. However, this is probably just an issue with my individual card because I’ve heard that newer cards tend to be better and mine is over 11 years old. For drivers, most distros have an automatic driver install process in the software manager. If your card is fairly new, it should work just fine.
    2. For the foreseeable future, the Plasma spin of Fedora (I don’t read up on the GNOME see much) will allow you to use the Xorg or Wayland sessions as you see fit. All it takes is for you to log out, switch the session, and log back in.
    3. Proton works just fine on Fedora. In fact, Nobara (a prominent gaming-focused distro) is built on Fedora.
    4. As long as Steam has the necessary permissions in your permission manager it should work fine. I run Steam as a Flatpak and I haven’t run into any issues because of it (yet).
    5. The anti-cheat question is a bit tougher. Some games work just fine but others just don’t. I would recommend that you check each of your games for anti-cheat compatibility before fully committing. If you have your heart set on playing League of Legends or Valorant, for example, you’re unfortunately going to need Windows.

    I hope this info helps. Please feel free to ask for more clarification!

    • @[email protected]OP
      3•4 months ago

      Wow this is extremely helpful. If you don’t mind me asking, what are your thoughts on Nobara Linux. A few comments have recommended it to me

      I also have an extra question. In your opinion, what difficulties are there in switching desktop environments/ window managers. I’d like to experiment a bit and would like your opinion.

      • @[email protected]
        5•4 months ago

        Not the original commenter, but Nobara is a great distro if gaming is your focus. It’s tweaked specifically for that purpose and has built up a strong community. I just hate that they use Discord for support.

        Switching DEs can get messy in my experience with leftover packages and such. It’s best, in my opinion, to experiment in VMs and go from there, then go with a clean install when you make your choice. That’s what I did with KDE.

        • @[email protected]
          2•4 months ago

          Also if OP is hell bent on testing DEs on hardware, I recommend installing fedora silverblue and rebasing betweens the spins to try out KDE, Gnome, budgie, sway(and a few more provided the universal blue developers). This way you can can safely try out the DEs without the mess of leftover packages and without losing your data.

          Also @[email protected] remember to install the nvidia specific images from ublue. They will come the nvidia drivers preinstalled.

        • Krafty KactusEnglish
          2•4 months ago

          This 100%! I had some trouble installing Nobara so I’ve never technically tried it but I think they’ve sorted the issue out.

    • @amminadabz
      3•4 months ago

      Can confirm Gnome has Wayland/xorg switching in the same manner.

      • Krafty KactusEnglish
        1•4 months ago

        Yes but I’ve heard they might be planning on going Wayland only for Fedora 40. I could be completely wrong though which is why I only mentioned Plasma.