For most of my life, I’ve been a Windows user—going all the way back to Windows 3.1. Every so often, though, I’d get the itch to try Linux.
The first time I dipped my toes in was in the early 2000s. I chose Red Hat for a very practical reason: it came on a CD tucked into the back of a Linux for Dummies book. That experiment didn’t last long. Getting the internet working was an exercise in frustration, and before long I retreated back to the familiar comfort of Windows.
Over the years, I kept coming back. Usually it was Ubuntu, typically running inside a virtual machine. Each time, I liked Linux a little more than before—but it never quite crossed the threshold to become my primary OS. The biggest blocker was work: I relied heavily on Adobe software, which doesn’t exactly play nicely with Linux. And there wasn’t much appeal in booting into Windows just to then boot Linux inside a VM.
Fast forward to around 2021. I installed Fedora on a Dell XPS laptop that, despite running Windows 11 just fine during the beta period, was suddenly deemed “ineligible” for the official upgrade. That was the first time Linux genuinely felt like it could replace Windows for most of what I did. Adobe was becoming less central to my work, removing one of the biggest obstacles. Still, in the end, I drifted back to Windows once again.
This time was different.
In September 2025, I bought a Framework laptop with the explicit intention of running Linux—and only Linux. No dual-boot safety net. No Windows “just in case.”
And this time, it’s sticking.
One of the biggest surprises has been just how much I enjoy Fedora’s user interface. GNOME feels clean, fast, and thoughtfully designed—especially on a laptop, where the touchpad gestures and keyboard-driven workflow really shine. It’s not perfect, and Linux still isn’t completely free of software or hardware compatibility quirks, but those issues are far more minor than they used to be. What once felt like constant friction is now just the occasional speed bump, and it’s no longer enough to push me back to Windows.