I gave up on getting multiple displays to work consistently on macOS and Windows years ago and just got an ultrawide instead.

Sunshine/Moonlight are FOSS, highly performant RDP software that is well supported on Linux as well as Windows and includes game controller support. They are designed for game streaming but I regularly use it as a remote desktop software for remote working.

Of course, depending on your specific situation, it might not work. It isn’t compatible with Microsoft RDP (it uses Nvidia’s game streaming protocol, with Sunshine as the host and Moonlight as the remote). Also game controller support is done by creating a generic virtual game controller on the host, so the details of what specific controller you are using are lost.

Yeah the extensions are important. I have my top bar completely hidden until I open quick search. I like the aesthetic of a completely clear screen with just my desktop background and my windows (I also generally configure macOS this way as well).

I’m a long term Mac user and have been periodically playing with Linux because I want to fully switch eventually. (full disclosure I currently still have a MacBook I use as well as a Linux desktop)

I’ve tried Ubuntu, Debian, Elementary, and probably a few others I’ve forgotten, but the first one I’ve really felt is a viable daily driver OS is Bazzite. This is because it largely just works out of the box, such that you only need to install and tweak extra things if you really want to.

I strongly recommend Bazzite, and I personally prefer the Gnome variant.

Bazzite gives you:

• easy way to update everything in one place
• “App Store” like application to find most apps you’ll need
• all the basic drivers and utilities you’ll need out of the box
• a “Files” application that feels like Finder
• a “Document Viewer” application that feels like Preview (although it’s not as powerful)
• a quick search feature that’s a lot like Apple’s Spotlight, and honestly is way more reliable than Spotlight in more recent macOS releases
• multitouch trackpad gesture support out of the box
• a Settings app that is pretty straightforward to navigate and controls most of the things you would care about
• There are other settings apps for finer tweaking. I know that sounds confusing, but Linux people wouldn’t complain if it wasn’t possible to change every detail somehow. Bazzite does a good job of making the important stuff accessible in the main settings app IMO, so you generally don’t have to worry about the deeper options.

Here’s a guide to get you started:

1. Go here: https://bazzite.gg/
2. Fill out the dropdowns (Q: What hardware are you using? A: Desktop, Q: Who is the vendor of your primary GPU? A: this depends, it’s important to get it right, ask for help if you are unsure, Q: What desktop environment do you prefer? A: I recommend gnome, but KDE is great too, Q: Do you want Steam Gaming Mode? A: No, I want a traditional desktop experience)
3. Click the “download Bazzite …” button
4. Make a USB stick into a bootable Bazzite installer (I recommend using https://etcher.balena.io/)
5. Boot your computer from the USB stick. How to do this depends on the motherboard, but generally means holding down a key while booting (on a Mac it’s Option, on other computers it’s often something like Del or F2 or F12 or something) This will bring you to a menu that you navigate with keyboard arrows until you find the option to boot from the USB
6. Follow the steps from the installer. It’s pretty user friendly.

Note that this will delete all data in the USB you use and the drive you install Bazzite on

Once you have installed Bazzite, here are a few programs I’d recommend (these can be found in the “Bazaar”, which is an “App Store” like way to get programs.

• VLC (like QuickTime in macOS, but honestly VLC is way more powerful)
• LibreOffice (there are a couple FOSS Office suite options, this is the one I personally recommend)
• KdenLive (video editing - like iMovie or Final Cut)
• GIMP (like Adobe Photoshop)
• Disk Usage Analyzer (like DaisyDisk on Mac), if you’ve ever used that
• Mailspring (I haven’t found an email app that is quite as nice as Apple’s but Mailspring is the one I’m currently using)

If you have any other questions let me know! I’m happy to help.

It’s not easy to switch, but it can be made easier if you keep all your important files in one place.

screen recording and/or streaming (preferably lighter weight)

VLC can do this. The streaming part might be tricky because it won’t do the networking for you, but it’s easy enough to screen record to a file.

On bazzite it’s “ujust update”

There are cables in the windows side but not the Linux side, which also seems like an odd choice for a human to make to me.

Congrats you’ve invented a shitty laptop lol

I have set up WireGuard manually running on a home server. It’s not that hard to set up IMO but that definitely depends on your experience level.

Other than that I’d second Tailscale which is similar but easier to set up

It’s the most plug-and-play Linux has ever been from my experience.

I pay my VPN provider to not touch my data and if I start to doubt them I’ll just jump ship to another provider.

There are two ISPs for me to choose from and both want to shove ads down my throat and I’m sure they are selling whatever data about me they can.

Yea I trust my VPN provider more than my ISP by miles.

I’m gaming on Bazzite gnome Wayland with a 3090. There’s been some tweaking to get HDR and VRR working but no major issues.

This is why I use CloudFlare. They block the worst and cache for me to reduce the load of the rest. It’s not 100% but it does help.

Computer science was all Linux at my college. Xubuntu, specifically.

Thankfully the Linux community is pretty active and just about everything is supported alreadh

doesn’t have the track record of totally redoing their entire OS in the course of a single OS generation

I have a grandparent who’s been on macOS for a long time and would complain whenever they changed something. Usually not the whole OS, but something like the Photos app, which they completely redid like 7 years ago or something.

Also macOS is currently headed in the direction of merging with iPadOS, but they are making that change gradual.

I’ve been doing my work in Linux for a while now. I’ve started trying out Bazzite for gaming. It’s been quite nice, but not without issues.

Thanks I’ll look some of these up and maybe I’ll understand why people hate systemd

Windows was developed by a huge corporation for profit, and that drives enshittification, because eventually they have all the users they think they can get, so instead they start trying to milk those users for more $$$.

Linux is developed by a bunch of nerds who are doing it as a hobby, or because they weren’t happy with the other options. This type of group does not leas to enshittification.