2025 has most likely been the very best yr for Linux that I can keep in mind, a minimum of from the angle of basic PC customers. It’s had tons of publicity as a viable different to Windows, even, and maybe particularly for gaming. I switched to it myself earlier this yr, however I’m again on Windows and I do not suppose I’ll be switching again to Linux correctly any time quickly.
The Linux hype this time was precipitated by Valve’s Linux-based working system, SteamOS, opening up to be used on different handhelds than simply the Steam Deck. That had been lengthy on the playing cards, however it lastly began seeming shut at hand early on this yr.
The latest recognition of SteamOS specifically, although, was spurred by the Lenovo Legion Go S, which Valve and Lenovo had been collaborating on to make the primary third-party SteamOS handheld. But even earlier than the SteamOS model of the Legion Go S launched, some handheld players began manually downloading and putting in the Steam Deck’s restoration picture of SteamOS on their very own handhelds.
I attempted this out myself with the preliminary Windows model of the Legion Go S and was very impressed. Performance is best, as is sleep/resume performance, and naturally the general full display UI is far nicer. There are downsides, comparable to lack of help for some video games, however any sport I’ve needed to play on handheld has labored simply nice, so I’m completely satisfied sticking with SteamOS for gaming on handheld.
Then the official SteamOS model of the Legion Go S truly launched, and that is been one of the crucial fashionable selections for a handheld gaming PC ever since. Of course, that is not all all the way down to SteamOS, because the machine itself is fashionable, comfortable, and fairly highly effective, however the Arch-based OS does play a component.
Other handheld customers have not been content material leaving Legion Go S and Steam Deck players have all of the enjoyable, both. Even our personal {hardware} commander-in-chief Dave has tried SteamOS on a bunch of gadgets—Ayaneo Kun, OneXPlayer OneXFly, OneXPlayer X1, OneXPlayer OneXFly F1 Pro.
However, each time he tried it, it was a buggy expertise, if not fully unworkable. Apart from the Framework 13 laptop computer, that’s, which he discovered runs the OS just fine—better on a laptop than multiple handhelds, go figure. Using Bazzite, a third-party Fedora-based SteamOS-alike, is also an option, and that seems to be a less buggy experience than SteamOS for most people, but it’s still not perfect in all cases. The Steam Deck and Legion Go S running SteamOS still seem to be the only handhelds that can run a SteamOS or SteamOS-like experience pretty flawlessly.
Despite this very limited expansion of the operating system, Linux still ended up getting a lot of attention as more and more people realised that it’s a viable alternative to Windows, even for use cases such as gaming. We had YouTube influencers talking about it, sister publications, and even—quietly, very quietly—yours actually.
My personal latest foray into Linux was very short-lived, nevertheless. I’ve dipped into Linux many occasions over the course of my life, however I’ve by no means caught with it, and this time I used to be punted again over to Windows with undue pressure. You can learn the total story explaining why right here, however the long-story-short is it simply fully broke—trackpad, Wi-Fi card, the lot—whereas I used to be working away at Gamescom, and I did not have the time or endurance to troubleshoot and repair it.
Unless kernel-level anti-cheats cease getting used, there’ll doubtless at all times be a purpose for some players to remain on Windows
A frantic Windows set up was my answer, and the expertise has traumatised me sufficient that I’m reluctant to provide Linux one other go, a minimum of not on a machine that I rely on for work. I’d skilled troubles that made me contemplate abandoning Linux previous to this—Nobara Linux did not appear to gel with my laptop computer’s hybrid graphics and exterior monitor—however my full catastrophe at Gamescom solidified issues.
Still, that was simply my very own expertise, and the hype was nonetheless there for Linux because the yr went on. Whether that was from influencers and publications capitalising on the hype by producing much more hype, or whether or not it was actual enthusiasm, it does not matter: it was there.
That was lastly compounded by two issues: Windows 10 coming to its end-of-life (EOL), and Valve’s announcement of the Steam Machine. In the previous case, the kind-of-but-not-really EOL date for the earlier Microsoft working system dropped at the forefront all of the disappointing issues about Windows 11. And within the latter case, nicely, the hype speaks for itself: folks need a SteamOS desktop, assuming the value is true.
It’s not all about SteamOS, in fact. Linux normally has appeared mighty interesting; it is simply that SteamOS has proven that gaming is genuinely doable and might in truth be higher than Windows gaming most often.
The freight prepare that’s random AI options, with a goal market of questionable existence, has ploughed on by way of 2025’s Windows 11 updates. All the whereas giving us one million and one issues that, I do not learn about you however I actually by no means requested for. Linux, then again, delivers the identical message it at all times has: your system, precisely as you need it, to do with as you’ll. And with Proton delivering an excellent gaming expertise, what’s to not love?
Thus, 2025 has most actually been fairly a yr for Linux. But I’m nonetheless not switching.
The looming scythe of unpredictable hurdles is one purpose I’m not switching over
The looming scythe of unpredictable hurdles is one purpose I’m not switching over. There’s one more reason, although: anti-cheat software program.
It’s no secret that I’m a giant multiplayer gamer. The first video games I performed have been Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike Source, and Call of Duty 4. Then there was Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft, Quake Live, Overwatch, and on it went as much as in the present day, the place my mainstays are nonetheless on-line video games.
Go again a decade and Linux may not have had such an issue with on-line video games, particularly. Sure, basic sport compatibility was rather more of a problem again then given there was no Proton, however anti-cheats most likely would not have posed such an issue. However, over the previous couple of years, increasingly video games have began utilizing kernel-level anti-cheats, and these are an entire no-go for Linux.
Kernel-level anti-cheats run on the deepest layer of your working system, which means they will stop cheats working at a deeper layer than most cheats function at, making them more practical. The drawback with that is that it is giving the anti-cheat entry to a layer of your system that dangers opening it to some fairly unhealthy vulnerabilities if it isn’t accomplished correctly, and it simply does not sit proper with some folks to provide software program such deep management over your system.
Regardless of that debate, although, we have been advised for a protracted whereas that such anti-cheats are right here to remain. And it seems like that is true, a minimum of for the foreseeable future, as a result of increasingly video games have began to make use of them, from Apex Legends, to Fortnite and Valorant.
Linux distros, nevertheless, do not help kernel-level anti-cheats. Linux permits customers to fiddle round with just about something they need, together with the kernel, so there’d be little level in including anti-cheat to the Linux kernel as a result of, not like with the Windows kernel, the person may be capable of patch in code that makes the anti-cheat ineffective anyway.
A correct kernel-level anti-cheat on Linux is not in precept not possible, however there’s little incentive for Linux devs to make it work. Plus there are different issues, comparable to that anti-cheat makers do not wish to make their code open-source, and the core Linux kernel is open-source.
It’s unlikely that many sport devs will abandon kernel-level anti-cheat, both. We’ve seen, for example, Facepunch (of Rust fame) COO Alistair McFarlane say that “if a game supports Proton or Linux, they’re not serious about anti-cheat” as a result of “it’s a vector for cheat developers.”
So, until kernel-level anti-cheats cease getting used, there’ll doubtless at all times be a purpose for some players to remain on Windows. I do not suppose this drawback is confined to folks identical to me who primarily wish to play aggressive multiplayer video games, both. That’s as a result of even individuals who solely play singleplayer video games may need the choice to department out in future. Battlefield 6, for example, has a kernel-level anti-cheat, and that sport’s been massively fashionable even with individuals who may not have usually thought-about enjoying such a aggressive multiplayer sport. It’s most likely been fashionable with some who do not play many different multiplayer video games in any respect.
The checklist of incompatible video games—which you could find on AreWeAntiCheatYet.com—is not large, however it’s hardly restricted to some area of interest video games. There are some massive hitters there, and there is at all times the chance that massive future video games you may wish to play will make use of a kernel-level anti-cheat, too.
This drawback, in some methods, is just like the bugginess drawback I spoke about earlier. Both points are ones that may intervene together with your peace of thoughts, leaving you questioning whether or not all of the video games you may wish to play will simply work. There’s a lot much less peace of thoughts with Linux in that regard than with Windows, and I do not see that altering any time quickly.
So, for nearly as good of a yr as 2025 has been for Linux, I do not suppose it’s going to lure an excellent many extra players in than earlier than. At least, not as a full platform swap. I can see some players making an attempt out dual-booting, myself included, and I can actually see some making an attempt out the upcoming Steam Machine, however not as a substitute for a Windows desktop or laptop computer.
This might all enhance over time, in fact, and I hope it does as a result of the extent of person management you get with Linux may be very interesting. For that to occur, although, I believe there must be some different to kernel-level anti-cheats come to fruition, and the extent of out-of-the-box reliability of Linux distros, drivers, and software program, must proceed enhancing. I simply do not suppose we’re anyplace close to that tipping level, but.
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