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
As a long time fedora user who's currently stuck with an nvida GPU in his gaming machine (and deeply regrets this investment) here's my advice. You have an older GPU model and should have less trouble with it than I do. Still, be prepared that some games will not work through proton, that would work just fine with an AMD GPU.
There are several ways to install nvidia drivers in fedora. I strongly recommend to install the proprietary driver through rpmfusion. Just follow their installation instructions and it is pretty straight forward:
Nvidia doesn't play well with wayland, if not entirely broken (depends somewhat on the GPU, driver version and other settings). Stick with X.Org for now. Fedora will preselect the wayland session by default now, but you can simply change that in the session drop down on the sddm login screen and it will remember the session you chose.
You will also want to look at this: Rpmfusion Howto Multimedia
I can't comment on mod organizer from personal experience, but there is this: https://github.com/rockerbacon/modorganizer2-linux-installer
Proton on fedora is no problem at all. Proton with nvidia often is. I'd suggest installing ProtonUp-Qt (preferably via flatpak). It makes managing and getting proton builds super easy. Especially with new(er) games where proton compatibility may be flaky, it's always worth a try to get the latest glorious eggroll build. And always check protondb for known issues and workarounds, especially with nvidia.
There have been some bugs which were specific to steam via flatpak. Though, generally it works fine, and I haven't seen any problem that was specific to the flatpak version.
As for anti cheat: It totally depends on the game/publisher. Steam now has linux runtimes for the three major anti cheat providers. But publishers have to support that. If you go linux-only, make sure an online game with anti cheat works before you buy it. If you "need" to play a game that won't work in linux, keep a windows install around.