So, this is a short story of why I switched to Linux, Arch Linux to be more exact.
Well, why do you think Microsoft wanted everybody on board with offering "free" updates from Win 7/8/8.1 to Win 10? Because they mine data. Some users recently found out, that they couldn't even get a Kaby Lake CPU to work on Win 7, which Microsoft announced .
Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support
- Terry Myerson, Microsoft executive vice president
Which pretty much translates to have Win10 or don't ever expect to upgrade your system
On Linux, you control the whole system. You get to choose which desktop interface you want. You get to choose, if you want a GUI based or command-line only desktop. And further, you get to choose what programs you install, and if they send data to the devs. Although not every program is supported by Linux, there are many open-source alternatives which work the same or even better.
Although Linux isn't malware free, there's much less malware on Linux than Windows or Mac OS. The first big reason for this is, that you don't download programs from your browser and possibly untrusted sources, you download them from a trusted source through a packet manager. I mean you could download programs from untrusted sources, but every Linux user I know strongly advises against this.
The biggest reason for me to choose Arch over any other distribution was the AUR. The Arch User Repository is a big database with very handy programs. Although the content is user content and therefore not really a trusted source, the Arch community is a very good malware filter. You can request to remove the package in question and it will be looked over by moderators, just like in a forum.
As I need Windows only programs in school, I still have a Windows 7 virtual machine with my second GPU passed through to it. This isn't for anybody, as it requires, in my experience at least, a lot of time and effort to get it running. But still, it was worth the effort, as I am now free of all my worries about Windows sending data back to Microsoft, but I can still use it if I need it.
I use Linux daily now, and it's much better. The multitasking in GNOME is the multitasking Windows should have, the package management for programming is much more sane, and I don't have to worry about my data being mined. So all in all it was the right choice for me, but is it the right choice for you? Well to that I haven't an answer because I don't know what tyoe of person you are. But if you're willing to try something different and learn new things, go for it. Set up dual boot for Windows, if you want a safety net and you're good to go.
I hope you found this story interesting to read. And if you want to switch to Linux because of this good for you. But if you're staying with your current OS also good for you, as long as you're happy, who am I to judge.
