Advice for migrating from Windows 11 to Linux

[jak_2456]

Hey everyone! I've been considering migrating my Dell XPS 15 7590 from Windows 11 to Linux (probably Mint but I'll look around to see if anything else looks appealing to me). What are some things I should consider while doing this? I have some decent experience with Linux in general since I've installed it on numerous devices in the past and I have two devices running it already. However, I have never migrated one of my main use devices to Linux before, so I was wondering what to expect.

What I use the laptop for:

• Web browsing
• 3D modeling and slicing (using FreeCAD and Creality Print)
• Gaming (although the games I want to play are verified to work under Linux

Some things I'm unsure about:

• NVIDIA drivers (my laptop has a GTX 1650)
• Docking station compatibility (I have a Dell WD15)
• Battery usage vs. Windows
• USB monitor support (I have a ViewSonic VA1655 portable monitor)

 

[silentbogo]

What I use the laptop for:

• Web browsing
• 3D modeling and slicing (using FreeCAD and Creality Print)
• Gaming (although the games I want to play are verified to work under Linux

Some things I'm unsure about:

• NVIDIA drivers (my laptop has a GTX 1650)
• Docking station compatibility (I have a Dell WD15)
• Battery usage vs. Windows
• USB monitor support (I have a ViewSonic VA1655 portable monitor)

I have an ASUS Strix laptop with similar spec running just Ubuntu since last year(11th gen Core i5, GTX 1650Ti).

Your primary uses are 100% fine:
* Web browsing is no different than windows, if not faster
* 3d modeling and slicing also works fine. I'm using Orca on all of my machines, and didn't notice any weirdness between Win11 and Ubuntu. Creality Slicer should work as well.
In my case everything worked as-is, but some people reported issues with prerequisites (you may need to check the errors in console output, and install them manually). Same applies to Creality Slicer.
* Gaming works better than ever. During last streak of power outages I spent several weeks playing the good-ole Dragon Age: Origins via Proton with no issues. Haven't tried many games, but I have at least a dozen Linux-native games in my library, and I've tried maybe another 10 or so games via Proton, and so far no issues.

The "Unsure section" also looks good:
* Nvidia drivers work fine. I installed mine via driver manager, and no issues as far as I'm concerned.
* Docking station is also going to work fine. Personally I've only tried it with Lenovo and HP docking stations on various machines, but I'm sure Dell DW15 is no different.
* Battery - about the same. Though, personally I had better experience on Linux for one very important reason: OS power limits actually work. During outages I run it via USB-C to barrel jack cable plugged into a small charging station (65W max). On windows just setting the power mode did not help, so I needed to adjust the max CPU state to around 90% from stock in order to be able to use my laptop at all, but in Ubuntu I set the power mode to something lower, and I can even play some older games without tripping OCP on my charge station (or at least charge the internal battery while watching youtube).
* USB monitors should also work. I only have a generic 14" FHD Chinese monitor with touch screen. After migrating to Ubuntu I was mentally prepared to roll back to HDMI+USB in order to have functioning touch screen, but at the end it did work fine via single Type-C cable.

 

[AusWolf]

I have an ASUS Strix laptop with similar spec running just Ubuntu since last year(11th gen Core i5, GTX 1650Ti).

Your primary uses are 100% fine:
* Web browsing is no different than windows, if not faster
* 3d modeling and slicing also works fine. I'm using Orca on all of my machines, and didn't notice any weirdness between Win11 and Ubuntu. Creality Slicer should work as well.
In my case everything worked as-is, but some people reported issues with prerequisites (you may need to check the errors in console output, and install them manually). Same applies to Creality Slicer.
* Gaming works better than ever. During last streak of power outages I spent several weeks playing the good-ole Dragon Age: Origins via Proton with no issues. Haven't tried many games, but I have at least a dozen Linux-native games in my library, and I've tried maybe another 10 or so games via Proton, and so far no issues.

The "Unsure section" also looks good:
* Nvidia drivers work fine. I installed mine via driver manager, and no issues as far as I'm concerned.
* Docking station is also going to work fine. Personally I've only tried it with Lenovo and HP docking stations on various machines, but I'm sure Dell DW15 is no different.
* Battery - about the same. Though, personally I had better experience on Linux for one very important reason: OS power limits actually work. During outages I run it via USB-C to barrel jack cable plugged into a small charging station (65W max). On windows just setting the power mode did not help, so I needed to adjust the max CPU state to around 90% from stock in order to be able to use my laptop at all, but in Ubuntu I set the power mode to something lower, and I can even play some older games without tripping OCP on my charge station (or at least charge the internal battery while watching youtube).
* USB monitors should also work. I only have a generic 14" FHD Chinese monitor with touch screen. After migrating to Ubuntu I was mentally prepared to roll back to HDMI+USB in order to have functioning touch screen, but at the end it did work fine via single Type-C cable.

Power works better on Linux, imo, because the OS uses way less CPU and RAM during idle, so the only things that need power are your background apps.

 

[jak_2456]

I've decided that now is the time that I'll be switching to Linux Mint. Any final suggestions before I commence the process?

 

[yfn_ratchet]

I've decided that now is the time that I'll be switching to Linux Mint. Any final suggestions before I commence the process?

Feel around a few desktop environments before you commit to one. While I very much enjoy Cinnamon, you may prefer XFCE, KDE Plasma, or GNOME personally. Mint allows you to set your DE before logging in via a cute little drop-down menu, provided you have it installed.

 

[jak_2456]

Feel around a few desktop environments before you commit to one. While I very much enjoy Cinnamon, you may prefer XFCE, KDE Plasma, or GNOME personally. Mint allows you to set your DE before logging in via a cute little drop-down menu, provided you have it installed.

In that regard, I have used XFCE a bit and it wasn't my favorite, and neither was KDE since I've been using that on my Deck. Cinnamon's definitely my favorite having used it for a while now on secondary PCs. I'll still try it tho.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I've decided that now is the time that I'll be switching to Linux Mint. Any final suggestions before I commence the process?

Stress ball. Something to squeeze when problems do occur and you have to research it for awhile...and try to decide which online answer is the most correct that pertains to your situation.

Also if you have a craving for non-gaming Windows stuff install in a VM of your choice using Linux as the host. I had pretty good experience with VMWare Workstation on Linux Mint after applying some fix to get it working but it didn't do as well with virtualized multi-monitor support (Windows host was still superior in that regard) so I had to ditch that effort entirely.

I have to say overall I'm very happy with Linux Mint as a Plex Server but updates can still potentially break things depending on what you use. Remember to backup your stuff in case you need to reinstall. Also it's handy to keep a copy of instructions and how to do stuff especially setup related items in case you need or want to reinstall.

Linux folder and file permissions had been a constant PITA for me until I really took the time to discover how to deal with them. ( plex server example )

 

[Timbaloo]

In that regard, I have used XFCE a bit and it wasn't my favorite, and neither was KDE since I've been using that on my Deck. Cinnamon's definitely my favorite having used it for a while now on secondary PCs. I'll still try it tho.

Plasma 6 is really good (I never was a KDE fan either). Very similar to Windows (assuming you like that), technologically very advanced.

Otherwise the more obvious ones: Backup your data. Have a device ready where you can read up if something does not go as planned. Maybe play through the installation in a Virtual machine first if you're uncomfortable. Think about a partitioning scheme beforehand.

 

[AusWolf]

Feel around a few desktop environments before you commit to one. While I very much enjoy Cinnamon, you may prefer XFCE, KDE Plasma, or GNOME personally. Mint allows you to set your DE before logging in via a cute little drop-down menu, provided you have it installed.

This. I used to be a long-time Cinnamon fan, but since I moved over to Bazzite which doesn't come with Cinnamon (and owning a Steam Deck), I've grown to like KDE Plasma just as much.

 

[qxp]

The big thing about KDE is that it is very customizable. You can rearrange buttons on window decorations, you can move the panel to the right, you can pick you favorite widget set for buttons.
It also scales well - you can browse directories with lots of files with Dolphin.

There are also some lesser known features like the fact that Dolphin accepts URLs. If you click on the directory path in Dolphin it will let you edit it.
Try typing fish://remote_computer - this will use ssh to connect and let you browse, drag and drop and open the files that are stored on remote computer.

 

[jak_2456]

Well, I decided to go with Ubuntu on my laptop over Mint for a fairly simple reason: Mint was extremely graphically laggy on my computer. I suspect it has something to do with my hybrid graphics, but I decided I didn't want to deal with it. Running Ubuntu fixed the problem anyway. Setting up was fairly easy overall, but I don't like that Ubuntu still doesn't handle fractional scaling very well. If I set it to 125%, it makes the text quite blurry. If KDE handles it better, then maybe I'll go with that. I'll have to report back with my thoughts after about a week of using Ubuntu. I just don't want to get trapped in the distro-hopping loop.

 

[AusWolf]

Well, I decided to go with Ubuntu on my laptop over Mint for a fairly simple reason: Mint was extremely graphically laggy on my computer. I suspect it has something to do with my hybrid graphics, but I decided I didn't want to deal with it. Running Ubuntu fixed the problem anyway. Setting up was fairly easy overall, but I don't like that Ubuntu still doesn't handle fractional scaling very well. If I set it to 125%, it makes the text quite blurry. If KDE handles it better, then maybe I'll go with that. I'll have to report back with my thoughts after about a week of using Ubuntu. I just don't want to get trapped in the distro-hopping loop.

You might have better luck with KDE, although it varies among distros as well. I've found Bazzite with KDE to handle my GPU and display the best. I've also tried Manjaro with KDE which wasn't perfect (it didn't have HDR from the get-go). Although, I'm on a HDR-capable ultrawide Freesync display with and AMD GPU, so your mileage may vary.

 

[qxp]

Well, I decided to go with Ubuntu on my laptop over Mint for a fairly simple reason: Mint was extremely graphically laggy on my computer. I suspect it has something to do with my hybrid graphics, but I decided I didn't want to deal with it. Running Ubuntu fixed the problem anyway. Setting up was fairly easy overall, but I don't like that Ubuntu still doesn't handle fractional scaling very well. If I set it to 125%, it makes the text quite blurry. If KDE handles it better, then maybe I'll go with that. I'll have to report back with my thoughts after about a week of using Ubuntu. I just don't want to get trapped in the distro-hopping loop.

That's odd about fractional scaling - which application has this problem ?

What I would expect it to do is to adjust desired font size and then render truetype fonts in that size. Truetype fonts have mini-programs for every character specifically designed so it does not look blurry for any size.

 

[jak_2456]

That's odd about fractional scaling - which application has this problem ?

What I would expect it to do is to adjust desired font size and then render truetype fonts in that size. Truetype fonts have mini-programs for every character specifically designed so it does not look blurry for any size.

The whole system seems to have the problem. It does warn me that fractional scaling may increase power usage and font blurriness.

 

[qxp]

The whole system seems to have the problem. It does warn me that fractional scaling may increase power usage and font blurriness.

It sounds like it is using GPU to scale the screen, rather then adjust fonts. Try KDE, do you see the same issue ?

 

[Timbaloo]

Fractional scaling really only works with Wayland compositor and clients running in Wayland mode. For example I use fractional scaling of 1.25 on my laptop screen and had to tell the compositor to ignore fractional scaling for Xwayland clients (so X clients running under Wayland). Otherwise these applications would be blurry (tbh it's only gimp, and that is fixed with gimp 3 aswell, should it ever be released LOL).

I'd also opt for Plasma 6 (KDE), it should not have issues except the ones I stated above.

 

[DarthBaggins]

I have Intel UHD 630 integrated graphics and a laptop GTX 1650. I didn't turn anything off in the BIOS; I'm not even sure if my BIOS will let me (not that it matters since I got it working).

The Bios in Dell machines will allow you to "disable" the integrated graphics - basically in the video section select the 1650 as the primary GPU to handle display and it should ignore the integrated one.
I work with a Dell Partner config center facility - we have a handful of Linux based configs and deployments I deal with (most are custom Debian based) but Dell is good about having compatibility with Linux Distros due to the Enterprise side.

 

[jak_2456]

Now that I've been using Ubuntu for over a month at this point I can say that I'll probably be sticking with Linux in general for my machines. However, I have run into some problems/annoyances:

• No fingerprint reader support (specific to the XPS 15 7590)
• Discrete GPU isn't properly controlled which makes it so that I have to force specific programs to use it (might be partially my fault as I accidentally removed the NVIDIA command from the startup apps which led to the control center applet disappearing)
• Battery life is SO MUCH worse than Windows (may be due to Optimus)
• Fractional scaling support is not good with my current distro (is it better with Wayland or Linux Mint or something?)

Other than that, it's been a positive experience overall. I'm glad I did this! I might sell my XPS 15 though and switch to a ThinkPad or Latitude since I don't really need the discrete GPU in this thing anymore and I have a feeling that the soft-touch finish on the inside of the XPS is a slowly-ticking time bomb. I might switch back to Windows for now due to how bad the battery life is with Linux on this laptop but I will certainly switch back to Linux once I get a different computer without a hybrid NVIDIA GPU.

 

[qxp]

Now that I've been using Ubuntu for over a month at this point I can say that I'll probably be sticking with Linux in general for my machines. However, I have run into some problems/annoyances:

• No fingerprint reader support (specific to the XPS 15 7590)

I actually never used fingerprint reader - what would you use it for in Windows ? Password replacement ?

• Discrete GPU isn't properly controlled which makes it so that I have to force specific programs to use it (might be partially my fault as I accidentally removed the NVIDIA command from the startup apps which led to the control center applet disappearing)

Run "nvidia-settings" from a command line or menu, if you have installed NVidia binary drivers.

• Battery life is worse than Windows (may be due to Optimus)

I have similar Dell laptops and I found that when GPU is enabled it draws significantly more power when idle and makes the fans spin. With intel GPU much less power is used and fans are silent, while still driving two 4K screens (laptop and external).

You can also use "sudo powertop" to see what consumes power.

• Fractional scaling support is not good with my current distro (is it better with Wayland or Linux Mint or something?)

Other than that, it's been a positive experience overall. I'm glad I did this! I might sell my XPS 15 though and switch to a ThinkPad or Latitude since I don't really need the discrete GPU in this thing anymore and I have a feeling that the soft-touch finish on the inside of the XPS is a slowly-ticking time bomb.

Also take a look at Dell Precision laptops, sometimes they have better options than latitude. Yes, I also find that discrete GPUs in laptops are mostly pointless - too weak to do AI or games in 4K, and too much power draw for 2d graphics. But sometimes you can't get well-specced laptop (screen and RAM size in particular) without also getting a discrete GPU.

 

[jak_2456]

I actually never used fingerprint reader - what would you use it for in Windows ? Password replacement ?

You can use it to log in to your computer. I especially appreciate it because it's the same button as the power button.

Run "nvidia-settings" from a command line or menu, if you have installed NVidia binary drivers

I can open that, but the option to just use the iGPU is grayed out:

Also take a look at Dell Precision laptops, sometimes they have better options than latitude. Yes, I also find that discrete GPUs in laptops are mostly pointless - too weak to do AI or games in 4K, and too much power draw for 2d graphics.

I'll have a look. I might try and find a laptop with a Radeon 680M iGPU since they have very good performance for an iGPU.

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

@AusWolf
Yeah, anything always online and with an anti-cheat is a crapshoot. Valve is trying to wrangle AC companies to make their shit compatible, but it goes so-so for now.

Old games… well, I’d say it’s more of old-ish games issue. Like, late 90s to early 10s can be a no-mans land. Anything really old can just run under DOSbox no issue. But I remember swearing profusely trying to launch Jade Empire a while ago.

Yeah, this is the sole thing keeping me on Windows, that vast catalog of games from roughly 1994 to 2010.

Many games after 2010 are either not that good or memorable or they have had remakes that are better supported by Wine and Proton. Games older than 1994 have good emulators available. But that missing period contains many foundational game franchises and a huge proportion of what fans consider to be "timeless" games.

 

[[crs]]

I would give Endeavour or CachyOS a go aswell.

 

[Timbaloo]

• Fractional scaling support is not good with my current distro (is it better with Wayland or Linux Mint or something?)

Other than that, it's been a positive experience overall. I'm glad I did this! I might sell my XPS 15 though and switch to a ThinkPad or Latitude since I don't really need the discrete GPU in this thing anymore and I have a feeling that the soft-touch finish on the inside of the XPS is a slowly-ticking time bomb.

+1 for Thinkpad

Regarding fractional scaling:

• Wayland + KDE Plasma 6: Should work ootb (not my daily driver, so just a quick test)
• Wayland + Gnome 47: Needs to be enabled somewhere in the experimental settings, after that worked fine for me (not my daily driver, so just a quick test)
• On some other Wayland compositors it's available (and usable) for quite a bit longer. On my actual daily driver (Hyprland) I used it from day one on my (Thinkpad ) screen, mixed with no scaling on my desktop monitor.

I'd vouch for Wayland anytime, it's the future and as someone starting with Linux right now, there's very little reason to not start with Wayland directly. Imho.

 

[AusWolf]

I would give Endeavour or CachyOS a go aswell.

My vote is on Bazzite.

 

[wNotyarD]

@jak_2456 I once had a Dell Vostro with fp reader and actually made it work under Linux Mint, some 10 years ago.
It was not worth it though, using it whenever (SDDM login, terminal, applications requiring privilege, etc) was clunky and if the reading wasn't accurate it was hell to pay. It would just seem hanged until it decided the reading was bad and then asked for password.

I don't know if it'd behave better nowadays.

 

[jak_2456]

@jak_2456 I once had a Dell Vostro with fp reader and actually made it work under Linux Mint, some 10 years ago.
It was not worth it though, using it whenever (SDDM login, terminal, applications requiring privilege, etc) was clunky and if the reading wasn't accurate it was hell to pay. It would just seem hanged until it decided the reading was bad and then asked for password.

I don't know if it'd behave better nowadays.

It works fine on Windows, so I think it'd work if there were drivers (unfortunately there aren't and won't will be any time soon).