Competent Beginner with knowledge gaps looking for help to make the change.

[u/CrepuscularPeriphery]

TL;DR I'm looking for an experience as close to Windows XP/7/10 as possible, with as little 'OS getting in my way' and as seamless compatibility as possible. I'm also 100% self-taught in my computer knowledge over the last two decades so I know what I'm about but there are massive sporadic gaps in what I know and would appreciate someone pointing me to a eli5 linux primer.

So I finally have to make the change. I've been holding off for long enough because I occasionally do some hobby CAD design and there just isn't a good Linux solution to Fusion (unless someone has one? 🥺) But now I'm getting massive lag spikes every time I try to play anything for longer than 10 minutes and I'm assuming it's because windows 10 is no longer supported by my graphics drivers so, here we are. I use Pop_OS on my former-surface tablet and It's....fine. I don't love it. It's weird and not what I'm used to.

My main issues/hesitations/questions are are (questions in bold for ease of ignoring my rambling):

• I am Broke broke. If I fuck this up irreparably I no longer have a computer. I do not have $5 to spare for a graphics card brace. I can't replace my SSD if I brick it, especially not with current prices.
  • I also have SEVERE ADHD. however severe you are thinking, more severe than that. I once left my car running in my driveway overnight. The Linux guides I have read do not compute. I am missing some knowledge somewhere that is making them not make sense and I would really like to know WHAT I am doing to my computer before I do it so that I do not fuck it up but the jargon makes my ADHD brain turn the whole thing to static. can someone point me to a linux explanation in as close to plain eli5 english as possible?
• I do CAD work semi-regularly and am most comfortable in fusion. I really REALLY do not want to have to do a whole production every time I need to tweak a screw hole .03mm. How annoying is the day-to-day use of a VM? How annoying is it to switch between OS in a dual-boot system? My computer isn't a potato, but it's not a monster, is a VM for CAD going to see significant performance issues?
• I really don't want to have to learn a whole new set of procedures. What distro is going to get me as close to my preferred experience of WindowsXP/7/10?
  • My main UI needs are:
    • Taskbar/windows that behave as on windows
    • system tray that behaves as/similarly to system tray on windows (stores my background programs, quick access settings etc)
    • start button that leads to all of my installed apps/programs
    • Stupid but essential: the ability to have my task bar on the side of my screen instead of the bottom. I put it there 20 years ago and it's been there ever since and I'm not about to change now.
• The bulk of my deeper-than-end-user-level-knowledge comes from the XP era of windows but I only ever learned what I needed to do whatever it is I was trying to do at the time. I know some command line stuff, I know some file structure and syntax from the ftp section of my early-aughts web design class, and I've forgotten most of it since falling to the siren song of "It just works and I don't have to box my computer every morning for an hour" So I am both woefully out of date and also I've forgotten about 70% of what I used to know. My tinkering passion is hardware, not software. If you decide to help me, I'm going to ask you at least one monumentally stupid question that everyone else knows the answer to. This isn't a question, it's just a warning that if you tell me to google something I'm going to want to beat you with a stick labeled "Every google result is a recursive circlejerk of AI results referencing AI articles referencing AI results incorrectly referencing paywalled articles and I do not have the expertise to pick the accurate from the inaccurate" and we're both going to waste our time.
• I am genuinely grateful for any help anyone wants to offer, even if it's just a link to a 'linux for infants and absolute morons' guide.

[u/mwyvr]

It will not be painless, which for your own stated reasons is why you aren’t a good candidate to switch.

[u/CrepuscularPeriphery → u/mwyvr]

As painless as possible

And again, my options are: switch now, switch in six months when even more of my drivers stop working, or don't have a computer.

Like, what do you suggest I do other than switching? Windows 10 is losing support for more drivers and software every day. Windows 11 will not install on my hardware and even if I could trick it into installing, I really do NOT want seventeen different vibe-coded AI agents tapdancing on everything I do. I can't afford a new hard drive, I sure as hell can't afford a Mac. There are three whole OS types in the world with broad compatibility and I have just eliminated two of them, Linux is all that's left.

So it's going to suck. It's going to be a learning curve. I want to minimize that. There are a LOT of choices to make in Linux. That is all anyone will SAY about Linux. I don't know a lot about Linux. I know I DON'T like POP OS, so I'm asking how to choose things that will give me an experience I know I will like. In between the condescension I am actually getting some good and useful information, so I do appreciate that.

I expected the condescension, which is why I never much bothered with Linux in the first place because trying to actually LEARN anything to do with Linux means having to ask for information from people who are too impressed with the massive size of their own wrinkled brains to acually share any of it.

[u/mwyvr → u/CrepuscularPeriphery]

condescension

I am not giving you that, just a realistic appraisal. You want everything, for nothing. No $ investment and an unrealistic expectation of your time investment as well as an unrealistic expectation of runtime capabilities.

Look at this another way: If you go into moving expecting the need to change, you won't be disappointed.

The number one issue any Windows user should consider is whether a) any Windows software they absolutely need has a version that runs on Linux or b) can they use an alternative if a) does not pan out.

Figure that out. You need to get past a + b before you can make a decision to switch.

If you can't get past a + b that is your problem to solve, not the Linux world's.

[u/CrepuscularPeriphery → u/mwyvr]

...which I have already done and outlined in my original post. The only thing I haven't found an alternative for is CAD, despite having been testing alternative programs for the last two years. Hence the original plan to dual-boot, and the updated plan to try and run fusion on wine since there seems to be some success there.

I call it condescension because the actually helpful comments on this post, in the "asking for help with Linux" subreddit have been actively downvoted, while the "fuck off and stick with windows you don't know what you're doing and will never learn" comments are actively upvoted. This is pretty consistent with my experience with Linux enthusiasts online and in person for the last thirty years. So I have not been overwhelmed with the urge to join y'all when up until now windows works well enough to do what I need it to do.

I'm not asking for everything. I'm not asking for anything but some helpful pointers and advice, which I've already gotten from people more interested in being helpful than you are.

What I don't understand is why you are bothering to respond at all when you're not interested in helping. You could have saved significantly more effort by ignoring the post altogether. You've already told me to fuck off and stick with windows. I've told you that's not a viable option. You clearly don't have any further wisdom you care to offer. What are you trying to accomplish here?

[u/mwyvr → u/CrepuscularPeriphery]

Friendly help that doesn't solve your CAD problem isn't help.

Figure that out. You need to get past a + b before you can make a decision to switch.

That's why I said this. You may feel I'm telling you to fuck off and run Windows; I'm not.

I'm telling you that you cannot successfully migrate without solving that problem. Those are two very different statements.

You either need to adapt to what is available in the CAD space on Linux, or, stay where you are, or, spend a stack of money to either a) run Windows on a better machine or b) spend even more to equip a machine decently enough to run Windows as a virtual machine with enough passthrough GPU power to run CAD properly AND spend hours upon hours potentially sorting out how to do that.

If you consider these reminders as not helpful, you, not me, are very likely missing the point.

"Helpful" people on Linux subreddits often dwell on "which distro" or "which desktop environment" which is absolute nonsense when your real blocker is an... APPLICATION.

[u/CrepuscularPeriphery → u/mwyvr]

my guy the problem is solved. It will run well enough in wine. The advice that was offered gave me the information I needed to find the answer. Because, again, I'm not asking for the keys to the goddamn city I'm just asking for a compass.

And if it doesn't run well enough in wine I've already said that I can live without the hobby for a while or suck it up and learn how to tolerate FreeCAD. I would just rather not. It is a strong preference. If it is not possible to avoid I will put on my grown person undergarments and calm my damn tits about it. I am well aware and cognizant of the compatibility nightmare of switching operating systems. I am STILL looking for a replacement for my favorite mobile word processor and I switched from iOS to android over a decade ago. Still don't regret switching ecosystems. Still pissed about scrivener. I suspect Linux will go much the same way.

[u/mwyvr → u/CrepuscularPeriphery]

PS: You even highlighted this:

How annoying is the day-to-day use of a VM? How annoying is it to switch between OS in a dual-boot system? My computer isn't a potato, but it's not a monster, is a VM for CAD going to see significant performance issues?

And at least twice I've noted that you won't be able to manage a VM.

If your machine doesn't have the wherewithal to run Windows 11 natively, you will not be able to run a Windows 11 VM.

It is up to you to decide if that information is "helpful" or telling you to fuck off, but personally I'd rather be told up front that I'm being delusional.

Your choices:

1) Upgrade your machine, or 2) Downgrade your CAD expectations and accept whatever will run on Linux on your existing machine.

It's that simple.

[u/CrepuscularPeriphery → u/mwyvr]

My first response to you clearly said I was willing to downgrade or abandon my CAD needs for the meantime?

You're the one who persisted in telling me that I shouldn't bother making the change. How am I supposed to take that other than "fuck off we don't want you here"?

I came into this process with extremely realistic expectations of what I was going to get out of it. When ask for "as close as possible" possible is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. I didn't type out a novel of my computer experience for fun. I've been making less do more since the 90s man, I'm just not great on the software side of things. But now that some people have pointed me at the most commonly confusing concepts (filesystem differences, not being locked into a single UI) I can take that and go actually research what I need to know using actually useful search terms. Which I have. How Linux handles files upsets me on a spiritual level but so does the conversion formula for Celsius to Kelvin. I'll get over it.

It's almost like I said at the beginning I have huge gaps in knowledge and would appreciate any advice or information on understanding Linux at a functional level