I am a Windows refugee

[Iamgeese]

I paid nearly £2000 for my hi end I9 PC just at the end of 2019 but now it has Windows 11 on it. I started playing with Linux back in 2020 after discovering the magical thing known as the Raspberry Pi. Over the passed few years I have become increasingly fed up with how dumbed down and ever more invasive some features in Windows has become. Now there are adverts on the login page and they finally threw poo everywhere with windows Recall, Copilot and have joined the utter insanity that is this really wierd, deeply unhealthy A.I fetish that has infected the tech world of which I want absolutely nothing to do with, they can stuff it up their A$$. I do not want that creepy stuff on my computer. I refuse to give them any more material so that they can make more GenA. Never in my life did I think I would have to actually change completely to Linux because somthing so increadibly stupid would happen. Its not my computer anymore, its some twats putting adverts on my nearly £2000 PC. It is an insult.

I have some issues though, I come from an animation background and have spent at least £1000 on specialised software over the years, this includes £700 on Zbrush (3D sculpting software) which is Windows locked, there does not appear to be a linux version and if so it not cheap, I dont really want to have to buy it again, I have 3DCoat (windows locked), the Affinity Design suit does not support Linux and I have no idea if Steam and all my games would work on it. I do know that Blender has a Linux version readily available.

I have played with both Mint and Zorrin OS I am not sure which one would be better in the long run.

I have heard about this bit of software called Wine recently that can run Windows programmes over Linux. Could I run somthing as powerful as Zbrush through Wine?

It is time. Time to make the change.

 

[GatorsFan]

The best Zbrush replacement I can think of is Blender
have a look here for running it in Wine - https://www.zbrushcentral.com/t/using-zbrush-on-linux/351246/48

 

[kc1di]

Hello @Iamgeese,
Welcome to Linux.org forum, enjoy the journey!
I can't be of much help with your question about graphic or animation. But others here can I'm sure.
I don't know if you want Zorin Os Would suggest you try several Distros before making up your mind on that front.
Good luck.
wine HQ application data base ranks it pretty good.

Using Zbrush on Linux

Performance has increased dramatically. Copying the subtools in the image was done quickly. Issues are similar as mentioned previously, however all limitations have not been checked. Basically use the Linux File Manager to work around the Lightbox icon limitation. Use a mouse (not tablet) if...

www.zbrushcentral.com

Which ever distro you end up with you may want to install playonlinux which is a gui front end for wine. One of the things it allows you to do is install any verion of wine up to the most recent. Which may be of help in getting zbrush to work.

Home - PlayOnLinux - Run your Windows applications on Linux easily!

PlayOnLinux will allow you to play your favorite games on Linux easily

www.playonlinux.com

 

[blunix]

Welcome to the tribe

 

[wizardfromoz]

...for my hi end I9 PC...

How much RAM does it have?

G'day @Iamgeese and welcome to linux.org

If there is sufficient RAM to throw at Windows, you could install Linux, setup Windows in a VM (VirtualBox, VMWare and so on) and still make use of your software.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[AlphaObeisance]

Stick with it. It's worth it!

Welcome!

 

[bob466]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Brickwizard]

Welcome to the forums

in your situation, I would keep Windows to run your expensive programs and use Linux as your daily drive,

 

[CaffeineAddict]

welcome to the forums, I'm sure you'll be able to run most windows programs with wine but it might require additional setup or staging version of wine.

 

[Terminal Velocity]

The problem with Linux is that it lacks the fine proprietary software that run in Windows. Other than that Linux is a superior OS in every way

Try Blender, see if you can do your job with it, it is one of the finest software that can run in Linux, not all Linux alternatives are of that level of quality, but try to use alternatives, it worth the hassle

Wine didn't worked for me, I would say don't count in it

Another distribution to consider is Debian 12, way more stable than Windows

 

[Vimmer]

People typically don't tell you that linux isn't really that hard, and yeah adverts have a stranglehold on everythibg related to fun and reasonable computer usage...hopefully you find some solace here.

 

[Trynna3]

Hi. I am also new but didn't intro myself.
Just when reading the OP I recall (pun accidental) that the Copilot simply changed the theme for me on Win11 today, in one click. Like if it knew what I wanted, it offered it to me when I clicked on its icon, curious. So Copilot itself could be useful, but I agree that those ads are annoying. Today I totally uninstalled the widgets (winget) and that *musical instrument*tard didn't want to allow me until I agreed it extracting two letters of my geo position, like US as an example! Not sure what it got, I got this laptop with preinstalled Win11 second hand, in the UK but who knows where it was before. I also removed the highlights from search menu, and via third party uninstaller software I got rid of some uninstallable bloatware, like xbox or maps or weather. There is a browser for it FFS! I don't need crap constantly flashing in front of my eyes. I thought I previously uninstalled Cortana via Windows, but today it was there to be uninstalled again via Revo uninstaller.

 

[Iamgeese]

The problem with Linux is that it lacks the fine proprietary software that run in Windows. Other than that Linux is a superior OS in every way

Try Blender, see if you can do your job with it, it is one of the finest software that can run in Linux, not all Linux alternatives are of that level of quality, but try to use alternatives, it worth the hassle

Wine didn't worked for me, I would say don't count in it

Another distribution to consider is Debian 12, way more stable than Windows

there are linux versions of Blender. My issues is Zbrush of which there is no alt

 

[Iamgeese]

welcome to the forums, I'm sure you'll be able to run most windows programs with wine but it might require additional setup or staging version of wine.

Staging version?

 

[Iamgeese]

The best Zbrush replacement I can think of is Blender
have a look here for running it in Wine - https://www.zbrushcentral.com/t/using-zbrush-on-linux/351246/48

Blender is not a replacement for Zbrush, once you Zbrush theres no going back! There is also 3D Coat but currently I only use that for retopology

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Staging version?

Staging version is aka beta version or development version it's here:

Wine-Staging - WineHQ Wiki

wiki.winehq.org

Thanks to it I'm able to run some games which don't work with stable version.

 

[Gainer]

I get it, after decades of Microsoft (DOS 1.0) I too am a refugee... but when are you going to tell us what you really think about Windows11, CoPilot, etc?

Welcome!

 

[Brickwizard]

headache, eyes watery, nerves on a knife edge, ....Yes I have spent the last 8 hrs fixing a computer with windows.

 

[Condobloke]

@Brickwizard, Brian....This probably a G & T occasion?...perhaps more than one ?

Brian

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Yes I have spent the last 8 hrs fixing a computer with windows.

You could have shortened that to 1h by wiping the drive and installing Linux, how did you not come to that idea lol...