My first experience with Linux

Last week, I felt the urge to give Linux a try, for some reason. Perhaps the recent influx of “AI” on Windows and Mac has sparked this desire. I’m not against AI, but I’m unsure if I want it integrated into my OS.

I have an old Surface 3 Laptop that I’ve been using while on the go. I decided to install Linux on it. I use my laptop for the browser, Obsidian, and Visual Studio Code, all of which should work great on Linux.

I first tried Ubuntu. After finally getting it set up on a bootable USB drive, I was prompted with the lovely warning that I couldn’t install it while Windows BitLocker was active. I could either boot into Windows and turn it off or wipe the whole drive, which was my intention.

The Ubuntu install was pretty simple.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu didn’t work well with my Surface Laptop 3 resolution. I tried adjusting the fractional scaling, but everything was blurry and unusable.

I then tried Linux Mint. I set it up on a USB drive (which was easier to do from a Linux machine) and booted it up.

Linux Mint worked flawlessly. I did have to adjust the fractional scaling, but after that, everything was crisp and scaled to the correct size.

The first software I installed was 1Password, for apparent reasons.

I then installed Vivaldi, my Chromium-based browser of choice. It installed fine, but kept crashing randomly, which I found was an issue on some Linux machines.

So, I switched over to Firefox. I haven’t used Firefox in a few years. It looks great and works without any issues. I then set it up on my phone, and everything is ready.

What’s next?

This Surface Laptop 3 works quite well, but I have some problems with it.

• I’m not crazy about the keyboard.
• The touchpad keeps getting in my way.
• The material is faded and ugly.
• The pads on the bottom are missing (I could probably fix this).

I intend to use this machine primarily for browsing and writing, so an excellent keyboard and touchpad are necessary. I did tempt myself to get a laptop that can run games, but the sensible part of me thinks that’s a bad idea.

I won’t know if I stick with Linux long-term until I’ve used it for at least a few months. It doesn't have the nagging notifications or bloatware that comes with Windows. It feels clean and simple.

I’ll check back in a few months with an update.