Well it was a fun ride, I guess, but I just deleted my last Windows installation.
Okay, that’s not true. I still have a laptop from 200? running Windows 2000 and I have Windows 7 and 10 VMs, but actual Windows installations in computers I actually use. No.
Microsoft’s decision to foist Win11 onto everyone made the decision inevitable. I have not enjoyed any of my interactions with Win11. I don’t know what it is.
Okay that’s not true. I do know what it is. AI everywhere, menu items all over the place, Microsoft’s insistence on slurping all my files into the cloud.
And that’s ignoring the fact that my 4 year old computer is described as incompatible, let alone this, um, 7 year computer that already had Linux Mint on it ever since I rebuilt it.
I didn’t rush into it. I’ve spent the last couple of months transferring my workflow over from Windows, by which I mean making sure the software I use has its Linux equivalent or can be made to work.
Most of the software I use have Linux versions but Daz Studio is Windows only. Which is where WINE came in. I managed to install the program but the version I had didn’t work very well at all. After installing the latest version I was able to use GPU rendering and the timeline worked but the software could not find an OpenCl device for cloth simulations.
I don’t even remember what I did to fix that. Maybe update the graphics driver, IDK. Anyway I got that working. But somewhere along the line all the program icons got nerfed, so now to load the program I have to go into the application folder and choose Launch with WINE something, something. The point is, DAZ Studio works in Linux.
Then there were the games and this is an ongoing saga, so maybe I’ll write about that in another post.
Originally written July 30, 2025