Try PopOS or Linux Mint. Canonical has been messing with Ubuntu the last few years trying to push people to use their new snap package distribution system. The hangs and crashes are one issue I had with it that I never experienced elsewhere.

Windows very much still has gaming by the short and curlies. Valve have done a ton of work with Proton that makes it considerably better, but if you enjoy anything competitive Windows is mandatory for anti-cheat.

Can't say I've shared your experience in terms of programs hanging more often, with the exception of Steam and games. Productivity apps and browsers run perfectly fine for me. That said, Windows has its own frustrations. I'm not sure if it's all fixed yet, but Xbox Game Bar and Game Mode for Windows came with awful performance penalties. When it first came out they had this Game DVR feature which was like Shadowplay but limited your FPS to half of your refresh rate. Enabled by default.

I find it interesting that I've found Linux to be flawless at gaming, with the exception of VR (though apparently you can make that work as well), but some of my friends have had the complete opposite experience. I think it's strongly determined by the genre of games you like - I don't play esports or gacha games.

If anyone here is considering switching to Linux, I'd recommend taking a look at whether the games _you_ play run well.

> I wouldn't really say the user experience is as good as Windows. Apps hang more often, steam freezes and restarts more...

hmm.. while i do not use my linux systems for steam or high-end gaming, I do not share the same user experience as you. To me, my Linux machines.. running web browsers, RDPs, Text Editors, Mail, etc.. are run rock-solid. If anything, is faster loading apps compared to my Windows 10 work machine and Windows 11 home laptop.

My Windows 11 home laptop (which upgraded itself over a year or so, now) only exists because of a job... but that is ending end of the year. I cannot wait! First thing I am doing when im done.. uninstalling Windows 11... hello debian!

Ubuntu's snap packages are terrible, they lag and crash.

It's like Ubuntu saw the Windows Store (less features, worse performance, unmoderated and not used by anyone) and said we want that too.

Just download the thing from whoever's website and you won't run into problems.

You can download steam for linux directly on steam (in a .deb package).

But then you'll run the risks of your apps randomly breaking after OS upgrades. A simple Linux headers change can mess up apps installed via .deb files

I've never had this issue with Steam and I've been running it on linux for at least 5 years.

Actually I can't remember having it at all but I only have a handful of things installed through .deb files anyway.

that shouldn't be happening. run the apps from terminal and look what the output is when they crash.

> I wouldn't really say the user experience is as good as Windows

I use Windows mainly for work. The user experience is terrible. At least 10 years ago it had a usable GUI, now it is a mess. Crashes are normal. Security theater is _security_.

>Security theater is _security_.

I've noticed that Windows 11 (on multiple computers) will often display a flash of whatever programs are currently open on my computer before it gives me the login prompt after I wake the computer from sleep. That should never happen. It's yet another nail in the Windows 11 coffin for me.

I switched to Ubuntu on my work machine and had to go back to Windows for most of the same reasons you pointed out.

Also, AppImage is so awful.

What's wrong with AppImages? They're basically .exes

answering your own question. They are nice for portability but bad for security because usually no updates and almost always downloaded from random websites without verification.

Try Fedora. Its most polished linux experience for me. Even though I cannot use it as main driver because of Adobe.

Ubuntu is supposed to be the most intuitive or friendly distro (very arguable), but it's a shame how bad and bloated it is.

I have been using steam in arch-based distros for a very long time and I have had no issues at all running most Windows games (see https://protondb.com). As someone else mentioned, the only real issue might be anti-cheats in competitive games.