Man, I am sharing my experience, which is that I have been using Windows for a very long time, almost more than 6 to 7 years—meaning I've been using it since childhood.
Initial Experience with Windows 11
When Windows 11 was released, I installed it about 15 to 20 days later. At that time, I liked it a lot because it was giving better battery backup compared to Windows 10. Meaning, the exact same laptop was giving less battery backup on Windows 10 and more battery backup on Windows 11. Apart from this, there were many things; I liked its UI much more. At that time, I liked everything about it.
When I switched back to Windows 10 later, it was giving me a very old-old feel, a very classic feel. So, I installed Windows 11 again. I have installed Windows 11 many times on my laptop as well as on my PC, and I kept running it.
Journey of Low-End PC and Linux
After this, I have a low-end PC; I had installed Windows 11 on it too, but it became slow on it. So, I then changed it to Windows 10. Windows 10 was running fine at first, but later driver errors started appearing in it because official support had ended and updates wouldn't come, so I then switched back to Windows 11 again.
Then I thought about switching to Linux. When I switched to Linux, my first Linux was Kali Linux. I had switched to Kali Linux with the XFCE desktop environment. XFCE was running excellently, everything was the best! Meaning, I had a PC with 4GB RAM, so it was running excellently even with an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). One wouldn't even notice, just the startup time was a bit longer, the rest was all very correct and good.
Current Setup: Windows 11 on Laptop and Dual-Boot
The past was a different story, but now I use only Windows 11 on my laptop. Why? Because though I can compromise on updates, I cannot tolerate the bloatware of Windows 11. It slows down the Windows and the laptop so much that they have stuffed AI into everything, they have used AI in every single thing! So, I thoroughly removed every possible bloat from Windows 11 and it runs fine on my old laptop. I have written a detailed blog on that. But its performance is still not comparable with Linux.
So that's it, currently it is dual-booted with Linux. I had also installed Linux Mint, and I have used Ubuntu too. I used Ubuntu and Mint, and on desktops, Kali Linux XFCE, GNOME, and besides this, I have also used KDE Plasma. Out of all these, I liked XFCE the most, I liked it the best.
Reason for Keeping Windows and AMD Issues
I have kept Windows alongside in dual-boot for the reason that there are many softwares that do not run on Linux, so due to this reason, it's a necessity. I have around 8GB RAM, so Windows 11 completely ruins things on it anyway.
I have a laptop with an AMD processor, so this issue came up in Linux that I had to install the Wi-Fi drivers manually. And in Linux, the battery backup was also less compared to Windows. Apart from this, there was an issue with the graphics, the PC would get stuck frequently, so I set that manually. It took me almost a whole day to set it up.
Conclusion and Optimization
As for Windows, it is such that if you have a normal, good PC, then Windows is the best, you just have to optimize it. If it is optimized (on which I have also written many blog posts on how to optimize Windows 11, how to remove its bloatware).
There are many things on Windows 11 that I have never used in my life, like Tips, BitLocker, or Game Mode. Every time I install Windows, I delete them first thing. Still, many useless things are left behind which are kept there for no reason, even though they have no use at all. Hope you understood the point!
The Ultimate Conclusion: Windows vs Linux
The thing is that the conclusion is just this: if you have to run more softwares—meaning if you want an easy interface, gaming, more software compatibility, and easy handling (meaning you can get the software etc. for everything easily, get it comfortably)—then Windows is right. Whatever it is like, Windows is right because it has been running for a very long time, and all these laptops, PCs, etc. are designed accordingly.
The Power and Real Control of Linux
But if you have an old PC and you want to make it fast, make it worth running—whether it has 4GB RAM or 8GB RAM, DDR3, DDR4 or whatever RAM it is, old RAM—if you want to make it fast or you have to do customization on a good scale, then Linux is best. However, Windows gives warning or permission error on that.
On Linux, it is such that if you want, you can do anything—meaning you can truly do anything, whatever you want! There, you get the feel that it is your own computer, your own PC. In Windows, it feels as if you have borrowed someone else's PC where permission is required for everything! We cannot do anything ourselves even in our own PC, but this is not the case in Linux. In Linux, it's your choice, do whatever you want. When it comes to customization, privacy, and these things, Linux is the best. The risk of a virus coming is next to nothing.
The Dangers of Linux and the Feeling of an Owner
The rest is that a beginner has to stay a bit careful because there are such commands in Linux that sometimes delete the entire PC, meaning they even delete the entire Linux operating system sometimes! This doesn't happen in Windows, but in Linux, you have this level of control, all the control is yours, you feel like you are the owner—this is how you find out, right!
So this was my experience. Linux is open-source so obviously everything is known, what is happening in the background. What do we know in Windows? Don't know what all is running on the back-end, they are stealing our data or doing god knows what.
End of Support for Windows 10 and the Linux Trend
Now, a lot of software support has arrived on Linux too. I saw once that when the support for Windows 10 ended, many people were moving to Linux instead of going to Windows 11. Previously, it didn't use to be like this. When Windows 7 support ended, people came directly to Windows 10. A lot of people, rather most people came to Windows 10. Some people stayed on Windows 7—I still say Windows 7 was very good—but even then, not these many people went to Linux.
Now a whole lot of people are going to Linux because Windows 11 is all bloatware, it is filled with all useless garbage! But now Linux people have also made a lot of progress, so it gets a lot of software support, you get a lot of alternatives (like MS Office's alternative LibreOffice, everything is available). I liked Linux quite a lot. Just the issue is that it doesn't give a battery backup of that type, and there are many things in which it cannot give that kind of performance which Windows can give, that's the only issue.
What if Microsoft Improves?
You know what the thing is? Even today, if Microsoft removes the bloatware from Windows and makes it good and proper, then Linux's game can end even today! But Microsoft brothers don't do all this anywhere. But the thing is that on Linux, very less RAM is required, and Linux's smallest version can run even on 46 MB.
The surprising thing is that what we took to the moon—meaning through which we landed on the moon, the ones through which we kept going into space, with the help of those PCs—they had RAM in KBs and MBs! And nowadays in our ordinary PCs, in home PCs, the RAM is in GBs and still they hang, and we have gone up to the moon, up to space with that RAM of KBs and MBs! This is an injustice, man, meaning whether it is wrong or it's the truth.
Linux's Efficiency and Light Distros
This is not the case in Linux. In Linux, it runs even on 46 MB—there is one Linux, don't know which one (like Tiny Core Linux or Puppy Linux)—fine, it runs even on 46 MB. And anyway on Linux, Kali Linux comes among heavy Linux distros, even in that, quite less RAM is needed, quite less!
The Magic of Linux on Pentium and 4GB RAM
If it is Windows, a good amount of RAM is needed. On that, I have been running Kali Linux XFCE on 4GB DDR3 RAM. I have been running even GNOME with DDR3 4GB RAM and an HDD! And the processor I had was a Pentium, I kept running it with that too. Kept running it with that, kept learning/coding. Fine, I kept running it for home tasks, I used it for a long time. Used it for almost 5 to 6 months, it never lagged, it never hung! It's surprising just like that.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Which OS uses less RAM?
Linux uses significantly less RAM compared to Windows. While Windows 11 requires a minimum of 4GB RAM just to run decently, Linux is highly efficient. Ultra-light Linux distros like Tiny Core Linux or Puppy Linux can run on as little as 46 MB of RAM! Even heavier distros like Kali Linux with XFCE run flawlessly on 4GB DDR3 RAM.
Which OS is faster for low end PC?
Linux is definitely faster for a low-end PC. If you have an old PC with 4GB RAM, an HDD, and a basic processor like a Pentium, Windows 11 will make it extremely slow. However, installing a Linux distro with a lightweight desktop environment like XFCE will make it run excellently without lagging or hanging.
What games are banned on Linux, why Linux cannot game?
Games are not exactly "banned" on Linux, but Linux cannot game like Windows because of strict anti-cheat systems. Many popular multiplayer games (like Valorant, Fortnite, or PUBG) use kernel-level anti-cheat software (like Riot Vanguard or Easy Anti-Cheat) that block Linux users because it cannot monitor the open-source kernel the same way it does on Windows. While Steam Play (Proton) has made huge progress for single-player games, competitive multiplayer gaming still forces users to keep Windows.
Is Linux safer than Windows?
Yes, Linux is generally considered safer than Windows. The risk of a virus coming is next to nothing in Linux. Because Linux is open-source, everything happening in the background is known and audited by the community. In contrast, on Windows, we don't know what is running on the back-end or if our data is being collected.
Minimum RAM required for Windows vs Linux?
For Windows 11, you need a minimum of 4GB RAM (8GB is recommended for smooth usage), and it will still consume a lot of it for background bloatware. For Linux, the minimum RAM required depends on the distro, but it is incredibly low. Light distros can run on 46 MB, and even heavy distros like Kali Linux or Ubuntu can run comfortably on 2GB to 4GB RAM.
