What won't work on Linux

Read this page before any of the others. Every guide to switching is written by someone who wants you to switch, me included, and the kindest thing I can do is show you the holes first.

There are fewer of them than there used to be. I’ve used Linux since 2004, and for most of that time its big drawbacks on the desktop were the interface and games. Both have been largely dealt with. What’s left is a short, specific list, and whether it matters depends entirely on whether your name is on it.

Adobe

Adobe does not make Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom Classic or Acrobat for Linux, and the workarounds people describe online are unreliable with current versions. If a subscription to Creative Cloud pays your bills, keep a Windows PC or a Mac. There is no cleverer answer.

For everyone else it’s softer than it sounds. Photoshop and Lightroom both have browser versions that run on Linux with a paid subscription, thinner than the real thing. The free replacements are good and they are different: GIMP for photos, Inkscape for Illustrator work, DaVinci Resolve or Kdenlive in place of Premiere. Your old .psd files will open, though your muscle memory won’t transfer, and you should budget a few irritable weeks for that.

Games with anti-cheat that says no

Most games run now. The exceptions are online games whose anti-cheat software blocks Linux, and Fortnite, League of Legends, Valorant, Apex Legends and Battlefield 6 are all on that list. There’s no trick that gets around it, and attempting one can put your account at risk.

In my experience it’s mostly first-person shooters. The gaming guide shows how to check your own games in five minutes. If the one you play nightly is refused, that PC stays on Windows, or runs both.

Money software

Quicken Classic doesn’t run. The same company’s Simplifi product does, because it’s a website. TurboTax is the same story, with the desktop edition out and the online edition fine. Free Linux programs such as GnuCash will import your old records, and they expect you to know a little more bookkeeping than Quicken did.

Things that turn into websites

A long list of Microsoft and Google products have no Linux program but work in a browser: Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Teams, WhatsApp. For most people this is fine, and a few won’t even register the change.

Two groups will feel it. Heavy Excel users will find the web version missing complicated macros and some advanced chart and pivot features, and LibreOffice handles those files with occasional formatting drift. And anyone who relies on a OneDrive or Google Drive folder that quietly syncs itself will find that neither company makes one for Linux. Your files are all still there in the browser. The magic folder is gone unless you pay for a third-party app called Insync.

iPhones

Apple Music plays in a browser, so your library and playlists survive. Syncing or backing up an iPhone through iTunes does not. If that cable matters to you, it needs a Windows PC or a Mac on the other end.

Hardware with opinions

Most PCs work without argument. The usual exceptions are an occasional wifi chip and NVIDIA graphics cards, which need one extra step after installing. The hardware guide covers both, and a USB test drive will tell you about your particular machine before you’ve committed to anything.

So should you stay?

If one item on this page is something you use every day, you have three honest options. Stay on Windows on that PC. Install Linux beside Windows and restart into it when you need the stubborn program. Or decide the program isn’t worth what Windows has become, and replace it.

If nothing here is yours, which is most people, start with your app list.