Windows on its own is inferior and MS preys on its users by extracting more data and pushing them more into price-increasing cloud-based subscription models where privacy, ownership and the term “Personal Computing” means nothing anymore, and where its cloud infrastructure (where all your stuff lives) also is a big juicy target for hackers all over the globe, so you should absolutely, if you can, move away from Windows to a neutral OS like Linux, where you remain in control over what you use and the security of your infrastructure (if it’s too hard for you, pay someone to take care of it, instead of shoving your whole life and all of your company’s business secrets into MS’ cloud).

The couple of areas where Windows can be seen as “superior” on the desktop are also mostly not due to Microsoft, but due to other developers (only) developing their stuff for Windows due to its popularity. So if you use some proprietary applications or special hardware which only work on Windows, you’ve made yourself dependent upon that OS. And by staying on that OS, you’re not changing anything. You should move to Linux and insist on developers to make their stuff work on Linux as well. Or else nothing changes and MS will continue to do what they want with their users. It’s a downhill spiral and it started with Win8 or Win10. At some point, Windows will be so bad and Linux desktop will be so good that a change will happen automatically. But still, you should switch now to accelerate the inevitable process, and not support MS for much longer. The monarchy is dead, we live in a democracy now. (Well, most of us)

Yes, the change can be hard, especially if you’ve used a lot of proprietary Windows-only stuff. But it’s necessary. The operating system is too important for it to be 100% controlled by a privacy-disrespecting, US intelligence service obedient company. Sure, Windows might still offer you a better experience for your specific workflows in some cases. But it’s a poisoned apple, and more and more poison gets added over time. Just move away and stay away. Adjust your workflows. Make a statement. Every new Linux user is another argument in favor of the open operating system, and another reason for developers to start building for Linux as well. If you stay on Windows because, say, your career depends on you using some proprietary Windows-only stuff, then OK, use it as long as you have to. I’m not telling you to stop using what you HAVE to use. But if you stay on Windows even though you could just as well move to Linux (which most people can), you’re not doing anyone any favors except that you’re supporting the status quo and slowing down important progress.

And about the games using anti-cheat … just skip those. You don’t even want them on Windows. That’s literal malware you’re installing onto your system, just to play a video game. Sure, Windows itself also contains malware, so maybe users just don’t care. Fair point. But I still can’t recommend people harming the security and privacy of their systems so blatantly. Some of the anti-cheat stuff is actually compatible on Linux if the developers allowed it to be (technically it is compatible in most cases, but devs have to allow it specifically), but please just don’t support such things. There are many great games out there to play besides games using anti-cheats. Just like there are many great Linux-friendly applications you probably don’t know about yet besides those Windows-only proprietary apps. It is some initial work to adjust and make the new discoveries, but it’s worth it. Even necessary, considering how user-hostile Microsoft/Windows has become.