I wiped Windows, installed Linux on two Surface devices, and the one thing I miss most is the seamless, built‑in biometric sign‑in—Windows Hello—because Linux today does almost everything else well enough to be a daily driver for an experienced user. rview
Linux desktop distributions have matured dramatically in the last few years. Installation tools are more polished, mainstream distros ship with modern kernels and drivers, and user‑facing conveniences—Flatpak, PipeWire, polished GNOME/KDE shells, and integrated app stores—make the first steps far less intimidating than they were a decade ago. Fedora 43, for example, shipped a modern GNOME experience and a refreshed installer that streamlines setup for many users.
That progress is why more Windows users are seriously considering Linux as a primary OS today: improved hardware support, active tooling for packaging and updates, and distributions that explicitly target Windows migrants (Zorin OS 18 being a recent and high‑profile example) remove many of the old friction points.
But the headline reality is mixed: Linux is now plainly usable for many day‑to‑day tasks, yet the path isn’t guaranteed to be frictionless. Certain classes of hardware—most notably modern ARM‑based laptops built around Qualcomm Snapdragon X‑series chips and some vendor‑specific components on Surface devices—still require extra work: patched kernels, third‑party firmware, or even manual firmware extraction from a Windows install. In short: success depends on the hardware and your tolerance for terminal sessions and troubleshooting.
What the ZDNET experience tells us
Ed Bott’s hands‑on migration—starting with Ubuntu, trying Zorin OS 18, and finally finding Fedora 43 to “just work” for his Surface devices—captures the dual truth of modern Linux: distributions are better than ever, but vendor‑specific quirks remain real and sometimes maddening. His attempts required multiple distro trials, custom Surface klot of terminal work; the single persistent gripe was the lack of a first‑class, native facial‑recognition login comparable to Windows Hello.
That narrative is instructive: the successful path for many users will be iterative. Try a Live USB, confirm essential hardware (touch, webcam, Wi‑Fi, sleep), and be prepared to test a couple of distros. If you own a Surface device or a Snapdragon‑based laptop, treat the project as a modest engineering exercise rather than a one‑click migration.
Hardware compatibility: where you will trip up
ARM laptops and Snapdragon: still a work in progress
The modern wave of Qualcomm Snapdragon X‑series laptops (Dell XPS 13 9345 and similar) revive a long‑standing promise—thin, low‑power ARM laptops—but they also resurrect the old Linux problem: incomplete upstream support for vendor‑specific subsystems. Community trackers, kernel patches and device‑specific repos show many modules either missing or requiring firmware that’s only available inside Windows images. Users attempting a plain Ubuntu or Fedora install on these machines often find audio, camera, fingerprint readers, or battery reporting either broken or unreliable.
If you own or plan to buy a Snapdragon X laptop and expect an easy Linux install, stop and verify: read the upstream device trackers, Launchpad/bug reports and the developer pages for the distro you plan to use. The community has made astonishing progress (booting ARM64 images and custom kernel trees), but expect to assemble firmware blobs, apply patches, or wait for mainline kernel support.
Surface devices: “special” hardware with a solution
Microsoft’s Surface line works a little differently from most OEM laptops: the Surface Aggregator Module (SAM), custom touch and pen stacks, and Intel ISP‑based camera pipelines mean that some devices need vendor‑specific kernel patches to operate fully under Linux. That’s where the linux‑surface project comes in: it maintains a Surface‑focused kernel and packages to add or speed up support for touch, pen, cameras and more. If your device is on the project’s supported list, you’ll have a much better shot at a complete experience—although you’ll still be relying on community tooling rather than vendor‑shipped drivers.
Practical implication: Surface owners should expect to follow linux‑surface installation instructions (package repository, kernel package, small user‑space utilities) and to check the project’s feature matrix for their exact model. It’s the best path for touchscreen, pen, Type Cover and camera support, but it’s not “plug‑and‑play” in the Windows sense.
Picking a distro: tradeoffs and real examples
No single distribution is perfect for every migration. The right choice depends on hardware, the desktop experience you prefer, and how much tinkering you’ll accept.
- Ubuntu: broad community support and extensive documentation make Ubuntu an obvious starting point. It’s the most commonly recommended distro for first‑time converts and is well‑supported in virtualization and cloud tooling. However, Ubuntu’s arm64/Concept images for Snapdragon devices remain experimental in many cases; on Surface devices Ubuntu may need linux‑surface patches to enable cameras or touch.
- Zorin OS 18: designed explicitly to ease Windows users into Linux, Zorin bundles user‑friendly layouts, OneDrive integration and improved Windows app support. For many Windows refugees, Zorin’s default experience reduces friction and speeds adoption. But if your hardware requires a custom kernel (Surface) or detailed device patches (some NVMe/SoC quirks), the distro’s polish won’t invent missing firmware.
- Fedora 43: a solid choice for modern hardware and GNOME‑centric workflows, Fedora offers the latest kernel trees quickly and a default Wayland session that’s increasingly robust. In the hands‑on story above, Fedora 43 was the release that “just worked” on a Surface device where Ubuntu and Zorin had struggled—largely because of kernel compatibility and Fedora’s cutting‑edge packaging. Fedora’s frequent upstream updates and community responsiveness make it a good choice when you want modern stack features and can handle occasional rough edges.
Recommendation: start with a Live USB of at least two distros (one Ubuntu‑family and one Fedora‑family). Confirm the boot, Wi‑Fi, display, sleep, and webcam in the Live session before committing to an install. If you own a Surface, consult linux‑surface first; if you own a Snapdragon X machine, expect extra research and possible firmware extraction.
The biometric gap: why Windows Hello is hard to replace
Windows Hello is more than a face unlock trick: it’s a tightly integrated authentication platform that ties camera sensors, depth/IR hardware, and TPM‑backed credential stores together under Microsoft’s driver and API stack. That engineering investment—plus vendor support on Windows drivers—makes Hello feel fast, reliable and secure. There is no single “Windows Hello for Linux” equivalent shipped or supported by Microsoft; instead the community has built projects and PAM modules that approximate aspects of the feature.
Howdy is the closest community project that aims to deliver a Hello‑style face sign‑in on Linux. It can integrate with PAM and authenticate at login, lock screen and sudo prompts using face recognition—however, it’s a third‑party solution with limitations: it relies on 2D facial feature extraction rather than the depth/IR fusion used by many Windows Hello systems, and it’s not a drop‑in replacement for disk encryption unlock or secure TPM‑backed passkeys. In short: Howdy fills some gaps, but it’s not the same product experience or security model as Windows Hello.
If passwordless or hardware‑backed authentication is a hard requirement for you, the practical alternative on Linux today is a hardware security key (YubiKey or FIDO2 device). YubiKey has mature PAM modules and workflows for requiring a key for login, sudo and even local authentication flows; with additional community tooling you can wire a YubiKey into LUKS/disk‑unlock flows or PAM challenge‑response setups. The result is robust and secure, but it’s not a face unlock—expect a slightly different user flow at boot/unlock.
Key takeaway: if Windows Hello’s face unlock is the primary friction point for your migration, you can get close with Howdy for interactive logins and with YubiKey for strong hardware tokens, but you should expect
different tradeoffs in convenience and security design.
Installation realities: what to expect and how to prepare
- Back up everything. Full stop. Create an image or a reliable file‑level backup before you touch partitions.
- Test via Live USB. Booting a “Try” image is the fastest way to check essentials (Wi‑Fi, touch, webcam, sleep). If the Live session behaves, your odds of a clean install are far higher.
- Prefer dual‑boot at first if you want a reversible test. A dual‑boot lets you switch back while you learn.
- Make a bootable installer correctly. Use the distro’s recommended tool (Fedora Media Writer, Rufus, Etcher, etc.) and, for UEFI machines, ensure Secure Boot policy handling is understood—Surface devices sometimes require Secure Boot adjustments.
- Expect terminal work. Driver packages, repository setup for linux‑surface, or firmware extraction scripts can require command‑line steps. If you dread copying commands into a terminal, plan for a steeper learning curve.
Practical extra: if you rely on cloud apps (Office 365, Google Docs), a Linux browser (Edge, Chrome, or Firefox) will often handle your day‑to‑day productivity needs without native Windows apps. For more specialized Windows‑only apps, test them under Wine, Proton (for games) or consider running a Windows VM for the few that absolutely must run natively.
Real‑world edge cases and gotchas
- Sleep and lid behavior on hybrids: Surface devices sometimes need bespoke settings to sleep and wake reliably under Linux. Community threads show intermittent issues where a Type Cover close doesn’t suspend the device correctly until a kernel patch or configuration tweak is applied. That can lead to unexpected battery drain when you assume the device is sleeping.
- Webcam and camera pipelines: modern cameras (Intel ISP‑based pipelines on Surface) can require extra user‑space components or patched kernel support. Expect to search for ov02c10 or manufacturer‑specific driver notes if your webcam fails to appear.
- Firmware locked in Windows: some audio/topology firmware or GPU blobs are shipped only inside Windows images. Community projects extract those blobs to make them usable on Linux, but the process can be technical and fragile.
- ARM vs x86: many distributions target x86_64 first. ARM64 laptops have made progress, but expect more manual steps and fewer vendor guarantees. If you want the easiest path, prefer an Intel/AMD x86 laptop or buy one with distro support preinstalled.
A balanced assessment: strengths, limits, and risk
Strengths
- Modern distros are polished, fast and well‑maintained; Fedora 43 and Zorin 18 show how far desktop Linux has come in user experience and integration.
- The open‑source community moves quickly to support new hardware, often producing excellent kernels and device stacks when given time and contributors. The linux‑surface project is an excellent example of community patching closing vendor gaps.
- FIDO2/YubiKey support in Linux is mature and offers a high security posture for sign‑ins, sudo and remote authentication.
Limits and risks
- Vendor‑specific hardware and new ARM laptop designs can still break the “if it runs Windows it runs Linux” promise. Snapdragon X devices illustrate this clearly; support is improving but incomplete. Expect extra work or to defer migration.
- Some convenience features—Windows Hello, certain DRM‑bound apps, or vendor‑tuned utilities—are either missing or exist as third‑party approximations that lack the integrated polish of their Windows equivalents. That matters a lot if those features are daily‑drivers for you.
- Sleep/wake quirks, audio and camera firmware extraction, and secure boot/firmware idiosyncrasies mean that novices are likely to get stuck or frustrated without patient help. Community forums and GitHub issues are valuable, but they’re not the same as one‑call vendor support.
Practical checklist before you switch
- Confirm CPU architecture: prefer Intel/AMD x86_64 for the easiest path.
- Boot a L you intend to use: test Wi‑Fi, display, webcam, touch, audio and sleep.
- If you have a Surface, bookmark linux‑surface instructions and feature matrix before you install.
- If you rely on biometric convenience, plan a fallback: Howdy for facial auth (experimental), a YubiKey for hardware security, or a passphrase with a password manager for convenience and safety.
- Make a complete backup and know how to restore your Windows image if you need to revert.
Closing thoughts
Switching from Windows to Linux in 2026 is no longer the bold, hobbyist‑only experiment it once was. For many users—especially those with standard Intel/AMD hardware or who are willing to test a couple of distros—Linux is a practical, modern desktop. Distributions like Zorin OS 18 and Fedora 43 demonstrate how the ecosystem is moving to make the transition easier, and community projects like linux‑surface fill critical gaps for specific hardware.
That said, the migration is not universally frictionless. ARM‑based Snapdragon laptops and unique OEM designs can still demand advanced troubleshooting, and integrated platform features such as Windows Hello remain a pain point for users who value biometric convenience above all else. Expect some time at the terminal, a few frustrating dead ends, and the need to lean on community guides—then, quite possibly, the satisfying reward of a lean, customizable, and private desktop that fits how you work.
If you decide to try it: start conservatively, test hardware in a Live session, keep a Windows recovery handy, and accept that the single biggest missing native convenience for most recent Windows refugees will likely be the out‑of‑the‑box facial‑recognition experience. You can approximate it, you can replace it with hardware tokens, but today it still remains the one feature many migrants miss the most.
Source: ZDNET
I replaced Windows with Linux, and there's only one feature I miss