Installing Linux takes a few screens; living on it is where switches fail or hold. Easy Anti-Cheat’s Linux version is set to require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0, a fresh update flaw hit Ubuntu and its derivatives on 4 November, and Microsoft has pushed its paid Windows 10 patch sign-up to October 2027, which removes the pressure to hurry.
Table of Contents
The installer is the short part of switching to Linux in 2026. Linux Mint’s own guide covers it in nine numbered steps. What decides the outcome comes afterwards: whether the games you play will start, whether the first update lands before an attacker does, and whether your backup covers the files you will miss. Valve’s October 2026 Steam survey put Linux at 3.95% of systems, up 0.90 points on the month and far behind Windows at 93.70%, so desktop Linux is still a small base, and a gaming-heavy one in that sample.
Linus Tech Tips published a tutorial called How to Switch to Linux on 26 October 2026, aimed at viewers afraid of a new operating system and ready to leave “the clutches of Windows”. The channel made the video itself, and its published chapter list shows where it spends its minutes. This article sets that structure against the Linux Mint installation guide, the latest reporting on Epic’s anti-cheat plans, a fresh Ubuntu-family security advisory and the state of Windows 10 support.
Eleven chapters, and the installer gets 84 seconds
The chapter list, as reproduced by the German open-source blog s3n.net, starts with an intro at 0:00, then choosing a distro at 1:56, tools for installing Linux at 3:24, backing up data at 4:02 and installing Linux at 4:38. A segment on where things live follows at 6:02, then the file manager at 6:36, getting apps at 8:42, drivers at 12:20, a celebration at 13:47 and an outro at 15:40.
Subtract the timestamps and installing Linux gets 84 seconds, backing up gets 36, and getting apps gets 3 minutes 38 seconds, the longest of the ten chapters with a known running time. That allocation suggests the author treats the days after the install as the bigger job, which is also where the independent sources place the friction. The list has no chapter devoted to gaming, work software compatibility or security updates, three areas where the later sections find conditions that decide whether a switch holds.
The install sequence mirrors the distro maker’s own guide
Linux Mint’s installation guide moves in the same order as the video’s early chapters: download an ISO image, write it to a bootable USB stick, start a live session, then install. The live session is slower than an installed system, keeps no changes and runs some tools, including Timeshift and Flatpak, differently or not at all. A fair reading is that a live session is a hardware check, not a trial of daily use.
The installer then offers to erase the disk or to install alongside the existing system, which it resizes before adding a boot menu. First-timers are steered to home-folder encryption, because the guide flags problems between full-disk encryption and some NVIDIA drivers. The system itself takes roughly 15 GB, and the guide suggests 100 GB or more for the root partition when you partition by hand. Which distribution the video installs is not stated in its chapter list, so Mint serves here as the documented example, not as a claim about the video.
Distro choice carries a December date
The Register reported on 6 November that Linux Mint 27 is expected next month, built on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, with a new Cinnamon desktop whose Wayland support is no longer experimental and with system hibernation restored. The X11 session stays for anyone who prefers it. Anyone installing Mint today will therefore meet a major release within weeks.
Mint 22.3 is already the fourth most common distribution among Linux users in Valve’s survey at 8.41%, behind CachyOS at 16.39%, SteamOS Holo at 13.89% and Arch Linux at 8.92%. Arch-based and SteamOS systems lead the gaming sample, while newcomer guides such as Technerdo’s put Mint, Ubuntu and Fedora first. That gap is an inference from two different audiences, not a finding in either source: people who game on Linux are not the people a beginner tutorial is written for.
Backups cover two different risks
The video’s backup chapter comes before its install chapter, which is the safe order. Technerdo’s guide says to copy files to an external drive and to a cloud service before touching partitions, to save the BitLocker recovery key if Windows encryption is on, and to create Windows recovery media first.
Mint’s guide covers a different risk. After installation it tells you to set up Timeshift snapshots before you use the system, stored on a device you pick as incremental RSYNC copies. Timeshift behaves differently or not at all in the live session, so personal files need their own copy before the installer runs. Snapshots restore the system, not your documents: Technerdo states that Timeshift is not a complete personal-file backup by itself and suggests pairing it with a cloud or external-drive tool.
Anti-cheat brings Windows-style requirements to Linux
ComputerBase reported on 9 November that Epic has offered a preview of its Linux launcher since 14 October, officially supported on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Debian 12 or newer. Epic communications director Jake Jones told GamingOnLinux the launcher should reach more distributions and named SteamOS, Fedora, CachyOS and Omarchy. A native launcher does not mean every game runs, because many Epic titles are Windows-only and need a compatibility layer.
The harder item is Fortnite. Epic plans a Linux version, but Easy Anti-Cheat has to be reworked first, and EAC Linux v2 is set to require Secure Boot and TPM 2.0, according to ComputerBase. Epic’s technical post of 14 October says the Steam Deck lacks the required features, and Epic is talking with Valve about a fix. One inference follows: Technerdo describes laptops stranded by Windows 11’s TPM and CPU rules as prime candidates for Linux, and games that adopt the new anti-cheat could shut out the same machines. Technerdo’s own verdict is plainer: some anti-cheat games work, some do not, and some break after an update.
Updates are the first job after the last installer screen
Canonical disclosed CVE-2026-109518 on 4 November, a flaw in APT, the package manager of Debian, Ubuntu and their derivatives. An attacker who can manipulate unencrypted HTTP traffic between a computer and an archive server can trigger installation of a malicious package and gain root privileges. GamingOnLinux relays Canonical’s rating of High, a CVSS 4.0 score of 7.7, and notes that Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and newer are affected by default. HTTPS protects against it, and fixes exist: Debian’s stable release is patched in APT 3.0.4.
Mint builds on Ubuntu LTS releases, according to The Register, and the advisory names derivatives, so a new Mint user should update first. Mint’s guide puts the Driver Manager at the top of its post-install list and Technerdo says to install updates before customizing anything, while the chapter list has a drivers segment and no updates segment. Technerdo says Linux has fewer consumer malware problems than Windows but is not magic armor, and the advisory shows why.
Windows 10 gives switchers more time than the countdown implies
Microsoft ended Windows 10 support on 14 October 2025, and consumers could buy a year of extra patches for $30 until 13 October 2026. The Register reported on 26 June that Microsoft’s support page now lets them sign up until 12 October 2027. Microsoft gave no reason, and the report does not say how long coverage lasts after a late sign-up. The paid patch sign-up now runs to 12 October 2027.
The Register points to why the offer is likely to keep coming: StatCounter found 26% of Windows users it can see still on Windows 10, HP says 30% of its customers have not moved, and Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. For an owner of an older laptop, the deadline that made switching feel urgent has moved by a year, which leaves time for a live-session test and a proper file backup before any disk is erased.
A short decision list for a Windows 10 owner
The chapter list shows structure, not advice, and nothing here establishes what the video says in any segment. The Steam survey samples Steam users, not all PC owners, and Technerdo’s guide is an editorial blog, not a vendor document. Within those limits the evidence supports a conditional answer.
For a family laptop that runs a browser, mail and documents, switching is low-risk once a live-session test passes and files are copied twice. For a work machine, check the VPN, Office files and any security agent first. For someone whose main game uses kernel-level anti-cheat, keep Windows or dual-boot for now, because the Secure Boot and TPM question between Epic and Valve is unresolved. Three developments would change that advice: Mint 27 arriving in December, an Epic and Valve fix for the Steam Deck, and another Microsoft extension of Windows 10 patching.
Author:
Jan Bielik
CEO & Founder of Webiano Digital & Marketing Agency
This article is an original analysis supported by the sources cited below
How to Switch to Linux – YouTube
The video’s own page, which carries its title and its 26 October 2026 upload date; its chapter list comes from the s3n.net entry below.
s3ntube i11l · How to Switch to Linux
A German open-source blog’s post that reproduces the video’s description and its full chapter list with timestamps, the basis for the timing arithmetic.
Install Linux Mint
The Linux Mint project’s official installation steps, covering the live session, install alongside or erase disk, encryption advice and partition sizes.
System snapshots
Mint’s official instructions for setting up Timeshift system snapshots after installation.
Hardware drivers
Mint’s official first post-install step, checking for available hardware drivers in the Driver Manager.
Steam Deck: Epic will rein, Fortnite bleibt vorerst noch draußen
ComputerBase’s 9 November 2026 report on Epic’s Linux launcher preview, supported distributions and the Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 requirements planned for Easy Anti-Cheat Linux v2.
Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives hit by APT flaw that could give attackers root access
GamingOnLinux’s 5 November 2026 write-up of Canonical’s APT advisory, with severity, affected releases and the HTTPS mitigation.
Steam Survey – October 2026 shows an uptick for the Linux user share
The source for Linux at 3.95%, Windows at 93.70% and the distribution ranking among Steam’s Linux users.
Microsoft extends extended updates for Windows 10 in the most muted way imaginable
The Register’s 26 June 2026 report that consumer Windows 10 patch sign-up now runs to 12 October 2027, with usage figures and Windows 11 requirements.
Crowd fave Linux Mint update approaches, fresh from autumn release of Cinnamon desktop
The Register’s 6 November 2026 preview of Mint 27, its Ubuntu 26.04 base, stable Wayland support and restored hibernation.
How to Switch to Linux in 2026: Beginner’s Guide
An independent beginner guide used for its backup, live-USB testing, Timeshift and anti-cheat cautions.
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