I recently decided to reinstall linux mint 21.3 Cinnamon to clean any extra packages I installed over time so I didnt have to manually look for and uninstall packages that I no longer use. Though when I tried to run lutris it would no longer run so instead of trying to get it to work I thought I would try pop os. First thing I noticed when installing Pop OS was the different layout. I was use to the linux mint layout since I went from windows to Mint. I never used Mac so this layout might seem normal for mac users. So far I have reinstalled Lutris and got lord of the rings the battle for middle earth 2 to run. This is part2 of my first post from a few months ago. 1 month of Linux Mint and some thoughts.
I’ve been running Pop_OS as the only OS for my desktop for several months. I really like it. Other than a couple adjustments on where to find things, it really was a smooth transmission. You can change the placement of a lot of elements in the settings, so be sure to poke around there to make it more like you are used to. I use mostly Steam/Proton, and it has not failed me yet. The only thing I use Lutris for is Satisfactory on Epic Games, but that also runs great.
I have been using linux mint for about 5 months and it was great so I had no intention on changing to pop os until recently. While linux mint has the same placement as windows I find pop os to be simple enough design wise that I think it might actually be easier to use than mint and windows.
I have Mint on a very old MacBook. It is definitely more akin to Windows. I went went Pop on my desktop due to the baked in Nvidia drivers. Of the 2, I prefer Pop by a long mile. To my eye, Pop is just more modern design wise and simpler to use
Hey, another Battle for Middle Earth fan!
I actually keep a Windows dual boot specifically for BFME online play (since BFME only works singleplayer on Linux). It’s been making a comeback recently, there were 51 people online (!!! New record) just this Sunday. We played 3v3s, 4v4s, FFAs, you name it. Was a lot of fun 😄
In any case, check out the 2.22 launcher; even for offline play, it’s got built-in support for a lot of mods and plugins, and runs decently under Linux: https://www.moddb.com/mods/battle-for-middle-earth-patch-222/downloads/patch-222
Its one of my favourite abandon-ware games. I have been more interested in the campaign so I used the all in one launcher for singleplayer though I could only get 1.06 to work in wine since 1.09 in the launcher made some sort of call to the windows task manager which results in an error. I have used micro 10 in a virtual machine to test things other than bfme2, Using a vm or dual booting is a good option if you want to play bfme2 in multiplayer. I will test it out if I ever feel like playing multiplayer though I imagine most of the players are really good at pvp.
I’ve been using Pop for a few years. I purchased a System76 laptop and decided to give it a spin since it was already installed. There’s a lot of I like about, and overall appreciate System76’s effort. It’s very stable, works flawlessly with Lutris, and the Pop store is a refreshing take on package management. Ive continued using it since at this point I’m just settled in on my OS and don’t want to bother setting anything else up lol.
That said, I’m still a much bigger fan of KDE over gnome and gnome derivatives. Pop lacks a lot of UI customization I’d really like to have. There’s also only two themes,( and im not particularly interested in learning how to replace is manually).
I am looking forward to trying out their next iteration of the Cosmic DE though. The previews look awesome and it would be a big step forward for Pop.
