I have finally gotten rid of Windows

So, this one is a bit controversial but, when something doesn't work try running it from terminal.

Unlike windows, Linux doesn't tend to do "pop up errors". Running in terminal gives these alerts, and can often give you a hint as to why it isn't working - be it a missing library, a permission error, or something internal you can quickly search. Usually, someone has a fix!

Also, if it's a decent application, it probably logs stuff somewhere. Check /var/log for software installed system wide. If the logs are not there, check the install dir etc. If there's a README around, check that out first.
Good luck!

ONE OF US ! ONE OF US !

is this your production machine? If yes, dont type random commands until you know exactly what they are.

I know it's Linux and you can try many things as you want, but unless you are very experienced, dont do it on your main laptop.

It is pretty difficult because you can do things like installing new enviroments or try out different hacks for free. If you really want to tinker, do it on a 2nd laptop or just in Virtual Machine.

As this is bazzite, an immutable distro, the neat part is: if you reach finding out phase after fucking around, simply reboot and chose the previous version during boot. Very convenient for people who like to mess around with their systems :D

learn how to configure your shell now it will save you so much time and make it easier to learn if everything is already tailored to you just find documentation on your shells configuration its usually in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc

You've chosen an immutable distro based on rpm-ostree. If you want to install a program/application/app then flatpak is the way.
Heroic Launcher works great for installing GOG/Epic games but if you want to install a game or other program from an offline installer then I still fall back to Lutris.

For more in-depth read up on rpm-ostree and flatpak

Heroic I find is great for offline installers. I actually prefer it to Lutris I think. You set up your application and it creates a prefix. Before selecting the executable you press the "run installer first" button and it runs the installer on the prefix. Once it's done you select the executable and it's set up and good to go.
The Lutris method, IIRC, is you create the prefix, select the installer to run, then you modify that to target the new executable after. It's not difficult, but the Heroic experience is slightly more streamlined I think.
Yeeeah, for a fresh Bazzite install I'd agree that "swap Lutris for Heroic" is solid advice.
In Bazzite flatpak is the way so much that you will open Discover and only see flatpak, so if this was really, really beginner tips I'd suggest not learning what any of that means for as long as possible and just relying on Discover for your apps until you hit a roadbump. This guy seems well informed enough that is not a problem, but hey.
I'm also mildly annoyed that ujust is important enough to still need that terminal splash screen but not enough to be baked into the config tools by default in GUI. So weird.
That's either another thing you should try not to learn about if everything works fine out of the box or something you really should look into if it doesn't, and that's not great.
Also worth checking out all of the pre-made "ujust" recipes.
Just type "ujust" in the terminal for a list. Tons of useful shit.
Meh, I've found that Heroic works just fine for most offline installers. YMMV of course.

The best tip I can give you is to get rid of windows, and, well, you've already done that :)

Use alternativeto.net .... not necessarily for just Windows programs alternatives; but it is also great for looking at popular utilities for any task in Linux.

Some programs I use a lot were not suggested anywhere else (e.g. Pluma as a basic text editor and Pinta for basic image editing).

alternativeto.net
They also have the best tech/software blog I've ever seen
Nice, thanks!

A lot of games are going to work without you having to do anything and some will need some tinkering. In that case, https://www.protondb.com/ will be your best friend, telling you exactly what you need to do to get things running.

That being said, some games simply can't be run under Linux. They might work in the future as compatibility improves but some won't. If it's an issue for you, you might want to dual boot windows as a workaround.

Personally, I recommend quitting Windows cold-turkey and not dual-booting at all. If a game genuinely doesn't work without dual-booting, you don't need it. No game is so important that it's worth compromising your security, privacy, and property rights over.
- Yep, and the more people do this then the more likely it will be that games support Linux (or are at least tested to work with WINE/Proton.
- Unfortunately some of us need windows for more than games, and there aren’t Linux alternatives
- This 100%. Give up Windows and never look back, you will not regret it.
- Im a wuss and have an older laptop running windows for some things. Its really just me being lazy and not wanting to bother with the high hanging fruit.
but dont dual boot on the same drive! get a second SSD or something because windows is a big bully and always wants to screw stuff up
- I'm so used to terminal that I've installed most of the apps I'll use using it
- I’ve seen some folks complain about its size, but it’s like 8 or 9gb. Small price to pay if you ask me for how turnkey it is. Besides storage is cheap now.
  Especially when you consider Windows is like 20-30GB
If you do dual boot, turn on the BIOS password to prevent Windows from messing with your bootloader.
Funnily, sometimes the pirate version of a game works whilst the official one does not...

My best advice is:

You should never blindly copy and paste commands form the Internet into your terminal.

+1 for Bazzite! I converted last year, and have never had to go back. My tip would be to make good use of ProtonUp-QT that should have come with Bazzite by default. Use it to get Proton GE which in my experience has been the best compatibility layer for Steam games. You can also batch update with that tool so that when a new version of GE comes out, you can set games en masse to the new version.

I'm using GNOME, so I have ProtonPlus

Nice! I recently tried KDE Plasma and I’ve been really impressed not just with the polish but with the look and feel that still kind of reminds me of Windows without being Windows.

Yeah, it's like all the good parts of the Windows UI (whichever version you like best) without the bad parts, and also customizable so you can make it work best for you, and not what some corporation decides is best this year.
I've seen Plasma, Xfce, and GNOME. I like the last one the most, so I'm using it on all of my systems.
- I can't stand GNOME, but I understand that other people like it.
Love me some Plasma. I'm still running the default styles after over a year as well. It's just nice.
I really should spend some time experimenting with customizations though

Execute "ujust" and marvel at what's possible right out of the box. If you used KDE check out some simple tips on how to configure cool windows effects. A little wobble makes all the difference. Browse the apps you can install, there are some pretty neat things in there you probably never heard of before.

And don't forget: once you got the things you want working, let the system fade into the background. No need to constantly tinker with your distribution unless you enjoy it.

I'm using GNOME because I like it more
And yeah, system fading into the background is the end goal
- Yes gnome > KDE
  This is a hill i will die on
- I totally agree - distro hoppers who complain about the "nightmare" of finding the right distro are living in a hell of their own making.
Can't live without my magic lamp animation for minimise/maximise. Feels so out of place without it
- Oh so you always need a lamp do you. Can you also fly??

Mess around until it breaks. It's fun.
Also checkout "ricing linux." (There is a unixporn community here that can help you)

I did the same a few months ago. Installed bazzite just like you. Then installed fedora 42 workstation over it one week later.

While it's designed to be plug and play, I found bazzite frustrating. But then again, I'm a Linux vet and I'm a tinkerer. I like to customise system configuration files. Immutable distros just weren't for me.

But if you're happy then that's all that matters. Happy gaming!

Bazzite allows for tinkering just fine, it's just different so you have to be willing to put a little time in to learn how ostree works, for example.
- Of course it can be tinkered with, but it wasn't really designed to be tinkered with in the same way that you can with a traditional Linux system. It's designed to keep users from messing with system files with its strict containerised workflow. It's certainly not targeted at users who'll want to hack systemd services, customise kernel modules, tweak system files under /etc and /usr, or even compile software from source.
  I acknowledge that it's possible to create highly customised and reproducible systems with immutable distros, but it's a paradigm shift compared to a traditional *nix system.
  I've spent 20+ years refining my knowledge of linux and BSD, I haven't got the patience to start over with these types of systems.
  Please don't get me wrong, I'm not at all criticising these systems for being different. They serve a completely different purpose —one that's just not for me.

Welcome in from the cold. We have hot cocoa and blankets.

Less a specific linux tip but look into Ventoy, it can carry multiple bootable ISOs and its just useful (reduces the amount of ISO Sticks to 1)

ventoy is awesome, my tip for OP is to always have a live usb in case of emergencies. you can just install ventoy onto a USB and drag and drop your bazzite ISO but having a live stick you can plug in and boot from at any moment is 100% a life saver. whether you broke something or you just wanna troubleshoot (think windows safe mode but better) you'll be glad you kept that USB lying around :)
i would suggest looking into alternatives to Ventoy, as the community has been actively discussing the 'blobs' of precompiled code. What this code does is unknown so you are trusting that there is nothing that could be harmful. I personally wouldn't trust it until the below thread provides more clarity.
https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/issues/3224

Obligatory fastfetch is right there post

Neofetch came preinstalled, so I've used it
- I guessed as much, I only say so because fastfetch was on the terminal prompt too - could it be both are preinstalled?

You can blindly download and install things from the internet on Windows, you can't in Linux. If you try, it'll be confusing at best, destructive at worst. If you want to install something, best to look for it in your GUI software manager (the "app store")

If you're up for the challenge (it's extremely tedious to set up, partially thanks to its horrid instructions), you can try installing winapps. It'll save you a lot of time with running Windows programs

This is not totally true. Deb packages will just activate the package manager and will mimic the feel of installing something on windows.
- Bazzite is based on fedora atomic, which means I don't get debs and have to deal with flatpak, brew and distrobox
  Okay, I kinda do get debs through the last one... I think. I've never used db before, my experience comes mostly from Ubuntu and Pop_OS!
- Yea, and appimages are a lot like a single .exe

I did something similar a few months ago! But honestly it took me forever to pick between GNOME and KDE. Ended up going to KDE for certain things I wanted to customise.

Curious about what you plan to play with them specs.

Runs pretty much everything in stable 60 fps, and I don't see any difference between medium and ultra settings
More specifically: DOTA 2, Pathfinder Kingmaker (took 4 hours to set this one up, and it's the SECOND time), Chrono Ark, 1000x Resist, They Are Billions, Mechwarrior 5 with friends, TTRPGs in browser, and some souls-like once I'm done with one of the listed games
- Ah, okay. "Pretty much everything" in 60 fps at medium settings sounds reasonable.
  Not trying to hate here btw, I was just curious. 😁

Linux is great but make sure you also have a secondary computer for if and when it randomly doesn't boot or won't update anymore. You can probably get a used laptop pretty cheap.