I think I’m gonna grab an old external USB drive and live boot from there and test things out

Just keep in mind, in such a case, that your performance will be quite reduced due to limits on I/O. When you have Linux on a real drive - especially a striped RAID, the system is blazing fast. It’s a substantial difference you should keep in mind when evaluating.

“This PC is basically my life” screams leave well enough alone. I wouldn’t even set up a dual boot on a machine I depended on to make my living. If you do, make sure you’ve got everything backed up before you start. Nothing should go wrong, but that’s a very different statement than nothing will go wrong.

If you want to start using linux I’d recommend you buy a cheap second computer and start there. You can safely experiment as much as you like without risking your professional set up.

There is software for all your uses on linux, but I would start by using those apps on your current setup to get used to the workflow.

Changing from windows to linux can be really tough but it can be made a lot easier if you are already using programs that work on linux before you switch.

I’m going to second the comment to leave well enough alone. Do NOT mess with your machine if its what makes you money.

I know you commented you don’t have funds for a second computer to test with but that really is the best step for you.

This is especially regarding some of your other details. You are not in for a quick and smooth transition (sorry to say).

VSTs are “sort of” supported on Linux. Basically they’re not and there are work arounds that I haven’t done using wine for compatibility.

I run a virtual machine for the windows software I am reliant on. So basically my Photoshop etc I use Affinity in a windows VM and it works fine. Depending if you get intensive with your work you might need a lot of resources or experience lag. But for the most part it should be fine. Look into virt-manager for your VM if you want to go that route.

Besides the VST issue, audio recording will probably give you additiinal problems. I haven’t delved into it because he rabbit hole went too deep for me, but from what I’ve read there tends to be issues with audio in VMs (tremendous lag for one).

But all that being said, there should be a solution for all of your needs. It probably won’t be straight forward though given your use cases. I don’t want to sound negative with my warnings, I just want to make sure you don’t shoot yourself in the foot with your work.

I’m an ex-Windows user and have been using Linux for about 7-ish years now.

If you can handle some downtime, the possibility of some plugins breaking and some time getting used to your new system, you can give it a shot. Otherwise, what I’d more or less recommend is getting a spare computer and just trying Linux out on that. That way you can keep your work computer for critical work while you mess around on the spare.

I checked Cubase on WineHQ, and sadly it won’t run via WINE from what I see, so you will either have to look for a different DAW (which will require extra time re-learning everything) or just going with a spare).

If you do plan on biting the bullet and going full Linux on your work machine, here’s a couple observations:

The only Windows DAW i’ve tried on Linux is FL Studio running through WINE. I do have REAPER for aligning audio tracks (it’s very good at that) but I haven’t really used that enough to become proficient with it. There’s also Bitwig, which I haven’t used (I checked the price on that when i was kinda on the fence about getting it and oh boy is it expensive! around $800 with the annual upgrade or smth lol).

From my experience, VSTs via WINE (in my case, running through FL Studio 24.2.1), is quite good, although there are is a good bit of jank that comes with it (a few 32-bit VSTs don’t work, it’s a bit of a gamble honestly) and there are bound to be a couple potential breakages with WINE updates (like what happened today as I’m writing this, I updated WINE and idk if it’s just a residual thing but the GUIs on GVST plugins don’t render anymore, I can still access the parameters via hovering and looking at the hints panel in FL Studio, but it is a bit cumbersome trying to operate VSTs blindly, especially when they contain things such as waveforms/levels).

Other than that FL Studio’s been running like a charm, very very close to (if not native), except for stuff like the Diagnostic thingy not working at all (told you there’s jank).

As for replacements, you will need to learn new programs, one which may not contain all the features that you would want (muscle memory can also be a bit of a pain). I’d start out with maybe trying out Audacity and GiMP/Krita on Windows and try learning and getting used to the workflow of each on your existing Windows installation before swapping over. I was using FOSS programs like GiMP/Audacity beforehand so the transition was easy once I swapped over. FL in WINE back then was a little more finnicky but most of it still worked so it kept me going.

If you’re still thinking about wiping Windows off of there and going full Linux, good luck, my friend.

lol dual boo

I suggest having two separate hard drives rather than dual booting