I've been using it (and its predecessor OpenOffice) for the last decade and a half, and I haven't looked back. It does literally everything I need it to do and then some. One of the best examples of just how good open source software can be.
This is especially true for the aspects of LibreOffice that she's going to use most.
Others have listed ProtonDB, which is an absolute necessity. Tweaking Proton versions and the like can be tricky but not too bad, especially if you're used to using a PC.
There are also tools like Lutris and Heroic Games Launcher for third-party titles and further Proton support.
Oh, and there are also community-made custom Proton versions, such as ProtonGE, which can help if a game is giving you a lot of trouble.
Nice thing about having a dual boot setup is that you can play most of your games on Linux, and then just boot into Windows to play live service games with kernel anticheat. Best of both worlds!
Dead broke son of a low middle class family. There's no privilege here. I'm not here for political debates. Ultimately, I'm here for gaming (particularly of the retro variety), open source software, Linux, that kind of stuff. That being said, I am going to say this much.
Unlike other comments here, I actually do somewhat agree with what you're saying in the sense that it's gonna be a little harder because we don't have those industries here at home. The problem is, if we didn't take drastic action, we were just gonna continue on the current path. Countless properties, companies, and assets are owned by foreign companies. If we don't put tariffs on the countries that are already tarriffing us hard, then we would just continue the cycle of economic failure.
Moreover, we're seeing plenty of foreign countries already caving to these tariffs. Sure, you might see bigger ones like China resisting for a while, but it's not going to last very long. They don't have enough economic power to be completely self-sufficient, especially considering the fact that the majority of their wealth has been made on our expense. Without America buying up all the cheap crap that their corporations peddle, their economy will fall apart. What they need to realize is that if they want to be economic partners with our country, they're going to have to pay their fair share.
Honestly, that whole concept just seems like common sense to me. If another country is going to do business with us, they should have to be conducting fair business and not taking advantage of us at every turn.
At the end of the day, much like a majority of political discourse on the Fediverse, I'm pretty certain it just boils down to a shared hatred of our current president. And honestly, I just find that very sad. It's one thing to have an objective perspective or to at least try to have an objective perspective. That's why, of all of these comments, yours is the one I'm replying to. But in general, the main reason I'm not replying to the others (other than the fact that I don't want to waste time on politics) is that they are already showing their colors and I know for a fact that I could not have a proper adult discussion with them even if I tried.
That's one of many. They claim "no political mods" but only actually take action against political mods of a certain worldview unless there's enough backlash. I'm down for the "no political mods" policy but it has to be enforced equally.
I feel like console add-ons would have been better for everyone. I like the idea of being able to squeeze more life out of an existing console because it means not everyone has to rush to get the new one. Modular upgrading is one of the bigger reasons I'm a PC gamer.
Hopefully somebody forks it for platforms such as DEG. Vortex is the only objectively good thing that Nexus has done in recent years. Otherwise, I can't stand those guys. From banning people for asking for a very simple feature that they end up adding a month later, to their more recent issues with censorship, they are not a good platform. The problem is that they're very easy to use, which makes it harder to move away.
This is exactly why we have these issues like we're dealing with with the Switch 2. Console gamers are only focused on hardware and exclusivity, they're not focused on the operating system of the device, the build quality of the product itself (including the ergonomics), nor do they care about the company that produces it beyond their basic fanboy tendencies.
Steam Deck's competitors might have slightly better hardware or a higher resolution, but none of them are right to repair friendly. None of them have custom software literally designed for the product, and none of them have the sort of ergonomics that the Steam Deck has. Not to mention the fact that Valve is an American company, which might not be important to everybody, but it is important to me. They're also a company that has proven themselves to be largely consumer-friendly.
While I'm not dissing anybody who does make the choice to go for an Ally or a Legion Go, the problem I have is that those devices are literally just another hardware company jumping on a band wagon. The Steam Deck completely revolutionized the way that we play on PC. Sure, it took inspiration from the original Switch. There's no question about that. But that doesn't mean that Valve was just jumping on a band wagon the way that ASUS and Lenovo are doing.
Valve literally spent years working with Linux developers on software that makes Linux gaming truly viable in order to create devices that allow you to run virtually any game on a handheld that you fully own, are allowed to put any game on (including games from other launchers, which they didn't have to allow) and you're fully allowed to self-repair it if any issues arise. Meanwhile, companies like ASUS and Lenovo treat their customers more like smartphone suckers customers, not to mention the fact that they went the cheap and easy route of just using Windows, which isn't optimized for a device like these. And guess what? Lenovo is bending the knee to the Steam Deck supremacy by allowing you to get a version with SteamOS in the future. That alone proves that Valve is one step ahead of their competition.
To summarize all that I said, the reason the Steam Deck is so good is not just the hardware, it's not just the screen, it's the fact that it's a very capable device at the hardware level, combined with very, very good software and a very consumer-friendly company behind it all.
There are boatloads of things that we don't have tangible, irrefutable evidence for, yet we believe in. It's called faith. You have faith in things, you just don't want to admit it. And just because I have faith in things that you don't doesn't mean that I don't have the right to have that faith.
Nintendo keeps shooting themselves in the foot. On one hand, as a PCMRer and massive fan of Valve, I'm glad to see how many are open to moving over here. On the other hand, Nintendo was the last console manufacturer I actually liked (despite their anti-emulation crusade) and so it's like a death of an era.
The future really is in console-like PCs a la the Steam Deck and Valve's upcoming Fremont.
Easily. Aside from the first party titles, there's literally no reason to get a Switch 2. Everything else is objectively better on a PC handheld (especially the Deck).
I haven't used an Ally and I love Steam but objectively, I'd recommend the Deck. Phenomenal ergonomics, amazing software (Bazzite is good but doesn't compare), good build quality, right-to-repair friendly, Valve is an American business (not important to everyone but it is to me) and you'd be supporting a company that has done nothing but make PC gaming amazing.
I've been using it (and its predecessor OpenOffice) for the last decade and a half, and I haven't looked back. It does literally everything I need it to do and then some. One of the best examples of just how good open source software can be.
This is especially true for the aspects of LibreOffice that she's going to use most.