I really enjoy Linux but I find myself having to keep Windows partitions around for software that specifically requires Windows.
Proton makes everything easier by automatically running game files through a translation layer, and it “just works” quite well most of the time.
Also VanillaOS can apparently auto-spin a container when you try to open a .deb or AUR package (this is my rudimentary understanding).
Setting up WINE/Bottles, etc. is above my pay grade.
Is it not possible to create an OS that just does the same thing as Steam but for the entire OS?
Install dxvk, vkd3d-proton, and the vcredist files and you can run a good chunk of games in your default prefix by clicking them in your file manager
I’m not worried about games.
What you worried about then?
Actual productivity software. Premiere, Fusion360, Rufus, just off the top of my head.
Adobe software will not run in WINE (with few exceptions). Here is the AppDB page for Premiere:
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?iId=128&sClass=application
You can search for any other programs you’re looking to run on that page to find compatibility. If you want to edit videos in Linux, you’ll have to use a different program, like Kdenlive, OpenShot, or DaVinci Resolve. DaVinci Resolve has a free version for Linux, but it isn’t open source. I don’t know how cut down the free version is, but the paid version is used by professional studios. Otherwise you have to use an alternative program or use Windows, either in a VM or by booting into Windows (there are easy ways to set up a VM, but that’s outside the scope of this comment). There are many productivity programs that will not run in WINE, as it is not a silver bullet.
I recommend you check the AppDB for any programs you’d want to run in WINE. It’ll save you the time of trying to run things that are known to not work. Here’s the link to search WINE’s AppDB:
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&sTitle=Browse Applications&sOrderBy=appName&bAscending=true
Just use the “Name” filter to search for a specific program.
As for Rufus, I’d just recommend using BalenaEtcher on Linux, as it’s native. You can search for Rufus on WINE if you want to check (I checked out of curiosity and it has a “garbage” rating, so it’s unusable in WINE), but it would be easier to run a native package regardless. Or if you’re on Fedora, you’ll already have the Fedora Media Writer installed which will also work. Both have simple GUI interfaces to flash ISO files onto USB drives.
Here’s the link to BalenaEtcher’s website:
https://etcher.balena.io/
Or if you want to install it to your OS instead of using an AppImage (installing makes it easier to find since it would add an entry to your applications menu), you can go to their GitHub and download the right package for your distro (they provide installation instructions):
https://github.com/balena-io/etcher
Finding alternative software is usually just a quick search in a search engine for " for Linux", or similar.