I don’t have a lifetime pass; I pay the monthly subscription. I would prefer to use Jellyfin, but Plex works better and the Jellyfin app on Apple TV is abysmal. That’s pretty much it. If Jellyfin worked better, I’d switch, but I’m not suffering through it for some principle against paying for software.

A couple years between releases when the app is as bad as it is might as well be never. I’m not suffering through using an app that barely works in the hope that that some year it will improve.

I first started running Linux in the early 2000s. I wasn’t solely using Linux, but it was very much a situation where I used it for what it was best at and used Windows for where I needed Windows. Mostly that was for games, but it was early in my IT career and Windows was a skill I needed to build, so I did a lot of dual booting. It really propelled my understanding of computers running and breaking multiple OSes.

I fully made the switch a couple of years ago when I realized I hadn’t booted my Windows install in six months. Linux has come a long way, and has also been helped by so many things being browser-based these days.

It sounds like you’re really sensitive to workflow disruption at this time in your life. You can’t change from Windows to Linux without some pretty hefty disruptions, same as if you chose to go from Windows to Mac. If you really don’t feel like you have the personal bandwidth to deal with the workflow disruptions and learning curve, you should go with Windows 11. If you hate it, it’s not like Linux won’t still be there for you to investigate later when your life calms down.