I would NOT recommend biting the bullet for Windows 11. If you want to use it, just make sure you have a virtual machine of Windows 11, and have specific purposes for it. That way, you'll be able to sandbox the data as necessary.

I'm savvy enough where I can adult Lego a PC together but struggle when it comes to software and troubleshooting and really don't have the time for that stuff.

Then Linux is not for you; it is nothing but troubleshooting.
If you have to use Windows, get the LTSC IOT edition. It's official and it has none of the crap people complain about in 11 (copilot, onedrive, recall, etc.). I've had no problems gaming on it, either.

Hey there! I'm an avid music producer and gamer.

I made the jump to bitwig while I was still using Windows in 2019, and made the full jump to Linux as my daily driver late last year.

My mint journey was Mint (Cinnamon) > Debian (KDE Plasma) > Garuda (Dr4g0niz3d KDE plasma)

I think mint was great and I was still able to do a fair amount of gaming on it and Cinnamon desktop environment is very similar to windows so it's not too big of a jump.

Debian was fine - I wanted to use Plasma as the desktop environment because I wanted a touch customization for how I can set up windows, widgets, and different desktop panels. I had issues with some games on this though.7

I like Garuda but I would not recommend if you're not too familiar with tinkering and troubleshooting. In hindsight I probably should have gone with Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE plasma as its desktop environment). I have experienced some odd bugs with the desktop environment and I think it has to do with how nvidia and Wayland play with one another.

I haven't had a game that didn't run, the only odd bug I've had is some games won't recognize my new soundcard from bitwig.

using WINE and yabridge I've gotten all my plugins to work seamlessly as well - and that includes Omnisphere which is a beast on resources.

I was really fed up with the direction that windows has been heading for quite sometime.

TL;DR: I think mint or some Ubuntu distro would be a good fit for right now, and any future GPU upgrades consider something from AMD.

I would say the biggest problem is the music production on Linux. Especially VSTs - those are still hit or miss. And unfortunately the DAWs you mentioned doesn't have Linux support.

For example I was really trying to do music for several years on Linux, but in the end I gave up and now I'm dual booting Windows... 😿

bro just grab a cheap ssd and enclosure, install linux on that, slowly play around and setitup, if you like it eventually swap ssds or install it on your main one

I would suggest installing Fedora Kinoite, poke around it for 20-30min and if you find it too confusing then just putting windows back.

My point is that it's not a big decision/commitment. And it's trivial to undo!

Kick the can down the road and download the MASgrave Win10 script (I think that's it, I don't use windows) that puts you on the Long Term support - iirc that gives you until Jan 2027. That's enough time to get through the zero parental sleep phase and be able to think clearly...

If that's of interest I'll dig the correct details out (ping me) or I'm sure someone else knows what I'm waffling about & will drop the link

Are you actually forced to move away from your Windows 10? You could just keep using it. Fuck Microsoft and its lack of support. If it works why change it?

Rather than leave another long reply to read, I'll leave my thoughts simple: if you have another computer you're not using, try Linux mint and see if it fits your needs. If it's too much and you can't get the time needed to figure things out, 11 might be the choice (for now).

But either way, keep Linux on the second and learn a little bit as you get time to! :)

Zorin linux - the closest thing to Windows you'll get. Highly recommend. Installed it on several computers for family members who just want a computer that works.

Just gonna add that Windows 11 Enterprise IoT Edition is Windows 11 without all the bloatware, and it's easy to get it for free from the massgrave.

If you're not in a position to change your workflow and deal with new stuff, you can simply use windows 10 lts for a longer support and postpone the decision between linux and windows 11.

Personally, I'd recommend trying linux some day. It can drain some free time at first, but in the long run, you will find yourself dealing with much less bullshit than windows, and actually saving time in your life. Some linux users like to make things complicated and pass their time tinkering with the system, so it passes an image of linux being like that, but if you run a simple and stable distro, things will work nicely and will rarely require your time. I'm running fedora for a few years, and my laptop became so boring. I just use it for my work and hobbies, and turn it off when done. No bullshit.

Dad of 4 kids here, I would say use the system that let you concentrate more on the kid and less on tinkering the OS.

Fedora could be a nice successor since it runs extremely stable, best way to be clean and safe are doing the updates, but I say this with 15 years of Linux experience.

Better stay on win 10. Family first.

From what I've heard of seen in the Linux community music production on Linux is not easy. There is a fair amount of tweaking to get audio working and connecting instruments.

I recently sucked it up and upgraded Windows 10 to 11. Music production is getting better in Linux, but there is still a whole lot of existing music software with no Linux support. Cakewalk for example has no Linux support, and I imagine getting it working in WINE with VSTs and whatever else would be an immense chore. Same story with Ableton.

That said, if you don't mind migrating to a DAW with Linux support like Reaper, Bitwig, or even Ardour - which is open source and free - producing music with Linux is the easiest it's ever been. Just don't count on Linux support from a lot of VST makers who often require you use their software to install their VSTs. You can usually still install those VSTs, but it sometimes requires less than legal methods, and may be a hassle.

If you're a producer who mostly just uses a DAW as a recorder for hardware, it would barely be a change to your workflow at all. If you are reliant on Cakewalk and Ableton specific processes and VSTs, it would be much more difficult

EDIT: Didn't notice your system specs at first. While it looks like your motherboard technically supports the TPM 2.0 requirement for Windows 11, it also looks like your processor might be too old to be supported by Windows 11. Check to be sure before going down the path below. You might only have an option of going to Linux in this case.

Unpopular opinion from a user who uses Linux as his daily driver for everything:

If you're using stuff like Cakewalk/Ableton and want to be able to do so again in the foreseeable future, stick with Windows. You said you're not super savvy at troubleshooting, so I wouldn't want to send you down the path of trying to get Windows software running on Linux through WINe because it's sometimes pretty finicky. Especially with a rugrat in the mix, you just don't have the time to be fucking with it.

Windows 11 Activation: https://massgrave.dev/ (In case you no longer have a free upgrade path)

WIndows Debloat: https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat (A powershell script for getting rid of bloatware, telemetry, and other crap from Windows)

How To Set Up Windows 11 Local Account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlhyl3P5Dxw (to avoid having to use a Microsoft account to log in)

Also, I strongly suggest a clean wipe instead of upgrade, as the upgrade path leaves a lot of weird stray stuff that can be annoying. Back up everything that's important to you on an external drive (or really any drive except the one your OS lives on) and re-install the OS, set up a local account during install, use Massgrave to activate Windows, and then use the Debloater to get rid of bloat.

You basically answered your own question, to be honest. Linux is clearly not for you. Look into windows 10 LTSC. Teksyndicate made a couple of videos about it. Here is the one where he shows how to install it. He is also stuck on windows because of music. And for debloating windows 10, look into Chris Titus' Windows Utility script

Nothing to learn if you're just doing desktop stuff.

The kid is 1.5 months old and you don't have time? Once that kid gets mobile you'll really not have time! And I don't mean crawling or walking, I mean rolling and scooting.

When my kid figured out how to get places by rolling I had gotten up with her early on a Saturday morning and was letting my wife sleep in... I went to the basement and turned on the Xbox to pay some Rocket League and in the middle of a game she started to roll out of the room. I put the controller down and went to pick her up... 4 years later that controller was exactly where I had put it. She's now almost 9 and is a great gaming partner, and is getting into robotics, 3D printing, and is interested in programming, so I get to jump right back into my old hobbies, and pick up some new ones.

All that to say, Linux is only going to get better and Windows will continue to get worse, but there's more important things for you to have to worry about in the very near future than troubleshooting an OS that you're not familiar with, stick with Win 10 for as long as you can and some day you'll sit down at your desk and realize you have time to look back in at Linux and you'll find that it isn't nearly as difficult to use as you remember. Congratulations on the kid, it can be an incredible journey watching, and helping, a person emerge.

Tldr, I recommend sticking with Windows or using two separate machines, one for music production running Windows, the other for running everything else with Linux.

Music production isnt great on Linux in my experience at least right now. If you use any paid plugins that are windows only, there's a good chance they won't run. I haven't used ableton or cakewalk but I use reaper which has a native Linux version, and even that had a lot of issues. Anything with ilok is a no go, even plugins that dont, I had a hard time getting working or if they did work, they crashed A LOT.

Gaming and other general use has been fine for me, ive even done video and photo editing on Linux and been happy with it.

If you want the easiest experience, I typically recommend Fedora KDE spin or kubuntu. KDE is a desktop environment that is very similar to windows and highly customizable. You'd likely feel at home on it. Immutable distro might also be a good option if you really want the "IDC just do the update" path. Harder to break, easier to manage from what ive heard but I haven't used them personally so maybe others that have can chime in.

I made a windows only box for music production and use Linux on my main PC. It runs windows 10 and is rarely connected to the internet except when I need it to be. If you wanna run Linux and make music, it can be done, but I had a terrible time with it and have given up for now.

So make a separate machine for music production and run Linux on your main pc or just run Windows is my advice. So far, this has been the best setup for me. I don't worry about my privacy, I can make music when I want, and I don't have to worry about incompatible plugins, crashes, stupid nonsense that gets in my way when i wanna make music.

Your easiest way is to upgrade windows normally and if you dislike all it's bloated software, just install Atlas OS on top of it. It's just a software that will go through your windows and debloat it as much as possible. Simple as that. Easier done than reinstalling windows for an LTSC version. I personally have a dual boot with a win 11 with Atlas OS specifically for the software I can't install on Linux.

Your lack of time is the biggest issue, followed by your music needs (which are not impossible but I also know its not plug and play).

I would recommend going with win11 for simplicity and times sake. I would also recommend at least trying out ameliorated windows11. https://ameliorated.io/

Basically their stock run book makes the OS far more secure and private by setting up an admin account and then making your account a standard user (the way it should be done). Then it strips out all the bloat, restricts services, and installs open source alternatives like libre office and libre wolf. It also drastically changes the UI, which most of it I like and some is meh, but its all much better than the crap stock UI. I run this as a VM for all the stuff I still need windows for and I love it. Nothings ever going to make windows not windows, but this is pretty close and a simple click install. I highly recommend it.

Linux for gaming is easy. For the most part it’s plug and play. I’m on an AMD CPU and an NVidia GPU, and I even do VR in Linux.

As someone who does a decent amount of stuff with DAWs; VSTs are tricky. You might be able to create a similar workflow to what your used to, and many plugins might work decently well, but for me at least it was a lot of fiddling about and it isn’t as smooth as I’d like. My comfort compressor works, but the UI doesn’t render.

I’ve gotten my music workflow to work alright, but it’s wonky enough that I don’t do it as much anymore. Thinking about trying to start over with a new DAW and whatnot.

If privacy is a concern there’s a decent amount of stuff you can do to strip down Windows 11.

So, the questions really are can your hardware support Windows 11 and if not can you easily flip to Linux.

1. The Asus Z170 motherboard looks like it supports TPM 2.0, but it doesn't look like the i7-6700K does as that is a 6th gen Skylake CPU and Win11 starts at 8th gen. You might double check that with the TDM tool Microsoft offers though.

2. Cakewalk and Ableton appear to work in Linux, but not without some tweaking.

My suggestion would be to do nothing. If you can't update without a rebuild and you can't migrate without a lot work, just do nothing. Your Windows 10 installation will still work. You won't receive any additional updates for it, but if that is the best solution for you at this time, then that's what you should go with.

For the kiddo: Get a body wrap. It lets you because hold the baby to you securely while you do other things. I worked on-call shifts handling downed MPLS circuits for a carrier back in the day with my daughter strapped to me. A couple years later she would get to visit me at work. She was the only 2 year old who technically had PBX configuration experience (I didn't know the keyboard was still connected).

Go with windows. Especially because of your abelton use, you will not be able to keep it. With steam if you play multiplayer competitive games then it won't work either on Linux.