On not finding anything, see if OpenSuse has anything like apt-cache. On Debian-based systems, it helps a bunch, as it looks for packages (programs) containing in the name or description the keyword you are looking for. Regarding messing the installation, making back ups periodically and keeping the more volatile stuff you do not want to lose on different physical drives could help.

Not knowing where to find anything.

man, try info too. But linux might not have good man page, so use the wiki too.

The capslock works differently, apparently. I’m used to writing every capital letter using the capslock key, meaning if I write a capital at the beginning of a word, I press capslock, then type the first letter, then quickly press capslock again and type the rest.

Pressing caps lock for a single capital letter should be outlawed or be painful or something. That’s just weird.

As for it feeling quicker due to it being a fresh install, don’t really expect it to slow down. Windows always slows down over time because its Registry is clogged, the code gets more bloated over time with updates, and the filesystem is kind of trash.

Linux generally stays quite nimble and quick in the long-term. It’s why you can take a decade old computer and still accomplish quite a bit on it with Linux.

Welcome to Linux. You’ll learn, and for the better, by using it more. Like picking up anything new there will be difficulties at times, but well worth it. The first positive on your list is good enough reason that makes any difficulties worth surpassing.

The caps lock thing hurts my feelings (ಥ_ʖಥ)

The lingering feeling of instability. This is my second install of OpenSUSE, after I messed up something leading to my computer having some files which it wanted to update, but using urls which didn’t exist. After this, I’ve been feeling a bit insecure and afraid of doing something that ruins my installation. I know there’s the saying that Linux ‘just works’, but I’ve never messed up a Windows installation…

IMO this is a right of passage. Sure, windows babies you to the point where you can’t really mess much up, but that doesn’t mean its impossible to mess up. I’ve also borked Windows installs just by using them over long periods of time. You bork linux a few times and learn what not to do.

ive been using linux for about 4 years now and I still have no idea where the things are kept. Im getting the feel for it slowly like everything flatpak is in a hidden folder .var my solution is to just make a simlink to folders I want to vist and put them in my home folder.

@DonAntonioMagino making backups of your home folder (/home/username) is a great ways to survive reinstalls. also install discovery if you don’t have it. its an easy way to install and find software… i dont know opensuse package manager… but it should be a simple command

Zypper (openSUSE’s package manager) is what I use for installing programs and its relatively easy. Find the package name on openSUSE.org, then put “sudo zypper in [package-name]” into the terminal.

The lingering feeling of instability. This is my second install of OpenSUSE, after I messed up something leading to my computer having some files which it wanted to update, but using urls which didn’t exist. After this, I’ve been feeling a bit insecure and afraid of doing something that ruins my installation. I know there’s the saying that Linux ‘just works’, but I’ve never messed up a Windows installation…

Regarding this. How often did you mess your windows installation when you started? Because I started around 8 years old with MSDOS and I screwed Windows many times, eventually I learnt what to do and what not.

Regarding software today it’s easier than it’s ever been in Linux. With flatpack, appimages and the different repos.

Anyway there is this scene in the show “Bojack Horseman” where the titular character was trying to do some exercise by running up a hill and he is tired, exhausted, another characters pass by and says: “It gets easier”, “uh?” answers Bojack, “It gets easier but you have to do it every day, that’s the hard part”.

What that means is, it will get easier, specially when you are young, but you have to be constant, you have to keep messing around and do backups.

Here is the scene from Bojack

That being said, I am huge fan of opensuse and debian but eventually on my desktop I went with endeavour-os, the only time I screwed it up it was easy to fix it by using the live-iso editing the config files and fixed, now I keep a journal when I change anything :)

The system seems quite a bit quicker than it was in Windows - though in all honesty this will also be because I’m still on a fairly fresh install.

I don’t think your Linux install is likely to slow down the way Win does.

The little icon jumping next to your cursor when opening a program (I know, I’m easily amused).

I consider Win unique as an OS that doesn’t provide feedback when something is happening in the background. It’s infuriating.

The lingering feeling of instability.

You’ve spent decades on the other system and when you started, you were too young to feel anxiety about it. You’ll get used to it.

The capslock works differently, apparently. I’m used to writing every capital letter using the capslock key, meaning if I write a capital at the beginning of a word, I press capslock, then type the first letter, then quickly press capslock again and type the rest.

I don’t understand why you don’t use the Shift key. I’m not trying to be an ass; why not use Shift?

I say all of this as a Mac guy who uses Linux for servers and such. I don’t daily-drive Linux as a desktop platform. But I greatly respect Linux and pay to support the Asahi Linux project (they are building Linux for Apple Silicon). I wish you all the best finding your way in a Windows-free world.

First and foremost, welcome to Linux!

Few pointers to hopefully help the process :

• “Not knowing where to find anything.” indeed, it’s disorienting but it will come. You can find actual “maps” but honestly, just as you would do in other operating system, use the search function. If it’s not obvious this way, search online. The first few times it will be weird then each time it does become easier until it actually makes sense!
• “The lingering feeling of instability.” have a /home directory (not “folder”, that’s funnily enough a Windows term as they tried to be different, going from the unanimously used / to their own C:\ things) so that you can actually go “nuts” with your installation, actually messing things up but without the fear of losing your precious data! Each new install is an occasion to learn. That being said, Linux is very VERY stable. I’ve been running the same installation for years, on desktop and servers alike. If something goes wrong it can usually be fixed and it’s, again, an occasion to learn. That being said, having a dedicated /home directory on its own partition or even disk gives you the opportunity for a low effort low risk blank slate.
• “The capslock works differently” … well this one is quick, you’re looking for the SHIFT key if you only want to type few characters in uppercase ;)
• “Every once in a while, my desktop icons get rearranged.” yet another occasion to learn. What’s the bug from? Is there an issue open? Is it being worked on? By whom? How? Why? You might even be able to fix it!
• “It seems impossible to get Firefox to not restore sessions after shutting down the computer with it still open.” it’s in the Firefox preference : Settings -> Startup -> untick “Open previous windows and tabs”, literally the first option.
• “The above all add to a bit of a general ‘stuck together with adhesive tape and love’ feeling.” nice, and that’s just the surface, it’s now YOUR system so you can do whatever you want, even if everybody else disagree.
• “Not knowing how to install programs.” well that loops back to all the learning opportunities above and the last remark, it’s YOUR system so you can use whatever you prefer, both in terms of apps, settings or even how to install (or not! Check e.g. Nix) apps. There are even “weirder” things like https://github.com/ivan-hc/AM but the point is, you decide, again, always!

• Can’t find anything: everything is meant to be searchable in lieu of having a programs menu and such. Hit your meta key (Winkey) and start typing to find or launch something, use URL bar in your file manager to search for names or content of files…etc. You can also just set icons for things if you wish.
• Instability: there is almost zero chance of you being able to destroy your environment so bad that it would require a reinstall of the OS. Since it’s just flat files on a disk and no central registry like Windows, everything can be repaired quite simply, you just need to be familiar with how.
• Capslock: unfamiliar with your intended behavior as I’ve never used Capslock like that before, but I bet there is a solution for this if you just search around. Input behavior is totally customizable.
• Desktop icons: no idea what that could be, but as mentioned above, most DE’s have or are moving away from desktop as a launch source.
• Firefox: ‘about:config’ has these settings
• Software center is just one GUI for finding things. You can install whatever you want however you want, and that’s just up to you. If you find some piece of something you want to run, the preferred method is also using a package for your OS’s package manager, but that’s just for convenience and not a hard rule. There is no “best” solution, just good habits.

Good luck!