Got news. You're about five years out of date with those concerns. The Linux nerds agree with you. The major distros now let you do everything any regular user would ever want or need to do with a GUI.
As far as a full Windows replacement goes, it's no longer an issue or concern. Microsoft and Apple are circling their wagoens and adopting increasingly closed "walled garden" software ecosystems. The Linux world has zero issues with them doing that or any interest in trying to get them to change their behavior. Linux has matured to the point where it can stand by itself and provide its users with a fully functional and productive work environment. I'm an IT professional with all the usual Microsoft's and Apple certifications. However, for my own personal use, I run Linux exclusively. Not because it's geeky, but because it just works. Last thing I want to do at the end of a workday is have to deal with some tech support hassles of my own at home. So Linux is the goto for my house (servers and desktops) plus my personal laptops. Life is good.
As far as Linux ever completely replacing Windows - it won't. Ever. Period. There's too large an installed base of users locked into Microsoft's way of doing things, with hundreds of billions invested in Windows-based software, for Windows to ever go completely away. At least not in most of our lifetimes. So I wouldn't worry about that. Because the Linux world doesn't worry about it either. It just continues to evolve and follow its own path. And it's running on everything, from your ebook reader and smartphone, all the way up to being the core operating system for the most advanced supercomputers in the world. 99% of the special effects and digital processing you see in tv and major motion pictures came from software and hardware running on Linux. As is the bulk of the Internet and most e-commerce systems.
I only bring this up to show Linux isn't going away anytime soon either. And as far as lack of compatibility goes, that's a conscious decision Microsoft made by declining to work with any standards it doesn't have absolute control over. Not that it matters. Most Linux apps can import and write Microsoft formatted files these days anyway.
If there's a Windows app you can't live without, use Windows. Linux can be run off a network share, a USB key or a DVD if you ever need or want to try it.
It'll also politely install itself alongside another OS on a hard drive and leave your original Windows installation untouched if you like. Something Windows won't do - and once again by design.
Here's the thing. The only dog looking to pick a fight these days in the operating system world is Microsoft. Everybody else has real work to keep them occupied.
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I bought it for mixing signals in a practice area and not for its connection to a computer, so I am not disappointed in that regard. Any recording I do now is to a digital 8-track recorder that I bought used years ago (and transfer the tracks to my computer). So one of these days, I plan to pick up an interface so I can use my XLR based microphone for use with the computer. Working with a Beat Buddy pedal makes me want to dabble with connecting other MIDI devices as well.
