Hello, apparently hanging out in Lemmy inadvertently makes you thinking about using Linux. I am planning to install Linux Mint cinnamon on an older laptop, which I want to bring to LAN Parties. From what I read I can just format my C:\ windows disk, install Linux via bootable drive and from what I understand, proton is basically included when installing steam after setting up my new Linux OS? Thanks for your comments:)
So you need to be specific, conventions like C and D are windows specific and refer to both drives or partitions.
Part of installing Linux is repartitioning your disk. If you have a separate partition for your files in Windows that’s fine, but you’ll need to make sure you don’t overwrite it. Linux will not access your D drive in the way you typically have, every drive is mounted to a directory. It also has its own native filesystems that are different than Windows. In other words, you won’t likely keep using a Windows partition for your files, at least not long term.
Most of that still applies if you have your files on a different drive, but it’s more work to accidentally overwrite them.