I have searched through the forum for similar answers but I had no success in finding a satisfactory one. Windows and I had a fight last night and I decided to break up with 'it'. :))Therefore I intent to switch permanently to Linux. I have been using Linux daily on Virtual Box to perform different programming tasks.So here are my questions:Will I find drivers for my graphics card that will allow me to use it at full performance? I know different distros come with a lot of hardware support.Here's my laptop config: ASUS (can't remember the exact number - will turn over the laptop if necessary and provide you the exact code) core i7-4000hq 2.4GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Nvidia GeForce 850M.For 8GB of RAM should I have 10GB of swap? (found some guide that said x2 for the first 2 GB of RAM and then add 1 GB of swap for every GB of RAM).Are there any other performance tips for a full switch to Linux?I have looked at Linux Mint, Debian and Elementary OS. I tend to go with elementary OS as I do not know the current kernel version of for Mint (I forgot to check it in the VM before I deleted it). However, during the installation of Elementary I had no obvious option for partitioning. Can you provide me with some advice on how should I partition the 1TB HDD?I would appreciate any advice and input of making the distro run as smoothly as possible. Also, I will need Skype access for a short period of time. (I know skype works on Elementary)
Switching to Linux permanently
linux;drivers;hardware
Will I find drivers for my graphics card that will allow me to use it at full performance? It depends. Purely free software drivers like Nouveau might not be able to get all the performance from your hardware, but Nvidia has some proprietary driver for it.BTW, unless you are playing games (or code vector numerical applications for CUDA or OpenCL), getting all the performance from your graphics card hardware is not a real issue. I am very satisfied with Nouveau on my desktop (and I never used Windows, but I am coding since 1974).For 8GB of RAM should I have 10GB of swap? You could, and probably should better, have that much swap. You might have less (but with a terabyte of disk, you can afford losing a few gigabytes). If you intend to later buy more RAM (e.g. to have 16GB of RAM) you might even now reserve 16GB of swap space. Most of it won't be used in ordinary circumstances. See also linuxatemyram.When you install most Linux distributions, you have the choice to manually partition your disk. I recommend having at least 3 partitions: one partition (of e.g. 60 - 80Gbytes, but it could be less) for the root file system (i.e. the OS files), one swap partition (e.g. 16Gbytes), and one partition for the rest for /home/  (i.e. user data), since having a separate /home eases the possible change of Linux distributions. You could also make a bind mount : use /home/Local as space for /usr/local/  and have a bind mount to see it as /usr/local/ ; if you still need Windows for games, put it in some fourth partition.Don't forget to regularly backup (on external or remote media) your /home/  and /etc/ As far as I know skype runs on most Linux distributions. But I avoid using it. I prefer Debian (or Mint).