what are the benefits of leaving windows for linux in pro audio?

[bulevardi]

True, that's what I'm partially doing.
I use an older version of the Mod Duo from ModDevices for my guitar effects:
https://mod.audio/devices/

For my midi keyboard however I'm still using a plugin from U-HE, but they're cross platform.

[DuX]

When I installed Linux Debian 9 about 10 years ago I felt great relief and happiness as opposed to that dreaded feeling when you install Windows and think "and now install all the drivers, turn off a ton of things, change a ton of registry settings, install a ton of programs..." etc. I had to tweak Linux, too, but I prefer editing some text files and running scripts to editing Windows registry and trying to find things all over the place and the places keep changing, and the complexity of tweaks keeps changing with every new version of Windows. With Linux now I have scripts that I run and it's usually ready for work within an hour of installation.

The main problem, coming from Windows, was the much lower amount of plugins, but I soon discovered that using less has its benefits and the ones I use are top of the line plugins anyway starting with u-he, TAL, DSP56300, Cockos, Surge, OBXd and others. My setup is also hybrid analog/digital and I use lots of external FX, so I realised I don't need that many plugins, actually. Having lots of plugins is just a distraction to get the job done more quickly anyway.

So for me the main benefits include freedom to set up your OS the way you want, peace of mind, ease of installation and ease of installation of programs and plugins (I just copy folders into new OS) and everything works the same or better than in Windows. I'm still using a laptop with Windows 7 on the side for some things like Valhalla, Kontakt, Voxengo FX, LX480 etc. over ReaStream, but not much. I also use it to control my TC StudioKonnekt 48 mixer app with it, too, even though it works perfectly well in standalone mode with its remote controller. I make use of its great DSP FX, too.

Linux has made me more productive due to lack of distractions. Freeeedom!