Microsoft now thirstily injects a poll when you download Google Chrome

I've been playing with Mint on an old computer and I gotta say Linux is not as difficult as people think. All the programs I use work very well on Mint. When I eventually buy a new computer I'm gonna go completely Linux.

That's great!

I love Linux but people like you who won’t shut the fuck up about it make me hate it.

I can no longer admit that I use Linux in Public because of people like the person you replied to.

I'm a happy Linux user. The biggest problem with Linux for the average user is that you have to install it. Most people use Windows because it's on their computer when they buy it. The average person isn't going to distinguish between the hardware and the software. They see the computer and the OS as a package.

based

Seeing the horde of Linux evangelists here at Lemmy has been reminding me of seeing a similar push toward it back in the mid 00s.

Back then I tried probably 5 or 6 different Linux variants.

And after trying them all, I went right back to Windows.

Why?

Because I realized that all I wanted was for my OS to disappear, and years of using Windows meant that I wanted something that looked, felt, and acted like Windows. So any version of Linux that might replace it for me was going to have to do that while also adding some positives to the exchange to more-than-cancel-out the awkward differences.

As I said, I tried several, for a few months each, really trying to give them a fair shake.

In the end, I found that whatever one I liked best was the one I liked best because it was the least awkward to use...but even that one was just a worse experience than just using Windows.

So for an average user like me, who really doesn't have any problem with Windows...why switch?

So for an average user like me, who really doesn’t have any problem with Windows…why switch?

Well, because Micro$oft can't accept that people don't want to use their garbage browser and desperately does everything like a crazy ex to get you back to use Micro$oft Edge. They also collect all of your data and sell it to whoever pays the most and. On a Windows system, you don't control the computer, the computer controls you. And they don't allow you to uninstall any of their spyware, if you uninstall Edge and perform a Windows update, guess what's gonna be back on your computer. Microsoft Edge is like a virus, it does everything to prevent you from getting rid of it. Edge, Windows or any Microsoft product is just corporate data mining malware.
Linux is the exact opposite of that, it's a tool meant to empower users to take back their freedom and take back the control over their computers. It allows you to do everything the way you want to, not the way a mega corporation wants you to do it. Data collection practically non-existent, just like corporate influence. You are the one in charge of your computer, you decide what it does, you decide which programs are installed and what services you choose what services you want to use. Linux gives you freedom, whereas Windows gives you ads for Candy Crush in your start menu and a browser that ~~behaves like~~ is malware.

Back then I tried probably 5 or 6 different Linux variants.

Linux from 15-20 years ago can't be compared to modern Linux. Take another shot at it, try out modern distributions like Linux Mint or Fedora, I promise you, it's much much better than in the 00s.
- But...I don't want to use Edge...so I don't.
  
  I really don't give a shit about the data they might be collecting on me, since everyone else is too, and I have yet to see any horrible effects of that.
  
  Windows does what I ask it to do, and I don't feel that it's forcing me to use it in ways I don't want to. I primarily use my computer for surfing the Internet, watching YouTube, doing a bit of online shopping, and playing two games. I guess I don't really see how switching to Linux could make my experience doing that better in any significant way...and certainly not to any degree that might justify educating myself in how to choose, download, install, set up, and use any of the different options.
  
  My last go-round with Linux ended when I realized that I was just trying distro after distro (is that the right term?) basically looking for something that looked, sounded, and smelled like Windows, and eventually I realized that all I was doing was trying a bunch of shit that wasn't Windows and trying to turn it into Windows. Everything felt like a crappy workaround, tasks that should've been simple and intuitive weren't, and while, yes, Linux did seem to have an android program to anything I wanted to replace, in every case it just seemed like "Discount Store Syndrome", where everything was the slightly worse knock off version of the real thing, only different for the sake of being "not Windows".
  
  I really don’t give a shit about the data they might be collecting on me, since everyone else is too, and I have yet to see any horrible effects of that.
  
  To that I can only reply with the following quote: “Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” ― Edward Snowden (the guy who literally risked his life in order to inform the public about the fucked up shit that was and still is going on at the NSA, a real hero)

Give it a break. To the average user that's like using a bazooka to hunt deer. I love Linux but Windows has its place for most people and will for many years to come.

The average user doesn't need Windows.
- The average user is too stupid to learn keyboard shortcuts that'd save them time at work
  
  People learned windows, it's what they know. Maybe we can train the next gen on Linux startig young, but unlikely given "we know windows tho" from parents
  
  And yet those seem people often have no problem picking up and using a Chromebook.
  
  Permanently Deleted
  
  Nah, they'll just not learn to use a PC.
- As someone who loves Linux and has run it since the mid nineties, the average user doesn’t need Linux either. They just need something that works and is familiar and easy to use. As much as I hate to say it, my 70+ year old parents like windows, are comfortable with it and it just works for them. I value my and their time enough to not put them on Linux.
  
  Making them learn linux at this point is counterproductive. I actually started teaching them Ubuntu a few years back. It worked for what they did then, but they’ve started branching out and need it to work easily for devices that only have Windows drivers and don’t work well under wine. I gave up and they’ve been happy ever since.
  
  It’s important to realize that any OS is a tool, and using the right one for the job is always the best way to accomplish what needs to be done. I prefer Linux and MacOS, they prefer Windows.
- Leave it to the Linux community to start a discussion about Linux under a post that isn't at all related to Linux.
- At home I use me personal pc dor 95% gaming via gamepass
  
  Fix that then we can talk
  
  That's what Gamepass is for, keeping you on Microsofts playground. You aren't installing PC games, they essentially provide you with Xbox games and an "emulator" that runs them. It won't be fixed because it heards folks to Windows, as intended.
  
  Gamepass games aren't emulated. They're installed and run natively just like anything else. Some of them are harder to mod than other platforms, but this is largely due to file permissions and ownership issues and the way some games are packaged/configured.
  
  I don't really like the service because I prefer not to rent my games monthly, but that just isn't correct.
  
  I'll need to remember that they force developers to build xbox versions of Windows only games just for gamepass
Not sure why you're getting shit on. Actually, I do know. Many people think everyone is as tech savvy as they are. It would blow many people's minds they could install an operating system. Their computer comes with it like their iPhone comes with iOS. A lot of people just can't figure things out for themselves. They can google it, but then will see a bunch of crazy commands to copy and paste. And there's a good chance that if they do ask for some help. People will tell them their dumb and should be able to figure things out on their own and that linux is too much for them.

Also, this is from a guy who can use Linux at an average level.
And always will as long as people like you keep it that way
Thank you. I can use Linux. I don’t want to. Plenty of people are still computer illiterate and people forget that. My father uses excel on windows every day for his job, but couldn’t use a mac because he just knows his Windows. He got confused that the taskbar disappeared lol. Linux would blow his mind. Yes, if you’re training someone on the new OS it’d be no different, but so many people only know certain windows programs.

Also, audio SUCKS on Linux (speaking from running PipeWire and ALAX and Pulse). Try explaining to someone how to fix that mess.
Yeap. I'm a sysadmin, I work in a linux shop, we provide a linux desktop to our users.

And I use windows both at home and on my work machine, for sheer quality of life. I don't have the time or energy to deal with the mediocre UX and gotchas of the linux desktop.

For actual computing tasks, I ssh into a linux box, from my nice comfy just-works windows environment. Between Windows Terminal, VcXsrv and SSHFS, I have all the integration I need for a seamless experience.

Use individual tools for what they're best at, and play to their strengths.
Linux is perfect for the average user. Install KDE Neon or Kubuntu for them and they won't know which is which. They will only notice that their computer has become faster. Corporate world and gaming is stil the only two areas Linux hasn't (fully) surpassed Windows.