If you’re already with Linux, this is not for you. This is for people who’re indecisive or been contemplating for long about whether to make that jump.
For me, it’s a matter of a few things. I’m on a Windows 10 version that guarantees me until 2032 of support. That means I would effectively skip Windows 11, like I already mostly have and potentially skip Windows 12 if that turns out to be a shitty choice. I’d be coming in right in time for whatever Microslop shits out for Win13.
Should Windows 13 suck, I think that’s a consideration. Another consideration is when Valve keeps dropping support for certain Windows versions of Steam. Because I know for a fact they will drop Windows 10 support entirely one day and then Windows 11. I believe it is really stupid that they do this.
By the time my Windows 10 version expires, I’d be getting older, which means I’ll probably care less and less about computer-related things. Going to Linux wouldn’t be a problem since I’d be doing barebones things like browsing and checking e-mail.
And I’d also hope that by 2032, Linux would have better development like easier access to proprietary drivers and software among other things.
OK, almost none of that is a problem anymore (at least with KDE Plasma), but also, do you remember using Windows? Don’t act as if Windows doesn’t have similar issues. When you do weird things sometimes that weird thing doesn’t work how you expect and you have to search for an answer. The answer tends to be far easier, to find and implement, than on Windows though, in my experience.
No OS is perfect. Stop pretending like Windows is.
All of the things I listed are examples from my personal experience that I ran into within the past 6 months. The sharing folder adventure happened just about two weeks ago. Don’t try to tell me that it’s all so easy now, I literally just went through hours of research and experimenting and samba settings and changing my disk’s fstab file just to get a folder to show up on my home network. “Oh well you should have done x or y or not used z” Well, frankly it doesn’t matter what the optimal workflow solution would be, what matters is this was my user experience. This was something I went through and was not some whacky fringe use case. Sharing a folder on a home network is not black magic or calling upon arcane demonic powers.
Now, I’m not going back at this point and I’m committed to Linux now, but pretending it’s all smooth sailing and so easy and polished is misleading. It’s certainly more usable than it ever has been but I think most people on Lemmy have no idea how hands off the average person is from their tech. It’s important to be honest about Linux’s shortcomings and prepare new users that they will probably gave to look up info or documentation for some tasks. You also can’t expect the average person to ever open Terminal without hyperventilating.
My problem is people pointing out issues where you have to do this on Linux and pretending like Windows doesn’t have the same issues. People pretend like Windows is flawless, but it’s only because they forgot how much shit they has to deal with learning it. Yes, you’ll have to learn new things. You had to with Windows too. The Linux experience is easier.
The average person isn’t doing more than opening a web browser. They’ll be fine without ever touching the console, just as they were on Windows. The type of user who wants to do more probably also has edited registries in Windows, which is so much worse than anything you’ll do on Linux. Every person switching will have an easier time on Linux than they did on Windows. They might not remember the shit they did to get Windows working how they want, or the garbage they deal with constantly, but that’s just because they got accustomed to it. If you spend the time with Linux to get used to it then it’s easier. It does take time though, and no one is saying it doesn’t. So did (and does, as they constantly change things) Windows.