I see it rather different.
Of course, I can customise my desktop using something like Rainmeter whereas on Linux I’m forced to various desktops and, to my mind, somewhat esoteric customisations. I can’t say I’m a particular fan of Windows 11 bloatware and start menu but it’s easy enough to customise it so you get rid of most of it and bring the old menu back… a brief glance at my desktop would suggest I’m using Windows 10 (IMO the best version of Windows ever) rather than what I actually am.
If you like using older hardware that’s fine but I prefer up-to-date sh#t and that, unfortunately, is rather hard to get support from in the Linux community… typical experience for me is to ask how to do something, I’ll get one, maybe two enthusiastic volunteers, still can’t fix it and they eventually walk away. My experience with Windows support communities is that they’ll stick with it until the problem is solved; I’ve literally never had issues getting Windows support… unlike Linux. And then there’s the attitude I seem to always get in Linux communities, the intolerance of relatively inexperienced people like me especially when it becomes clear I have reservations about leaving Windows, indeed in one Linux community, I got banned because they wrongly believed my only purpose there was to create problems. With respect to desktop environments, sure they’re flexible in Linux but they’re also different on almost every Linux distro even on the same damned desktop.
I agree on the planned obsolescence however I’d simply say, “that’s capitalism baby” i.e. it’s pretty much the way everything works in a capitalist society. I might be wrong here but it also seems to happen with paid-for variants of Linux so it presumably has some impact as that filters down to “ordinary” distros. Then again, there’s the unplanned obsolescence that seems to be a feature of Linux on those occasions when one updates the system and something critical to you stops working. And, even when I do install something, will someone tell me where the f#'cking shortcut is?
Good for you on the old Windows boxes… I’ve been using Raspberry Pi machines and a mini-PC for my Linux installs but I’m looking out for a decent older PC I can use to replace my mini-PC server, I’d want a decent spec though.
On software, you’ve never heard of Sourceforge or similar? Despite nagging, you can use Windows unlicensed and buying a license from outlets like Gamers Outlet let me license for just a few quid and there’s literally a ton of decent open-source software for Windows PCs out there if one cares to look. No idea what you mean by the “golden handcuffs” thing… granted I am extremely PC literate (thirty years in IT and forty plus as a computer freak’ll do that) but my Windows 11 box does what I want it to do and that’s pretty much it.
A particular point for me is usability (although it’s less true of quite a lot of OSS, Blender for example)… to my mind if you can use one Windows application, you can usually use any and the shortcuts are standard across pretty much every application. I will get down and dirty with an app but to me aesthetics are almost as important as function… it’s one reason I’m having difficulty switching to an alternative email client. Please don’t even suggest Thunderbird!
Sure, there are some aspects of Windows design I’m not keen on but that pales to insignificance compared to the Linux distros I’ve used… obviously I haven’t used them all, there are far too many to count, they’re all wildly different and that, quite frankly, is another f#cking bug bear.
I’m not anti-Linux or even massively pro-Windows but Linux has a long way to go before you can hand, say, a Linux configured laptop to your elderly relative and just expect them to use it safely which, even though I personally despise it, Windows in “S mode” will do quite well. Historically Linux has been a nightmare to install, maintain and use for anyone who isn’t willing to read a ton of help files (man pages?), then delve deep into the system’s innards, install a ton of dependencies and finally, just maybe, get the thing working. Yes, it’s getting better these days with the flatpak system but even there it’s confusing because there are multiple system that all do similar things e.g. virtualisation software like Docker, Winboat, Wine (I’m aware they are all slightly different) and so on but until the Linux community (developers and expert users) gets its act together it’s still gonna be a hostile environment for normal people and especially for many ex-Windows people.
I’m not an iPad enthusiast or even really an Android buff (I have a phone and a tablet), I’ll always be a desktop user… Windows at the moment, potentially something else later (Linux maybe). Ultimately, I think Linux is a good operating system just like Windows and Apple Mac OS but you need to be a serious enthusiast to use Linux effectively and most of the Apple users I’ve met seem to be “know nothings” delusional about how easy their Macs are to use and no one else’s is or some such b#llocks (maybe it’s them that need to be patched?). For me, Windows just works and despite the fact that I have significant issues with MS (the company) and am not happy with the direction they’re taking, I’ve found it really problematic to find something else suitable.
UK Atheist
