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I love Linux, but it's my job. When I go home I just want the simplicity of Windows. Thanks to tons of useless certifications it does exactly what I tell it to do.
When family wants a new OS install I don't suggest Linux or even mention it's existence. They get a version of Windows 10 with the bloat ripped out and the inability to upgrade to Windows 11. 90% of tech support calls have been stopped.
What friends I have attempted to convert usually go back to Windows due to Nvidia driver issues but as we move forward and gaming becomes less of a hurdle maybe we'll see more converts. Especially if Windows keeps pushing their whole cloud OS thing.
This, any old laptop with Windows xp, 7 or even ReactOS would do tbh, don't want to raise the bar giving a teenager an expensive win11 "Optimus Prime" box
I don’t do tech support but I can’t relate at all.
Windows is consistently the lowest quality software I interact with and Linux (Fedora) works out to be more reliable, simple, and often better featured.
Transition costs are massive though. Just like implementing any significant change in anyone's life, it's impossible for a technically illiterate person to change to linux.
Well but that is mostly because windows is installed on evrything. If there was linux pre installed it would not require a lot of technical understanding for basic usage (depending on the distro).
Exactly, I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing the general public only knows of two flavours but Linux doesn't even cross their minds.
Also, you vastly overestimate the technical skills and the want thereof of the general public. I can assure you people struggle even with Windows like you wouldn't believe, where opening a terminal window breaks their collective minds.
ChromeOS, tablets and certain smartphones have the ability to replace laptops, all running a variation on the linux kernel, but that's the closest we're ever going to get to mainstream Linux.
I dont think I overestimate peoples technical skills. Just a week ago I had to explain to my university lecturer how to mirror screens and the concept of having multiple screens was just as new as using them for the same thing at once. Thing is that the design for a lot of functions is the same in linux and windows. Some examples: Search menu, right click, desktop, files, drag and drop, task bar and its widgets and application shortcuts. Sure there are many differences too but I would argue that using some sort of app store is easier than finding an executable online. What I want to say is: For very basic usage like using a web browser or searching files you will have the same or very simila patterns between OSs.
Oh yeah I agree with everything you said. But unless laptops start shipping with a fully open-source Linux distro, you will never see a technically illiterate person use one.
The only significant change within OS distribution in the last 10 years was the rise of ChromeOS, and that's only because of Google making sure they are dirt cheap and marketing the ever-loving shit out of them.
I agree with you but you also aren’t doing them favors. Windows is not a secure or reliable platform.
But it is, it's very reliable. So long as users don't install anything, and there's a quality paid antivirus solution and windows 11 gets blocked then very little will affect these installs.
As for security? Who cares. They're checking email and using Facebook. They're not running critical software, and as for reliability... Let me tell ya from an admin standpoint Linux is far from reliable, there's a very good reason companies pay money for support.
So long as users don't install anything
Yeah, no shit sherlock, if you don't use YOUR computer, it's never going to break.
Trick is to try live off live USB mode, learn from old textbooks, pen and notepads and a phone with less than 1gb data, to record stuff. Now we call it hard mode, but really it's "just the norms" haha
You get really crap at typing keywords and Google image search and really good at looking through indexes and table of contents for the right chapter.
What I meant in this case was spyware. My father in law no matter how much protection I put in place always manages to install SOMETHING. He'll even override the antivirus telling him the app is suspicious. He only goes on stock sites and business crap and sees no ads. Its always a casino game or something stupid like that. No idea where it comes from
Hmm, in my experience it always comes with an ad somehow... Nowadays there are ads that seems legit things 😂