Comment by harel
4 days ago
Maybe I'm more tolerant, but for me Linux was ready for the desktop in 2005 and windows 11 is ok for what I use it for (cubase and games). When I switched my laptop from Windows XP it was a test. 3 years later I noticed I didn't boot back into windows not even once so concluded the test successful. My desktop later was windows only because cubase (and later steam) runs on it, but I honestly don't mind. However, I had to do some development on windows once for a client and that was indeed a horrible experience.
Not only is Linux on desktop "ready", it's been parent-proof for a long time. Sometime around 2012, Windows XP started having issues on my parent's PC, so I installed Xubuntu on it (my preferred distro at the time). I told them that "it works like Windows", showed them how to check email, browse the web, play solitare, and shut down. Even the random HP printer + scanner they had worked great! I went back home 2 states away, and expected a call from them to "put it back to what it was", but it never happened. (The closest was Mom wondering why solitare (the gnome-games version) was different, then guided her on how to change the game type to klondike.)
If "it [Xubuntu] works like Windows" offended you, I'd like to point out that normies don't care about how operating system kernels are designed. Normies care about things like a start menu, and that the X in the corner closes programs. The interface is paramount for non-technical users.
I've run Linux almost everywhere (work machines excluded) outside of my main desktop/gaming rig for over 15 years, up until a year ago when I switched my desktop. My last Windows install is on my retro PC (98SE), and it'll stay that way, because changing that would ruin the nostalgia.
Linux and freebsd have been ready for the desktop for me in 1998 already.
Yeah I know, I spoke to "you" around that time and a bit earlier, but I wasn't convinced enough to switch. It seemed like arcane magic to me then.