This question is proof enough that Linux isn’t exactly a user friendly system. You need to be aware of many things you otherwise wouldn’t need to care about in other operating systems.
Personally I like this freedom, but many people prefer to get something that just works without worrying about differences between distros and DEs.
If you ask 10 different Linux users which distro to install, you’ll get 10 different answers. I don’t think this freedom is a bad thing, but it can be quite overwhelming for the user.
New linux users: check out this [new hyped distro they currently use]
Long time linux users: just pick anything mainstream
The boring reality is that if the project’s been around for 10-20 years it will likely be around for another long while and have good community support.
With small projects, the two guys behind are busy fixing bugs, patching packages or writing the docs.
From personal experience, it can be overwhelming even for a seasoned Linux user.
Knowing the difference of Debian, Fedora and Arch based distros. Should I go for Linux Mint, Bazzite or Endeavor? Should I go for a immutable system or not? What package manager is used? What’s a flatpak?
One real example I encountered was that I was trying to install Pop OS on my new PC. Turns out after some trial and error that Pop OS uses an old Linux kernel that doesn’t support my new AMD graphics card. I ended up installing Endeavor instead, despite my not so good experience with using Arch before. Luckily Endeavor has been a great experience so far.
With Windows there’s really only one choice for the typical home consumer.
That’s what an actual free market looks like. It’s not just a choice between Windows and Mac. It does require a little more research, but there is no end of forums and comment chains laying out the difference at many different levels of depth. It also doesn’t cost anything to be wrong a few times about which is best for you.
Windows Home, Windows Pro, Windows Pro for workstations, Windows Education, Windows Pro Education, Windows Enterprise, Windows Enterprise LTSC, Windows S mode, Windows IoT
And there are some other variations for different regions and support levels.
Do you know which one does what? Because I only vaguely do.
Windows isn’t a single thing either. It just comes preinstalled. Most people have never installed an OS, not windows nor linux.
I was curious, so I checked the laptop offers in our local shop aggregator (arukereso.hu)
Operating system Number
Windows 10 Home 8
Windows 11 Home 677
Windows 10 Pro 23
Windows 11 Pro 1661
Windows 11 S 21
Linux 74
macOS 141
Chrome OS 5
FreeDOS 506
Without OS 679
No one who doesn’t know anything about installing windows is gonna buy a laptop without os or with freedos, so you can deduct those too.
The real choice for probably 99% of consumers is between windows and mac.
The point was that end users extremely rarely need to worry about what windows flavour they need. The laptop already comes pre-installed with the correct flavour OS for that laptop.
I agree, if not by mistake the cheaper FreeDOS, buyers will select the windows preinstall I presume. I was checking if all machines come with windows. Clearly not.
With what frequency they choose what offering, is a harder question to answer and would give a different distribution. MacOS would be higher, and without os and FreeDOS close to zero.
When I worked at an MSP I kept running into folks (both businesses and residential customers) using the cheapest PCs they could get and having to work around Home edition limitations. I’m blanking at this moment but there was one limitation that was consistently a righteous pain in the ass… I gotta look up the differences and see if one jogs my memory
Edit: aha! it was the freaking Microsoft account. Its required on Home edition but optional on Pro. A super common issue folks would run into was from Microsoft removing the Windows Mail app and replacing it with Outlook, but the in-place upgrade/replacement would gum up their signed in emails and Outlook would be stuck thinking it’s both signed in and not at the same time. Easiest solution is to simply sign out of all accounts at the device-level and sign back in, because Outlook just looks at and manages the accounts that are signed into at the device-level but you can’t do that on Home edition, so I’d have to spend even more time rooting around until Outlook finally decided that the account that it was failing to sign into wasn’t in fact fully signed in and pop an actual signin prompt
Aren’t all these versions just the same product with different features locked behind payment options? It’s very different from Linux, where every layer has multiple alternatives written by different authors that can behave very differently.
This question is proof enough that Linux isn’t exactly a user friendly system. You need to be aware of many things you otherwise wouldn’t need to care about in other operating systems.
Personally I like this freedom, but many people prefer to get something that just works without worrying about differences between distros and DEs.
Most users wouldn’t know how to install Windows, or which edition to install. Does that make Windows not user friendly too?
Plenty of Linux flavors that just works available for the average PC.
If you ask 10 different Linux users which distro to install, you’ll get 10 different answers. I don’t think this freedom is a bad thing, but it can be quite overwhelming for the user.
New linux users: check out this [new hyped distro they currently use]
Long time linux users: just pick anything mainstream
The boring reality is that if the project’s been around for 10-20 years it will likely be around for another long while and have good community support.
With small projects, the two guys behind are busy fixing bugs, patching packages or writing the docs.
Nonsense, its the same like 3 distros get recommended every time. Mint, PopOS, and bazzite.
It’s not that hard. “What Linux distro should I use? For what uses, you say? Eh, browse the web, mostly. Mint? Ok, thanks!”
Does the existence of Windows server affect the usability of Windows pro?
Ofc not. So why apply the same logic that one distro (eg arch, nix, gentoo) detracts from the usability of others (eg ubuntu, fedora)?
Going by this logic, linux would never become user friendly as long as one advanced choice exist.
So this is why I asked, I want to contexualize the situation.
Saying that linux is not user friendly is a broad generalization. Some distros are and some will never be by design.
The choice of distro is a real hurdle for new users, I agree.
But this is a meta problem of the open ecosystem, not of any one software distribution’s.
From personal experience, it can be overwhelming even for a seasoned Linux user.
Knowing the difference of Debian, Fedora and Arch based distros. Should I go for Linux Mint, Bazzite or Endeavor? Should I go for a immutable system or not? What package manager is used? What’s a flatpak?
One real example I encountered was that I was trying to install Pop OS on my new PC. Turns out after some trial and error that Pop OS uses an old Linux kernel that doesn’t support my new AMD graphics card. I ended up installing Endeavor instead, despite my not so good experience with using Arch before. Luckily Endeavor has been a great experience so far.
With Windows there’s really only one choice for the typical home consumer.
That’s what an actual free market looks like. It’s not just a choice between Windows and Mac. It does require a little more research, but there is no end of forums and comment chains laying out the difference at many different levels of depth. It also doesn’t cost anything to be wrong a few times about which is best for you.
Windows Home, Windows Pro, Windows Pro for workstations, Windows Education, Windows Pro Education, Windows Enterprise, Windows Enterprise LTSC, Windows S mode, Windows IoT
And there are some other variations for different regions and support levels.
Do you know which one does what? Because I only vaguely do.
Windows isn’t a single thing either. It just comes preinstalled. Most people have never installed an OS, not windows nor linux.
All machines come with windows pre-installed, no one ever needs to worry about different flavours unless you work in IT and manage windows devices.
I haven’t had to worry about which windows to get since windows 98.
Fyi, I’m on Linux mint now.
I was curious, so I checked the laptop offers in our local shop aggregator (arukereso.hu)
2390 / 3795 = 62% windows
No one who doesn’t know anything about installing windows is gonna buy a laptop without os or with freedos, so you can deduct those too.
The real choice for probably 99% of consumers is between windows and mac.
The point was that end users extremely rarely need to worry about what windows flavour they need. The laptop already comes pre-installed with the correct flavour OS for that laptop.
I agree, if not by mistake the cheaper FreeDOS, buyers will select the windows preinstall I presume. I was checking if all machines come with windows. Clearly not.
With what frequency they choose what offering, is a harder question to answer and would give a different distribution. MacOS would be higher, and without os and FreeDOS close to zero.
Isn’t that what I’m saying? Windows isn’t prevalent because there is one edition of it, but because it’s the default.
Apparently this is downvote worthy information?
Are you a home user? Choose the home edition. Easy.
When I worked at an MSP I kept running into folks (both businesses and residential customers) using the cheapest PCs they could get and having to work around Home edition limitations. I’m blanking at this moment but there was one limitation that was consistently a righteous pain in the ass… I gotta look up the differences and see if one jogs my memory
Edit: aha! it was the freaking Microsoft account. Its required on Home edition but optional on Pro. A super common issue folks would run into was from Microsoft removing the Windows Mail app and replacing it with Outlook, but the in-place upgrade/replacement would gum up their signed in emails and Outlook would be stuck thinking it’s both signed in and not at the same time. Easiest solution is to simply sign out of all accounts at the device-level and sign back in, because Outlook just looks at and manages the accounts that are signed into at the device-level but you can’t do that on Home edition, so I’d have to spend even more time rooting around until Outlook finally decided that the account that it was failing to sign into wasn’t in fact fully signed in and pop an actual signin prompt
“What do you mean home user? I’m a computer user.”
You’re right, it doesn’t matter.
Choose the home edition. Easy.
Aren’t all these versions just the same product with different features locked behind payment options? It’s very different from Linux, where every layer has multiple alternatives written by different authors that can behave very differently.