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2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

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Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#291

Post by sails »

nntwozz wrote: post #144

I'm giving Apple the benefit of the doubt until macOS 27 (but I'm still on 15.7.4 hehe). Mac OS X and Aqua wasn't very well received either at launch. A similar thing happened with the flat design of iOS 7. Apple's pattern is initially going overboard with a new design and then scaling it back slowly like a sculptor. I think they're happy with this method, even if things miss at first the big changes usually create a…

Adding from Mac perspective, I am also keeping an eye on Linux. I’ve hit a wall with Mac window management, and find the operating system just gets in the way for professional use across multiple of their digital “desktops”. I have no useful way to isolate work streams, and would gladly move to something better.

The blocker for Linux for me as someone who wants some level of reliability has always been fiddling with low level config, but now with Claude Code, low level config appeals!

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#292

Post by seanmcdirmid »

xmcp123 wrote: post #97
markus_zhang wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious what is DevDiv? Tools division?

As I understand it, .NET, developer tools, and VS. Basically you have tight OS integration vs developer friendly cross platform.

I think it also includes GitHub now.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#293

Post by stateofinquiry »

handbanana_ wrote: post #214

I really don't understand what is different about my installs of Windows 11 compared to what I read in all these types of articles. I have zero issues with the platform day in and day out with heavy workloads like Pro Tools and Unreal Engine devkit. Games run without stutter and issue, all my features are snappy, Explorer loads instantly, etc. Even search is performant and gives decent results. I have tweaked a few s…

I have the same confusion as you do. Note, I am not ignorant about Linux or MacOS. I ran Linux as my main OS from 2001 - 2015, still run it on a server. MacOS from 2015 - 2021. Since 2021 I am on Windows for my main machine (a laptop) and my gaming desktop.

Win 11 seems fine to me. I do see Copilot appearing everywhere. I don't see ads from MS at all, though- sometimes my vendor driver-management software asks me if I was to extend my warranty. Not Win11 fault, though. Start menu seems fine, phone integration is nice, OS runs very stable (in the very early days of using Linux 20y ago I marveled at how much more stable it was than Win98! That gap is gone now as far as I can tell).

My suspicion: I am paying for M365 (or whatever they call it now) and so they don't advertise it (or anything?) to me. I don't see CandyCrush or other random things added to my machine. All seems OK.

I've read that Win12 will be subscription-based. Maybe I am personally already there. For now, M365 offers me good value- I use MS Office and OneDrive. But if this changes I can see the equation balance shifting and I will then change platforms again.

TMI, I left MacOS because of Gatekeeper and the inability to repair hardware. Before that I left Linux for work interoperability and regressions I saw on my personal mobile hardware. Neither were "bad", really, I have experienced different trade-offs among the three choices I have used. For now, Win 11 is working just fine for me, with no fuss.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#294

Post by seemaze »

grugagag wrote: post #143
xmcp123 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really only Photoshop is the big gaping hole I feel as a linux user. Gimp is just atrocious. There is a desktop webview of PhotoPea, but it's not the same.

2.5 hours of battery is a serious gaping hole imo.

Year of the Linux desktop perhaps; Year of the Linux laptop perhaps not..

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#295

Post by buccal »

CjHuber wrote: post #94
roxolotl wrote: post #4

“start menus made with React Native, control-alt-delete menus that are actually just webviews” Haven’t used windows in five years or so but I’ve kept hearing bad things. This really is the icing on the cake though. Yea the AI stuff is dumb but if a OS manufacturer can’t be bothered to interact with their own UI libraries to build native UIs something has gone horribly wrong.

AFAIK the Start Menu itself is still C++ and XAML however only the Recommended section is build with React Native [1]. Funnily or rather sadly, they seem to be quite proud of using it as seen in the video. 1: https://youtu.be/kMJNEFHj8b8?t=4m47s

Still in some cases you have to wait a few minutes to get working Start menu search or menu itself on a new not low-end device.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#296

Post by Klonoar »

orochimaaru wrote: post #7

I've been using a system 76 laptop for the past 3 years. Runs perfectly, no surprises. Unfortunately, I need a mac for work because the laptop service folks do not know what to do with linux and do not have a relationship with a vendor like system76. Pros: The best development experience you can have. Everything is native linux. There is no beating that. This of course will be a problem if hobbies/work use windows. I…

“Runs perfectly” but it’s 2025 and you’re getting 2.5 hours of battery life.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#297

Post by zzo38computer »

tuetuopay wrote: post #285
darubedarob wrote: post #107

Saw a fascinating talk on gui and ui development today, lamenting the stagnation at M$ and apple when it comes to desktop computing (including browsing). " there simply is nothing for open source to copy but ux-decline" and that sentence rings like a bell of all the problems.

Can you ring the same bell at the GTK and GNOME folks? The GTK4 thing with hamburger menus that replace everything is just a mess. I stumbled on nemo the other day while looking for nautilus. That… was a breath of fresh air: compact UI, menus, features, etc. It’s painful seeing FOSS making some of the same mistakes as corporations

Yes, I don't like all of that stuff either. Too many FOSS does make those and other same mistakes; there is much more than just that. There are a few people that try to improve some aspects of them, but leave other the same, and sometimes it is not really an improvement (although sometimes it is a matter of opinion).

But, I mostly use command-line programs and write my own programs (and sometimes use older DOS programs, even though I have Linux), without emoji and without LLM, and also avoiding Unicode when I can, and without a desktop environment, etc.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#299

Post by fyredge »

handbanana_ wrote: post #214

I really don't understand what is different about my installs of Windows 11 compared to what I read in all these types of articles. I have zero issues with the platform day in and day out with heavy workloads like Pro Tools and Unreal Engine devkit. Games run without stutter and issue, all my features are snappy, Explorer loads instantly, etc. Even search is performant and gives decent results. I have tweaked a few s…

I suspect these articles are targeted at techies and tinkerers, where being able to do things their way is very important to them. This is reflected in the many mentions of tinkering with registry keys, which I never have nor felt the need to.

I personally run win11 for gaming, android for media consumption and proxmox for homelab and I think all of these systems are fine as is. They serve their purpose well enough.

My prediction is that steamOS (when it is released) will end up being the only mainstream Linux desktop because of its corporate backing. It would be interesting to see desktop Linux mimicking the android ecosystem, where different vendors provide a different skin on top of SteamOS.

Re: 2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop

#300

Post by starky »

newsoftheday wrote: post #148
xmcp123 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really only Photoshop is the big gaping hole I feel as a linux user. Gimp is just atrocious. There is a desktop webview of PhotoPea, but it's not the same.

I'm in my 60's and have never run Photoshop. Nor my wife, my kids, none of my relatives I'm aware of for that matter. Come to think of it, of all the people I know, no one runs PhotoShop that I'm aware of.

So? It is still a pretty popular and useful piece of software even if your circle doesn't use it.

One of the big barriers to having more people use Linux is having the software packages they use to actually do work available on the platform. Image editing is the most popular software type that isn't really available on Linux with an equivalent to the commercial package that everyone uses.

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