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I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

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Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#261

Post by dangus »

I don’t really agree with the “Windows 11 is unstable” narrative, especially compared to the ways that system updates on macOS and Linux have not always been 100% stable.

The functionality of the iPhone connection to Linux is not unique to the platform, that works on Windows as well. iPhones present themselves as cameras when connected via USB and as the author found out, some apps present their internal storage for manipulation.

I’m surprised the author didn’t get KDE Connect to work. It’s a clutch app, and it’s even better for Android users. It’s one of the things that has had me consider switching to Android over iPhone (but there are still a couple of things I just can’t quite get over leaving behind like FaceTime for my non-technical family, the unmatched-by-competitors utility of AirTags, Siri Shortcuts, and my general feeling that without installing GrapheneOS, that Android is a less private and secure OS).

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#262

Post by WD-42 »

free652 wrote: post #259
WD-42 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are using a distro that is generally very behind on software versions and doesn’t bundle non free software (Debian) on a laptop with brand new hardware. Additionally, you are running a DE (cinnamon) which is really designed for a specific distro (Mint) which you are not using. If you want stuff to just work you might want to try using a more up to date distro with a mainstream desktop. Stock Ubuntu or Fedora woul…

debian 13 is using kernel 6.12 vs ubuntu 24 6.14. I don't think it's a kernel issue, and more that amd drivers aren't there yet for the new hardware. running the latest also is problematic, i.e. a new kernel upgrade that blows thing up. and that's the main difference between linux and windows, windows just works, osx just works, linux is a minefield of different quirks.

The amd drivers might not there, and they will continue to not be there on the version of the kernel you are using and choosing to be stuck on by using Debian. Drivers are part of the kernel in Linux, it’s not how windows works. Ubuntu and Fedora are not unstable, you are just choosing pain for yourself.

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#264

Post by splatter9859 »

odie5533 wrote: post #233
zkmon wrote: post #219

I never understood the Linux guys. All that matters to a common user is the user interface and whether their apps and games run or not. They don't care about telemetry, architecture etc. The damn thing should just work and it should allow familiar interactions. I have tried switching to Linux several times over the decades. It required many compromises on the interface and compatibilities. Why is it so difficult to s…

This is why I recommend macOS to everyone. It's the only OS that is truly polished and where you don't have to worry about viruses and everything just works. mac could be better, but it's still leading the pack. People don't want the OS to become their hobby.

MacOS has its warts and 'unpolish' as well, as it also gets viruses despite what Apple may want you to believe.

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#265

Post by tapoxi »

odie5533 wrote: post #236
flexagoon wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the people who barely use the computer are the easiest to move to Linux. As Mental Outlaw said, "to a normie, an OS is just a bootloader for Google Chrome". If all you do is check emails, it doesn't really matter what OS you have installed. Switching to Linux hasn't been an issue for those users for a long time - it's usually gamers, users of professional software, or IT people with deeply established wor…

Laptop battery life suffers greatly on Linux. When their Google Chrome bootloader is out of battery all day, it matters which OS they installed.

This doesn't make much sense, ChromeOS is itself Linux, and those are prime "computers for parents" machines.

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#266

Post by jakkos »

zahlman wrote: post #106
Jackknife9 wrote: post #42

I tried to leave Windows 11 for Linux - it just didn't work for me. I installed EndeavourOS onto my main gaming desktop. It worked great for a while and ran all the games I played with my friends. However, one night when I went on to play a game I ran a system update and it seemed to completely break my nvidea drivers - I tried reinstalling them and also using the open source driver. This meant I just couldn't play a…

I can't understand this reasoning. System updates obviously don't become less risky because of the OS they're updating. But going back to Win10 means having less control over when those updates happen (and much less control over, and understanding of, what is updated), and waiting much longer for them to complete.

> System updates obviously don't become less risky because of the OS they're updating

The last time I used arch, I ran an update and it broke my bootloader, meaning the next time I restarted it wouldn't boot at all.

Sure I could make a recovery USB and fix it, but at that point I was away from home, and just really needed to do the totally crazy thing of "using my computer to actually do work".

(To be clear, I didn't and I'm not recommending going back to Windows, just a more sane Linux)

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#267

Post by p_ing »

randunel wrote: post #154
wbshaw wrote: post #94

Even though the author trivialized the problems he had getting his laptop up and running, there were enough obstacles to keep 90% of non-techies from actually getting it working. How many normies have a USB ethernet laying around and understand enough to uninstall drivers that are interfering with the UI?

It's next to impossible to get windows up and running if you dare not get a computer with it preinstalled, AHCI drivers are almost never included in the installation disc. And windows support gives you links to self installing exe files which you can't run, because you presumably run a linux live cd to be able to access the internet and ask for help, and exe files don't run on it, and can't be accessed by the windows…

> AHCI drivers are almost never included in the installation disc

This was a valid argument with... Windows 9x and XP. Today, not.

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#268

Post by bitmasher9 »

aNoob7000 wrote: post #230
isbvhodnvemrwvn wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They absolutely do, the moment you have any problem you are on your own. I spent half a day troubleshooting why nvidia drivers were not loading (mint was not signing them and secure boot silently kicked the module out), and I'm many times more proficient at technology than an average person.

I bought a brand new Dell laptop with Windows 11 25H2 at the end of November 2025. The first patches released by Microsoft in December did not install. WTF!!! If you go online, you will see a whole YouTube videos and articles on how to fix the issue. Let me tell you, after a considerable amount of time, I gave up. I'm running Ubuntu 24.04 on my desktop, and I can't remember the last time I had issues applying patches…

Windows has problems all the time. There is widespread knowledge on how to troubleshoot and fix these problems.

Similar problems will have very different solutions for Linux. The knowledge of how to resolve them is much less widespread. I’ve had very good success in asking ChatGPT how to resolve Linux issues, probably better success then I would on Windows because the error messages on Linux are much more detailed.

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#269

Post by evilduck »

odie5533 wrote: post #236
flexagoon wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the people who barely use the computer are the easiest to move to Linux. As Mental Outlaw said, "to a normie, an OS is just a bootloader for Google Chrome". If all you do is check emails, it doesn't really matter what OS you have installed. Switching to Linux hasn't been an issue for those users for a long time - it's usually gamers, users of professional software, or IT people with deeply established wor…

Laptop battery life suffers greatly on Linux. When their Google Chrome bootloader is out of battery all day, it matters which OS they installed.

People who care deeply about unplugged battery life aren't on Windows to begin with.

Re: I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too

#270

Post by amanaplanacanal »

SecretDreams wrote: post #231
amanaplanacanal wrote: post #228

Frankly I'd love to switch from Windows to Linux. But it's the applications. My last attempt to switch got hung up on a few things (in order if importance, probably): - Quicken. I have 30 years of personal financial data in quicken. I'm not completely opposed to migrating to something else, but I haven't seen a good substitute. I'd probably have to learn double entry bookkeeping, and I'm unsure if other software coul…

> - Quicken. I have 30 years of personal financial data in quicken. I'm not completely opposed to migrating to something else, Genuinely curious - outside of personal satisfaction/scratching the itch to store data, does personal financial data dating 30 years ago serve any practical purpose?

Occasionally I want to see what I paid for something, or when it happened, or who the vendor was. So if I can't migrate the data somehow, I'd still have to keep a copy of quicken around to access that old data even if I was using some other software for current data.

I might be willing to give all that up if I could find something that worked for new transactions, but I haven't found it yet.

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