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Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

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Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#31

Post by rav3ndust »

hot_gril wrote: post #8
rav3ndust wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just out of curiosity, what's wrong with the more 'traditional' Linux desktops, such as Plasma or Cinnamon?

A lot of the issue is that you were able to name more than one, and that was without mentioning Gnome or XFCE

i mentioned the two I thought people moving from windows would be most comfy with.

for them, taskbar on bottom + 'start' menu = "neat, i already know how to use this!"

personally, i use i3/sway tiling window managers, and also keep gnome around if i want a full desktop. personally, i love the amount of choice we have in the gnu/linux world. if something doesn't work for you, you can select from so many other options.

"but...but...fragmentation! those guys working on cinnamon/mate/etc should just join gnome or kde and make The One True Desktop!" eh. i don't buy this line of thinking.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#32

Post by rav3ndust »

cypress66 wrote: post #12
rav3ndust wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just out of curiosity, what's wrong with the more 'traditional' Linux desktops, such as Plasma or Cinnamon?

Most distros can't even recover from a shutdown while updating (windows handles it since Vista).

on nixOS, if something borks, i can do a system rollback right from my bootscreen. easy-peasy.

on debian, i can create system backups/snapshots via timeshift and restore them if something breaks.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#33

Post by hot_gril »

wkat4242 wrote: post #29
hot_gril wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Gnome doesn't work for everyone, what they had to do was make it work. There has to be a way. The vast majority of the market is using Windows and Mac, and somehow both have avoided the need for multiple separate DEs.

I actually moved away from Mac because it's so opinionated just like gnome. But what's the problem with having choice?

It adds complexity, especially for new users and even more for corporations. There's maintenance burden as different DEs fall out of favor, things become incompatible, and you have to migrate. Even sticking to one Linux distro, the default DE can change across versions. If you want to troubleshoot online, you can't Google "how to do X in GNU/Linux," you have to specify the DE and version too. Vs with Mac or Windows it's quite clear what you're using and how you get help for it.

Most people don't even think that far though, they just want a name brand they can trust and understand. So the most popular desktop Linux is probably ChromeOS.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#34

Post by rav3ndust »

wkat4242 wrote: post #29
hot_gril wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Gnome doesn't work for everyone, what they had to do was make it work. There has to be a way. The vast majority of the market is using Windows and Mac, and somehow both have avoided the need for multiple separate DEs.

I actually moved away from Mac because it's so opinionated just like gnome. But what's the problem with having choice?

a small anecdote:

in 2019, my wife finally got fed up with windows 10. she used no software that was 'windows-only', so she asked me if i'd help her begin the move over to gnu/linux.

i made her live-drives of several different distributions, and showed her how to boot into them on her machine to play with the live environments. iirc, she messed around with ubuntu, solus, mint, and elementary.

she liked the fact that she had so much choice available to her. she eventually settled on mint cinnamon, as it has an environment she is familiar and comfortable with, and that was that. she's been running it ever since. and, keep in mind, my wife is someone who doesn't live and breathe computers like most of us here do.

i know there are the people out there who have disdain for the amount of choice we have in the linux desktop space ("fragmentation!"), but most people appreciate the amount of choice on offer.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#35

Post by hot_gril »

rav3ndust wrote: post #31
hot_gril wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of the issue is that you were able to name more than one, and that was without mentioning Gnome or XFCE

i mentioned the two I thought people moving from windows would be most comfy with. for them, taskbar on bottom + 'start' menu = "neat, i already know how to use this!" personally, i use i3/sway tiling window managers, and also keep gnome around if i want a full desktop. personally, i love the amount of choice we have in the gnu/linux world. if something doesn't work for you, you can select from so many other options.…

There are plenty of informally agreed-upon defaults in the GNU/Linux world. For instance almost everyone uses Bash, Git is the dominant version control, and the default browser is usually Firefox-based. This doesn't mean alternatives shouldn't exist, but they aren't neck and neck. Somehow no DE has won yet, and that's a serious usability problem.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#36

Post by rav3ndust »

hot_gril wrote: post #35
rav3ndust wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i mentioned the two I thought people moving from windows would be most comfy with. for them, taskbar on bottom + 'start' menu = "neat, i already know how to use this!" personally, i use i3/sway tiling window managers, and also keep gnome around if i want a full desktop. personally, i love the amount of choice we have in the gnu/linux world. if something doesn't work for you, you can select from so many other options.…

There are plenty of informally agreed-upon defaults in the GNU/Linux world. For instance almost everyone uses Bash, Git is the dominant version control, and the default browser is usually Firefox-based. This doesn't mean alternatives shouldn't exist, but they aren't neck and neck. Somehow no DE has won yet, and that's a serious usability problem.

i'd say, in a way, we have 'informally' agreed upon a default desktop.

the flagship edition of ubuntu? GNOME.

the flagship edition of fedora? GNOME.

RHEL? GNOME.

installing debian with its defaults? GNOME.

while KDE ships on a few distros by default, and Mint ships with Cinnamon as its flagship, by-and-large, GNOME is what you're gonna get from your "major" distributions.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#38

Post by simonblack »

I usually keep a minimal Windows partition on my machines by reducing the Windows install that comes with my machines down to 100 gig or even less.

But over the last few years, the Windows 10 and Windows 11 installations are being booted occasionally merely to update the Windows itself.

More and more I'm considering that to be a waste of time, because I don't use Win 10 or Win 11 for anything practical. I only use Win 7 when I do use Windows.

It's probably time to blow away those Win 10 and Win 11 partitions entirely, I think.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#39

Post by simonblack »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Too bad Linux still can't offer a desktop alternative that is widely acceptable. Personally, I am contemplating moving to a server version of Windows on my desktop. This AI nonsense looks like just a privacy invasion scheme.

Too bad Linux still can't offer a desktop alternative that is widely acceptable.

Well, yes it can. But the choice of Desktop whether that be Linux, MacOS or Windows is just a matter of familiarisation.

I have the exact opposite view to you: "Too bad Windows still can't offer a desktop alternative that is widely acceptable." but that is because I have been using a Linux Desktop for over 20 years. I've been using the LinuxMint MATE Desktop for about 10-11 years.

If you feel happy with Windows, stick with it. It's your machine, and your choice.

Re: Microsoft's full-screen reminders – upgrade to Windows 11 are back

#40

Post by simonblack »

cypress66 wrote: post #12
rav3ndust wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just out of curiosity, what's wrong with the more 'traditional' Linux desktops, such as Plasma or Cinnamon?

Most distros can't even recover from a shutdown while updating (windows handles it since Vista).

It's extremely rare that any modern journalling filesystem (Windows, Linux, MacOS) can't recover from an unscheduled shutdown these days.
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