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Sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that! PCs refuse to shut down after Microsoft patch
(www.theregister.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2026
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Instead of waiting a few more years for Linux to reach the level of ease-of-use needed to overtake Windows, MS is being sporty by moving the goal closer.
I find that a lot of stuff is easier on Linux. Like downloading and updating most software. Heck the official Minecraft launcher works better on Linux with multiple accounts than on Windows. Just try some distro’s out
windows seems to be self-destructing , might be sooner than that.
Linux is currently easier to use than Windows. People who think otherwise are Windows users who think different equals worse.
Exactly. A lot of people seem to think that different = worse, or that not supporting the same software means it supports less software. I couldn't move to Windows right now because there is a ton of stuff I use Linux for that Windows has no alternative, or the alternatives are terrible. It works both ways.
Honestly, I love having a w11 rig AND a laptop with zorin and a laptop with w10 and a old all in one with mint. Variety is the spice of life, I need a Windows laptop to tune my cars ecus. Simply not able to do it in Linux, but my Linux laptop has stuff my windows doesn't. Real ones can't just live with one os B)
I wonder if the software you need for cars would run under Wine.
For years I kept one Windows laptop running only so I could use one proprietary app that I used occasionally when teaching. It was not ideal, but whatever. Then Windows started showing ads. on the desktop. that I was showing to my students! That I will not tolerate. So I poked around with Wine and found out I could run that app on my Mint laptop!
Goodbye forever TinyFlaccid. Go fuck yourself.
(note: I do have to use a windows machine for one thing still - to print at work using my company supplied office computer. sigh.)
This is simply not true. I don't understand what lying about this does for anyone.
As a recent Linux convert, pretty much every hardware has full windows support while Linux you'll have to hunt for shit.
Basic stuff like Nvidia graphics cards or even Logitech peripherals will not "just work" on Linux.
Again, I love Linux and for me the pain was worth it, and most of the issues aren't really Linux's fault, it's the manufacturers who are assholes, but your average windows user had no idea about who's responsible when their mouse won't work and they can't install Logitech software.
On Linux Mint, my Nvidia graphics card and Logitech keyboard and mouse just worked.
The support is getting better by the minute! I do think steam os has helped catapult Linux ahead from where it was just 5 years ago in terms of hardware support
I have a bunch of different laptop models at work. For the most part, they do all Just Work with Ubuntu.
At one point the newest models would drop to a black screen after installation, but I guess that was fixed with some update because even those work now.
Nvidia graphics cards don’t “just work” on windows either tbf
Weird i converted 3 systems to linux last year and every hardware was plug and play, except a 3070ti for which it was open the driver launcher and click once
I swapped a year ago, I went from Mint to Fedora then to Cachy. I use Debian on a home server and now NixOS on my laptop. I would say this is more of an issue with you and or the distro you chose aswell your hardware. In the last two months I even swapped my little brother to fedora cause all he does is game and all of the sudden I am not having to help him do anything or fix random errors, the only "hard" part or searching was nvidia and that was simple after reading one page of documentation. It all depends on what you choose, your desire to learn and your hardware. Also on Windows you have to go find the correct website and download the correct file from there, which is getting harder and harder with search engines feeding you the highest bidder instead of the actual site you need (This is how my bro used to get viruses because he didnt understand vetting websites)
if it's just gaming, consider a side-grade to bazzite:
it's an atomic fedora distro (even has a dedicated Nvidia installer), meaning it's more difficult to break and easier to rollback when it breaks!
and it has a bunch of gaming related tools pre-installed, which is helpful, but not the main selling point imo.
anyways, yeah, linux gaming is really, REALLY easy these days!
I'm sorry, I did IT for years and still do it for friends if they make it worth the trouble. So, I have to ask, what the hell are you talking about?
Pretty much every logitech paripheral has worked perfectly for me on both windows or linux. It's a mouse and keyboard, generic drivers work perfectly fine. Hell, I use a trackball mouse and that works plig and play on linux. Hell, open up a new windows computer run through the setup then disconnect it from the internet then plug in a logitech keyboard. Look at the driver for it in windows, it will probably be "generic keyboard driver". It's a keyboard.
The main difference is that the additional software you need to install doesn't always come from the manufacturer on Linux. Other than that it's actually pretty similar.
Heck, there are even devices that work better under Linux, such as the Logitech F710 gamepad. That one has been subtly incompatible with the USB stack of every Windows after 7 while it works with Linux just fine.
RIP Titan submersible
You might have been unlucky. I never had serious installation issues when installing Ubuntu on a lot of different computers in the past five years. Just started the installer, click next a few times and reboot into the new installation. It used to be some tinkering required to get everything to work, but apart from having to enable the proprietary Nvidia driver in a GUI (and having to search for it) everything else just worked. My last Windows install however was a shitshow. Took ages and I had to disable a ton of surveillance stuff. On top of that I had to go through some weird hoops to keep the thing from requiring me to create a Microsoft account. What distro did you use? I guess some are more difficult than others
Distribution choice makes a lot of difference, but they're not wrong, manufacturers just don't write drivers for Linux. Sure, we've got AMD, Intel, and even nVidia (fuck nVidia btw) writing theirs, but peripherals are way more hit or miss.
That's only going to be solved with wider adoption.
True. It's also a good idea to check for Linux compatibility before buying hardware. That's an annoying extra step to do, and makes it harder for new users. But on the other hand, there are now more vendors including this info on their own, and a lot of hardware is pretty much standardized (like USB HID devices etc).
Correct.
If you can't figure a modern linux distro, that is specifically geared towards being n00b friendly (there are a good number) ...
... its time to retire from thinking you are tech savvy, its time to hang up that hat, time to humble yourself a bit, realize you overspecialized in the wrong direction.
Installation of the any Linux OS is also easier to install. And much quicker.
I get what you're saying, but it's not really true.
If the only program you run is a web browser, then you're probably right, but only because Linux expects you to know how to use your computer and install updates yourself.
Linux has achieved a very stable OS that offers a very granular experience, which is great if you know what you're doing, but if you don't, it's pretty arcane. The ability to configure everything on your system exactly how you want it to run is a double edged sword.
If you want anything beyond what is offered out of the box, you'll need to interact with the terminal at some point, which is a pretty steep learning curve for the average user.
Sometimes different is even better! When I switched to Linux a few months back I didn't anticipate just how much I would like the Gnome desktop environment. Now I sometimes even try flicking down my mouse to switch tabs on my Win11 work pc and get a pang of disappointment when it doesn't work.
It is.
And honestly, remembering the stuff I had to do to play the original Doom at a LAN party back in the day.
We all did that back then!
If someone was a "gamer" they were not afraid to do this because they either knew how or knew a friend who was happy to help.
Compare that to what I do today that most gamers consider "mind-numbingly super nerd impossible bullshit lol linux sux", running GNU GUIX:
O hey everything just works. Proton kicks in automatically.
Go install Linux Mint and you might just realize that line is already way behind microsoft.
Nah. Gonna stick to gaming on my GNU GUIX through Proton thanks.
Linux is clearly not only good enough, but simpler too.
It's just a ton of perception, habits and sales pipelines that need moving now. If electronics stores started putting out Linux Gaming PCs, nobody buying them would be worse off than Windows. That has been true for well over a year.
A few more years? Try Mint 22.3 Cinnamon, like millions of others are!
Or any of the other "easy" distros. To be honest... The "gaming" distros have been just as easy as mint to me. Cachy, bazzite, and to a lesser degree nobara (points knocked off for giving me grief after an update) have all been very easy and stable.
I think people get scared because everyone says you need to use command line in Linux. That's not really true any more than it is in Windows. There are certain things that are easier with command line or other things that might need to be done there, but it's easier and faster to look up what those things are than navigating the purposefully buried settings in Windows and everything basic can be done in gui anyhow. You can get as technical as you want in Linux.
The hardest thing for me about switching was finding comparable programs that I was used to. It takes time to find THE BEST PDF EDITOR or anything else on a new OS.
Linux is fucking easy already. Plenty of Distros out there, with preinstalled KDE Plasma, which is like a almost 1-1 transition from Windows :)
We already have obnoxiously “user-friendly” distros that make stupid assumptions we hate like windows does (Ubuntu) but get you out of box and going instantly. This has been solved. You start there, figure out what you hate, then migrate to something more your flavor.
Windows: there are 7 flavors that all taste the same and cost different amounts. Apple: it’s free because it only runs on our machines, which cost more and subsidize the OS development. This is fine because you will never leave, we think you’re going to love it. (Introduces Liquid Glass and wonders where everyone went) BSD: firewalls, PlayStations, and neckbeards. We know what we’re about. Linux: whatever, I don’t care, just wash your hands.
I feel like we actually got there a whole who, at least assuming basic use and fairly conventional hardware. Getting into the command line to fix stuff been be a pain, but so is navigating the absurd hierarchy of windows settings.
Assuming a computer that is already set up properly it's pretty much a seamless experience. If your mom bought a laptop with mint and just used it for regular browsing and shit she probably couldn't tell the difference.
to be fair, during the past few years that I've used mint and kubuntu, not being able to shutdown, restart or suspend has been a pretty common issue 😅 so it'll be a nice familiarity for people migrating from windows