this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2026
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My parents know one and it's windows. One time my dad messaged me at work to ask if his laptop had windows xp, vista, 7, 8, 10 or 11, so he doesn't even know the version differences :p
My mom may also say "samsung" as an operating system if you prod enough, but she also knows their laptop has windows 11, so she knows more than my dad
So that's what the average non-tech person thinks about OSes
Yeah. A typical non-tech person is just as likely to say their PC is running on Microsoft or Google. Maybe they'll say Edge if they are really knowledgeable.
I worked tech support in a call center, a thousand years ago.
Telling people to click on the "big blue E" was used nearly every call. Not much has changed.
In the case of the browser, they are still only describing use, not brand name.
They don't know what a browser is. That's just "The Internet".
Edit: I got whooshed.
I was making a joke about edging.
Edit: It was pretty subtle, to be honest. Not my finest masturbation-related humor.
I once had a user all me to "install the latest version of the internet on her computer".
My first thought was "that's gonna take a hot minute..."
She was referring to wanting the latest version of internet explorer, of course, but it didn't stop my "take everything literally" brain from going on a humorous aside imagining downloading the entire internet to this users machine.
Most of them are unaware of what an OS is even.
For real! I'm still unable to explain what an OS is to my 14-yo daughter. I tried several analogies but I always have the impression she says she gets it just to shut me up so she can carry on watching Tiktok videos.
starting from stratch is a good way to learn. Basic circuits, what electricity is, etc. Then you move onto diodes and transistors. Then memory and binary systems. Then assembly, c, etc.
Also, have you tried convincing them to move from stuff like tiktok to foss apps like loops?
New generations are dumber than any other gen! /s
Your dad seems miles ahead knowing windows versions compared to the average person.
I mean he was trying to run software which listed those as compatible, so he just copied the list :3
But yeah, thinking about windows versions at all is already a step ahead some
Yep, my first level tech support experience absolutely confirms this. The question what operating system the client uses has gotten me a wide variety of answers, and most of them did not have anything to do with operating systems.
When I was a child, Windows 95 came out and people bought it without owning a computer, deciding they would get a household PC now.
That level of hype is biblical and it sticks.
Edit: Then of course, Bill openly said he likes Windows being pirated because it would be the OS of choice of everyone. People would only know Windows.