Except for people who are less tech savvy and don’t have a desire to tinker. Windows has been the standard for so long that many people don’t have knowledge outside of the Microsoft ecosystem. Linux is best for those who want to dig into computers.
Desktop computers are the one and only one space where Linux doesn’t utterly dominate as the kernel of choice. Supercomputers, servers, embedded devices, basically all Linux. In the mobile space, Apple and Android are a duopoly, Microsoft repeatedly tried and failed to enter that market. Microsoft managed to secure a de facto monopoly on the desktop, kept Macintosh like a pet to ward off actual monopoly lawsuits, and has spent the last 20 years just making their product worse for the user in order to wring another pint of blood out of the same moldy old turnip.
Or super casual users. All my dad ever use is Thunderbird and Chrome. I’m too lazy to get him to use Firefox, but at least I’ve got him on Mint for I don’t know how many years now.
It’s gotten wayyyy better in that regard though. It’s more a matter of what people are used to and being resistant to change, than a lack of tech savvy-ness.
It is primarily for those who want to be in control of there computing.
Which becomes more and more weighty by the day, even for casual users. For example, Bitlocker being enabled by default is a data destroying time-bomb waiting to explode (and causes a lot of slowness).
In my case, I had to switch to Linux earlier this year due to strange issues with bluetooth audio cutting out when my monitors went to sleep (not my computer) and game stuttering/poor performance on Windows. Issues fixed immediately on Linux, without tinkering.
Regardless, there is an important distinction between enthusiast distributions and beginner distributions, the latter of which are 100% viable even for grandma and grandpa to use and maintain.
Linux gets many bonus points for security, which Windows 11 lacks wholly for regular users - there aren’t even proper guards against applications getting admin access. Microsoft refuses to patch known UAC bypasses, of which there are many that can be found publicly on GitHub.
Their excuse? UAC is not intended to be a security barrier. Many malicious applications have instructions to bypass Windows Defender that users may follow, and getting your binaries signed is fairly easy with e.g. leaked certs (which take time to be revoked due to Microsoft’s enterprise considerations and business model) - potentially avoiding Windows Defender completely and likely UAC as well (…and also fooling a very careful eye).
Except for people who are less tech savvy and don’t have a desire to tinker. Windows has been the standard for so long that many people don’t have knowledge outside of the Microsoft ecosystem. Linux is best for those who want to dig into computers.
Desktop computers are the one and only one space where Linux doesn’t utterly dominate as the kernel of choice. Supercomputers, servers, embedded devices, basically all Linux. In the mobile space, Apple and Android are a duopoly, Microsoft repeatedly tried and failed to enter that market. Microsoft managed to secure a de facto monopoly on the desktop, kept Macintosh like a pet to ward off actual monopoly lawsuits, and has spent the last 20 years just making their product worse for the user in order to wring another pint of blood out of the same moldy old turnip.
Gotta get that infinite growth. Enshittification is just the last stage.
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W10 LTSC IOT pushes that back to 2032, freeing you to switch at your leisure before then.
Or super casual users. All my dad ever use is Thunderbird and Chrome. I’m too lazy to get him to use Firefox, but at least I’ve got him on Mint for I don’t know how many years now.
It’s gotten wayyyy better in that regard though. It’s more a matter of what people are used to and being resistant to change, than a lack of tech savvy-ness.
I think it has a target audience that doesn’t include everyone. It is primarily for those who want to be in control of there computing.
Which becomes more and more weighty by the day, even for casual users. For example, Bitlocker being enabled by default is a data destroying time-bomb waiting to explode (and causes a lot of slowness).
In my case, I had to switch to Linux earlier this year due to strange issues with bluetooth audio cutting out when my monitors went to sleep (not my computer) and game stuttering/poor performance on Windows. Issues fixed immediately on Linux, without tinkering.
Regardless, there is an important distinction between enthusiast distributions and beginner distributions, the latter of which are 100% viable even for grandma and grandpa to use and maintain.
Linux gets many bonus points for security, which Windows 11 lacks wholly for regular users - there aren’t even proper guards against applications getting admin access. Microsoft refuses to patch known UAC bypasses, of which there are many that can be found publicly on GitHub.
Their excuse? UAC is not intended to be a security barrier. Many malicious applications have instructions to bypass Windows Defender that users may follow, and getting your binaries signed is fairly easy with e.g. leaked certs (which take time to be revoked due to Microsoft’s enterprise considerations and business model) - potentially avoiding Windows Defender completely and likely UAC as well (…and also fooling a very careful eye).
A lot of beginner distros really do not at all require tinkering.