Sorta but not really, it’s ubiquitous now so it almost has to be on new hardware, and Microsoft offers big discounts for OEM versions. They lose money to guarantee it stays the default I guess? Either way, I still don’t think there’s a lot of people actively choosing it.

Windows is fine at being an OS, most of the time it just works. I think the exact same thing is true of certain Linux distros, especially for the average user who could load it up, browse the internet and watch videos without ever breaking or having to debug anything.

If we’re purely talking about the OS. Forget software or imagine you’re exclusively using software that works fine on both. I think Linux is a much nicer experience. It has really improved over the years.

Obviously we can’t just ignore software, though, and that’s a huge part of why Windows is still so popular. But another huge part is that Microsoft pays a lot of money to make it the default OS on lots of hardware. I can’t even think of a single person I know who chose windows, it’s just what companies use and what most computers come with pre-installed. Companies like it because Microsoft provide tech support. There are many reasons why Windows is so popular that have nothing to do with the user experience.

I mean you can break Windows enough to have to debug it every five minutes, too, that would also be frustrating.

For the average user who isn’t tinkering with everything Linux is a pretty smooth and pleasant experience.

Also I’m not mystified by Windows’ market dominance, but we all know the reason isn’t because it simply provides a better experience. Most Windows users have no choice in the matter as it’s just the default.

Also software availability doesn’t have much to do with the OS. It’s a reason I don’t use Linux more, but it’s not something the OS does poorly. It’s something software developers do poorly.

We have found the one Windows fan on Lemmy!

I still use windows almost entirely because of certain software I need for work. But if not for that I’d switch in a heartbeat, I’m not the most tech savvy person but in my experience Linux is much nicer and easier to use and if you need to debug it every 5 minutes you’re doing something very wrong. The only downside is software support which I’d argue isn’t the fault of Linux.

The comments are funny but if you read the article he just did it for the bit. Apparently he changed quite a bit over that time and regretted being an angry forum nerd, so he thought it would be funny to do one last post and abandon the account.

Google told me they really care about my privacy, tho.

This is where I’m trying to get to. Any new software I try to make sure is foss and linux where possible. It’s just a bit of a pain with music because there’s a lot of tools I’ve bought over the years and would like to continue using.

Yes, I’ve been trying hard to squeeze some linux into my life, currently trying to turn an old laptop into a little music machine for jamming with on me midi keyboard. I’ve run across quite a few issues just trying to get specific software working. I did cave at one point and try to use windows 10 but their installation media tool would fail every time I tried and the hardware is too old for windows 11 lol. It also triggered my gag reflex just thinking of all the ads it would feed me and all the bullshit I’d have to disable to make it respect my privacy. A number of different distros just worked flawlessly, though, and if all I needed to do was simple computer things and web I’d be laughing.

Yeah, there’s still some other little things, but it’s surprising just how good the out of the box experience is, especially considering how little support the project has had from hardware and software vendors.

Linux is honestly great, literally the only things holding it back is programs supporting it. I’m painfully tied to a select few windows programs for work and hobbies, Wine tries its best but programs need to start supporting linux before proper adoption can kick off.

I would argue that there’s also lots of professionals who don’t use or need those features. Not everyone is using photoshop for print work, which that link seems to mostly discuss. It is still true, though, and every time I try to switch away from photoshop I run into some niche missing feature I need that most people wouldn’t care about.

You may be surprised. I use Photoshop in my profession and I am desperately trying to move away from it. Not just because of the obvious Adobe is the worst, but it has been getting progressively worse to use for me. I don’t speak for everyone of course but at least for me there’s really only a few very small things that would make me switch instantly.

Photoshop just infuriates me lately, you’d think with all their employees they’d figure out how not to lose my hotkeys every automatic update, or that I’ve been using it for over a decade and don’t need annoying tutorial popups for every tool.

The priorities of a large company can often be opposed to making their software better, like adding AI into everything or adding new features nobody really needs so they can have a flashy presentation at some conference, or deprecating features in order to move people to their latest acquisitions program instead.

Blender is a great example of open source being totally viable for replacing commercial software. I use it professionally and it’s never been a limiting factor for me.

This is very common for a lot of these programs, I’m not actually sure about Gimp, but Photoshop, Krita and Affinity Photo all let you. Same with a lot of the other digital art programs I use for work.

There’s one guy in my little group of friends who is an unapologetic hugger, even though the rest of us don’t really hug he’ll always hug everyone goodbye. I’d say it’s possible some guys don’t enjoy it, but I actually really appreciate it about him, it’s nice getting a hug and sometimes I really need one.

For anyone who really doesn’t like it they can always offer their hand first, but on behalf of all the guys who need a little affection from their buds sometimes I wanna say thanks for being there for the friends who need it. Even if they never say so I’m sure some of them appreciate it.

That is awesome, nice work.

Yeah, so much US content gets geoblocked here. It’s super weird, just a random clip from a show on youtube? woops, looks like that content isn’t available in your country.

America might take the crown but I can assure you AU and NZ have plenty of trash to eat.

I’ve been registered for a while now. I really don’t see a good reason not to, they only take 'em if I’m dead and what good are they to me then? Better going to someone in need.

I’m glad that nowadays we mistreat animals and let them live horrific lives in their own waste in a way that doesn’t kill human babies specifically.

Woo boy that’s disgusting.