3 ms·

Hm, hard to find “the one reason”. I think the most important factors are: * What people (not necessarily the users but corporate decision-makers) are used to

by fuzzy2 6y ago

Hm, hard to find “the one reason”. I think the most important factors are: * What people (not necessarily the users but corporate decision-makers) are used to (Windows) * Enterprise manageability (achievable on Linux, but built-in on Windows) * What is preinstalled (Windows) * What some exotic business applications work with (Windows) Almost purely soft factors, very hard to counter if virtually all the computers you can buy at your local PC shop come with Windows preinstalled. My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-)

bitwize 6y ago
Preinstallation is as close to "the one reason" as you can get. Microsoft had a hard time getting Windows over with end users -- until Windows 3.0, when the average new low-end PC had a 386-class processor and VGA, and oukd reasonably run Windows. Microsoft pressured OEMs to bundle Windows, and turned Windows into something that could be reasonably expected to be installed on a new computer, and that attracted ISVs, which meant end users were more likely to use Windows to get work done.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
> My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-) What you think you just said: Linux is so easy to use anyone can do it and it works better than alternatives! What you actually just said: Linux makes a great webkiosk!
- fuzzy2 6y ago
  And what else is it that the average PC user needs? Because I cannot think of a single thing.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
    That's because you have a disingenuous definition of "average PC user", a strawman, so that your argument works. What you call the "average PC user" is really the average smartphone user these days. PC users are doing office work, running a business, development, gaming, content creation in more ways than I can enumerate, etc. People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few.
    - untog 6y ago
      > People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few. 1. a PC isn't necessarily a "bulky desktop computer", it can also be a slimline laptop! 2. "browse the internet" and "office work/run a business/etc" are not mutually exclusive. Google Docs/Office 365 etc. proves that. I'd argue the majority of business operations requires some level of internet interaction these days. It seems to me like you've come up with a strawman definition to bat away another strawman definition. Almost everyone I know owns both a smartphone and a laptop, and the vast, vast majority of their time on that laptop is spent in a web browser.
    - fuzzy2 6y ago
      What argument even? I never said or implied that Linux is better or whatever. That was you. I merely stated that a lifelong Windows user of advanced age can in fact use Ubuntu because it is, on the surface, similar enough. Same goes for a Mac, of course.

by fuzzy2 6y ago

bitwize 6y ago

Preinstallation is as close to "the one reason" as you can get. Microsoft had a hard time getting Windows over with end users -- until Windows 3.0, when the average new low-end PC had a 386-class processor and VGA, and oukd reasonably run Windows. Microsoft pressured OEMs to bundle Windows, and turned Windows into something that could be reasonably expected to be installed on a new computer, and that attracted ISVs, which meant end users were more likely to use Windows to get work done.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago

> My neighbors (70+) accidentally got hold of a laptop that didn’t come with Windows but Ubuntu and they’re perfectly fine with it. It still has Firefox after all. :-) What you think you just said: Linux is so easy to use anyone can do it and it works better than alternatives! What you actually just said: Linux makes a great webkiosk!

fuzzy2 6y ago
And what else is it that the average PC user needs? Because I cannot think of a single thing.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
  That's because you have a disingenuous definition of "average PC user", a strawman, so that your argument works. What you call the "average PC user" is really the average smartphone user these days. PC users are doing office work, running a business, development, gaming, content creation in more ways than I can enumerate, etc. People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few.
  - untog 6y ago
    > People who have a bulky desktop computer in their home just to browse the internet are vanishingly few. 1. a PC isn't necessarily a "bulky desktop computer", it can also be a slimline laptop! 2. "browse the internet" and "office work/run a business/etc" are not mutually exclusive. Google Docs/Office 365 etc. proves that. I'd argue the majority of business operations requires some level of internet interaction these days. It seems to me like you've come up with a strawman definition to bat away another strawman definition. Almost everyone I know owns both a smartphone and a laptop, and the vast, vast majority of their time on that laptop is spent in a web browser.
  - fuzzy2 6y ago
    What argument even? I never said or implied that Linux is better or whatever. That was you. I merely stated that a lifelong Windows user of advanced age can in fact use Ubuntu because it is, on the surface, similar enough. Same goes for a Mac, of course.