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I ditched in the middle of Windows 7, with absolutely no regrets. Valve has made tremendous inroads in gaming with Proton, along with developers releasing for L

I ditched in the middle of Windows 7, with absolutely no regrets. Valve has made tremendous inroads in gaming with Proton, along with developers releasing for Linux, there really isn't a good excuse to stay with Microsoft.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Sure their is: Windows is a better fit for the things I do with a computer. Edit: I know right? How dare I express a preference for Windows. Downvote me to hell because I don't like using your favored OS.
- robador 5y ago
  Is Windows the better fit or is it the software that runs on it that doesn't have linux support?
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    It's the OS. The application distribution model is, in my opinion, significantly better than Linux and it's package management/repo scheme. I don't have to recompile old software to keep using it 2 years later (or 10 for that matter), I can place applications on different disks than the OS resides on, I can keep multiple versions of the same application, etc.
  - hulitu 5y ago
    No and no. Windows is "the better fit" because: 1) AD. 2) corruption (it's a very long story, see Munich for one). 3) anticompetitive behavior. 4) Excel.
  - MomoXenosaga 5y ago
    Is there a difference really? Microsoft spent years and literally billions to get developers on their OS (see Balmer's "developers developers developers" speech in the nineties). Of course some people consider this evil.
- finalis 5y ago
  I used to think that too before I made the switch to macOS. Yes it was a learning curve initially, but it wasn't unmanageable, and you start to uncover Windows annoyances that you never knew existed because you were used to them and conditioned into thinking they were normal for so long. You'd be surprised how flexible your needs are when you aren't pigeonholing yourself.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    I have used other operating systems, including Linux and MacOS. While I am fond of MacOS Application Bundles, I do not like many other things, like single-button mice, limited choice in hardware, and relative lack of gaming.
    - djxfade 5y ago
      Apple's mice haven't been single button since ages ago. Right click works out of the box, and all of their own mice also supports right clicking in various ways
      - salamandersauce 5y ago
        Yet they still build the Magic mouse as though it was a single button mouse so it doesn't actually have 2 separate switches, just 1 in the middle. This annoyingly means that clicks don't always click if you're too far from the center. Apple has never actually built a mouse with 2 distinct switches for left and right click. It's like they are too proud or something and "right" click needs to be faked for some reason.
        djxfade 5y ago
        Sure, but to be fair, most laptops these days does the same.
    - vetinari 5y ago
      You know you can connect any USB mice you want, right? Right now, I'm using a Steelseries one with a Mac. All six buttons and the scroll-wheel work fine.
- l30n4da5 5y ago
  for the most part, HN is pretty squarely in the 'windows bad linux good' camp. It is dumb af since according to a lot of the users on here, linux is gods gift to humanity. doesn't matter that pretty much all software is a dumpster fire, and linux is just another, less hot dumpster fire compared to windows.
  - sneak 5y ago
    This is a false equivalence.
    - l30n4da5 5y ago
      how, exactly?
  - hanselot 5y ago
    At least in Linux the dumpster fire's contents isn't hidden behind a corporate framework of people trying to hide the flames. At least the Linux fire doesn't attempt to take over other trashcans and force you to update your trash without consent. At least the Linux fire doesn't preinstall its fire in my trashcan artifically driving up the price of trashcans in the market. At least in the Linux fire, if you apply yourself and learn enough about your trash, you can choose how much trash and fire is in your trashcan. At least in the Linux fire, the fire tells you that its dangerous, instead of hiding everything behind stripped down excuses of flames from yester-year. At least in the Linux fire I can plan to barbecue something over a section of fire and know that it will consistently burn the same way, instead of spreading everywhere and the trashcan exploding. The irony of course being, that the people who argue for any other fire, have to first answer, why does Windows now feature Linux embedded inside itself?
  - bogwog 5y ago
    > doesn't matter that pretty much all software is a dumpster fire, and linux is just another, less hot dumpster fire compared to windows. Yeah, but the difference is that Linux is MY dumpster fire, not Microsoft's!
    - 5y ago
- mmsimanga 5y ago
  I am guessing down votes are not for expressing your opinion but rather for not providing context. Why is Windows better option for you?
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    Why would it matter? So they could try and change my mind?[0] That I prefer the way Windows works is sufficient reason to continue to use it instead of Linux Desktop. Why is not really relevant. [0] I've played that game a thousand times and it is always an exercise in frustration. No thanks.
    - kempbellt 5y ago
      "Windows good, you can't change my mind!" doesn't add anything of value to the conversation, especially for people who aren't dead-set either way. If you swear by windows, you probably have good reasons. People who like windows would love to hear them. Otherwise, why partake in a conversation that frustrates you at all if you don't want to argue in support of your opinion? +1 for the windows camp: Personally, I haven't found a better alternative for running Adobe programs on good hardware without taking out a loan on my house (mac pros are a no-go). So Windows works best here. Another +1 for the windows camp: Gaming (but SteamOS is starting to compete here). Other than that, I have found that some variant of linux or macOS outperforms windows in every way for my needs (insert obligatory, YMMV), and I am happy to list those out if anyone is interested or needs help deciding which OS suits their needs best.
      - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
        > "Windows good, you can't change my mind!" doesn't add anything of value to the conversation I was making a specific counterpoint to the argument "there really isn't a good excuse to stay with Microsoft". My point needed no elaboration to be valid. > Otherwise, why partake in a conversation that frustrates you at all if you don't want to argue in support of your opinion? Because in my experience said "conversations" always devolve into the same useless arguments, which are entirely irrelevant to the point that people have good reasons they use Windows because anyone else's opinion of their reasons is irrelevant.
- talentedcoin 5y ago
  Don’t let the haters drag you down. Myself I think Windows is fine (I work in finance). I use Fedora at home as my daily driver but lots of things on Windows are just as easy (or as tricky) to get running as they are anywhere else.
hnlmorg 5y ago
I switched to Linux with the release of XP. Later versions of XP (SP2 and 3) were better with their service packs offering new features that really should have been in vanilla XP. But the original release of XP was slower than Windows 2000, uglier than Windows 2000 and required twice as much system resources as Windows 2000 while offering literally nothing in return aside a little more compatibility for gaming. But since all of the Windows games I played already supported Windows 2000 (bar the DOS games but I kept Win95 about for DOS games) there was no benefit in upgrading to XP. So I switched to Linux instead. So it's been nearly 20 years running Linux and honestly I've never once missed Windows. I've never got people who said "I can't run x" because everything I've needed to work has worked or there has been some open source alternative that has worked equally well. And if I really needed a corporate platform there was always OSX. Unfortunately macOS these days is becoming a similar cesspool as Windows. Before long the only good operating systems left will ironically be the free ones.
pebble 5y ago
Can you watch youtube videos with hardware acceleration yet?
- zamadatix 5y ago
  Facetious question but for a genuine response: Firefox yes, your distro's Chromium package yes, but Chrome proper is still refusing to enable it though (they allowed you to toggle it for a bit after 88 the retracted that in 91).
  - pebble 5y ago
    Not being facetious at all. I'm replying to "there really isn't a good excuse to stay with Microsoft." and last I checked browser video acceleration on linux with nvidia was still broken, no matter whose fault that is. I'd love to use linux but It's hard to say everyone should use linux when in 2021 not everyone even has proper video acceleration.
- a1369209993 5y ago
  Yes. Download them with youtube-dl and use whatever hardware-accelerated video player you like. (Bonus: Youtube can no longer steal them out from under you at the behest of copyright trolls, because they're on your harddrive.)
naosouumapessoa 5y ago
> there really isn’t a good excuse to stay with Microsoft Except, if you run nvidia optimus laptop and have mixed display DPI. Every few months I try to run Arch on my recent laptop and it’s always a nightmare. I was hyped that 470 driver would fix wayland in nvidia (the only half decent way to fix mixed DPIs on Linux). Lo and behold, It’s still a buggy mess that made me crawl back to windows. Maybe on 570 I will be able to use Linux on this laptop, likely never.
- ahefner 5y ago
  So don't do that, then.
  - zamadatix 5y ago
    "There's no reason to go to McDonald's instead of Applebee's" "Except if you want to use the drive through" "So don't do that then" Avoiding it personally doesn't alleviate that there is still a reason.
- Zambyte 5y ago
  > mixed display DPI. I believe Wayland may be better than X with this, but my displays have the same DPI so I haven't tested myself. My displays do have different refresh rates and Wayland handles that better in my experience. NVIDIA has been slow on the Wayland front though, but I think they may have made decent progress with recent driver releases.
- adrian_b 5y ago
  In recent years I have used only laptops with non-Optimus NVIDIA, and on these I had no problems in Linux with multiple monitors with different resolutions, even if I do not use Wayland. The NVIDIA settings program allows you to configure the monitors at any resolutions and in any geometric arrangement. Some 6-7 years ago, I had a laptop with Optimus NVIDIA and I lost a couple of days until making it work. After that I had no problems, but the external monitor had the same resolution with the laptop display, so I have never tried mixed DPI with Optimus. In any case, after that I have avoided Optimus and there are enough alternatives.
zamadatix 5y ago
Valve has made it so Linux is finally back to the point "Linux has games it can run that I can play" but it's still a far cry from reaching "Games that I play I can run on Linux". For some it's not a problem but for those that play games from developers which use kernel level anti-cheat Proton isn't a be-all-end-all that Linux is now ready to migrate to.
ghastmaster 5y ago
I was so happy with Linux, I switched my 80+ yo grandmother's computer as well. My father now runs it on his laptop. For the average user who does not game, windows is not recommended by me. Linux has stopped me in my tracks a few times, but I fiddle with things. My grandmother and father haven't had any issues in the years they have had it installed.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

Sure their is: Windows is a better fit for the things I do with a computer. Edit: I know right? How dare I express a preference for Windows. Downvote me to hell because I don't like using your favored OS.

robador 5y ago
Is Windows the better fit or is it the software that runs on it that doesn't have linux support?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  It's the OS. The application distribution model is, in my opinion, significantly better than Linux and it's package management/repo scheme. I don't have to recompile old software to keep using it 2 years later (or 10 for that matter), I can place applications on different disks than the OS resides on, I can keep multiple versions of the same application, etc.
- hulitu 5y ago
  No and no. Windows is "the better fit" because: 1) AD. 2) corruption (it's a very long story, see Munich for one). 3) anticompetitive behavior. 4) Excel.
- MomoXenosaga 5y ago
  Is there a difference really? Microsoft spent years and literally billions to get developers on their OS (see Balmer's "developers developers developers" speech in the nineties). Of course some people consider this evil.
finalis 5y ago
I used to think that too before I made the switch to macOS. Yes it was a learning curve initially, but it wasn't unmanageable, and you start to uncover Windows annoyances that you never knew existed because you were used to them and conditioned into thinking they were normal for so long. You'd be surprised how flexible your needs are when you aren't pigeonholing yourself.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  I have used other operating systems, including Linux and MacOS. While I am fond of MacOS Application Bundles, I do not like many other things, like single-button mice, limited choice in hardware, and relative lack of gaming.
  - djxfade 5y ago
    Apple's mice haven't been single button since ages ago. Right click works out of the box, and all of their own mice also supports right clicking in various ways
    - salamandersauce 5y ago
      Yet they still build the Magic mouse as though it was a single button mouse so it doesn't actually have 2 separate switches, just 1 in the middle. This annoyingly means that clicks don't always click if you're too far from the center. Apple has never actually built a mouse with 2 distinct switches for left and right click. It's like they are too proud or something and "right" click needs to be faked for some reason.
      - djxfade 5y ago
        Sure, but to be fair, most laptops these days does the same.
  - vetinari 5y ago
    You know you can connect any USB mice you want, right? Right now, I'm using a Steelseries one with a Mac. All six buttons and the scroll-wheel work fine.
l30n4da5 5y ago
for the most part, HN is pretty squarely in the 'windows bad linux good' camp. It is dumb af since according to a lot of the users on here, linux is gods gift to humanity. doesn't matter that pretty much all software is a dumpster fire, and linux is just another, less hot dumpster fire compared to windows.
- sneak 5y ago
  This is a false equivalence.
  - l30n4da5 5y ago
    how, exactly?
- hanselot 5y ago
  At least in Linux the dumpster fire's contents isn't hidden behind a corporate framework of people trying to hide the flames. At least the Linux fire doesn't attempt to take over other trashcans and force you to update your trash without consent. At least the Linux fire doesn't preinstall its fire in my trashcan artifically driving up the price of trashcans in the market. At least in the Linux fire, if you apply yourself and learn enough about your trash, you can choose how much trash and fire is in your trashcan. At least in the Linux fire, the fire tells you that its dangerous, instead of hiding everything behind stripped down excuses of flames from yester-year. At least in the Linux fire I can plan to barbecue something over a section of fire and know that it will consistently burn the same way, instead of spreading everywhere and the trashcan exploding. The irony of course being, that the people who argue for any other fire, have to first answer, why does Windows now feature Linux embedded inside itself?
- bogwog 5y ago
  > doesn't matter that pretty much all software is a dumpster fire, and linux is just another, less hot dumpster fire compared to windows. Yeah, but the difference is that Linux is MY dumpster fire, not Microsoft's!
  - 5y ago
mmsimanga 5y ago
I am guessing down votes are not for expressing your opinion but rather for not providing context. Why is Windows better option for you?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Why would it matter? So they could try and change my mind?[0] That I prefer the way Windows works is sufficient reason to continue to use it instead of Linux Desktop. Why is not really relevant. [0] I've played that game a thousand times and it is always an exercise in frustration. No thanks.
  - kempbellt 5y ago
    "Windows good, you can't change my mind!" doesn't add anything of value to the conversation, especially for people who aren't dead-set either way. If you swear by windows, you probably have good reasons. People who like windows would love to hear them. Otherwise, why partake in a conversation that frustrates you at all if you don't want to argue in support of your opinion? +1 for the windows camp: Personally, I haven't found a better alternative for running Adobe programs on good hardware without taking out a loan on my house (mac pros are a no-go). So Windows works best here. Another +1 for the windows camp: Gaming (but SteamOS is starting to compete here). Other than that, I have found that some variant of linux or macOS outperforms windows in every way for my needs (insert obligatory, YMMV), and I am happy to list those out if anyone is interested or needs help deciding which OS suits their needs best.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
      > "Windows good, you can't change my mind!" doesn't add anything of value to the conversation I was making a specific counterpoint to the argument "there really isn't a good excuse to stay with Microsoft". My point needed no elaboration to be valid. > Otherwise, why partake in a conversation that frustrates you at all if you don't want to argue in support of your opinion? Because in my experience said "conversations" always devolve into the same useless arguments, which are entirely irrelevant to the point that people have good reasons they use Windows because anyone else's opinion of their reasons is irrelevant.
talentedcoin 5y ago
Don’t let the haters drag you down. Myself I think Windows is fine (I work in finance). I use Fedora at home as my daily driver but lots of things on Windows are just as easy (or as tricky) to get running as they are anywhere else.

hnlmorg 5y ago

I switched to Linux with the release of XP. Later versions of XP (SP2 and 3) were better with their service packs offering new features that really should have been in vanilla XP. But the original release of XP was slower than Windows 2000, uglier than Windows 2000 and required twice as much system resources as Windows 2000 while offering literally nothing in return aside a little more compatibility for gaming. But since all of the Windows games I played already supported Windows 2000 (bar the DOS games but I kept Win95 about for DOS games) there was no benefit in upgrading to XP. So I switched to Linux instead. So it's been nearly 20 years running Linux and honestly I've never once missed Windows. I've never got people who said "I can't run x" because everything I've needed to work has worked or there has been some open source alternative that has worked equally well. And if I really needed a corporate platform there was always OSX. Unfortunately macOS these days is becoming a similar cesspool as Windows. Before long the only good operating systems left will ironically be the free ones.

pebble 5y ago

Can you watch youtube videos with hardware acceleration yet?

zamadatix 5y ago
Facetious question but for a genuine response: Firefox yes, your distro's Chromium package yes, but Chrome proper is still refusing to enable it though (they allowed you to toggle it for a bit after 88 the retracted that in 91).
- pebble 5y ago
  Not being facetious at all. I'm replying to "there really isn't a good excuse to stay with Microsoft." and last I checked browser video acceleration on linux with nvidia was still broken, no matter whose fault that is. I'd love to use linux but It's hard to say everyone should use linux when in 2021 not everyone even has proper video acceleration.
a1369209993 5y ago
Yes. Download them with youtube-dl and use whatever hardware-accelerated video player you like. (Bonus: Youtube can no longer steal them out from under you at the behest of copyright trolls, because they're on your harddrive.)

naosouumapessoa 5y ago

> there really isn’t a good excuse to stay with Microsoft Except, if you run nvidia optimus laptop and have mixed display DPI. Every few months I try to run Arch on my recent laptop and it’s always a nightmare. I was hyped that 470 driver would fix wayland in nvidia (the only half decent way to fix mixed DPIs on Linux). Lo and behold, It’s still a buggy mess that made me crawl back to windows. Maybe on 570 I will be able to use Linux on this laptop, likely never.

ahefner 5y ago
So don't do that, then.
- zamadatix 5y ago
  "There's no reason to go to McDonald's instead of Applebee's" "Except if you want to use the drive through" "So don't do that then" Avoiding it personally doesn't alleviate that there is still a reason.
Zambyte 5y ago
> mixed display DPI. I believe Wayland may be better than X with this, but my displays have the same DPI so I haven't tested myself. My displays do have different refresh rates and Wayland handles that better in my experience. NVIDIA has been slow on the Wayland front though, but I think they may have made decent progress with recent driver releases.
adrian_b 5y ago
In recent years I have used only laptops with non-Optimus NVIDIA, and on these I had no problems in Linux with multiple monitors with different resolutions, even if I do not use Wayland. The NVIDIA settings program allows you to configure the monitors at any resolutions and in any geometric arrangement. Some 6-7 years ago, I had a laptop with Optimus NVIDIA and I lost a couple of days until making it work. After that I had no problems, but the external monitor had the same resolution with the laptop display, so I have never tried mixed DPI with Optimus. In any case, after that I have avoided Optimus and there are enough alternatives.

zamadatix 5y ago

Valve has made it so Linux is finally back to the point "Linux has games it can run that I can play" but it's still a far cry from reaching "Games that I play I can run on Linux". For some it's not a problem but for those that play games from developers which use kernel level anti-cheat Proton isn't a be-all-end-all that Linux is now ready to migrate to.

ghastmaster 5y ago

I was so happy with Linux, I switched my 80+ yo grandmother's computer as well. My father now runs it on his laptop. For the average user who does not game, windows is not recommended by me. Linux has stopped me in my tracks a few times, but I fiddle with things. My grandmother and father haven't had any issues in the years they have had it installed.