4 ms·

Honestly, on the right hardware Linux runs so much better than Windows. Whenever I need to open Windows I'm appalled at how laggy the whole UI is even when runn

Honestly, on the right hardware Linux runs so much better than Windows. Whenever I need to open Windows I'm appalled at how laggy the whole UI is even when running it on latest-gen hardware. KDE, on the other hand, is super snappy and one of the best-looking desktop systems IMHO.

nicolaslem 4y ago
The worst part is by far Windows Update. As a regular Debian and Arch user, where updates take seconds to install, running Windows Update is like watching paint dry.
- npteljes 4y ago
  Especially the part where it's "looking for updates"! Sometimes lasts for minutes. What the hell. I wonder what's there to look for?
  - mschuster91 4y ago
    Largely, that boils down to Windows never really having had a package manager like Linux distributions had, and not really an equivalent to the concept of "a file belongs to exactly one modular, versioned package". As a consequence, Windows has to check all of the files under its management if they are still the same as in the original installation or if they got touched by one of the dozens of Windows Update packages somewhen along the path, and if yes by which update package, and what that means for the compatibility between updates, and what effects that has in turn on the update installation order. Then it has to check for each potential update candidate if there is a localized version available, do a final check again if it actually can apply each update because some of these have conditional checks... oh, and some of the updates depend on Windows components being installed, so this has to be checked as well, oh and then it needs to trawl through the hot mess that is the database of drivers installed on the system and the hardware it has encountered, and to check if there are updates available for that. And at least the last time I looked (Win7 era) it also was possible to integrate MS Office and Visual Studio updates into the MS Update process, not sure if that's still the case today, but back then that also added to the discovery process. Windows is a hot mess of a lot of legacy garbage. Some of it got cleaned up a bit (e.g. refactoring stuff into components), but it's still nowhere near what almost all flavors of Linux sans buildroot offer.
- Doxin 4y ago
  Never mind that on linux you can largely just run updates in the background and not notice them happening. The only real annoyance I run into with background updates is that it'll make firefox want to restart. Still, much better than locking up your entire computer for a long ass time followed by a mandatory reboot.
FpUser 4y ago
>"how laggy the whole UI is even when running it on latest-gen hardware" I call BS if we are talking "latest-gen" hardware. I have few laptops and desktops and it runs very snappy. This is not to diminish Linux in any way. I use it every day and very happy with it as well.
- tyfon 4y ago
  As a frequent user of arch linux and not so frequent user of windows I think this might come from the lazy loading of .net for all the apps. Excel might be the worst here, but that is an UX problem. When you open it, it will first have you make it editable, then you need to allow connections, and finally if you want to mess around with something like powerquery it will lazy load .net each time before the UI is showing. It really depends on the type of applications you use though. I have frequently wondered why .net is just not preloaded somewhere on system launch and kept in memory. At least that is how it feels to me not being familiar with the .net technicals.
- ThePhysicist 4y ago
  Not sure, I run Windows on Alder lake systems and had official Surface hardware that wasn't able to run stock Windows 10/11 without stuttering. Standard programs like Powerpoint and Word would also have terrible lag, e.g. when using the Surface pen. Still boggles my mind why they design hardware that isn't able to run their software without issues.
  - FpUser 4y ago
    Can't answer. I always shied all those thin "pretty" laptop. For me pretty is functional so all my laptops are big gamer type. Everything runs instant on those, even my 10 years old ASUS ROG G73. Mind you all my PCs and laptops are stuffed with max RAM they can accept. I do have one exception - some tiny very slim laptop from ASUS. It is used strictly to play Netflix, youtube and music to entertain me when I am on rowing machine. It does that just fine but it does not run anything but browser and music player.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    I'd recommend refraining from opening sexy_girl.exe next time you receive it sent by a Nigerian prince. I see that as the only explanation for people having constant issues with Windows, because I literally never have issues.
npteljes 4y ago
People just accept 1-200 ms delays as adequate, and it's a shame. I recently booted up a Pentium 3 900 Mhz machine with Windows XP sp3 installed, and it felt like it reacted faster than I registered my original action.
- themitigating 4y ago
  I remember waiting literally five minutes Netscape Communicator to open on my Gateway 2000 computer.
  - always2slow 4y ago
    ...and being able to tell how close to loading it was based on the sounds coming from the hard drive.
eimrine 4y ago
> on the right hardware Linux runs so much better than Windows. Does your right hardware have a battery? I was recommended Lenovo x220 as the best laptop and Linux-friendly one. Now I have it and I noticed that if web-browser has some moderately heavy pages opened like 20 tabs with Youtube, and dozens of light ones like HN - in Windows+Chrome this scenario eats slightly more energy then reading a e-book while in Linux+FF this halves battery time. Now my country suffers from shifting blackouts, so I installed Windows 7 on all my laptops with battery, and I have a significant benefit in mobility time.

nicolaslem 4y ago

The worst part is by far Windows Update. As a regular Debian and Arch user, where updates take seconds to install, running Windows Update is like watching paint dry.

npteljes 4y ago
Especially the part where it's "looking for updates"! Sometimes lasts for minutes. What the hell. I wonder what's there to look for?
- mschuster91 4y ago
  Largely, that boils down to Windows never really having had a package manager like Linux distributions had, and not really an equivalent to the concept of "a file belongs to exactly one modular, versioned package". As a consequence, Windows has to check all of the files under its management if they are still the same as in the original installation or if they got touched by one of the dozens of Windows Update packages somewhen along the path, and if yes by which update package, and what that means for the compatibility between updates, and what effects that has in turn on the update installation order. Then it has to check for each potential update candidate if there is a localized version available, do a final check again if it actually can apply each update because some of these have conditional checks... oh, and some of the updates depend on Windows components being installed, so this has to be checked as well, oh and then it needs to trawl through the hot mess that is the database of drivers installed on the system and the hardware it has encountered, and to check if there are updates available for that. And at least the last time I looked (Win7 era) it also was possible to integrate MS Office and Visual Studio updates into the MS Update process, not sure if that's still the case today, but back then that also added to the discovery process. Windows is a hot mess of a lot of legacy garbage. Some of it got cleaned up a bit (e.g. refactoring stuff into components), but it's still nowhere near what almost all flavors of Linux sans buildroot offer.
Doxin 4y ago
Never mind that on linux you can largely just run updates in the background and not notice them happening. The only real annoyance I run into with background updates is that it'll make firefox want to restart. Still, much better than locking up your entire computer for a long ass time followed by a mandatory reboot.

FpUser 4y ago

>"how laggy the whole UI is even when running it on latest-gen hardware" I call BS if we are talking "latest-gen" hardware. I have few laptops and desktops and it runs very snappy. This is not to diminish Linux in any way. I use it every day and very happy with it as well.

tyfon 4y ago
As a frequent user of arch linux and not so frequent user of windows I think this might come from the lazy loading of .net for all the apps. Excel might be the worst here, but that is an UX problem. When you open it, it will first have you make it editable, then you need to allow connections, and finally if you want to mess around with something like powerquery it will lazy load .net each time before the UI is showing. It really depends on the type of applications you use though. I have frequently wondered why .net is just not preloaded somewhere on system launch and kept in memory. At least that is how it feels to me not being familiar with the .net technicals.
ThePhysicist 4y ago
Not sure, I run Windows on Alder lake systems and had official Surface hardware that wasn't able to run stock Windows 10/11 without stuttering. Standard programs like Powerpoint and Word would also have terrible lag, e.g. when using the Surface pen. Still boggles my mind why they design hardware that isn't able to run their software without issues.
- FpUser 4y ago
  Can't answer. I always shied all those thin "pretty" laptop. For me pretty is functional so all my laptops are big gamer type. Everything runs instant on those, even my 10 years old ASUS ROG G73. Mind you all my PCs and laptops are stuffed with max RAM they can accept. I do have one exception - some tiny very slim laptop from ASUS. It is used strictly to play Netflix, youtube and music to entertain me when I am on rowing machine. It does that just fine but it does not run anything but browser and music player.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  I'd recommend refraining from opening sexy_girl.exe next time you receive it sent by a Nigerian prince. I see that as the only explanation for people having constant issues with Windows, because I literally never have issues.

npteljes 4y ago

People just accept 1-200 ms delays as adequate, and it's a shame. I recently booted up a Pentium 3 900 Mhz machine with Windows XP sp3 installed, and it felt like it reacted faster than I registered my original action.

themitigating 4y ago
I remember waiting literally five minutes Netscape Communicator to open on my Gateway 2000 computer.
- always2slow 4y ago
  ...and being able to tell how close to loading it was based on the sounds coming from the hard drive.

eimrine 4y ago

> on the right hardware Linux runs so much better than Windows. Does your right hardware have a battery? I was recommended Lenovo x220 as the best laptop and Linux-friendly one. Now I have it and I noticed that if web-browser has some moderately heavy pages opened like 20 tabs with Youtube, and dozens of light ones like HN - in Windows+Chrome this scenario eats slightly more energy then reading a e-book while in Linux+FF this halves battery time. Now my country suffers from shifting blackouts, so I installed Windows 7 on all my laptops with battery, and I have a significant benefit in mobility time.