The aesthetics and the menu access/organization is straight out of the 90s. Hell, many of the customization options require a third-party tool to edit with the gui, or you’re stuck using the cli.
Where Apple products and UI are clearly made by designers, Linux environments are clearly made by techies who consider a gui optional. And what’s worse is all the techies gatekeeping to keep it that way.
Most of them don’t. The vast majority of people interact with their devices using a touchscreen or controller. They don’t want to repair it themselves, and they’ll turn it in for another one as soon as their payment plan is up.
Most people could use tablets/phones and have a superior user experience. PC’s in general, whether running Linux or Windows, are becoming a niche product again.
I disagree. Using a Linux desktop always feels like a trip back in time.
But it’s not just a question of Windows vs Linux anymore. For web browsing and basic apps that the vast majority of people use the internet for, tablets & phones are offering a superior user experience.
This is a big driving force in the decline of desktop computer sales. A desktop or laptop is overkill for what most people need, so it’s become specialty equipment (again). And if you’re going to need a pc for specialized needs, the Windows os is going to cover all of those. Linux probably will cover your needs.
But a Linux machine can only handle most special use cases, while a Windows machine can handle all special use cases. If you’re going to have a machine set up for specialized needs, it might as well be Windows, unless you’re someone running multiple machines.
The problem with this pro-Linux argument, that only specific use-cases need Windows, is that also now applies to Linux. Probably 90% of people can do everything they need to with a tablet or phone. Even your listed day to day tasks are fairly specialized.
I personally prefer to run my daily driver as a vm, so I can remote into from all of my frontends. I tried to tough it out with Linux for over a year like that, using multiple different remote solutions. Every single one felt like using a machine from the 90’s. Just not anywhere close to acceptable by today’s standards.
Thanks to the steam deck standardizing support, Linux is probably fine for most pc gamers. Doesn’t work for me, but I use some very specific third party tools and hardware peripherals for simulators.
Most of my machines are Linux, and I can say the desktop experience still doesn’t match up with Windows. And there’s still so many third party tools that are Windows exclusive.
I would love to be able to shut down every Windows machine I have for good, and I’ve tried, but there are simply many things that still require Windows. Stop gaslighting people, and acting like they’re staying by choice.
If all you need is web based stuff, why even go to Linux? That’s overkill. Just use a tablet.
That’s exactly the attitude of most Linux people, and it’s completely out of touch.
You don’t win people over by telling them what’s good for them. You do it by appealing to what they want. It doesn’t matter what you think they should care about.