Specifically usability. I would say Linux is about Windows 98/early XP era for usability.

Printer drivers are not the same level of "it just works" as it is on Wondows. My Brother Printer's features weren't working with the default driver (scanner and double sided printing just didn't work), so I needed to install brother drivers from their website which required sudo access.

Installing packages, and software updates also require sudo permissions. Which means to keep a password nearby or easy to remember which is hard when Windows never required it for the longest time.

Installing graphics drivers are hit or miss and requires some tinkering and research to get right. This is both for AMD and Nvidia. Open-CL is the roadblock I ran into specifically for AMD, and installing the drivers outright for Nvidia on Fedora.

For those who I am thinking of, their tech literacy is good enough to remember how to open a web browser, and find their emails. But they can't even remember what the password is for their WiFi, so having to enter passwords daily for their machine is a massive ask, let along trying to keep the software updated and maintained. Especially when they buy new hardware and I am not around to make sure that it works. As much as I don't like Microsoft and Apple, when you buy a new printer, or install new software, most users can work it out on their own. Linux doesn't feel as streamlined or supported in this regard, at least for now.

With that said, compared to where Linux was not to long ago, I would say that the OS is 80-90% new user friendly, but requires as much tinkering as a Bethesda game needs to get it usable. Good for a teenager trying to play games on a budget, or a kid who wants to tinker, but for those who just want to use their iPhone and not think about anything else, it's too much of a learning curve.

I am keeping an eye on the Immutable OS's like Fedora Silverblue and Kinote, as Flatpak updating solves most of these issues and Fedora specifically removes the issue of system updates requiring sudo access. But until a Linux distro hits ease of use parity as Windows 7 or 10, I'll just keep recommending Macbooks if they need new machines.