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Microsoft is killing the Microsoft account lock-in across products, Windows 11 may be next (www.windowslatest.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/pcmasterrace@lemmy.world
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[–] 3 points 4 months ago (11 children)

I've been on Linux for the last 4 years. I have no intention on going back to Windows. Microslop has lost all trust with me.

The problem, is Linux isn't ready for my Grandmother yet, but she needs a computer. Macs work, as an alternative and with the Neo it's almost affordable. Chromebooks are just landfill, and while I'd love to keep them on the HPs, Acers, and Dells they are use to. I can't get Linux to the same state which they were use to in Windows.

One of these days it will get there, and Linux has moved very far and fast since I started toying with it in the mid 2010s. But it's not ready today.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (10 children)

    What’s specifically wrong with Linux for a grandmother? Or does she has some weird edge case with some very important niche Windows software? I’d call modern Gnome being even better than modern macOS in terms of simplicity. Telling Windows is better than macOS and Linux for a grandmother is weird. Unless the grandmother is a heavy Windows user who knows all the hotkeys and menus. If she barely uses browser with not much else, I don’t even know.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    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.

    Macs also require a password now and then. I’m pretty sure windows does too, unless they somehow changed that in recent years.

    I guess you can configure Macs to use a fingerprint reader instead of a password but that’s mostly a trap — it just means you don’t have to use your password often enough to remember where you wrote it down. Also fingerprint readers don’t work well for old people with papery dry thin skin (certainly not for my mother anyhow)

    Not really much point comparing modern Linux to Windows XP on security inconvenience

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Not really much point comparing modern Linux to Windows XP on security inconvenience

    Not saying that Windows XP is usable today. I am more saying that where Linux is now, is where Windows was 20 years ago. I would say Windows 11 us where Windows Vista/8 is, slowly moving down to Windows ME. Soon Modern Windows and Linux will cross paths.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    Funnily at home, Linux and Mac can use the printer, even my android with the brothers app, but windows? Nope.

    I also know some old people who do web, look at photos, and spreadsheets, both are fine on linux.

    Linux wasn't up to scratch 10 years ago, today it's simpler than windows IMO.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (3 children)

    There are plenty of printers that just work, it’s been a long time I’ve seen a printer that doesn’t work. Do you know that sudo can be passwordless? It’s a completely made up problem, probably with the lack of any understanding of the system.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    Do I know sudo can be passwordless? Yes

    But that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    I am hoping that SteamOS will fix the usability problem of Linux within 5 years. When it is time for me to move onto a DDR6 platform, it would be much appreciated if I don't have to deal with Microsoft shenanigans.

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