I can't understand how that's acceptable to anyone.
Literally every laptop I've installed Linux on had a litany of driver problems.
The other day Microsoft had to pull an OS update because it deleted all user files. Without warning.
Even on Windows, hardware support is kind of hit and miss, with manufacturer, supplier and Microsoft bugs piled on top of each other. Everything is "supported" but sometimes things break or stop working, you reboot the computer and continue using Windows.
That's right, I reboot and continue working.
On Ubuntu it just doesn't work. Period.
You are, clearly, doing something very wrong.
Actually, there are a few problems: windows can't render fonts clearly a lot of the time for some reason, and it keeps losing the current time, and it keeps erasing GRUB after windows updates.
Ubuntu itself runs great
The easiest solution is to use localtime on Linux. Windows can run with the system clock set to UTC but I hear it is rare so it my not be well supported. See more here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/System_time#Time_standa...
A vanilla install is good enough for regular use, but I've got a multi-display setup, unofficial dock and other tweaks because of my workflow.
The audio bug is Ubuntu's and it basically means that I have to select the output device after every reboot, a 5 second task. I can definitely live with that.
> Literally every laptop I've installed Linux on had a litany of driver problems.
I'd agree with you at one point, but various distros work fine on a whole range of hardware, this isn't the 90s anymore.
I am also running Ubuntu on my XPS, but it came with windows orginaly. I also don't have any hardware issues to speak of.
I also installed ubuntu on my xps, and I'm only getting about 2 hours max, although I always keep it plugged in, so it's not a real issue for me.
As for hardware issues, I had to download wireless drivers, which was a slight pain since there is no ethernet port.
I was able to get my video card working with optimus, but that wasn't non trivial.
I wound up disabling my track pad and using a mouse since I couldn't type without the cursor doing something, and it seems like one of the trackpads buttons broke after a days use.
I had zero hardware issues. it all just worked. I would say installing Ubuntu was a little tricky due to UEFI, but other than that no issues.
I have a XPS13 so no dedicated video card. No issues with the track pad other than the dumb middle mouse button past.
For whatever dumb region Dell decided to region lock the choice of Operating System.
It took me about a few hours too to scrub Windows and get my distribution of choice running and fully configured (hooray for sub par Australian internet speeds).
Good luck getting those Windows drivers without a working internet connection. And good luck explaining your solution to the average, non-technical user.
That said, it's been a long time since I last saw this situation on either OS.
Precisely because the vendors only write Windows drivers, if it's supported on Linux it's probably in the kernel tree.