Microsoft cramming more and more ads in their OS could be the push we need to finally achieve the year of the Linux desktop
Unless IP laws get overhauled, this is the way things will be - total surveillance, the user is the product, the customer is the megacorporations positioned to exploit adtech at scale. Infinite growth and endless passive income for the rich, everyone else gets to be frogs in some dystopian eternally-approaching-but-not-quite-boiling pot. Consumer rights and corporate limits in the context of modern technology bounded by fundamental civil liberties are the way to sanity. A lot of very wealthy people and their cadres of very influential cronies would lose wealth and influence if the system were to be repaired.
So yeah, it's easier to just cope and let things more or less suck.
People complain that it is hard to install. You pretty much just boot from USB and install it.
People complain that drivers are hard to install. Pretty much everything you need comes standard. The only real difficulty is with Nvidia drivers, but even that has become a lot easier to manage with the push towards AI. Most users don't need a GPU, so they won't ever have to touch a driver.
People complain that it is too hard to use, and "you have to use the command line". No you fucking don't. All of the major DEs are idiot-proof and GUI-driven. It's the same UX as Windows and Mac.
The biggest thing you need to do to acclimate to when moving from Windows to Linux is understanding UNIX filesystems. Just wrap your head around the fact that drive letters don't exist, everything is a file, and drives can be mounted to any directory, and you'll be fine.
Most Windows users don't do much else than office programs and a web browser. They can even install Edge on Linux if that's what they like, and LibreOffice isn't lacking in features unless you're an enterprise power-user. Or you can just use Office Online or Google Docs in your browser if you really need more features.
If your device doesn't work in Windows, there's usually a help line to call for it. They might give you the runaround for an hour, but they'll try to help you, and if they don't they might end up giving you a refund. Or you can take your computer to a tech support person, even Geek Squad at best buy. If you are technically illiterate, there are people to help you.
If your device doesn't work in Linux, it's probably not supported by any company. There are some linux distros that offer paid support, but people don't think to look for that. Even though your device is probably supported by Linux, Linux is not supported by the manufacturer, so if you have a problem, you're on your own. Your support is community support, reading forums and discords and github issues. Your only recourse is if you bought your computer from a Linux first company like System 76, but even then the support extends to the computer itself, not every random device you might buy without checking if it's supported on Linux.
There used to also be local support for Linux, in the form of Linux User Groups and Local Community Teams for Ubuntu. But as Linux got more popular, it stopped being a hobby, so the volunteer work (and corporate assistance in that volunteer work in Ubuntu's case) disappeared.
- Hibernate/suspend issues, Graphics/Wifi dies on wakeup.
- Still needed to fiddle with SecureBoot to install.
- Setting up TPM was an involved process using the CLI. Couldn't get the fingerprint scanner to run either.
- Some from older generations require familiarity. I used to get yelled at because I "moved the Internet icon".
- So much of the world requires Windows/Mac: banking apps, taxes and government apps, anti-cheat and student software. Yes they're all terrible software, but you're crippling yourself socially by avoiding them. It's sad but real. Maybe not in your country, good for you, but that's not the case everywhere.
It's gonna be an Eternal September 2.0, but Linux will be better because of it.
Have you seen how many ads the average user puts up with?
I wonder when Linux Desktops follow?
Even a couple more % of the market would be an unbelievable increase in Linux users.