I’ve been using Linux exclusively for about 8 years. Recently I got frustrated with a bunch of issues that popped one after another. I had a spare SSD so I decided to check out Windows again. I’ve installed Windows 11 LTSC. It was a nightmare. After all the years on Linux, I forgot how terrible Windows actually is.
On the day I installed the system and a bunch of basic software, I had two bluescreens. I wasn’t even doing anything at that time, just going through basic settings and software installation. Okay, it happens. So I installed Steam and tried to play a game I’ve been currently playing on Linux just to see the performance difference. And it was… worse, for some reason. The “autodetect” in game changed my settings from Ultra to High. On Linux, the game was running at the 75 fps cap all the time. Windows kept dropping them to around 67-ish a lot of times. But the weirdest part was actual power consumption and the way GPU worked. Both systems kept the GPU temperature at around 50C. But the fans were running at 100% speed at that temperature on Windows, while Linux kept them pretty quiet. I had to change the fan controls by myself on Windows just because it was so annoying. The power consumption difference was even harder to explain, as I was getting 190-210W under Linux and under Windows I got 220-250W. And mind you, under Linux I had not only higher graphical settings set up, but was also getting better performance.
I tried connecting my bluetooth earbuds to my PC. Alright, the setup itself was fine. But then the problems started. My earbuds support opus codec for audio. Do you think I can change the bluetooth codec easily, just like on Linux? Nope. There is no way to do it without some third party programs. And don’t even get me started on Windows randomly changing my default audio output and trying to play sound through my controller.
Today I decided to make this rant-post after yet another game crashed on me twice under Windows. I bought Watch Dogs since it’s currently really cheap on Steam. I click play. I get the loading screen. The game crashed. I try again. I play through the basic “tutorial”. After going out of the building, game crashed again. I’m going to play again, this time under Linux.
I’ve had my share of frustrations under Linux, but that experience made me realise that Windows is not a perfect solution either. Spending a lot of time with Linux and it’s bugs made me forget all the bad experience in the past with Windows, and I was craving to go back to the “just works” solution. But it’s not “just works”. Two days was all it took for me to realize that I’ll actually stick with Linux, probably forever. The spare SSD went back to my drawer, maybe so I can try something new in the future. It’s so good to be back after a short trip to the other side!
As somebody who works in IT at a Windows-only environment, I know exactly what you mean.
I have to fight with Windows on a weekly basis. Driver issues, firmware issues, software crashes/lockups, performance issues, etc etc.
Just this week, I have two users experiencing issues with their monitors. Identical enterprise grade laptops, identical drivers, identical docking stations, all totally up to date on Windows 11. Their old Windows 10 computers worked fine. Still trying to figure out what’s wrong.
Yeah when I see people say that gaming on Linux “isn’t there yet” I have to wonder how long it’s been since they’ve tried. And people who install Windows on their Steam Deck? Don’t get it.
Yep. The difference is simply put just ppl are used to the quirks on Windows but not on Linux.
Exactly. It took me 4 hours a couple months ago to get a scanner to work on our Windows 11 PC. It turns out there was some Windows Image Acquisition service built in that had to be disabled because it was conflicting with the driver of the scanner. Absolute insanity lmao
I told one of my friends about this since my friends sometimes tease me about using Linux, their response was get a better scanner.
lol
Bluetooth is so bad on Windows. You cannot simply “reconnect” a headset
You have to unpair and pair each time you want to use it.
This was with Intel Bluetooth too which works extremely well, under Linux and Macos.
I will say I had a lot of trouble with Bluetooth (bluez) on Linux, but I think it mainly comes down to the implementation. I have a cheap dongle and pairing gamepads has been a nightmare sometimes.
I’m no great fan of windows, but I have no issues reconnecting to bluetooth things. Kinda the opposite really, my phone and windows keep wanting to compete for who gets to be connected to my headset as soon as I turn it on, I have to make sure to turn off bluetooth when I’m done with it. I think the problem may be on your end in this case.
I had to transfer files over Bluetooth to a Windows PC. Fuck that is terrible compared to doing it on my Linux PC.
Oh yeah I just use magic wormhole now for file transfer it’s much more reliable
The problem with Windows is that it is not build to be parametrised. Anyone a bit tech-savy will be frustrated by the inability to tune it effectively for their need.
The problem with Linux is that it is not tech-normie friendly. Sure it has distribution easy to use and pre-parametrised so anyone with basic computer skill can use it. But people with basic computer skill don’t have computers with Linux. Anyone who just want to use a computer has to first learn how to install an OS.Third party licensed apps are everything on Windows.
i almost forget how much it sucks whenever i’m not forced to use it for a while.
I think Windows is successful because it creates a nice Enterprise environment, where companies can easily get into investing into new apps to use in their offices. I think that’s why it’s successful.
In my experience as well, fedora just works more than windows. Games work and run better without crashing. No bsods. No needing to manually start drivers for my tablet and restart my DAC.
Only thing windows has is coherent one release and exclusives in terms of a few softwares. Like adobe which is a scam now.
And the second advantage will vanish with more people on linux.
My exact experience too. Fedora “just works”. I especially like the immutable varieties for even more “just works (and continues to just works)-iness”
I’ve had an issue where nvidia drivers stopped working. For half a day while the update was rolling in. Thankfully linux has super easy rollback feature that automagically activates when you force restart using the power button.
Seriously, ever since I went to “shitty, always broken tinkerers toy not a real os for real people” linux, I have not had to use the switch on my psu. Seems it’s literally only there for windows.
Level1tech was reviewing the Ryzen 9950X/9900X and he noted how performance on Windows was wildly inconsistent depending on peculiar settings such as sidestepping security features and marking apps to run as administrator (aka also sidestepping windows security features) yet on Linux you can get better performance via Proton OOTB.
Linux has its quirks too but people kid themselves when they convince themselves that the dozens of weird tasks and apps and tweaks they make to Windows are “plug and play” compared to Linux, which in my experience has been way less tweaking.
The main tweaks I’ve done on linux usually include installing ROG-control-center (optional laptop faff) or cryotweaks on Steamdeck (which just sets some sensible options already enabled on most distros)
I tried connecting my bluetooth earbuds to my PC. Alright, the setup itself was fine. But then the problems started. My earbuds support opus codec for audio. Do you think I can change the bluetooth codec easily, just like on Linux? Nope. There is no way to do it without some third party programs. And don’t even get me started on Windows randomly changing my default audio output and trying to play sound through my controller.
Bro wait until you want to use them for a call. How do you tell it to switch to call mode when it won’t by default. Ah yeah that’s right, you can’t. And if you do, good luck switching it back for music when you’re done. I’ve had friends who got bluetooth headphones and tried to use them wireless on Windows and it’s just a battle every single time
I just recently learned this when I tried to take a Teams call (ugh) with my Bluetooth earbuds, only to find that the microphone worked, but I couldn’t hear anything.
Turned out, by default, it had set the input as headset mode, but the output as stereo headphone mode, so I couldn’t hear anything.
Because that makes sense.
This was sorta my fault, but I’m counting it. I have been flashing meshtastic devices recently and flashed two just fine from fedora (just had to DL ungoogled chromium because fuck chrome but librewolf can’t access serial ports so…), tried to flash a third from my friend’s windows PC and it just would not recognize it in the serial monitor, tried for like an hour being dumb, then I remembered drivers exist, downloaded one set of drivers, couldn’t install lord knows why, downloaded a second set that finally worked on a reboot and got it flashed.
I understand that sometimes you still have to install drivers on Linux too, but can we stop pretending you don’t have to on windows? What’s more while I was in there and edge wasn’t using my serial port my friend said to install a chrome based anyway to try, and I had to find the damn download pages instead of using a package manager, philistines.
Windows sure is bad, though I haven’t seen an actual blue-screen in years. That’s some foul luck.
I had one last week because of Storage problems.
Overall, I’m happy with Linux for everything. But it is a hard sell for your average person when you have to change the init configurations for every single game you download (even if it’s just for enabling gamemode).
Also I’m am very curious as to how you even got a bluescreen. I don’t even remember when I last saw one.
Also I’m am very curious as to how you even got a bluescreen. I don’t even remember when I last saw one.
That’s the thing - I wasn’t really doing anything. I had my web browser open, had steam running in the background. I moved my mouse around and then got jumpscared with a blue screen saying “unexpected store exception”. I even managed to catch the blue screen on camera and send it to my friend to make that “windows just works” joke.
you have to change the init configurations for every single game you download (even if it’s just for enabling gamemode)
I haven’t had to do this for a single game I’ve played. Am I lucky? What does “gamemode” do? (Am I missing out on something?)
The worst I’ve had to do to get a game to work was change to “Proton Experimental” in the compat settings for one game that had basically just launched. (I also remember the EA launcher being terrible when I played “It Takes Two” with my partner, but I don’t remember what was terrible about it and also remember them having problems on Windows so I don’t know if it should count or not, lol). My partner is still using Windows, and we game together a lot, and honestly I think they have games crash far more often than I do. Games take longer to launch for me though - “Processing Vulkan Shaders” takes up to a minute or two if it is the first launch since boot of a larger game. No idea what happens if I skip it, so I don’t.
It’s honestly been such a breath of fresh air, I am so grateful for the talented people making this shit work so well, especially in the last several years.
I’m not unsatisfied and I very much appreciate the work put into proton, but it’s rather lame how common it is to have small problems that require tweaking. Just a few days ago I had to do the gamemode thingy(which slightly improves performance and tends to fix some performance issues) on Elden ring since I was getting small but noticeable stutters when moving about, and that’s a verified game.
I don’t mind putting in a bit of work to get something specific I want set up, but there’s a reason people want things to just work when it comes to their pastimes, and I feel Linux is still a bit far from that.
PS: I have no idea if Bazzite and other gaming distros have this issues, I use a general use one.
I really can’t answer that either I’m afraid, as I’m using one of the “gaming distros” (Garuda Linux) and just haven’t had anything but good luck with it really. I tried Bazzite on my laptop, but was having some nvidia driver issues and decided to try Garuda before diving into trying to fix it and, well, Garuda “just worked”. The last general use distro I used was Manjaro probably 5ish years ago and I hated it, had nothing but troubles (and have since learned that Manjaro is kind of notorious for falling apart).
My main issue with Windows isn’t its technology, but its attitude. The user is no longer the most important consideration. In that way it’s become adversarial.
Windows is fine for me. I work with it all day long too. But yeah Windows is just another enshitification product.
It’s definitely an abusive relationship.
In that way it’s become adversarial.
Back in the 2000s, I was able to say that while a fundamental install took only about a half hour to set up, usability tweaks and a full fleshing out of functionality took another 4-8 hours depending on what the user was going to use the machine for.
I just did a Win11 24h2 install. It took nearly 24 working hours before I considered it even minimally functional for my needs. Cycling through Win10Privacy two or three times was particularly frustrating. Registry work alone took me a good 8-10 hours of trying stuff a step at a time and then rebooting to see how it worked.
At this point, the only reason why I am still running with a Windows rig is for those half-dozen programs that don’t have appropriate non-Windows variants. It’s why I’m also running a Mac Mini and an OpenSUSE tower through the same 4-port, 6-head KVM.
Put it in a VM?
VM
That still doesn’t solve 99.9% of my issues, it just tries to solve a problem for which I already have a solution actively in-place: a KVM.
Indeed it is difficult to hammer it in to shape. In addition, Microsoft will often quietly reset setting back in their favour. It’s that constant fight that tipped the scales for me.
