Over the years, I’ve often thought that, despite how fast-moving the desktop Linux ecosystem is, there’s not much left that could truly surprise me. Yet I keep being proven wrong, and that’s a good thing. Winux, one of the newest additions to the scene, is a clear example.
Whether I like it or not, this distribution brings back memories of about 20 years ago, when Lindows, later renamed Linspire under legal (and fully justified) pressure from Microsoft, first tried to take the path of a Linux distribution built entirely to be as close as possible to the Windows experience.
Today, several Linux distributions aim to position themselves as an easy starting point, and even a replacement for Windows users looking to switch without friction. Zorin OS is a well-known example. Even so, these projects keep their own Linux identity, with similarities to Windows being more indirect than literal.
I almost went with Zorin, but the ratings and reviews in Linux Mint ultimately won me over, as well as ease of use.
That said, I almost checked out Winux, but evidently, it is not actually FOSS.
At this point windows 11 doesn’t look like windows. Can’t linux just be its own thing lmao?
Well I think that’s part of the magic, Linux should enable people to do what they want to do, even try to emulate windows.
It’s certainly a surprising addition to the circle of distros…Reminds me TOO much of Windows and that’s a big negative for me. However, for someone else this would be a pathway towards escaping Microsoft that has gotten lobotomized by their lust for AI.
Honestly, if someone wants the ease of Windows but isn’t tech savvy enough to figure out “typical” Linux, I’d just point them to Aurora. Fedora atomic, easy system upgrades, easy rollbacks, nearly no downtime due to backup images.
Atomic distros have a set-back of having to deal with Package Layering in the case of those that aren’t found on Flathub. That’s a bit outside of the wheelhouse of a non-tech savvy person. You or I could easily deal with package layering, as it’s important to remove them before a major system update…We’d remember to do that before applying such an upgrade. They might not, leading to frustration. I think Linux Mint, ZorinOS, or even just Ubuntu would be better.
Still, I do use Bazzite, as I am comfortable with the package layering and understand mostly how atomic distros work.
That’s a good point. You’d have to know your intended user. Somebody who only uses flatpak probably doesn’t need to worry about anything, but if they want to start layering, they’d run into problems on a major version change.
Yeah, it is understanding the user and trying to give them recommends that would suit their technical ability and desire to learn. As using Linux (any distro) requires varying degrees of knowledge, I often ask people what they do with their computer and if they are fairly comfortable with technical things before making a recommend. I also firmly remind them they need to learn the basics, as it will often save them a lot of trouble!
Atomic distros have a set-back of having to deal with Package Layering in the case of those that aren’t found on Flathub. That’s a bit outside of the wheelhouse of a non-tech savvy person.
Today’s non-tech savvy persons usually want Chrome, VLC, and Steam. Yes, there are exceptions but I set up Linux PCs for a few people with unsupported Windows versions recently and they are just fine with that because all they do is to access web services from Chrome, playing back the occasional downloaded media file, and some games.
Yeah, it does depend on the user, like I replied to another person. You have to figure out the needs of the user and adapt accordingly. For some, their needs are far less complex and all of their software would be on Flathub. So package layering is a situation problem, I just got unlucky with 3 out of the several programs that I use. Which is why I’d mention it, as edge cases are always a thing.
Ah, it seems like this is just Linuxfx after a rebrand.
I recommend reading this article about their incredibly shoddy security (and software development) practices around their “Pro” version.Its just Ubuntu with a theme.
You have to do everything from the terminal anyway…
Familiarity instead of compatibility.
This piece of documentation from forgejo, about how their actions are mostly github actions compatible is how I feel about this or similar endeavors.
I really like KDE, because it’s familiar enough to Windows users that they can just kinda use it. Many of the shortcuts are the same. But I’ve had a bad experience with things that try to emulate Windows more completely, because people begin to expect some windows idiosyncracy or some other thing to be there. And then they get frustrated when it’s not the same.
KDE manages to be “close enough”, which results in a better experience.
Yeah, getting too close turns into an uncanny valley of sorts, where people expect all the edge cases to work the same. Making it familiar, while staying within its own design language and paradigms, strikes the right balance.
Wake me up when they recreate the ultimate power of Regedit.
Regedit but it’s a GUI dotfile manager. Imagine that.
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Every few months, another news article about yet another (assumedly) short-lived distro with a goofy ass name, a mid to good Windows-like KDE theme and its windows illusion breaking as soon as they show a screenshot from dolphin/diskover/ whrre at best the colors look different hits my homepage.
This one seems to at least have a windows-like settings app, winboat integration and even a paid licensing system built on top…
the cleverness of Linux users to attract Windows normies
Does it come with all the drivers working out of the box and no need for command line? How about compatibility with all the Windows programs since the 1990s?
Because that is the reason Windows is still more popular. The UI has not much to do with it seeing how Windows changes UI every major version.
I tried a tiling desktop environment (hyprland) and it just did not work for me. I like dragging windows around and Alt+Tabbing between them instead of Super+2 to switch to my app on the other desktop
