Just install Linux. Should fix most of their Windows problems.
At the expense of an exciting new array of problems!
But now they’re Linux problems and easier to solve!
I know we’re joking about how obnoxious we are when we make this recommendation… But it’s also true. Linux problems are much more likely to be solveable. The proprietary “no serviceable parts within” boxes are much rarer.
It’s a bit of both. I agreeey that Linux problems are actually solvable, but we’re also willing to put up with a lot more because of that. (Admittedly, Window’s enshitification is helping with the last part)
Yeah, the frequency of bullshit problems and just having to accept losing features and gaining advertisements has reached a point of absolute absurdity, it almost feels intentional at this point like they’re trying to see how far they can push people before they’ll leave
I will say however, I’ve encountered a few things that were unsolvable because I wasn’t a professional coder with tons of time on my hands. Unfortunately the only solutions were “attempt workarounds” and “wait. :(”
But at least in that case:
- You can generally narrow down this is the case vs. your own config issues.
- Somebody else has the same problem.
- Barring all that, you can bug report!
I run Tumbleweed though, sometimes things happen. (But it’s still shockingly stable!)
I wouldn’t expect people running Mint or Debian to face this nearly as much.
The particular most recent instance I had:
All my KDE services were crash-restarting on startup because QT didn’t like my drawing tablet or something. Truly bizarre. Bug reporting lead to resolution!
I will say however, I’ve encountered a few things that were unsolvable because I wasn’t a professional coder with tons of time on my hands.
Oh, yeah. That’s still true. I’ve hit those as well.
Though at least with open source stuff, I usually find the issue solved when I try again a year or so later. (Maybe not how I would have solved it, but there’s typically at least more and better options.)
Unironically why I switched my parents to Linux - they don’t touch any important settings so usually the only problems are when they get a new popup / prompt they’ve never seen, which ofc happens a lot more on windows especially when they decide to push some new thing or decide that they want to convince people to enable something new or change a setting that they want people to use.
I also love that if they call me I can just ssh in over tailscale and do whatever needs doing.
YES. I think Windows tries to keep computing “simple” while simultaneously training poor expectations and habits into its users.
“Never listen to these big scary error messages! It’s a scam!” (But also forces full-screen ads and “recommendations” for things to modify your system)
It’s very “It’s only okay when we do it.”
Where are my weather widgets?
Just install one. Likely it won’t have ads.
Funny you say that I saw someone on the bus the other day with a terrible KDE theme.
It looked kind of like Windows 11 but in the worse possible ways. They managed to get the panel to look like Windows 11 but they were using the wrong icons and the wrong Window decorations.
“Did they change that fucking control panel setting/menu again?? Where the fuck is it!”
Control panel is being deprecated in favor of the settings app
And when the Settings app has even 70% feature parity, I’ll stop crying about control panel.
It has well over that plus a decent amount of quality of life features.
Die hard Windows users don’t want to change
Lol, actually a Linux user, but I do fear change. And to be fair, I don’t have accurate stats for feature parity percentage. Maybe it is above 70%. And I actually do use the Settings app often when I have to deal with Windows at work. So I get that it’s actually not terrible, and is slowly getting better.
Regardless, let me just add a secondary IP address to a network interface so I can access a network device using a different IP scheme without losing access to the internet. Oh wait… Settings doesn’t have that feature… It opens Control Panel…
Well, that’s just one instance, no biggie. Now I just need to create partitions on a new disk… Settings got my back right? Oh… No… It needs to open Disk Management…
Whatever, that’s pretty rare anyway. Just gotta rename this printer. Oh, launches control panel again…
My point is this, having to navigate what settings have been migrated, what settings haven’t, and what have been disabled just to force users to try Settings, is a bad experience. Its not fearing change, its growing pains. Just telling people that “control panel is being depreciated” doesn’t solve the fact that this swap is currently making the situation harder, not easier. I look forward to the day where I don’t have to wonder where to find the settings I need to access again.
Leave it to Microsoft to make settings open control panel and control panel open settings.
Terrible design
I kind of forgot about that since I haven’t used Windows in a while.
Whenever I get a tech question its always about how to navigate a gui I am unfamiliar with. And when I can’t give them an answer, they assume I’m actually clueless about technology.
My least favourite technical support calls were with people who didn’t know their own interface and I was having to direct them, blind, to get the information and do the diagnostics I needed.
There were at least a couple of times where I had to ask the customer to describe literally everything they saw on the screen starting at the top left and working their way down.
I sometimes pretend to be one of those people when I get tech support scammers on the phone because I know how tortuous it is.
sfc /scannow
chkdsk /f
windows is very complicated and inconsistent if you get to look under the hood
Just like the enterprise software it is.
This is why I always bounce around between all 3 major OS’s (Yes yes, I know Linux distros complicate thongs)
Keeps me flexible, an OS is a tool and you need to use the best tool for the job at hand
I bet that if you stepped away from the computer while removing said thongs they wouldn’t seem so complicated.
I know, right? Gotta take the hands off the keyboard or at least take your eyes off the monitor for a second if you use your teeth.
Don’t tell me what to do, you’re not my Dad!
an OS is a tool
I’ve been supporting Mac, Windows and Linux for years. I find I can only truly keep up with two at a time, so every couple of years I switch windows -> OSX.
I remember the first time I got to work on a Mac (for fun). I was about 9 years old and I just wanted to learn. I seen an option for a ram disk and made it fail to boot.
Luckily my aunt had System 7.5 for Dummies. She was so mad at me.
I had a Quadra not long after that and I loved it.
I kind of skipped the time in between the Apple TV and the first Mac minis :)
I sold a few quadras, They were really advanced for their time.
I was still using my Quadra in 2002. I didn’t stop using it until 68k software stopped being made.
It’s crazy but I remember it being a 640. Those apparently don’t exist so it must have been a 630 or a 650.
It was not a tower, it sat flat so it couldn’t have been the 640av.
This is driving me nuts lol.
But Windows is never the best tool for any job. Unless of course you only know that one tool like most people do.
There is a lot of software that only runs on Windows that has no viable alternatives. For private use, the vast majority of people would be fine without Windows, but so many professional applications require it.
You don’t work in IT do you?
How about for Digital Audio Workstation duty?
I used to bounce between them for the same reason, but nowadays the right tool, for me, is always a Debian variant, anyway. (or Arch, counting SteamDeck).
- My gaming is on SteamDeck now.
- My Office bullshit works fine on Android, and Linux. There’s always been a community for this. There’s a learning curve to get professional results, but it’s so much less hassle once mastered.
- Remote management is so much nicer with Linux. I still deal with some of that crap on Windows, and the Windows admins go on about how they need Windows to be able to remotely manage. I bite my tongue, but I feel embarrassed for them every time they do so. Remote management is about 20 years more mature on Linux than on Windows.
- Artistic stuff, interestingly, also Linux, for me. (I never got into Adobe suite, I felt wary of their monopoly early.) But GnuIMP and Krita get the job done, for me.
Edit: And I can still collaborate. Office cloud tools work on Linux in the browser, nowadays.
Yea for personal professionals it’s fine, but my career is in IT, so staying flexible is important for multiple fronts lol I’m just as comfortable in a Linux heavy position as I am in a Windows or MacOS and being able to do all 3 makes mixed environments a hell of a lot easier.
Remote management is so much nicer with Linux. I still deal with some of that crap on Windows, and the Windows admins go on about how they need Windows to be able to remotely manage. I bite my tongue, but I feel embarrassed for them every time they do so. Remote management is about 20 years more mature on Linux than on Windows.
For terminal stuffs, for Remote Desktop, all the Linux solutions are…not that great, they work. Microsoft’s RDP otoh is fantastic, high quality, low latency and easy to pass through USB devices, Webcams, mics etc. right out of the box
Not sure what your Windows guys mean by needing Windows to remotely manage Windows, there’s plenty of cross platform RDP clients. The only time I’ve needed Windows to manage Windows is for very enterprisey Windows-specific things, like Active Directory or group policies
so staying flexible is important for multiple front
Yeah. I do work to stay current in the big 3, for the same reason. That used to mean alternating my home setup as well, but now I only do it on my employers dime. I think the reason is mix of my having less patience for proprietary interoperability issues at home, and of Linux just being able to do everything I care about.
for Remote Desktop, all the Linux solutions are…not that great, they work
Agreed. I recently bought a nice little portable monitor for home, for exactly this reason. If Linux RDP was a better experience, I might not have bothered. That said, I even do my grandparent’s remote IT support from my Debian machine now, regardless of whether they’re on Windows or Mac. So I’m pretty satisfied with it where I absolutely need RDP.
Not sure what your Windows guys mean by needing Windows to remotely manage Windows,
Yeah. Many of them are point and clickers. Some of us are mentoring them on expanded tooling available. Their interest varies, which is fair. I don’t want their job, anyway, so it’s not my problem how efficiently or inefficiently they do it.
Do clean install
“Where are my apps?”
what the fuck is an app?
What is is?
It depends. I’m Carl Weathers with XP.
Baby, you got a stew goin’
Why is everyone poking fun at Vernon Wells? Because he’s intentionally being goofy for the picture?
Why is everyone poking fun at Vernon Wells?
because he didn’t win 7 Mr. Olympia titles - that’s why!
Leave discount Freddie Mercury alone!
He holds the distinction of fighting in the most comically lopsided boss fights ever filmed. Arnold circa 1984 vs my neighbor Larry who always lets me borrow his ladder and smokes a mean brisket while drinking 12 beers.
