this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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I think if you wiped everyone’s prior experience and knowledge and all that stuff, like just wiped the slate clean and presented all the OSes for what they are and let everyone choose which on they got to use, things would land pretty much where they are right now. Linux is generally way easier than it was 10 years ago but it’s still far too tricky for most normal users. If it’s too difficult for them to use then they effectively don’t have a computer and it’s useless to them. Linux may be free but after dropping £1000+ on a laptop people don’t mind so much paying an extra £70 for the software.
The two most important things to normal people are good looks and ease of use and Linux comes in last in both of those races.
Linux isn’t for normal people, it’s made by nerds for nerds.
Depends on how you define wiping the slate clean? Just for the users or also for the hardware and software vendors?
Because the difficulty of Linux comes from the lack of hardware and software support. If you just compare the OS then for the average user there little to no difference in terms of functionality. People probably would ever prefer Linux due to it being just generally faster than Windows. You wouldn't pay extra to to get something that runs worse.
What people will pay extra for is the guarantee that their hardware and software just works. The only benefit Windows has is that you don't have to worry if your hardware or software will work because in 99.9% of the time it does and if it doesn't you can contact support and they won't instantly tell you your system isn't supported.