I like Linux as well, just be aware that it requires a bit of effort to learn a new operating system. It's a bit like learning a new language, it can be frustrating at first. You need to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run. But it's only a problem for whoever is going to administer the system or do complex things, for casual users there is little difference. My mother actually prefers Ubuntu to Windows, I had to install it for her but I also would have had to install windows for her if it didn't come pre-installed.
Yes but if you're coming from WinXP/Vista/7 to Win10 then there are enough changes that you already need to learn a new OS anyway. In my case the first time I saw Win8 I thought "What the @(*^#& is this??!" and that pushed me to really start using Linux on a day to day basis on my secondary laptop and getting familiar with it.
Ubuntu installs just as easily as Windows these days and most things work out of the box. You can do complex customization if you want but you don't have to. For casual users I'd say it's 100% there already. It runs a web browser, that's all a lot of people need anymore and then there is lots of other great software. Drawing, painting, audio, video, drafting, games, etc. Then for those who need more you can run Windows under Virtualbox.
Yes, that is true. I just worry someone might expect it to be a perfectly smooth ride; there will inevitably be some frustration when switching to a new OS.
I remember that something simple, like no longer having access to the same utility programs I was used to could be frustrating. For example, I couldn't find a simple paint program when I needed it because it wasn't called
MS Paint like I was used to (there are many such programs but they are not installed by default as far as I know). The default calculator application didn't use to be particularly good, the current one in Ubuntu 18 is ok, but I would still recommend a program called
speedcrunch. Such small problems could cause a lot of stress. It's a lot easier to find help and suggestions online now though.
Linux has come a long way in terms of ease of use. You once had to configure X manually, and there were warnings that if you get the monitor scan-rates wrong you might blow up you monitor. Not for the faint of heart.
![Grin ;D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
(Most of the difficulty back then was dealing with buggy or nonexistent drivers though). Today the installation process for Ubuntu is easy as long as you go with the defaults. I would say it's a lot easier than installing windows actually, but the big difference is that windows is often pre-installed when you buy a new computer.
The people who have most difficulty in my experience are not the casual users, but rather those who are windows power users and one day want to install a web server for example. Suddenly they finds themselves trying to configure apache, mysql and php using bash, sudo and vi, realising they don't even know where the configuration files are stored.
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You have to learn to use the command line interface if you want to do more advanced things (especially server related). There is no problem with that imo, but there is a learning curve (it was worth the effort though). But for casual use you don't have to worry about that.
The Linux update system is *far* superior to that in Windows too. For one thing you have 100% control over the process if you want. You can set it to auto-update which also works very smoothly, it can install updates in the background without interrupting what you do, most updates don't require a reboot at all and those that do patiently wait until you decide to reboot the machine yourself. When that happens they just boot up, no sitting there for 45 minutes not letting you use the machine. The way Windows handles updates now is absurd, it is obnoxious to the point of being unusable. My friend is a gamer so he's pretty much forced to use Win10 on his gaming/VR machine. He doesn't use it all that frequently and complains that every time he does go to use it he has to wait an hour for the damn thing to install updates he didn't ask for and doesn't want. It's crazy to me that anyone finds this acceptable.
Completely agree. And it not only updates your operating system, but it can update all programs on your computer! No need to worry about upgrading your browser to get the latest security fixes for example.
I sympathise with your friend. I used dual boot with windows 10 on my latest laptop, but I removed windows eventually since it was practically useless. Whenever booting into windows the computer would insist on installing updates for several hours, often preventing me from using the computer and getting back to work for the rest of the day. Very frustrating when trying to meet a deadline late in the evening and switching into windows for whatever reason. I don't understand how anyone put up with it. If you need windows, definitely put it on a virtual machine!