What sends noobs running back to Windows?

[Portreve]

One good advantage to running Linux exclusively is the fact that those Windwoes users gradually get the idea that you cannot help them any more.

I agree; however, it never hurts to advertise this fact so those who will allow themselves to be helped and educated are, and those who won't aren't. It's an automatic filtering process.

[MurphCID]

One good advantage to running Linux exclusively is the fact that those Windwoes users gradually get the idea that you cannot help them any more.

I don't have that luxury since I am "Husband and Daddy" Tech support at the house.

[BG405]

those Windwoes users gradually get the idea that you cannot help them any more.

I agree too.

it never hurts to advertise this fact so those who will allow themselves to be helped and educated are, and those who won't aren't.

That is an excellent point as well!

[Inundated]

One good advantage to running Linux exclusively is the fact that those Windwoes users gradually get the idea that you cannot help them any more.

I don't have that luxury since I am "Husband and Daddy" Tech support at the house.

I'm in the same boat with my family.

[lsemmens]

One good advantage to running Linux exclusively is the fact that those Windwoes users gradually get the idea that you cannot help them any more.

I don't have that luxury since I am "Husband and Daddy" Tech support at the house.

I'm in the same boat with my family.

Fortunately most of mine are now tech support of their own tribes, A couple are paid tech support for their jobs too,

[Inundated]

Well, I've decided to stop using the live USB on this old laptop and have installed Linux Mint 19 Tara directly.

I do still have Windows 10 in a dual boot setup. I fully intend on ignoring Windows 10 unless needed for family tech support. Ideally, I will one day reclaim the disk space for Linux

[paradroid]

Using Linux Mint since 7 years now and with Mint 19 HP printer stops working, touchpads act weird, hangs 3 minutes on boot, hangs 5 minutes on power off, upgrade from mint 18 gave me kernel panic, fresh install took 4 hours because of a 100% cpu usage bug, mouse speed cannot be adjusted for hidpi mouse this is just too many bugs a normal user would be able to fix so they use windows instead.

[michael louwe]

Using Linux Mint since 7 years now and with Mint 19 HP printer stops working, touchpads act weird, hangs 3 minutes on boot, hangs 5 minutes on power off, upgrade from mint 18 gave me kernel panic, fresh install took 4 hours because of a 100% cpu usage bug, mouse speed cannot be adjusted for hidpi mouse this is just too many bugs a normal user would be able to fix so they use windows instead.

Maybe it's because your computer is more than 8 years old = time to buy a new computer or install another lighter Linux distro.

[rambo919]

That's completely counter to the common narrative of Linux running better than windows on older computers..... a lighter distro won't necessarily solve hardware problems.

[carum carvi]

I first learned about the existence of the Linux OS 10 years ago. Back then I tried LinuxMint 17 for the first time and it couldnt read my exFat formatted external harddisc. That was the reason I didnt install Linux at that time, 10 years ago. Years later I tried to install a newer version. And LinuxMInt 18 and 19 fortunately can read that rarely used exFat format. And LinuxMint is special, because all the Ubuntu systems still cant read exFat.

I had also some difficulties installing my printer in LinuxMint 17 about 10 years ago. Although I succeeded in the end. But with LM18 and 19 installing my printer is even easier than under Windows.

So hardware problems were one of the main reasons I shyed away from installing Linux 10 years ago and those hardware problems made me run back to Windows.

Unfamiliarity with something new was the other main reason I didnt dare to install LinuxMint years ago. Untill I learned about the option of a dual boot. With that dual boot option I didnt immediately have to choose between Windows or Linux.

Once I first started trying out Linux I noticed the absence of warnings for my security. At a new Windows install I immediately got warnings that my virus, firewall and malware protection wasnt configured yet. I got none of those warnings in Linux from the start. I therefore thought that this Linux system wasnt safe and it took me a month reading on the forum before I finally believed that Linux was safer than Windows and didnt even need any anti virus program. This blew my mind. I just could not believe it at first.

[Moem]

I first learned about the existence of the Linux OS 10 years ago. Back then I tried LinuxMint 17 for the first time

You sure were ahead of your time! Mint 17 came out on May 31, 2014.

[carum carvi]

I was confused. Thx for the correction Moem. I started using Windows 7 about 10 years ago. Although I did already read about Linux at that time. A cd rom with LM17 on it was the one I used about 4 years ago.

Although Vlc and OpenOffice and Audacity were all programs I started using 10 years ago with Windows7, because it was advised as being good shareware software in a PC magazine. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these very same software programs were used in Linux as well. That DID make the transition a lot easier, once the hardware problems were solved.

[michael louwe]

I first learned about the existence of the Linux OS 10 years ago. Back then I tried LinuxMint 17 for the first time and it couldnt read my exFat formatted external harddisc. That was the reason I didnt install Linux at that time, 10 years ago.

I was confused. Thx for the correction Moem. I started using Windows 7 about 10 years ago.

In 2008, it was Linux Mint 5, not LM 17 ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Min ... on_history
....... Win 7 only came out in Oct 2009, ie about 9 years ago, not about 10 years ago.

Around the same time, ie 2008, I tried Ubuntu 8.04. It was very unuser-friendly to the average users, in terms of non-availability of GUI. So I had to remain on Win XP. It was only with Linux Mint 16/Ubuntu 12.04 in 2012 that LM/Ubuntu was ready for prime-time and could compete against Windows, ie LM/Ubuntu got quite user-friendly to the average users. Prior to 2012, Linux was mostly for tech-geeks or System Admins.

[michael louwe]

That's completely counter to the common narrative of Linux running better than windows on older computers..... a lighter distro won't necessarily solve hardware problems.

That's likely no longer true for Win 10 with its rapid forced auto-upgrades to new versions at least twice-per-year, ie older computers will soon likely not run on the latest Win 10 Version, especially post-Jan 2020.

[MrGrimm]

improper support for one. typically in a windows help forum you are presented with a solution and every step to apply said solution. in the linux forux peeps have a very nasty habit of say do /whatever, and /this, which is fine you have the commands to use but not where to put those commands. peeps get treated like they should already know everything there is about linux, um news flash peeps wouldn't be coming to the support forums if they did.

[MurphCID]

improper support for one. typically in a windows help forum you are presented with a solution and every step to apply said solution. in the linux forums peeps have a very nasty habit of say do /whatever, and /this, which is fine you have the commands to use but not where to put those commands. peeps get treated like they should already know everything there is about linux, um news flash peeps wouldn't be coming to the support forums if they did.

That is the nice thing about THIS forum, in that the people are patient, and will help the newbies. Those who ask get help here. It is up to them to be appreciative for the nice people who post here and provide their time. I posted an issue with the wifi card in my old HP laptop and within less than 24 hours, I was shown how to look for the issue, and the code to insert to fix the problem.

[MrGrimm]

yes some will really go out of their way to help, like the two that were helping me yesterday, but make no mistake that is not the norm. you do make a good point about the min t forum versus others though.

[MurphCID]

Most Linux boards, especially in the late 1990's and early 2000's were notorious for the "RTFM" mentality, and driving off newbies. Thank G_d we are getting away from that elitist, snobby, counterproductive mentality.

[MrGrimm]

Most Linux boards, especially in the late 1990's and early 2000's were notorious for the "RTFM" mentality, and driving off newbies. Thank G_d we are getting away from that elitist, snobby, counterproductive mentality.

that probably has to do with the ease of use of linux this day and age. a lot more people with a wider range of attitudes.

[rambo919]

That's completely counter to the common narrative of Linux running better than windows on older computers..... a lighter distro won't necessarily solve hardware problems.

That's likely no longer true for Win 10 with its rapid forced auto-upgrades to new versions at least twice-per-year, ie older computers will soon likely not run on the latest Win 10 Version, especially post-Jan 2020.

True, however the "currently supported version of windows" is separate from "windows". Some computers run better on XP, some run better on 7.... nothing runs better on 8 probably. Not everyone has the luxury of "keeping up", Microsoft forgot this and now everyone is angry at their assumption that only "modern" computers exist. There is no way that everyone is going to keep running win10 simply because they literally will not be able to keep up with the bloat and hardware requirements, at least in home PC's win7 will be run for decades after the final switch has been thrown just as is still happening with XP where the OS is so incredibly slow the people are forced to run it without an AV (same with win7).... small towns is where a virus goes to retire because of this usage pattern. I have even had a few pentium 3's running on win98 because winxp is too much for them.... yes they still exist though HDD's are the biggest problem.

What's needed is a way of having in the same distro a "purdy" and "fast" mode.... however this alone does not help with hardware support since it only focuses on speed not support.... many many peripherals like TV tuners for example refuse to work on anything other than a specific version of windows because of built-in planned obsolescence.... and people sometimes having spent so much money (though sometimes this is pure stubbornness) on these things tend to hold on to them till something dies.

I find it very odd that everyone completely forgets that most refurbished computers are a hodgepdge and then some even kinda sneer at the person attempting to get Linux to run properly with "well you should have checked the compatibility first".... money hardly grows on tree's everywhere in the world.

Anyway don't just assume everyone will follow any "correct" course of action, many people are too desperate or stubborn. And again "lighter" is not a cure-all especially with Via S3 chip's.... I HATE those evil little things.