Operating System Myths

There are two pernicious myths about operating systems: First, Linux (1) is difficult to use for casual users. Second, Windows operating systems are easy to use for a casual user. What is “a casual user”? Here, it refers to a user who engages with the computer mainly via applications in order to surf the web, watch movies, play games, check emails, make spreadsheets etc. and doesn’t really tinker with the computer unless necessary. They don’t do anything too intricate or specialized.

1. Linux is actually quite easy:

First of all, it’s free. When you just need something to get your system running, Linux is the easiest option you can get, far easier than pirating Windows. Ubuntu for example, installs really fast and without causing any trouble, with helpful instructions on its website. If your computer is not really powerful, Linux has lightweight distributions too. More importantly, you control what you want to install.

Linux’ arcane reputation comes from “the terminal”(2) but really, a casual user can totally have all the functionality they need without ever opening a terminal nowadays. However, using the terminal is not that difficult either, mainly because a casual user doesn’t need to have in depth knowledge. When you want to do something, you search the Web and get the exact lines of code you need to enter. After using this function for a little while, you might discover that the terminal is quite useful and even easier to use than a graphic interface in some cases!

Linux has a huge list of open-source software for all kind of utilities, once again open-source software is actually more beneficial to a casual user than a professional one; because community oversight brings more security and functionality as well as nothing beating the ease of using software without having to deal with any DRM.

You can still even use a lot of Windows software! Some of them are natively available to Linux, but even those that aren’t have workarounds now. In particular, Linux has come a long way in terms of running Windows games. For example, a lot of Steam games will run perfectly fine with an easy to enable add-on, lots of others become playable with a little tweaking and, and even the number of native ports is growing.

When I switched to Ubuntu, among the first things I have discovered is how fast file transfer is. For years I have thought that it was about the USB cable or my external hard-drive… no, the hardware can be very fast actually, with the correct software. Also searching files work now. There are probably lots of small quality of life things that make everything easier that are too minor to notice.

Lastly, if a casual user wants to dig deeper, the Linux environment is just more welcoming. It usually takes much less effort to achieve complicated tasks on Linux than on Windows thanks to the baked in accessibility.

2. Windows is not easy to use!

Promoting Linux is fine and good, but it is especially important to debunk this widely-spread talking point, because it is not only free advertisement and anti open-software propaganda, but also actively lets Microsoft get away with worse and worse software. This needs to be stressed, because while Microsoft’s output has always had inconsistent quality, nowadays it is getting more and more actively hostile to the users:

Installing Windows at all can be pain: You have very little control over what it is actually installing and Windows loves to install bloat (3) on your computer. Also, get ready to download lots of updates, whether you want to or not!

Seriously, Windows updates have been quite atrocious for a long time now. They are not just security fixes, often “improvements’’ on apps you are probably not using, sometimes changes to settings on your computers, and can leave a big chunk of files behind (for restoration in theory, but made meaningless by the frequency of updates). Windows has a history for introducing all kinds of (sometimes fatal) bugs. Most importantly, updates have been mandatory for years, until Microsoft finally allowed users to decline updates(but only until the next supported build). Despite what tech companies might tell you, willingly giving up the control of your systems is not casual, it’s being a consooomer.

Deleting non-system apps and files should be a pretty casual affair. But Windows 10 is rather picky about it. Say, I want to delete Cortana, but I can’t. There is probably a way, but users need to do research and make potentially dangerous changes to their system just because the OS arbitrarily makes things difficult.

Windows was never that great at deletions in general. A lot of software have separate files across many directories, sometimes not everything is deleted and there is lots of residue in the Registry Editor. The reason there are so many different clean-up software available is that casual users would prefer things to be actually deleted when they press delete!

Windows loves to invade your privacy nowadays. Thankfully, you can disable (hopefully all) data-mining stuff, but the fact that it enables those without asking is at all so infuriating. It preys on the casual user’s naivety.

Security was always kind of an issue. While it is quite better compared to the heyday of anti-virus software, you can never be sure what the newest version of Windows will bring. Of course, compromises on user control is in of itself, a security problem.

Apart from increasing hostility and fatal errors, the worst thing about Windows is that it is not outright terrible, but just functional enough to make people get accustomed to a mediocre computer experience. There are just lots of small annoyances that most casual users probably think as normal:

• As I mentioned above, searching stuff is somewhat painful. Especially because the Start Menu search bar is rather useless.
• Naming files seems to be buggy, if a file name starts with an uppercase letter and I attempt to turn it to lowercase, it reverts back to the uppercase. Only changing the file name to something different first works.
• When I have an external memory drive plugged, if I do slightest modification on anything, the USB will refuse to be unplugged with the safe option.
• “Blue screen of death” shouldn’t have been so widespread. There is a good degree of improvement on stability, but again, all can go haywire in an update.
• Whenever the computer slows down to a crawl the Task Manager becomes near useless, because it doesn’t have priority over other programs. This has happened to me so many times, only resolving with a forced shutdown.
• Things like System Restore or hardware repair won’t work when you need it the most.
• Windows isn’t very good at explaining itself. Most of the time, you will get no clues as to why an error is occurring, various stuff like “fix the issue” or “search the problem” are rarely helpful, there aren’t many tips or directions beyond the most basic of the basics. This isn’t too much of a flaw in terms of OS design per se, but it shows that it doesn’t do much to deserve being called “user-friendly” either.
• Similarly, citing “gaming” as a positive for Windows is rather ironic because Microsoft’s forays into creating PC gaming environments have been disastrous: with first Games For Windows Live infesting games, now Microsoft Store proudly occupying The Start Menu. It has a host of problems, for example some games bought in the store run perform worse than the same game bought fromSteam. God forbid that a casual user might expect Microsoft software to perform well on Windows.

Windows Bad, So What?

While Windows can be quite bad on occasion, that’s not the main point. I am not writing this out of mere commitment to open software or disdain of Microsoft, though both are very valid stances. I am not writing this as a computer nerd who bashes everything she doesn’t use because she has fallen in love with her tools, either.

No, I am writing this because we need to stop giving free advertisement to Microsoft and making people stop fearing computers so much. Perhaps 10–20 years ago, concerns about Linux were understandable. Most people use Windows because it came with the laptops they have bought, it was their first OS, and used for years before even knowing any alternatives existed, and even when they heard about Linux, it looked like it’s own small world, it was often used on expensive workstations, there were so many distributions and modifications, you needed to know what you are doing, back then the internet wasn’t as widely available and there were not a lot of resources to support new users. Linux was used by programmers, by geeks, by server admins, it wasn’t for them. Besides, people have always been somewhat aware that Windows isn’t that great, but they thought they needed it. We all need Windows right?

The answer however is that no, we don’t. We don’t need Windows. While it is often just okay to use, It has never been the best at anything an OS does, and there are only a few true reasons to prefer Windows over a Linux distro.

• Wanting to use specific software that only works well on Windows.
• Developing software specifically for .NET, Win32, and similar environments.
• You are using a computer you have no say on it(e.g a workplace)

For any purpose you can think of, there is probably a specialized Linux distro. For most casual users, Linux can do anything they want, and more. Don’t heed endless nerd fights about distros, just use a mainstream one like Mint or Ubuntu, and you will be fine.

I don’t even recommend dual-partitioning your computer to keep Windows. Even if you can find a free version (4), I advise against keeping it, because the business model which Windows is developed for is becoming more hostile to users, especially casual users. You can be never too sure that an update won’t blow up your computer.

If you can, avoid Windows. Support free, open software. There has been never a better time for it.

…

(1) Linux is actually the name of the kernel used in the GNU Linux family of operating systems, but y’know, everyone knows what you mean when you say Linux.

(2) In the past, computers were used by typing text commands. Today, this can be achieved with Command Prompt on Windows and Bash on Linux. While Windows and Mac greatly de-emphasized command-line interface in favor of a graphical one, in late 1990s Linux was used for professional tasks, so the users both favored the power of the commands and didn’t want the computers to slow down by GUI. Although many distros have nice GUIs today, Linux can still be entirely operated by a text interface. The interface is called terminal because Linux and its ancestor UNIX were often used in mainframe computers: Big, towering machines which are accessed by multiple users through a terminal screen without its own hardware, kind of like ATMs.

(3) Anything you don’t want on your computer

(4) I have access to a student edition of Windows 10 because of my university’s agreements, but of course “free” also includes pirating and Microsoft more or less implicitly supports that too. It’s always a bad omen when a company wants you to use their proprietary software no matter what (and Microsoft really wants you to use Windows 10).

This article is written thanks to my dearest Patrons, namely: Acelin, Effy, Laura Watson, MasterofCubes, Makkovar, Morgan, Olympia, Otakundead, Sasha. Also thanks to Alex (@jyhadscientist on twitter) for his perfect editing work.