ML
    • Recent
    • Categories
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Register
    • Login

    Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies

    News
    linux linux desktop freedom penguin windows
    11
    119
    12.1k
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller
      last edited by

      The point of people coming from Windows to Linux, though is that using Windows actively makes using Linux, according to the article, actually harder than not having the experience at all. As in someone with effectively no computer experience will often fare better than someone with loads of Windows specific experience. Because the behaviours are so radically different, it makes people look for and/or create problems where none necessarily exist on their own or when used in a more intuitive way.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • ObsolesceO
        Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
        last edited by

        @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

        @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

        @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

        You keep saying that Linux won't work, but for the people who aren't Windows users, they seem to find that it does work - really well.

        There's a term for that, can't think of it at the moment.

        It's demographics or something. You're taking a survey of a group of people for the wrong reasons, getting results exactly you'd expect... but it's the wrong group of people you are surveying. You need an equal mix. You can't just take all the non-Windows users and form a real opinion based on their results.

        For example, non-Windows users will find Linux to just work. Just like you'll find non-Linux users to find Windows to just work.

        Man I really wish I could think of this concept right now... it's after midnight for me 😞

        Well the point of the article is that there is specifically a difficulty in using Linux for people coming from Windows. It's not unexpected, if you really think about it. Any time you have a group that has trained on something they come to expect that behaviour.

        There's so many variables.

        I bet great grandma comfortable with using Windows would be equally comfortable with using Ubuntu...

        DustinB3403D scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • DustinB3403D
          DustinB3403 @Obsolesce
          last edited by DustinB3403

          @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

          @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

          @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

          @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

          You keep saying that Linux won't work, but for the people who aren't Windows users, they seem to find that it does work - really well.

          There's a term for that, can't think of it at the moment.

          It's demographics or something. You're taking a survey of a group of people for the wrong reasons, getting results exactly you'd expect... but it's the wrong group of people you are surveying. You need an equal mix. You can't just take all the non-Windows users and form a real opinion based on their results.

          For example, non-Windows users will find Linux to just work. Just like you'll find non-Linux users to find Windows to just work.

          Man I really wish I could think of this concept right now... it's after midnight for me 😞

          Well the point of the article is that there is specifically a difficulty in using Linux for people coming from Windows. It's not unexpected, if you really think about it. Any time you have a group that has trained on something they come to expect that behaviour.

          There's so many variables.

          I bet great grandma comfortable with using Windows would be equally comfortable with using Ubuntu...

          Your seeing past the conversation at hand.

          People with little to no computer experience often fair better using Linux than they do Windows.

          ObsolesceO scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • scottalanmillerS
            scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
            last edited by

            @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

            I bet great grandma comfortable with using Windows would be equally comfortable with using Ubuntu...

            That was the point of the article, yes. Comfort with Windows creates a discomfort with Linux.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • ObsolesceO
              Obsolesce @DustinB3403
              last edited by

              @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

              @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

              @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

              @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

              @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

              You keep saying that Linux won't work, but for the people who aren't Windows users, they seem to find that it does work - really well.

              There's a term for that, can't think of it at the moment.

              It's demographics or something. You're taking a survey of a group of people for the wrong reasons, getting results exactly you'd expect... but it's the wrong group of people you are surveying. You need an equal mix. You can't just take all the non-Windows users and form a real opinion based on their results.

              For example, non-Windows users will find Linux to just work. Just like you'll find non-Linux users to find Windows to just work.

              Man I really wish I could think of this concept right now... it's after midnight for me 😞

              Well the point of the article is that there is specifically a difficulty in using Linux for people coming from Windows. It's not unexpected, if you really think about it. Any time you have a group that has trained on something they come to expect that behaviour.

              There's so many variables.

              I bet great grandma comfortable with using Windows would be equally comfortable with using Ubuntu...

              Your seeing past the conversation at hand.

              People with little to no computer experience often far better using Linux than they do Windows.

              If it works. And, until it breaks. Other than that, yes I agree with the article.

              scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                last edited by

                @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                You keep saying that Linux won't work, but for the people who aren't Windows users, they seem to find that it does work - really well.

                There's a term for that, can't think of it at the moment.

                It's demographics or something. You're taking a survey of a group of people for the wrong reasons, getting results exactly you'd expect... but it's the wrong group of people you are surveying. You need an equal mix. You can't just take all the non-Windows users and form a real opinion based on their results.

                For example, non-Windows users will find Linux to just work. Just like you'll find non-Linux users to find Windows to just work.

                Man I really wish I could think of this concept right now... it's after midnight for me 😞

                Well the point of the article is that there is specifically a difficulty in using Linux for people coming from Windows. It's not unexpected, if you really think about it. Any time you have a group that has trained on something they come to expect that behaviour.

                There's so many variables.

                I bet great grandma comfortable with using Windows would be equally comfortable with using Ubuntu...

                Your seeing past the conversation at hand.

                People with little to no computer experience often fair better using Linux than they do Windows.

                That's universally what I've seen, but it's an underpinning of the article which was actually...

                People with little or no computer experience fare better with Linux than people with extensive Windows experience fare with Linux.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                  last edited by

                  @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                  @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                  @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                  @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                  @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                  @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                  You keep saying that Linux won't work, but for the people who aren't Windows users, they seem to find that it does work - really well.

                  There's a term for that, can't think of it at the moment.

                  It's demographics or something. You're taking a survey of a group of people for the wrong reasons, getting results exactly you'd expect... but it's the wrong group of people you are surveying. You need an equal mix. You can't just take all the non-Windows users and form a real opinion based on their results.

                  For example, non-Windows users will find Linux to just work. Just like you'll find non-Linux users to find Windows to just work.

                  Man I really wish I could think of this concept right now... it's after midnight for me 😞

                  Well the point of the article is that there is specifically a difficulty in using Linux for people coming from Windows. It's not unexpected, if you really think about it. Any time you have a group that has trained on something they come to expect that behaviour.

                  There's so many variables.

                  I bet great grandma comfortable with using Windows would be equally comfortable with using Ubuntu...

                  Your seeing past the conversation at hand.

                  People with little to no computer experience often far better using Linux than they do Windows.

                  If it works. And, until it breaks. Other than that, yes I agree with the article.

                  I think it carries through those cases as well. If it works is a given, we are talking about using the OS here. When broken, Linux is easier to deal with for those people as well, I think. Windows gets exceptionally nasty when broken.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • scottalanmillerS
                    scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    Just for the record I went and found a box and found an old Windows web cam in it (made by Microsoft) and plugged it in to my Korora machine and it worked immediately. No configuration, no drivers, no software, nothing. Just plugged in and it was good to go.

                    DustinB3403D black3dynamiteB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • DustinB3403D
                      DustinB3403 @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller why would you be lugging around an old ass Microsoft webcam?

                      scottalanmillerS black3dynamiteB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • black3dynamiteB
                        black3dynamite @scottalanmiller
                        last edited by

                        @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                        Just for the record I went and found a box and found an old Windows web cam in it (made by Microsoft) and plugged it in to my Korora machine and it worked immediately. No configuration, no drivers, no software, nothing. Just plugged in and it was good to go.

                        Yep, I've experience that same thing when I had a camera that was designed for 7 but won't work with 10. But works instantly on Ubuntu.

                        scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • scottalanmillerS
                          scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                          last edited by

                          @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                          @scottalanmiller why would you be lugging around an old ass Microsoft webcam?

                          It's actually quite nice.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • scottalanmillerS
                            scottalanmiller @black3dynamite
                            last edited by

                            @black3dynamite said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                            @scottalanmiller said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                            Just for the record I went and found a box and found an old Windows web cam in it (made by Microsoft) and plugged it in to my Korora machine and it worked immediately. No configuration, no drivers, no software, nothing. Just plugged in and it was good to go.

                            Yep, I've experience that same thing when I had a camera that was designed for 7 but won't work with 10. But works instantly on Ubuntu.

                            I'm sure that it works on Windows 10... well moderately sure. I don't expect problems there with it, but it sure works great on Korora.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • black3dynamiteB
                              black3dynamite @DustinB3403
                              last edited by

                              @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                              @scottalanmiller why would you be lugging around an old ass Microsoft webcam?

                              Webcams barely changes enough to get rid of just because microsoft quit on it.

                              scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • scottalanmillerS
                                scottalanmiller @black3dynamite
                                last edited by

                                @black3dynamite said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                @scottalanmiller why would you be lugging around an old ass Microsoft webcam?

                                Webcams barely changes enough to get rid of just because microsoft quit on it.

                                It's 1080p and ... just works on Linux 🙂 What more do you want, really.

                                black3dynamiteB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • black3dynamiteB
                                  black3dynamite @scottalanmiller
                                  last edited by black3dynamite

                                  @scottalanmiller
                                  Besides Cinnamon, what other desktop environments do you recommend Windows users to try when they want to start using Linux?

                                  Mine are Cinnamon (Because of Linux Mint and Korora), Pantheon (Because of Elementary OS), Gnome and KDE.

                                  scottalanmillerS DustinB3403D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • scottalanmillerS
                                    scottalanmiller @black3dynamite
                                    last edited by

                                    @black3dynamite said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                    @scottalanmiller
                                    Besides Cinnamon, what other desktop environments do you recommend Windows users to try when they want to start using Linux?

                                    Mine are Cinnamon (Because of Linux Mint and Korora), Pantheon (Because of Elementary OS), Gnome and KDE.

                                    Cinnamon is definitely where I normally recommend Windows converts look first because it is like what the future of Windows 7 would have been if it advanced far beyond Windows 10.

                                    I like Budgie a lot, too. From the Solus project.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • DustinB3403D
                                      DustinB3403 @black3dynamite
                                      last edited by

                                      @black3dynamite said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                      @scottalanmiller
                                      Besides Cinnamon, what other desktop environments do you recommend Windows users to try when they want to start using Linux?

                                      Mine are Cinnamon (Because of Linux Mint and Korora), Pantheon (Because of Elementary OS), Gnome and KDE.

                                      Fedora would be a decent setup.

                                      scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • scottalanmillerS
                                        scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                                        last edited by

                                        @DustinB3403 said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                        @black3dynamite said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                        @scottalanmiller
                                        Besides Cinnamon, what other desktop environments do you recommend Windows users to try when they want to start using Linux?

                                        Mine are Cinnamon (Because of Linux Mint and Korora), Pantheon (Because of Elementary OS), Gnome and KDE.

                                        Fedora would be a decent setup.

                                        He's asking about actually desktop environments, not the distros.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • ObsolesceO
                                          Obsolesce
                                          last edited by

                                          I was exceptionally pleased with how Korora handled plugging in a TV via hdmi and played movies... And how easy it was to change the resolution and screens.

                                          But then again, im using hardware it fully 100% supports with 0 issues.

                                          Now if it was like that on on the same percentage of hardware that works well on Windows, it'd be a different world.

                                          DustinB3403D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • DustinB3403D
                                            DustinB3403 @Obsolesce
                                            last edited by

                                            @Tim_G said in Why Linux is Hard for Windows Users but Easy for Newbies:

                                            I was exceptionally pleased with how Korora handled plugging in a TV via hdmi and played movies... And how easy it was to change the resolution and screens.

                                            But then again, im using hardware it fully 100% supports with 0 issues.

                                            Now if it was like that on on the same percentage of hardware that works well on Windows, it'd be a different world.

                                            Are you saying you bought hardware to run Linux (specifically Korora)?

                                            ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • 1
                                            • 2
                                            • 3
                                            • 4
                                            • 5
                                            • 6
                                            • 3 / 6
                                            • First post
                                              Last post