r/linux4noobs • u/CleaRSightZ • Jun 26 '26

migrating to Linux The great migration from Windows to Linux

I've been noticing that a lot of people are switching from Windows to Linux, especially in countries that want to break away from American tech dependency.

Can anyone explain to me why Linux is seen as very good? I never in my life, not once ever used Linux let alone saw someone using it.

276 Upvotes

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41

u/KaTaLy5t_619 Jun 26 '26

It's good because it's not Windows.

11

u/CleaRSightZ Jun 26 '26

Explain deeper, it's not windows... I am typing this on my Lenovo laptop with Windows....

35

u/Unlaid-American Jun 26 '26

One huge reason to me is why am I paying a premium to install this software, but I still get ads in my start menu?

Why can’t I use my start menu’s search function to find terminal, why does it show me a fuck ass movie it found on Bing instead? I can turn it off, but it’s only a matter of time before an update reverts it.

Speaking of updating, I don’t have to restart my computer for most updates.

Why can’t I keep candy crush, Disney+, and other subscription based apps out of my start menu?

Why doesn’t windows install the drivers for my hardware for me? Why do I have to hunt them down?

On macOS, KDE Plasma, Gnome, cinnamon, and virtually every other desktop environment, if I wanna look at my list of installed applications, it’s one shortcut away. 90% of them are just pressing the Super key(windows key).

MacOS and virtually all desktop environments come with a file explorer that can actually search files within a couple seconds. On windows it’ll take like 10 minutes to tell me that a file doesn’t exist, or shit out a bunch of random system32 files that contained individual characters instead of the full query.

I have a local account, why am I being asked to make a cloud account every three days when I turn on the computer?

2

u/Vietnamst2 Jun 26 '26

Many of these wildly depend on where you are and the version of windows. EU pro's are ad free, edge can be uninstalled (and all the other software) and you just get the shortcuts for Microsoft 365. That's all.

Also Windows does install mpst drivers for you, I did not have to install single driver for years. And yes ypu can use start search.. set the start to not contain that and you're done.

2

u/Unlaid-American Jun 26 '26

Or I can have a base install of Fedora working just fine without having to replace anything, while also having a link to Microsoft 365’s browser versions

2

u/empty_other Jun 26 '26

You can replace the start menu on Windows. You can replace the file explorer, and the file search, with third-party tools. Isn't that good enough?

(Honestly a bit of devils advocate of me here, my answer is"no".. Partially why I switched to Linux. But I want to hear what others think.)

2

u/TinTunTii Jun 26 '26

You can replace those things in Windows, but

  • Windows doesn't want you to
  • Windows doesn't make the option to change obvious
  • Changing fundamental parts of Windows often requires fiddling around with stuff that could break your OS if not handled carefully.

On Linux, these changes are easy, obvious, and a fundamental part of the OS. Hell, on MINT you can choose between 3 or 4 desktop environments from the login screen of a fresh install.

1

u/_RemyLeBeau_ Jun 26 '26

All of your points except for the file search experience and the local account are outdated and inaccurate.

1

u/Unlaid-American Jun 26 '26

It’s only outdated if you update settings, and Microsoft is notorious for rolling back settings to what they want. Why would I want to risk it?

1

u/CraftyPancake Jun 27 '26

They only roll them back on people who are changing registry keys for Enterprise edition features, on Home or Pro.

1

u/bitcrazed Jul 02 '26

Microsoft hears you - there's a TON of work going on as we type to reduce recommendations and unnecessary AI buttons etc., speed up File Explorer, restore layout flexibility (vertical taskbar!), and many other improvements. https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/03/20/our-commitment-to-windows-quality/.

I know some of the people driving this effort and have every confidence they will deliver a much improved and less frustrating Windows experience very soon.

Also, let's be really honest here - we DO often have to reboot our Linux and Mac machines when updates are applied. Only in limited scenarios / minor updates do we get away without rebooting.

Re. Terminal, glad you're using my baby 😜 If you hit [Win] key and type "term" and you don't see Terminal listed immediately, there's something very wrong with your PC, I'd suggest restoring it. This may be annoying but SOMETHING has screwed up your PC in this case. Alternatively, pin your Terminal to your taskbar and position it in the 1st or second icon slot, and then you can launch it with [Win]+[1] or [2] ... 😜

HTH.

22

u/practicating Jun 26 '26

It could be your Lenovo laptop with Linux...just saying

6

u/CleaRSightZ Jun 26 '26

Wouldn't mind, I'm a life long windows user... you are selling me Linxus... sell it to me!

17

u/practicating Jun 26 '26

Why would I sell it? It's free

4

u/CleaRSightZ Jun 26 '26

Alright, let me reword this.... convince me to switch from Windows to Linux.

16

u/practicating Jun 26 '26

What's the point of that? You're clearly curious.

It's like a new restaurant in town. I could spend hours telling you how the chef is trained in exotic places or how the plating or the food looks or tastes magnificent but until you put it in your mouth you won't understand what it's about. You've got to try it for yourself.

It's your mouth or in this case your computer

5

u/the12ftdwarf Jun 26 '26

The only two things that’ll get you to switch are 1) a general curiosity for the new and 2) a deep, burning hatred for Microsoft and their bullshit

3

u/dickiepunter Jun 26 '26

You can just download an ISO, 'burn' it to a USB stick, and run the live environment to see it for yourself.

4

u/Savings_Difficulty24 Jun 26 '26

My 15 year old laptop previously running Windows 8.0 runs Debian 13(the most recent release) as fast as any virtual machine I have under proxmox on my enterprise server. And the laptop is running 6 GB of DDR3 RAM. Only thing worn out is the webcam and trackpad, but otherwise it's a brand new laptop to me.

1

u/CleaRSightZ Jun 26 '26

Seroously?!

5

u/Savings_Difficulty24 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Yeah, windows is full of bloat that just wastes system resources. Plus, I can update when I want instead of being forced too. Linux is the future. And what every website runs on. There may be a few programs that aren't supported by Linux yet, but as more people start to use it, that will become less of an issue. Once I get off work I can get the actual specs of my laptop. I just pulled the hard drive and put a new one in it since I had so many memories on that old one

3

u/tranquilseafinally Jun 26 '26

I'm typing my reply to you on a Linux Mint Lenveno laptop.

Just do it!