We all know Windows and its problems. But I'm curious to see what made you say "here's where I draw the line" to finally switch to linux.
In my case, it was performance: My laptop was becoming more and more slow with every Windows update to the point that just having the system up and running would make the fans of the laptop go crazy, even if I had nothing open. Installing linux in this laptop made it feel like if I just bought a completely new laptop.
Initially it was curiosity but this was around 2006 or 2007.
Windows Update getting ridiculously bad is basically what killed it for me. On more than one occasion at work Windows would just decide to update and take FOREVER to do it when I really needed my computer on time urgent matters. This was probably 2015 or 2016 when I basically totally rid myself of Windows. Prior to this I was dual-booting Linux and Windows. Currently use Zorin and MacOS
It really is best to reinstall Windows about once a year and those issues will go away. Not that I am pushing Windows or anything.
Windows is really bad about slowing down overtime
For me, it was both curiosity and performance, and maybe me messing up with my entire Windows partition.
My computer would be absolutely garbage with Windows 10 and 11 since my PC still uses HDD, so i was stuck on either 7 or 8.1 (had to use 8.1 because 7 gave me compatibility issues with some apps i used). Then i started to search for linux distros out of curiosity, tested like 10 different ones, but only Zorin gaved me a good experience with no glitches, and when i decided to install it, i basically killed the Windows partition lol, so i just might put Zorin and later an W7 partition just in case i need to use some application that not even wine can run.
Anyway, after i installed Zorin (Core version), EVERY thing in my system started to be ultra fast and responsive, stuff that would run terribly started to run smoothly, i'm very glad that i installed it.
By the way, with Windows my CPU temps would be like 80c-90c straight, and after i installed Zorin they went to 40 idle and around 60 full load lol.
I've heard about that, but seeing things like not officially supporting windows 11, forcing to have programs that i don't want and i don't need without being able to uninstall them and things like that is what made me wish there was an alternative. And seeing in a 10 seconds video on youtube how low was ram usage in linux and then seeing on info videos about the steam deck that linux isn't as bad as i've always thought, that's when i decided that linux would bring a new life to my laptop
Funny enough, some problems it had since day 1 on windows, like not measuring the battery percentage correctly, were fixed by itself on linux after around a week of use
If only there were more people with that same mentality to try out new things... hats off to you.
For me the final push came when I decided to update to Windows 10, after many months of getting annoying prompts to do so, only to find out my hardware wasn't compatible. There were many other things, but this was the last straw for me.
I didn't completely ditch Windows but it's when I started to look for something else. At first I looked at Apple but I couldn't really justify the price for my needs at the time. So I went with this vaguely familiar name of "Ubuntu" and I really liked how strangely intuitive everything was.
I remember getting frustrated with simple things like installing Firefox or Chrome... but I insisted. And it has been plenty rewarding experience.
Not officially supporting Windows 11, was the breaker for me, it's not an old computer as such, just felt that Windows was ripping folks off, How many thousands of computer owners were faced with being unable to upgrade, I started with Windows 98! Any way, I tried puppy Linux to learn with a duel boot, then went back to Windows because of games, but now with proton and wine "hic" I'm back on Zorin and love it, bit slow at times, but I'm learning all the time, Any way, Bill Gates and Co. have enough money now!
I can't really recall it. It was back in 1999 - I think it was due to you could change theme on Linux. Most be KDE 2.0 or something.
EDIT: Found the box I bought back then
Well i was a children when i have some experience with linux. Then i found linux and Zorin. Then next 30 years linux birthday and drivers for my pc, pushed me to trying it how it evolution and check, what are diffrents. Watching now dillema social 2020 movie.
Blockquote "here's where I draw the line"
More 'spat the dummy' after win10 told me my 2019 i7 dell with 16gb ram was not compatible with win11 -phew, don't have to worry!
Of course MS decided to involuntarily upgrade me to win11 anyway - via an "update." Thereby crapping most of the security hardware because .. not compatible with win11.
Stuff this, back to Linux.
The reason for me was also -> try something new. Win7 was used for many years on my laptops but the support stopped. Never installed an update and someone said ``you have to install win10, because its safe´´. So ive searched for some linux distro, reading a lot about it and came to Zorin. It's not as well known as Mint or all the others, like Zorin is not a mainstream distro (-: Or is it now?
I like to change everything on my desktop not only wallpapers, all your different settings are gorgeous but i dont know how to do this. Also learning more english, thats the reason why i'm registered in this forum.
Windows did the exact same thing to me. Upgraded to Win11 without consent or notice.
I watched it do it.
Even so, many claim that it Will Not Do That.
Oh, it's a disputed thing? I just assumed it was basic MS f*ckery. Wow, okay, interesting.
I watched update installing the usual way ..98% installed, etc, but the first sign that I'd been upgraded, not updated, was after restart and being greeted with 'Welcome to Windows 11' ... me, wtaf
win11 alert: "Core integrity is switched off" .. me, wtaf
win11 alert note: "Hardware not compatible with win11" ... me, wtaaaaf
Sidenote: I was updating from the dev channel. Not because I'm a dev but because it was just a much more reliable feedback channel over minor UI bugs and glitches than that damn stupid crashy feedback app. But I wonder if that was how the upgrade happened. Still shouldn't have happened of course.
Incredibly, this is because Windows 11 did not support Ryzen 5 2400G.
Bottom left of screen, click on Start.
"Zorin appearance" lower right (of menu)
Change themes, dark, light, images etc
Doing good on the English cookie!
I like Penguins
I'm all for BBQ.
I have few:
Introduction to open-source,
Deep customisation,
Live session instead of installation (a wow factor till now),
Desktop environments for low-end to high-end systems,
A Terminal that can do wonders,
That a terminal is enough for a fully functional operating system,
Wide-ranging distributions,
Learning technology is actually fun,
Easy distro hopping,
Experimenting with what's not working,
And finally it's Windows 
I'm a newbie to Zorin, and Linux in general, having used Windows since version 3.1. I eagerly embraced every new version (along the NT line, which I jumped to with NT4), and loved using W7.
What made me want to switch away from Windows was the way MS imposed a mobile (i.e. touch-oriented) UI in post-W7 editions, even for mouse/keyboard users like me on my workstation.
What's worse is that - years after W8 - the UI is still an ugly, kludgy mix of touch-oriented (e.g. Settings) and mouse-oriented (e.g. Control Panel and all the more technical stuff).
I've got W10 on a Sony hybrid and I think it's a great mobile OS - way better than Android or ChromeOS. Microsoft did some genuinely innovative work in the mobile space. But on desktop machines? Noooo! We have 'File Save' and 'Print' dialogs that take up the entire screen, FFS! Look at the Settings app: all the UI elements are enormous (finger-sized). Compare those blue slider switches with the old radio buttons and check boxes. Observe the acres of white space. I honestly think my mouse mileage must have tripled between W7 and W10.
Microsoft should have done what Apple did and kept their desktop and mobile OSs separate. Then you'd get the best of both worlds.
I'm drawn to Linux (currently Zorin) because it's like W7: a coherent, mouse/keyboard-oriented UI. So much more elegant (in the design sense) than W10. Unfortunately every Linux I've tried - including Zorin - has left me disappointed or frustrated. Whoever claims that Linux won't freeze or crash are plain wrong; whoever complains about having to type in their password for Windows' UAC will find they must do the same, about as often, with Linux. Whoever claims Linux rarely needs rebooting after an update are, again, wrong. And is Linux really more secure? When it comes to security updates to patch new threats, Windows and Linux are very comparable; for several of the most recent years, Windows has required fewer.
I think for me the biggest challenge with Linux is how amateurish so much of the software seems. It's all too obvious that it is hobby-ware, developed by hyper-intelligent geeks who write fantastic code but who have no access to any usability labs, and who can't understand why their thrown-together UI isn't immediately obvious and intuitive to "normal" users. And despite claims to the contrary, that terminal window is never very far away.
So far, Zorin is my favourite distro, but I still find it frustrating and disappointing in small ways. Truth be told, I think I'd like MS to split Windows into mobile and desktop versions (the latter having a W7-like UI) and then I'd use that all the time.
Hi, and welcome!
I agree with many of the things you've said. It's untrue that the perfect system exists and you will have different experience based on too many factors to count. Even on Windows, different manufacturers translated on different experiences.
For me personally, I wouldn't have made the switch from Windows if we still had something like Windows 7 available. In my opinion this was the peak of their work.
That is by design, and one of the reasons Linux is more secure. If you recall, in earlier versions of Windows all you had to do is click "Ok" when trying to install something.
My experience tells me otherwise, especially on servers. Do you have anything to back this claim?
This is a big topic to get into. But implying that fewer updates is indicative of better security is very misleading, to say the least.
Without taking any validity away from your argument, this actually makes perfect sense. Linux has been mostly developed for server environments where skilled, qualified workers were needed.
In my opinion, sacrificing functionality in the name of aesthetics is a catastrophic mistake. And what good are usability labs for when feedback falls into deaf ears? The metro interface from Windows 8 or the Ribbon framework are excellent examples of such catastrophic failure.
Very Well Said.
My first thought on reading that, as well. That is not a valid metric. What matters is quality of patches, not frequency. Most interestingly, if a person were to gauge frequency is relevant, it could as easily imply that Linux is more on top of things and faster.
That these two points are in such contrast demonstrates its lack of validity as a measurement.
I have never heard anyone claim this...
This is a good point: Since users moving to Linux complain that they have to use a Sudo Password. I often remind them that they had to on Windows, validate everything, just as often if not more so.
The terminal is a very powerful and useful utility and part of this issue here is in fearing it rather than embracing it.
On Windows, I needed to drop to cmd prompt daily.
It was a very rare day I did not need to open cmd multiple times.
I needed to install on Windows using Ninja in the cmd prompt often.
And probably, the most frequent use of it was merely to run regedit in order to change some d-word value - a practice I do not sorely miss, I can tell you.
