Idk, I installed fedora 40 some time ago, and many things were broken out of the box. In that regard windows seems a bit more friendly to a new user
Linux Mint and Zorin OS work out of the box for most users. Usually the most complicated part is just the installation process (which can be an absolute pain if the starting system has Intel RST, Secure Boot and Fast Boot all enabled). Of course, more advanced users always can run the risk of breaking something (I accidentally broke my system irreparably at one point when I did a dumb and formatted my Swap for some reason and had to reinstall) but that’s also true of Windows.
Okay, zorin os , not complicated part is not true. On any Linux 1., try to find where is program main executable is 2. Put that at startup, so thatbsoftwre starts at login 3. Connect HDD and ensure that it’s available in ALL programs , without touching terminal. These things are trivial in windows. Linux or the v n zonrin works out of box if you just want to surf Internet.
Isn’t surfing the web the main use case for a large portion of the PC/Laptop user base? Pretty sure for wide swaths of people, “executable”, “startup program” and “HDD” have no meaning. Not saying that’s “right” or “wrong”, just that that’s my observation. You could make the argument that they might as well switch to Chromebook, and in fact, many do.
For intermediate users, there’s a graphical startup program menu for selecting startup apps, at least in Mint Cinnamon. Usually programs for me won’t be able to access my HDD only if I did an even more advanced thing and made a docker instance without permissions - other than that, I’ve been able to connect programs like Steam (Flatpack) to my external HDD without issue. But maybe that’s just Mint, idk.
But they layer so many unwanted services and bloatware on top that it makes it hard to use. Being forced to be online to log in and forced use of OneDrive confuses new users just as much
It sounds like you’ve read about but not used windows for a while tbh. The going online thing is true, but its not exactly confusing. Not sure what you mean by onedrive, I uninstalled it years ago.
I think you haven’t installed (not used) windows in a while if you don’t understand what he means by the forced onedrive
Why would you skip online login? It protects your laptop from being stolen, it syncs settings between devices, etc. Do you skip online logins for Android and iOS phones too? Of course you don’t!
“Online login protects your laptop from being stolen” is the most unhinged broken logic I’ve read in a while ngl
Being forced to be online to log in and forced use of OneDrive confuses new users just as much
You’re not forced to use either of those, IIRC. Just set it up without connecting to the internet or without signing in.
No, there are no facilities for installing W11 offline or without a MS account anymore. MS removed those.