Back to Windows 10 as the daily driver for work and for fun. It was OK, but the sour taste from seeing the factory manager being bullied by Microsoft back in 1998 to accept paying a license for every computer the factory made, regardless of many of them being sold to companies already having MOL licenses, never really left my mouth. And slowly I felt myself being drawn back to giving the Linux desktop another try. And it did feel OK, but not quite right. And things were a bit off and felt not quite there. And why was the desktop environment so bloody ugly and inconsistent?

And then I searched for "Linux for Mac users" and found Zorin OS. My desktop ran a dual boot for a couple of months, and then the Windows partition was removed and replaced by a virtual machine for the few times I needed to fire up Capture One Pro and retrieve images from an old project for a customer. My laptop lasted a year longer, mostly because I was not sure that it would be well supported by Linux, but after major Windows 11 update it became so slow that it required a reinstallation anyway. After a brief check with a Live USB version of Zorin OS 17, the entire hard disk was wiped and Zorin has been living there (alone) ever since.

I use e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and an internet browser 90% of the time, with a bit of gaming (Modern Warfare 2 and Detroit: Become Human) thrown in for good measure. It works perfectly. I still have my old Windows 11 virtual machine, but for the last year or so it has only been booted to update it with the latest security fixes and then shut down again.

Your recommendation of Zorin OS is spot on. I have not found a Linux distribution that is as easy on the eyes and at them same time as rock solid in daily use, and installing it is actually easier than installing Windows 11 - there are no nag screens and attempts to make you submit to tracking of your location, your use of software and actions on the internet.

I know that Windows users may think that things are not that bad, but seriously - use Zorin OS for a month and then go back to WIndows 11. Yes, it is really that much of a different experience.

The moment you compare on equal footing using a device from Valve, Tuxedo, Slimbook, System76 etc. with its native OS, 90% of the usual pain points suddenly vanish.

Yet when you have an issue on android do you google “how to turn on WiFi on Linux”?

No, because we both know I’m talking about GNU/Linux, and not Android, just as Mr.Bryant was.

just google how to do it on ubuntu

That would work great if I wanted to use Ubuntu (the worst Linux distro).

and distro maintainers will do the rest

1. They don’t
2. I don’t want anyone repackaging my apps and potentially shoving in malicious code, I want them from the developer.

Your premise is wrong, just google how to do it on ubuntu.

and devs have to support just an executable (or even .deb if theyre feeling fancy), and distro maintainers will do the rest. Thats like a gold standard of free labour

Okay well let me know when everyone agrees to do that. Until then…

the most common options are accessible through a GUI

Do a web search for “How to [do literally anything] in Linux” and tell me it doesn’t come back with a bunch of terminal commands.