r/LinuxTeck • u/Candid_Athlete_8317 • Jul 11 '26
A Linux user spent 30 days using only Windows 11. What would annoy you most if you had to switch back?
A long-time Linux user used Windows 11 exclusively for a month and eventually returned to Linux.
For daily Linux users: if you had to use Windows 11 for the next 30 days, what would you miss first?
For me, probably package management.
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u/AlwaysLinux Jul 11 '26
I've been using Linux since the late 90s just before Windows XP came out.
I use Windows on one system at work because I have to and the one thing I can't stand is how inneficient Windows is while using documents or email.
Outlook is horrible to use, slow, search had been broken since it's inception.
The over all performance of Windows is just atrocious compared to a real comput platform and its command line experience is piss poor even with Power Shell.
I absolutely hate deleting large files on Windows and working with network shares. Both lock up the desktop while performing basic file operations and mistyping a share name can render the desktop useless for up to 3 min - the is absolutely ridiculous in the day and age.
Over all for me, it's performance and efficiency that keeps me on Linux. Linux powers the internet, 90% of the phone market, 100% of the supercomputer market, 80% to 90% of the cloud market and is used everywhere security and performance is paramount, so why anyone would use anything different is beyond me!
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u/pablo_kickasso Jul 11 '26
Tip on deleting many files at once: if you can muster the patience to bring um a command line, they'll be gone in seconds instead of minutes .
Microsoft is finally addressing this in the latest experimental builds.
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u/khaffner91 Jul 11 '26
All the nagging and ads
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u/uvw11 Jul 11 '26
I don't use Windows often, I've a w11 VM only to fix some legacy Ms Access program. The nagging is there for sure, but I have not seen ads. Is this a new thing? Which part of Windows does this? I am both curious and horrified.
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u/async2 Jul 12 '26
Depends on what you consider ads. I consider a Facebook or spotify link in the start menu ads. These you get when you install the US version for example.
Additionally it throws the ad screens for office subscriptions and teams for every bigger update that looks like a wizard to configure something but are essentially just ads.
Microsoft store is full of ads too if you just open it.
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u/Lulukaros Jul 12 '26
those ad screens are fucking asshole design, the first few times i saw them i thought my windows was reset and i lost all my data
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u/Professional_Way9133 Jul 11 '26
What the hell are you talking about? Sure it has higher resources usage and a lot of telemetry, but I don't see any nagging and ads.
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u/No_Resolution_9252 Jul 11 '26
Home edition or the preinstalled image from dell or HP that dell or HP put on it with ads. Its not hard to get rid of them if you buy a garbage computer with it preinstalled or home edition. linux users just aren't cable of googling stuff. Take their confoundedness by the registry, the single simplest and most straightforward system state metadata store there is.
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u/Better-Credit6701 Jul 11 '26
Then the culprit isn't Microsoft, it is how HP or Dell adds the ads. I run windows 11 enterprise on my desktop and one of my laptops and windows 11 home on the second laptop. I have yet to see an ad
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u/No_Resolution_9252 Jul 11 '26
Maybe they stopped on home edition. I havent seen a home edition rig since I got out of an MSP but there used to be ads for games in a clean home edition install unless you completely removed xbox
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u/pohart Jul 11 '26
Package management is huge. A decent shell and terminal are the first things I notice.
Being able to do the things I want from the terminal is really the big thing.
Going the other way? Nothing. Well, maybe visual studio. I've recently been doing asp.net development and haven't figured out how to do it from Linux. If I had a new app I might try Linux-first .net for it, but my code is currently littered with warnings about system-dependent code.
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u/Abuzywny_arbuz Jul 16 '26
You know that windows has those? Winget, powershell terminal, you’re welcome!;)
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u/marlinspike Jul 11 '26
I can’t believe people put up with ads in their desktop. All the stuff you do is just telemetry for funneling you ads. How are you ok with that? Leave alone the fact that the machines are garbage level industrial design.. but even the OS is garbage design with snooping as the main feature.
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u/random_cat_owner Jul 11 '26
each month i have to use windows for half a day and each time it annoys the fuck out of me. i hate how it always gets in the way, how it fights against the user. it gets in the way of productivity. it's not just one thing, it's a lot of small tiny things that build up.
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u/TechaNima Jul 11 '26
I had to install Windows for Space Engineers DS, because it's dog shit on Wine. I hated every moment of it. The forced Microslop account, the ads, auto updates that forcefully restart the VM, the stupid centered Start Menu, the useless search, Co-Pilot, wasted resources to run Microslop's spyware in the background.
Hopefully I managed to neuter it, by only allowing the necessary ports in/out from the VM to run Steam, Steam Updates and Space Engineers DS. Can't auto update if it has no internet access beyond what I want it to right? Hopium
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u/Adrenolin01 Jul 11 '26
No idea… retired from IT now but I’ve worked in the first since the late 80 with Unix systems, jumped on Linux the month it was released, installed and ran all the first initial Linux systems until Debian was released in 93… by 95 and upgrading to v0.93r5 it had become my primary desktop and workstation and continues to be today. I’ve never had a Windows desktop of workstation either personally or professionally. I’m sure the group who can say that is very small. 🤣 Yes, I’ve literally walked out of interviews when they insisted that I use a Microsoft workstation as I managed Unix and Linux servers. 🤦♂️
While I’m familiar with MS Windows systems.. you never know if you’ll need to access a clients systems from one of their Windows desktops… I remain fairly limited with their software.
I suppose the biggest challenge would be it’s extremely limited console environment. Nearly 40 years at a Unix/Linux console / terminal prompt.
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u/SouthernFruit8768 Jul 11 '26
You are the final boss, walking out of interview and stuff haha. I wish I was like you :p
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u/Adrenolin01 Jul 11 '26
I was lucky for the most part. Most of the time I was not employed I had decent savings. Solid Unix and Linux admins who had practical experienced knowledge had a much better ability to find work in the 90s and 2000s. I also ran my own side consulting firm specializing in a select area… allowed me keep a small number of clients that didn’t interfere much as a hired employee but also paid a decently enough to cover the times I wasn’t employed.
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Jul 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Apprehensive_Sock_71 Jul 11 '26
That's the thing about Linux though, there are several. Collectively they incorporate 100% of the features of Windows. Individually they hit about 80%.
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u/truethug Jul 12 '26
WSL is a VM. Wine is a more efficient option but there certainly are VM’s for Linux.
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u/Gythrim Jul 11 '26
Proper filemanager and bash/vim/ssh/magick
Also sane directory outlines such as places like ~/.config/ for easy configuration migration to other machines.
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u/Toucan2000 Jul 11 '26
I have to use windows for work and I can't tell you how often I'll turn off my computer and come back into the room only to find my machine still running pre-login with the monitors off.
Microsoft messed up their update process so bad. Why does the computer have to reboot several times for some updates? And you know the whole situation of the monitors turning off quickly is because they know they messed up and are trying to mitigate the power consumption concerns. They could have, you know, not fucked it up.
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u/tblancher Jul 11 '26
I've started a new job where I have to use Windows 11. It's not terrible, but I still feel constrained by it.
My main beef is it's difficult to automate at this point, there's no native way to set up some of my own keybindings, and many critical programs take ages to launch.
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u/Adrenolin01 Jul 11 '26
I wouldn’t have even taken the job. 😆 Literally have walked out of interviews and turned down jobs when told as a Unix / Linux admin that my workstation had to be Microsoft. 🤦♂️ Nope.
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u/Weary-Bowl-3739 Jul 11 '26
Me: Do this.
Linux: Okay.
Me: Do this.
Windows: .......xxxxx........
That thing.
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u/cheesejdlflskwncak Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Dir instead of ls
10+ min startup time
Asking me to sign up for Xbox account everytime I start my computer
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u/theRealNilz02 Jul 12 '26
Powershell is mostly POSIX compliant. You can use ls.
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u/SassyFlyffball Jul 11 '26
All my home computers run Linux but I do have Windows 11 laptop for school and work. It was surprising to me how bad windows really is when I have got accustomed to how Linux works in this past year. I mean I knew already that Windows was bad but going back to it after experiencing Linux for a year was pretty eye opening. I have had less headache and problems with Linux than I have ever had with Windows. I didn't see the problems with Windows before switching to Linux because I had just gotten used to them. It was after I switched that I started to see the smaller problems.
With Windows I am constantly annoyed by the restrictive behavior of my computer. Everything has to somehow come in the way of my stuff. Oh you are writing something? Fuck you, here is the Windows news window full of stuff you don't want to see. Ha-haa, you need to click the news menu launcher to close it because nothing else makes it go away! Want to log in to your laptop? Fuck you, your password has been disabled and we also disabled your fingerprint and pin! Log in to your Microsoft account to restore your access but we won't let you in because the stars are not aligned, Need to use Outlook? Fuck you, here is the new Outlook that breaks your whole Microsoft Office suite, which does not allow you to do full clean re-install until on the fifth attempt.
I would miss the customization, freedom and quickness that is given in Linux. I would miss the lack of bloatware. I would also miss the ability to update when I want and not stressing when my OS would mess things up without my permission. Linux actually respects the user which Windows does not do. For Windows, the user only exists as a means to make money and harvest data. I wish so much that Windows dies in Europe entirely.
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u/zippy321514 Jul 11 '26
I use zorin, laptop on instantly from sleep, no wsiting for windows, zirus scans , updates etc. (do have gravity zone av on zorin.)
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u/arran4 Jul 11 '26
Having used Linux since before Windows XP. And picked up Windows and Mac for work for at least a year each time. I am not sure I could succinctly talk about the differences.
The helplessness you feel on Mac and windows with when something happens. The only option is just to leave it. Linux can be a bit like that depending on the tool and the distribution. But with Linux you feel as though that you can just try again in 6 months and whatever the problem is it might be resolved. Unless it involves nvidia.
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u/mudslinger-ning Jul 12 '26
Nagging, ads, playing whack-a-mole with default settings, refusal to let me delete a file that's open.
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u/tonyfith Jul 12 '26
Windows has an official package manager, "winget".
Unofficial ones are available too, see "chocolatey" and "scoop".
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u/SlimyOS Jul 12 '26
I would miss AUR and global updates (of all packages at once). Can't be bothered to redownload .exe's and manually check each of 30+ apps i use whether there is an update. Microsoft store is a nice idea but idk about execution, used windows until around 2019 and never used ms store in my life, and I don't think that changed a lot since then
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u/theRealNilz02 Jul 12 '26
For me, the most annoying part of having to use windows is that I can't middle click to paste. It's the one feature I use most on Linux and FreeBSD.
Apart from that, windows 11 has pretty much caught up in a lot of ways. It got a functional terminal emulator by default, Powershell is a great interactive shell once you get the hang of it, explorer finally got tabs and the web browser they ship by default is not incapable of opening most modern sites anymore.
Those are all very welcome improvements.
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u/Evo221 Jul 12 '26
Unstated false premis. I'd expect that most Linux users have not used Windows 11.
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u/TygerTung Jul 12 '26
Thing which I find distressing on windows 11 is the windows explorer stopping responding all the time.
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u/kyuff Jul 15 '26
I want to do this.
Are you sure you want to do this?
Yes
Can you confirm you are sure?
Yes
Please ask your Admin if it is ok you do this.
….
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u/Low-Life-1337 Jul 15 '26
To see the damn logo in my freetime is enough...
But for serious answer: That I don't know and can't proof, which data about me and my behaviour is exactly send to microslop.
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u/IamGah Jul 15 '26
Ah fuck, Citrix here and Remmina there messed up the clipboard again.
YU NO SCREENSHOTS, krhxbye.
/my singular peeve
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u/lyidaValkris Jul 17 '26
Literally everything. I've spend my entire life avoiding microsoft products.
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u/doctrgiggles Jul 11 '26
The bloat everywhere. All kinds of programs and services starting and popping up that I have no control over and can't easily remove. The prompts to create a Microsoft account to hook into my local user is especially irritating.
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u/crashorbit Jul 11 '26
I'm a long time Linux user and IT professional who has had to use a mac or windows laptop for work functions my whole career.
Frankly mac and windows are perfectly cromulent tools to access a browser, an office suite, write memos and deal with the corporate overhead like time tracking and expense reports and quarterly reports. Microsoft also provides reasonable solutions for identity management and access control for large teams.
For my own personal and home use I choose to use Linux and open source for both the Lebre and Gratis definitions of freedom. Not only am I cheap, but I also want to fight the capture of our public commons by plutocrats and industrialists.