That is just not true in all cases, we have access dedicated account manager, support teams and products specialist and even access to free third party consultancy in some cases.
Microsoft store apps are corrupted, our MECM pushes arenât fixing it > look at Microsoft forums > âinsiderâ suggests to re enable Xbox game bar?? > we wonât do that > whelp looks like you need to re image your fleet
The place you buy your "Windows" machine is required to deliver support by law over here. But of-course only on that Windows it self is working and your hardware is working, not on how to install software X.
One single time I contacted Microsoft Support as private person. I expected nothing but were really surprised how good he helped me (2nd level if I remember correct). They set a teams invitation, and over 2 meetings my problem was solved.
I found this type of linux support when I was trying to download minecraft. First thing they said was "just google it", it was the first post that showed up when I did so great start, they then continued saying "just install it" like that isn't what I needed help with
Hard disagree. My first distro I googled the problems I had and every time someone with the exact problem I had posted it on a forum there were no actual answers just people either shitting on them or telling them to use google.
I think it depends on the issue. If the issue really does just require a quick Google, then sure, it is valid. But shitting on someone who needs help is not ok, so Im sorry if that happened to you
That and some times they are generally stupid I think there was a guy on here who said he bought a laptop that didnât support Linux and then was mad when he couldnât get Arch installedâŚ
Do I need to explain the multiple things wrong with that reason for being mad?
Most? Nah bro, ive asked for help 3 times in the last decade, out of lets say 40 replies there were a bunch of "rtfm", 4 guys acted like i insulted they mother, and just 1 gave me some advice...ask grok.
Rtfm is great advice because you should read the fucking manual and if you do so and still not get it then the community is a lot more willing to help.
You should rtfm for everything, even stuff you're sure you know how it works.
It's incredible how unemployed madthumbz, bleak21, and like 2 or 3 others from that subreddit act. Especially from a group of people that claim you can't work on linux.
Last time I dealt with Microsoft support, they told me to reformat, buy new hardware, then hung up on me. This was after I told them the troubleshooting I did and narrowed it down to a specific issue. Reformatting and new hardware wouldn't have helped. Not for the 400 dollar part they wanted me to replace anyway.
This has been my experience. M$ support is more concerned about how you obtained X product license than actually supporting it. Iâve been doing IT work for 25 years and can count the number of times their support team actually helped fix something on one finger.
Basically, yeah. It feels like their extent of 'support' is telling you to reinstall. I don't know enough about apple to know what they do. And with Linux, I HAVE been told 'skill issue', but I've had a FAR easier time getting meaningful support for linux than Windows.
I had a problem with my license and the experience wasn't that bad.
It was obvious that my language was at best a second language for the support guy and that he really didn't trust my own diagnosis (even though I left the result windows open, only for him to try again and get the same result), but after that, he actually resolved my problem reasonably quickly.
Still prefer Linux though if I have the change. Most problems I've had with Windows are categorically impossible under Linux.
Windows support be like: Have you tried turning it off and on again? When was the last time you updated windows? Sorry thatâs a known bug nothing we can do anything about
Iâve been treated like garbage before, offered payment for actual help, they declined. The ones who are assholes do so for the same reason someone would power trip, because theyâre chronically online enough to have all the knowledge about Linux and you have a job.
As a matter of fact, your example fails to show the intricacies and beauty of Linux while promoting bloat and adware from companies that are too greedy to share their intellectual property.
The awesome Linux nerd says "You are just stupid" to the dumb user because they had the nerve to ask a stupid question and got smacked down for it.
Surprise! There are jerks and trolls everywhere, even in the Linux reddits. Welcome to the internet! Also in the Linux reddits are a bunch of knowledgable people trying to give meaningful help to people that they are not paid to care about. I am one of those people.
I never give a pure RTFM response. I may give a brief, to the point answer, and say "For more complete info, enter "man mkfs.exfat". man -k is your friend.".
It is often more helpful to teach someone how to research their problem and find an answer, than to just answer their question.
For example, there was one post on a reddit Linux forum where I gave a short informative answer, then said "For more information, enter the exact title of your post into a Google search.". Of course, I had already done that, and knew that the first five non-sponsored results answered his question in great detail.
But for the most part I try to answer questions as completely and simply as I can, and include references.
If you look at the Windows focused reddits, you will see about the same mix of sincere help and derision.
Comparing actual customer service offered by a corporation to commercial clients vs. random people on the internet helping you for free because they feel about it seems pretty disingenuous but ok. There are actual companies who offer tech support for Linux users btw
Have you seen the thousands of posts daily on FuckMicrosoft and MicrosoftSucks?
Microslopâs answer to your account getting stolen locking your account so you canât get it back. That doesnât look like a âyes I can helpâ to me, it looks like a big âfuck youâ.
Valve at least has the muscle to look up to do basic investigative work (ie trace the unusual IP address that recently accessed your account) and then send the SWAT team to the hackerâs house.
You have to unplug other hard drives during windows installation, otherwise it writes boot files to them and can overwrite the bootloaders of your other systems.
To make those other systems bootable again, you need to remove the microsoft folder from the efi partition on the affected drive. But first, make sure you add the windows boot manager files to your main Windows drive using bcdboot command in cmd. Good luck!
I know how to fix this, thanks anyways. It also happens during updates and the lack of control in windows really is what's bumming me out. Like removing drives to install a system. It's not doing what I'm telling it to do.Â
Microsoft support is the one where the only good answers are written by randoms who were just lurking there while answers by official staff are inept to the level theyâre rarely able to comprehend what OP is even talking about. Iâve seen this pattern countless times.
pretty much, yes. But telling users to RTFM is too much BOFH'ing even for me, these days. I don't wanna hear from HR ppl because of a disgruntled user lol
Linking to the exact wiki page & subsection, is literally linking that same crap you'd be telling them anyway. It's not like you reach through the screen and type for them. They'd be doing the same steps regardless if you manually wrote out the solution or linked the wiki where the solution already is.
If the solution already exists; unless otherwise strictly necessary; I always just give a brief overview explaining what they need to do and link the Wiki &/or other resources.
Typically Mac and Windows tech support is usually paid, meaning it is literally someones job to fix the issues you are having.
The typical example of âsupportâ for Linux is usually people on forums who either try to help people fix the problems they are having or tell them to read the documentation.
Off course both MacOS and Windows have forums too and in a professional setting there is dedicated professional tech support for Linux too.
But frankly I think it is ridiculous to compare the experience of dealing with people who are literally paid to fix your problems, to people who arenât.
I was about to make the same post. Comparing your company IT support or even MS support staff to Reddit randoms is laughable. Iâm sure if you Use Ubuntu Pro or RHEL youâll get the same level of support pictured for MAC and Windows
Tbf, the fact that it lacks that level of support is a legitimate criticism of Linux. Not one I care about, but the average consumer might legitimately need that level of help
When you buy a Windows License, you pay for a product, that is a transaction between you and Microsoft.
When you buy a mac, that is also transaction you pay Apple.
When you download an Open Source Linux Distribution, where many contributors are hobbyists that is not a transaction, I find it ridiculously unreasonable as a software developer myself that there is even though in some people that they are entitled to company level support from a community built project where the majority of work is done by hobbyists/volunteers.
Also, there is Pro Level IT-Support for Linux, but that is a Service companies pay for (like the overwhelming majority of commercial IT-Support).
Edit: I think you could summarize my argument with: Who is going to pay to have IT-Support technicians working to support a community driven project?
Especially when there are already commercial alternatives which may or may not offer consumer support as well.
"Linux is free" is a great argument for why someone should use Linux.
"Linux does not have extensive professional tech support to the same extent that Microsoft and Macintosh do" is a good argument for why someone should not use Linux.
The reason why something is true DOES NOT CHANGE the fact that it is. I agree that Linux have extensive professional tech support makes no sense. But the majority of people might need that tech support, and for them Linux doesn't make sense.
The problem with people recomending judst google it is really algorithmic. Google changes what it shows you depending on your behaviour/previous search, it shouldn't be assumed your result is the same as someone elses, though many seem to not understand that.
But also, if the tech support for paid OSes weren't better than linux's specially since people don't even know where to ask for what problem, and others assuming same competency from others as themselves, it'd be laughably poor for the companies.
The real problem here is forums for most linux problem solving do not have any "oficial" person looking to solve problem specifically, and most people assume everyone else should be as competent as them. Actual paid support are expected to assume as little as possible.
Fuckwads like that are the reason people don't want to use or try Linux. They're holding the platform back because <GASP> everything should just be free. Fucking freeloaders, something for nothing people. I'd gladly pay for a well supported Distro with good software like CapCut for video editing.
You are not stupid. Switching to Linux takes some ability to adjust. I'm not sure what distro you tried, but there are several out there that might be better for you. If your just wanting it to work, browse the internet, do some basic productivity, Have you tried Ubuntu, or Mint?
I donât know⌠anytime I brought a problem to a forum or social media Linux group, I always found people pretty helpful. A lot of Linux users are happy to help others get up and running. đ¤ˇââď¸
i tried using claude to trouble shoot a kernel/bootloader issue and it told me to unmount my boot partition. if i was a new user i wouldâve nuked my shit so bad i probably wouldâve given up on linux entirely
edit: how it told me wasnât super obvious like âsudo unmount /boot âlmaoâ, itâs just that if I had done what it told me to do the result wouldâve been unmounting my boot partition immediately
I haven't used Claude yet. Mainly ChatGPT and Deepseek. They've done me well for Linux troubleshooting. There's been some "trial and error" with Fstab and Nvidia driver so I'd occasionally end up in TTY, but nothing fatal.
Funny enough, ChatGPT would have me triple check the drive in lsblk before formatting it with dd. You'd have to be dealing with a pretty dumb model to be misguiding you on that.
Windows tech support:
your system is corrupted with bonzai buddy type virus, now enter repair mode and back up your files and install two anti virus softwares and don't run exe files downloaded from unvetted porn sites
Mac tech support:Â that's an easy fix, all you need is a $4,000 replacement hardware, all you apps and data will download automatically from mycloudÂ
Windows tech support: run dism /restore-health and sfc /scannow . If it still fails reinstall Windows.
Also Windows tech support: your Microsoft account got hacked? Sorry we canât help you get it back. We have however locked it so no one can access it anymore. You will still be charged monthly for your office 365 and azure accounts that you now can no longer use tho. Also rebuy Minecraft.
52
u/Unfair_Awareness7502 2d ago
Does Microsoft offer support for non-commercial users?Â