I ripped off my last MS-branded bandaid almost a year ago and switched my gaming PC to Linux Mint Debian Edition! Zero regrets, and pretty much anything Windows-specific that I'd used before has either an official Linux version, or a third-party open source clone. The latter is often far simpler than the Windows version as well, and for the 2 or 3 "this-will-literally-only-run-on-Windows" bits of software that I legitimately need at some point or another - a VM running a debloated and stripped-down install of Windows 10 LTSC Enterprise.

Other than that (and my work laptop which I don't count because it's company property), I have zero Windows devices in my home. It's freeing.

In 2010 MacBooks were joked about as expensive Facebook machines. Web browsers. I legit think Linux desktop can grow within a shrinking PC market (mobile induced shrinkage). Also I was still surprised the first time a friend told me they wrote an essay for a class on their phone. People are really proficient on their phones these days

The role of desktops has changed over the decades, because nowadays so many people use mobile devices instead. What we meant by the phrase “year of the Linux desktop” in 2010s was very different from what it means today.

At home, people use the desktop for gaming, while most computing activities can now be done on any mobile device. In the past, the desktop was the only computer in the house, and it was used for communication, browsing, photos, videos, and everything else.

I think we should start using a different term. How about something like “year of the Linux gaming PC”, because that would really tell you what’s happening right now. The rest of the things you can do on a Linux desktop aren’t really that important to most people anymore.

Personally, I still prefer a laptop over a tablet, and I think many people on Lemmy would agree. However, most people outside this bubble clearly don’t see that much value in an x86 desktop OS.

Too late. But yeah even my windows using wife is increasingly pro Linux. She just isn't annoyed enough yet to switch