Both windows and macos have gone down the drain. Or linux just caught up.

Windows has improved a lot. I was committed to using Linux before windows 95 and that era was a complete shit show. They couldn't even connect to the internet, play cds or other media without third party software and Windows crashed if you looked at it the wrong way. People thought it was the hottest shit ever. Even after the move to the NT kernel it was a shitshow of instability and massive security flaws for years. I think I could daily drive modern windows if there was no alternative. They have come a long way with stability and a lot of FOSS software is ported.

Windows still benefits a lot from network effects which makes it desirable for some people for the same reason they use Xcrement and Meta. It doesn't bother me what OS other people use anymore than what they do in their bedrooms or churches. Let's not act vegan over an operating system.

I tried to change some more advanced setting together with a fairly technical friend on his Windows 10 Laptop recently and it was a fucking nightmare!

I think they should be able to choose their OS. If they choose something you see as shitty, so be it.

I straight up think they did it because they want everyone on co-pilot.

honestly i don't know what you did to mess up a windows install like that, but i agree overall that linux is easier. However there are quirks that can arise for a new user that will eat time or seem daunting.

That bad?

Last time I used Windows on my own was back in the XP days. I saw some of the early Vista and it was even worse. I can't imagine what the recent versions are like.

I use windows for 2 things - personal pc to play games, work laptop dualboot for excel usage if some super old messy sheets. everything else linux.

Can not tell if this is satire or not because while Windows has its fair share of issues, I've yet to encounter something that I couldn't fix. Every time I've installed windows it just worked. People keep whining about windows being just absolute dogshit and then there's me who has never understood that shit because windows just keeps working like it should. And I install windows frequently enough to know/notice if anything is wrong. Like how can't you get steam to start? You must be doing sth wrong... Idk man i just can't relate like at all... Wish I could help instead.

(okay i lied where i said "I've yet to encounter something that I couldn't fix". There's this annoying little shit bug that recently cropped up where my 2 desktop icons in the top left get moved when i move a file to for example the middle of my desktop. One of 3 things happens: it puts it where i wanted it to in the middle OR it puts it IN THE TOP LEFT CORNER which moves my icons down one OR it puts it BETWEEN the two icons i have there. AND best of all IT DOESN'T EVEN STAY THERE it like is there for just a second and then it flicks to wherever i wanted it in the first place, leaving my icons MOVED from where they originally were GOD I HATE THIS SO MUCH oh and I also hate how windows handles file transfers of any kind.)

Never used W11. W10 works about 100x better than Linux and doesn't require me to memorize commands to punch into the CLI for mundane tasks or have 11 different types of program install processes.

I daily Linux for privacy reasons but you're delusional if you think Linux is easier to use.

I am probably the only person on the planet who never had an issue with either W10 or W11 and their installation. The only Windows that truly sucked in my life were W95, WME and 8. I occasionally dual boot OpenSUSE with xfce for some dev stuff, but Windows has always been my daily driver and I'm so used to it I have bloody tears in my eyes when I look at your KDEs and Gnomes, which are in my opinion absolutely horrible environments. These days I more often than not use WSL2 from under Windows even, might as well just use Linux cli tools if their GUI stuff sucks so bad.

Even just installing windows is pretty bad. They include jack shit for default wifi drivers and won't let you complete the installation without an internet connection (and a stupid Microsoft account to complete their data mining 1984 tracking system) unless you use secret command line bullshit.

I think windows 11 wouldn't be nearly as bad if it didn't force an online account on you. Yes, I know there are sometimes ways around it, but they are not for the average user to pull off. Especially the OEM laptops that ship win11 s-mode, where if it's not the right patch, you gotta do bios edits, registry edits.