For a few reasons, I have to maintain one of my PCs with Windows 10 on it. This week I fired it up to run a benchmark or two, and something jumped out at me: It never struck me how completely absurd the Windows Update statement of “Your PC Will Restart Several Times” was until I switched to Linux.
What do YOU appreciate about Linux that you can’t experience on Windows?
Rowdy applause for this
Oh my, where to start?
uptime
stability
freedom
choice
control ( as mentioned above )
customization.
To @astronautsupplier point, more and more apps in Windows cannot be uninstalled.
Control. Same as everyone so far. I don’t want to ask a program to change my configuration for me, I want to change the damned configuration myself.
I’m sure one big example jumps out at people on that note.
Another example was the fight I had to have with XDG to stop having ~/Desktop when I don’t believe in desktop icons. I will go to great lengths to control my home directory apparently.
The most important reason I have for completely avoiding Windows 10 as much as I possibly can (99% of the time) is because I know Linux (Debian) will start up when I ask it to, without some indefinite possible delay due to the Windows I’m updating raspberry being blown in my face when I need to get work done. Besides the anxiety, when Windows updates of not even being sure it will leave my PC in a useable state. I have had keyboard and printer stop working on me “automagically” to the point that I risked dual-booting the machine without backing it up I was so frustrated. Now that Debian’s on it, I’ve almost never touched Windows…
Not to mention the loss of data due to mandatory windows update with reboot.
Oh, and I almost forgot. M$ sometimes decides that it can make better decisions about upgrading drivers for your hardware than you can. Who’d a thunk it?
It’s the feeling that a lot of tremendously intelligent and giving people have my back. It permeates everything.
If I had to pick a favorite it’d be the distribution repos.
With Linux, you aren’t “just another brick in the wall”.
Easy/fast updates and reinstalls.
Not having to deal with a million privacy options.
Ad-free experience (that start menu on a clean W10 is just sad).
Not being pestered about having an MS account and what not (having to disconnect from internet to get a local account on install!)
Getting real error messages that are actually useful for solving problems.
Doesn’t come with a bunch of preinstalled applications that can’t be uninstalled in a normal way.
Freedom to choose DEs, applications and customization for a unique experience.
Peace of mind !!!
The last time I tried Windows the single biggest pain point was installing drivers and software. Linux doesn’t need drivers 99% of the time and either you get software from the repository or Flathub and so on. It’s all just so quick and easy in comparison to the hours it took me to download the drivers from Dell and all the software from the individual websites. And unless that software has an update feature built in I’d need to constantly be downloading new versions and reinstalling. Not needing a software install wizard EVERY TIME is such a beautiful thing.
Beyond that, as most others have mentioned, the ability to customize things to suit my needs rather than me needing to settle for the defaults.
Linux is also a lot easier to understand once you take the time to learn the basics. Windows can be very difficult to dig around in and has layer after layer of complexity whereas Linux is pretty straightforward.
Now this I like a lot.
I appreciate the flexibility, stability and control over my environment.
My device has to do exactly what I tell it to do and not the opposite.
Other than that I agree with most of the above statements by the DLN community, like customization, using a system without bloat, building my own experience even installing the bare minimum e.g. etc.
PS: One more thing, especially on Debian but not exclusively, the ‘upgradability’ of a running OS without reinstalling for years on the same hardware and that for free!
Oh, Oh, I almost forgot…about that junk that gets installed with drivers, java, and other apps on Windows. Browser toolbars, search engine changes, etc.
Man, am I glad to be away from that crap.
All versions of Windows suffer from startup apps being installed with every single piece of software. To avoid this - DOS style software is more reliable where you just run the executable when you want.
Updates so much nicer in Linux - I found Mac intrusive as well as Windows - both as annoying as each other.
Overall, I found the experience and the ease of configuration and customization to be icing on the cake - you get your stable environment. No bloat or annoyances that you did not ask for. Then you can make it look how you want very easily.
What surprised me a lot with Linux is that I have been able to do anything I have needed or wanted to do with little to no learning curve. I find information easy to come by and it is usually exactly what I want. I like how applications are installed - no downloading from dodgy sites and sweating in case you just totalled your PC because you wanted a free app for something. Having said that, downloading apps when needed seems a lot more civilized than say Windows (and actually never had much luck on the Mac - things always crashed). This just adds to a pain free OS for me. I wish I had made the switch sooner, but come up to 5 years and to be fair Windows 7 was a very usable desktop OS at the time.
This is very true…to an extent. I do think there needs to be a bit of interest on the part of the user to find this information and put it to use. When I think of a typical Windows or Mac user I don’t think they would have the basic skills needed to do this kind of thing. It’s why that initial, out of the box experience is so key to adoption of Linux by the masses. Some distros do a great job of this but even then, there is enough of a learning curve that some people won’t stick with it. Once they get past that initial learning curve I 100% agree that they would find it much, much easier to use and maintain their systems.
Hello,
I can add this up in this remark " everything I do in Linux makes sense, I get to use my computer, rather than spend time researching issues. I’m amazed at the things I learn and how many of us old cooters are getting our work done everyday" 
As I sit at work reading this on my personal laptop ( Manjaro ), I notice a new email arrives on my work computer ( winblows 10 ). It’s a message from m$ through office365 that includes an analysis of my outlook calendar. It seems that I have so many meetings that m$ is concerned that I might not be taking enough breaks…my point here is that they are not even trying to hide the fact that they are spying on you anymore. Geez.
Was I asked if I wanted to participate in this, nope ( although, someone within IT at the company I work might have made that decision for me ).
The number one thing that I appreciate about Linux is that the system is mine. I am responsible for it, good or bad and I can shape it to the needs of the individual system. I have purpose built systems that have specific functions and when I find something isn’t right, I have the ability to smooth out that rough edge or tweak it to improve my experience.
Well stated !!!