Everytime Microsoft blunders, which is a lot and it is reported, it never fails that there will be numerous individuals proclaiming their switch to Linux. But I always feel like a lot of it is just simply clout, a pat-on-the-back feeling for deciding against the masses kind of feel.
And it always makes me beg to really see how those kind of people fare if they actually did switch and use Linux on a daily basis.
I’ll take anyone seriously if they actually switch and sometimes actually talk to me about how their Linux experience is going. Because more times than not, I always assume it’s some dual-boot user who could sneak their way back to Windows time to time and barely use Linux.
And I’ll see the statistics of the OS marketshare budge…slightly, for Linux. I’m proud that Linux at all that it is gaining more usage than it has before than where it had been 15+ years ago and earlier.
I suppose I am one of those, although the process has been gradual over the last years.
Do I still use Windows? Yes - I earn a living designing and developing solutions in the ecosystem, although it is mostly on the corp server side of things. Azure can be easily managed on any of the three big OS’s.
Do I dual boot? Yes, but less and less. For gaming, flight sims are still not supported enough on Linux - to many extensions and add-ons are just not there yet. I am primarily on Linux though and all of my non-sim gaming on Linux nowadays. On my work laptop the Windows partition is bricked (as in Windows Update said bye-bye to it), so next re-install of Ubuntu LTS next year will see the Windows partition wiped.
Am I nostalgic about Windows? Not yet, after 1-2 years of Linux practically full time. Win11 is still on a downward trajectory. Linux is getting better with every distro release.
Have I gone more hard core in my Linux journey? I dabble in EndeavorOS, but mostly run Ubuntu. I am happy that it works. I am comfortable in the terminal so any DE works as long as it leaves me be.
Will I go back to Windows? Microsoft have a lot of work in front of them to regain my trust. It will be a harder switch with the Linux experience being as good as it is.
Do I have any sympathy for those who try and revert? Sure - change is difficult for many.