I like the headline… former Windows users are picking up Steam on Linux, because it’s pretty much indistinguishable from Steam on Windows.
So… just like… KDE?
Not that it is designed for it but it is a similar workflow and should be familiar to Windows users
Back in the day KDE’s UI was very much a clone of Windows, but with even more dialogs and lists. I’m still put off by that experience twenty years later.
I can see why so many options would make someone just shake their head and close the settings app.
I think you should go through them when you have the time, if you’re still interested in the other things KDE brings to the table. I went through all of the settings when I moved over to openSUSE Tumbleweed last December, and I’m still here today. KDE to me is what operating systems should do. Give me the power to change every single thing I can, while still having presets for people who don’t.
Anyway, I see your point though! The options are great for making the OS feel like mine!
I don’t truly understand things like this. Most DE’s are similar enough to Windows that anyone who’s spent a minute on a computer should be able to intuitively get to a web browser to surf the web. That’s what most people do. Word processing and the likes is tough since most are ingrained in Office, but something like (pukes in mouth) Google sheets is decently popular and good enough for most people.
If you give most someone a computer with a browser and auto updates, they’ll be able to do almost everything they are already doing on Windows with minimal thought.
There are exceptions, but those people suck at Windows already, so it’s a moot point. If you can’t find the start menu in Windows, it doesn’t matter what OS you’re using.
funny you should say it like that. I just recently I tried using Debian’s default GNOME desktop and thought I had corrupted the install somehow. I reinstalled the OS two more times because it kept dumping me into a nearly blank screen with no obvious buttons to click aside network/sound/power.
I’m used to LXDE, KDE, and Cinnamon, so this was completely foreign to me… and trying to find the web browser had me at a caveman level of confusion.
That’s strange - vanilla gnome should start in overview mode and dash is populated with gnome apps by default. Aside from that, there’s a button in the upper left corner that goes into overview if you press it.
Maybe your install did get corrupted, because literally my grandma could figure it out. On the other hand, most mainstream distros ship with dash to dock and discoverability must be the reason.
That’s weird, and sucks you had that experience. I should take a step back and say that I haven’t used a lot of different districts, including Debian. What I have experienced though, was either a star menu like button either in the bottom left, to left, or a floating dock.
I went full in on Arch when I made my permanent switch a couple of years back to make myself really learn more rather than just plug and play. That may be skewing my perspective some. However, I did throw mint on an old laptop that I have to my brother, and I was shocked that everything was exactly ready to go after install. Libre office, browser, other useful tools, updates, etc. I spent more time verifying things than configuring them and just passed it off.
I know that at least when I install kde in Arch, there are a few different build options from fully loaded to no extra apps. Perhaps with Debian there is a similar selection and you grabbed something stripped down rather than fully loaded? I’m not sure, but it’s good to hear this stuff to check my ignorance when discussing this with people.
yeah, it was wild. I was trying to do set up some computer labs. Debian was the first suggestion in the guide:
After the second reinstall of Debian, I gave Fedora a try as it was the second to be suggested. Only to be greeted with this:
It took me forever to realize that dash-dot at the top left was not some stylization and was a button to show the overview.
Oof yea. I can see how that’s missed. Knowing it’s there, I kind of like the minimalist design. Not ideal for a new user.
Debian was not a great choise, it is not for beginners. I wonder why you chose that one.
If you want to try again, I recommend using a distribution that is recommended for beginners. For example Ubuntu.
It’s people with attitudes such as yours that give Linux a bad name. Your response to someone who’s just told you that they’re used to 3 different Linux DEs is that they must be a beginner and should use a beginner distro is the height of arrogance. The person you responded to is clearly not a beginner, and that’s the response you have for them when they share their totally valid experience? Shameful.
Then I misread it. He seemed like he expected a beginner-friendly experience.
If he is experienced, and use Debian as an example of how Linux is not beginner-friendly, then he must be trolling.
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I do agree: Debian can be a bit tedious to set up and upgrade at times. It would not be my choice if you had to install a Linux distribution for the first time with no help. But, if you were able to set it up then you’re good, no reason to change now.
Only Office has a UI very similar to Word. I generally prefer LibreOffice for its functionality, but Only Office has an easy layout for Word users to learn.
The latest Libreoffice update has ribbon menus (optionally).
It’s always “one little thing”, and often an OS-local feature that many wouldn’t be aware of.
eg, You go to your grandma’s to help with her computer. She mostly uses her web browser to check on news. BUT, she has one specific home-network file operation she performs regularly, using an old network drive that got set up decades ago by who-knows.
That’s one tiny example, but there’s hundreds of others around, and not from tech nuts. Someone has one specific VPN app they must use, on their personal device, infrequently, for work. Someone runs one app that still mentions Windows 95 compatibility. Someone with learning disabilities is very very used to the pattern of logging in, so much so that they’re confused and ready to call IT when they don’t get a Ctrl+Alt+Delete prompt.
Thankfully, those are often exaggerations, and it’s good that most people’s use cases for niche stuff has migrated to web apps. You’re right that a lot of people really do only rely on their web browser. These days, even Edge is “sorta” available on Linux if someone is that dedicated to their list of bookmarks. Just don’t expect it’s always as simple as people not finding the start-menu-equivalent.
It’s not about ease of use. Remember Windows RT? It worked exactly like normal Windows and it still died because people didn’t understand what it is and were confused but the limitations. Making Linux as similar to Windows as possible is not a solution for the masses. It works for people that understand what they are doing or have someone who does at hand. Normal Windows user will just try to install Word and download exe files and be confused that they don’t work. If you want normal users to use Linux you need to make it clear that it’s something different, like OS X or Chrome OS does. You basically need a major OEM to create immutable Linux distro with clear branding and offer commercial support for it. Android for Desktop basically which will be very similar to Chrome OS.
Microsoft’s ecosystem has been slowly pushing some users toward the exit. Hardware requirements for Windows 11 left millions of perfectly functional PCs behind. Ads on the Start menu and in system notifications have frustrated many. And for gamers, launcher problems, forced reboots and background processes that siphon resources have driven a search for alternatives.
No shit? That’s crazy.
I imagine it would make a huge bump if Valve were to announce “Wait no longer, SteamOS is here!!”, even if their release is just an overnight reskin-fork of (Bazzite/CachyOS/PopOS).
I say this as someone who tries to tell people, stop waiting on Valve, and try out a few of the options. I’m glad I found a distro that works for me, but I didn’t enjoy the original search. I certainly got pressured into it as Microsoft really put as much effort as they could into making Windows as terrible as possible; and it was not “Everything works 100% out of box!” But the move was worthwhile.
SteamOS is already an extant distro (based on Arch btw), it’s what they use for the steam deck/machine/frame. It’s also available to download but there is no official support. I’ve been meaning to try it on my desktop, as I primarily use it for gaming anyways
SteamOS wikipedia page since the steam page keeps redirecting me to the app
Yes, but as it exists that distro is very dedicated to the task of supporting Valve hardware, and has done very little to generalize support to other generic hardware.
That’s fair. I agree that it would be nice for them to properly release SteamOS for general hardware. I think valve probably doesn’t want to get roped in to providing tech support for hardware platforms they don’t control beyond what they do for steam.
My impression is that their priority is building the hardware to show what’s possible in the form factor, then get third parties to buy in to the ecosystem to keep it going (which we’re seeing with steamos support for the Asus and Lenovo handhelds). The software has to be polished and well-received to get this buy-in, which is easier when they have control over the hardware.
Their strategy with the original steam machines (circa 2015 I think?) skipped the first party hardware step and they didn’t do well with the software execution either- although iirc that’s where the big picture mode, steam controller, and generally better controller support came from.
Well yeah, I would assume Steam would be a big priority for this scenario…
Its funny, seeing this article as a lifelong windows user, just after finishing a boot-up usb drive with Mint on it.
I have win11 at work and the whole experience feels awful. I have a new laptop coming up that comes without an OS installed. Ill rather deal with the hassle of installing and learning a new OS than paying Microsoft for license to have my PC full of ads and AI slop.
Tumbleweed with KDE is honestly the smoothest work environment Ive had since Windows 7.
Kubuntu is another great option.
For beginners? Totally; but snap gets annoying over time.
Well, it’s been doing great for my first foray into Linux so far. What are the limits of snap that end up being annoying?
It’s Canonical’s (the company that created/updates/supports Ubuntu) package format. There are a few problems.
They can only be hosted on proprietary Canonical servers. That sort of flies in the face of one of the “free” aspects of Linux. Canonical is also sort of fostering a reputation of abandoning/massively changing something core in Ubuntu every couple major releases, which has made some wary of depending on snaps, since if Canonical decides to stop hosting them, anyone dependent on them is kinda screwed. Snaps can also chew up disk space if you’re not careful. I don’t think that’s necessarily unique to snaps, but in my experience that issue has been worse with snaps than with comparable alternatives like flatpaks.
Tumbleweed is a rolling release distro while Kubuntu has point releases. I’m not sure which is better for new users. I’m leaning towards rolling, it stays up to date.
My mom loves Zorin OS! We’re strongly considering the pro version now.
Let me ask you a question: What does the pro version of Zorin get you?
Mainly just the satisfaction of supporting a project we like. IIRC, my Mom’s PC is on the version they’re sunsetting too. Pretty sure we’re gonna need to update it anyway.
Looks like it comes with more preinstalled applications and a custom themed gnome desktop. As far as I can find the extra preinstalled applications are available in the default ubuntu repos.
“custom themed Gnome” is enough to scare me off. Theming is one of the many GUI fundamentals that the Martian cock smokers over at Gnome hate with every fiber of their alien ganglia.
