this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025
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I wouldn't call it Stockholm syndrome. The problem is that even a single application that's critical to your workflow can keep you from switching, even if everything else is much better.
I've switched to Linux on my laptop about 6 months ago and the overall experience is pretty good. A few annoyances that I can't seem to fix but overall pleasant. But there are still some things that keep me from doing the same on my main workstation:
All those problems can be solved with enough patience but to be honest, I'm in my late 30s and free time is getting rare so I'd rather spend it on something that brings me joy or on learning something entirely new instead of relearning an existing skill.
And no, this not a criticism against Linux or its community. I'm just trying to give an insight into how small problems can make the switch incredibly hard, even for someone who has a degree in computer science, has worked with Linux machines for about 20 years now and would love nothing more than to leave Windows behind.
Real talk now, I know there are use-cases where Windows is mandatory unfortunately. Video editing and civil engineering/architecture are two good examples.
Maybe switching to Mac is an option, but whether that's any better is debatable.
However, most people I know that suffer from these issues are in neither field of work and aren't necessarily even hardcore gamers. Yet they don't even want to try anything else.
I've also had some difficulties fully switching to Linux a decade ago, but nothing that couldn't be solved or I couldn't abstain from (e.g. modern games, back in the day).
All it takes is the will not to be bullied by a corporation at home every day.
I think something that is often underappreciated is the level of independent technical knowledge needed to install and use Linux, let alone troubleshoot it, even today.
Microsoft has a support hotline, and staff that will help you, it comes pre-installed, and every tech store under the sun will help you along.
With Linux, that's a bit harder. Plus, although it's often a criticism for some people, windows' hand holding won't let you truly fuck up, and will always have a backup ready.
Linux on the other hand will let you run it into a brick wall, and completely delete your whole laptop.
Those are generally still really good reasons people want to stick with Microsoft or Apple, since there's a far more accessible support network around it.
And in my experience Linux portals and forums are quite gatekeepy if you're not aware of what's going on. That's not the most fun place to be if you're stuck and don't know what you're doing.
Linux is great and I personally would recommend it to a lot of people, but definitely not everyone, and it's definitely not just downsides. There's plenty of legit cases where it's the better option, even if the tools and everything function equally.
Well, the recovery argument really only checks out when there are recent restore points made and a recovery partition is present, which is not the case in every or even most Windows configs, otherwise you're SOL anyway.
Often times even those failed on me when Windows had shat itself and told me it can't fix the issue and needs a restore medium, on which I then manually had to /fixboot and /rebuildBCD from the console. That's not any more feasible for the average user.
I think installing Linux is definitely a hurdle, but you could usually find someone or a shop to do it for you or help you.
Otherwise, with all the new random prompts and welcome screens in Windows, I think any Linux system will stay out of the users way much more and let them work on their stuff without distractions.
Sure, Linux troubleshooting is bad for the average user, but you can also get help with that and Windows forums are bloated with trash replies and not any better quality-wise (same with Android nowadays, unfortunately).