Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
I'll just fucking say it. Windows. Maybe Mac if you want, but that's gonna cost a fair bit more. Skip Linux. Everyone here circlejerks it like it's the best thing since 3.25" floppy drives, but it's a pain in the ass for the above average user, let alone someone who isn't tech savvy. The first time they encounter a problem and have to open the terminal they are going to shut off their computer and burn their house down. Unless your friend wants to learn Linux, then I'd advise you to steer them clear, regardless of what the crowd here has to say about it.
Windows is clean and simple. People here will say otherwise and they'll point to strawman arguments that don't have anything to do with the average user, like user telemetry or shutdown/restart on update. Windows wouldn't be dominant if it wasn't user friendly. If my grandfather can figure out how to install his bible verse software on his Windows PC, then your friend is going to be just fine.
Edit: echo "⬇️" | figlet
IT guy here, this is the right answer.
Don't get me wrong, Linux is awesome, but I don't consider it suitable for someone with zero tech knowledge.
You don't want to get stuck as their only support person, with Windows they have plenty of other resources to check with.
the reason why windows is dominant is for a few reasons. One of which is the fact that it's THE enterprise OS. So what people use at work, they're gonna use at home. they're going with what they know.
And it wouldn't be in that position if it weren't easy enough to teach to the least tech savvy person on the planet.
i don't believe mac is less user friendly than windows. It might even be MORE user friendly. Why don't people use mac?
Because Apple built it's brand around control. If you think windows locks down their users, try working on a Mac. Shit, you couldn't set a wallpaper on an iphone for 3 years. It's about the ability to make things work the way that you need them to. Maybe Linux is better there, but Windows vs. Linux is going down a mountain road with or without guardrails. You'll get to the bottom either way, but one might be a bit more hazardous.
Apple is pure shit.
They sell expensive shit, they are anti repair, they do anything and everything to kill jailbreaking but they make a great user experience.
They also make a shit UX. And it's just overpriced.
God. This is the only reasonable answer and it's way down here struggling to stay above 0 votes.
This thread says a lot about the state of Lemmy honestly. Well done guys.
Windows is the only choice because if someone does not already have a preference then they're not going to thank you for making them learn where the buttons are.
Windows sucks more now, but it is still the top dog and I do not expect that to change soon. Linux is something you go out of your way to learn for the sake of absolute control and privacy over your system. Problems are to be expected on Linux, and you gotta be willing to deal with them. For the average person, they will want whatever works, and that will be Mac or Windows.