Ask Lemmy

At this point genuinely linux. For everyday shit like browsing, mailing, whatever, for sure.

Apple is just... Apple. I guess. Windows is an ad. 

Linux is the new "it just works".

i just erased windows 11 and replaced it with Linux Mint Cinnamon- not easy for me as I haven't used anything but apple ecosystem since forever, but I'm extremely happy with it, and the upgrade in privacy is worth it to me even if it weren't an excellent OS, which it definitely is. you just have to be willing to learn new things

Mint and no shit.

The amount of people who spend thousands of dollars on MacBooks to just open up Safari makes me want to believe the average person could just have a ThinkPad with Mint or regular Ubuntu and be just fine. But the reality is if you run into a solvable issue on Windows or a MacBook, usually the degrees of separation from someone (friend or family member) who can solve that issue is much, much, much lower. I just seriously doubt most people can conduct the bare minimum of troubleshooting to be able to even search the internet for easy solutions. Can people learn? Absolutely! Are they going to go through the trouble? Probably not.

But who knows, as personal computing becomes more expensive and system requirements stop people from updating. Maybe more people look to Linux as an alternative and perhaps we'll reach a critical mass where my previous statement doesn't matter.

Fedora, now it's shockingly easy to use.

I silently replaced windows in the home PC and it took 2 months for the tech illiterate SO to say "WTF, why you put Apple on this PC, I thought you hated them" (put same username/password, same wallpaper, even Microsoft Edge)

At work I was shocked that I could login directly as user@windows.domain without any extra configuration. Plain vanilla fresh install, typed my active directory account for laughs, it worked 😲

Also at work I was shocked to see that I could just run the exe of the windows-only accounting software and everything works. I even installed LibreOffice in wine, lol (the accounting software needs soffice.exe for generating spreadsheets). I could even install foxit reader for windows 😂 (sorry, all the Linux PDF readers completely suck when printing, I need previews and booklet and all the extra features)

Linux mint

Whole lotta MacOS recommendations here, so I'm gonna say:

Bazzite.

... you can actually play games on it, and its an OS too!

More technically:

Its a Linux distro, an atomic version of Fedora, with many tweaks and pre built in utilities to make gaming work better and more easily.

If you have no idea what that means, it means that its fairly cutting edge but also very stable version of linux, where the core OS yells at you if you try to muck with it, and highly encourages you to use the various sandboxed containers it helps you use you run all sorts of applications.

The simple version of the above is: Just use the app store, Bazaar, and things will pretty much 'just work'.

You can do more intense / power user / expert type stuff if you like, and it does take a few extra steps compared to just like, straight Fedora or Debian, but, Bazzite is much, much more noob friendly and much harder to break.

MacOS.

I hate Apple, and I do not like how they operate. But I cannot deny how user friendly their OS is, how affordable their machines are (Mac mini) and how even those who do not know how to use a PC, can pick them up and use them.

Linux Mint is my second choice

Only Linux which feels like a normal PC, and 99% of features can be installed via UI. There are holes, and I feel an immutable OS would fill this niche better, but for now this is my number 2.

If you are mainly gaming, Bazzite. For everything else, Fedora.

If they are not savvy enough to do troubleshooting themselves or have no one to ask for help, I think macOS would be the best (assuming money isn’t an issue). Otherwise, Linux Mint.

TempleOS

They all suck in their own unique ways, and I use them all, so I feel uniquely qualified to say that.

To be honest, I'm ready for the hate, but about 90% of the people I know looking for a recommendation are not the type of people for whom any flavor of Linux is well-suited. Apple is too much of a closed system and likes to do things its own way in contrary to everybody else, forcing users down their one and only path of truth regardless of whether it makes sense to do so even though it's completely different/opposite of nearly all best practices, which makes them a hard sell. Plus, they lost me with the "it just works" when they in fact do not "just work". So, just to make my life easier, I usually find myself suggesting people stick with Windows. I hate it, but it saves me time and sanity in the end.

Are we assuming this person has never used any other operating system before?

Because I do think a lot of the perception of Linux being more difficult is just because people who grew up on Windows or MacOS have gotten so used to those that the inertia of trying something new is what's hard about it.

MacOS if they can afford it. Otherwise Linux Mint.

i think they should start on the UI they have been exposed to the most.

they could do more productivity if they know how to navigate around the OS.

Nice post to stir some shit, OP. 🍿

Windows is the most common, and most people are more accustomed to that OS.

Linux. Hands down. Always.

New user? Try Kubuntu Linux

Power user? Eh, you can try anything but I'm still with Kubuntu because Ubuntu with KDE just works so damned nice

What do they want to do?

An iPad with a keyboard can serve the needs of a significant amount of users. I know people for whom it’s their only device apart from a phone.

A hardcore gamer will want Windows. Linux can play a lot better of games natively or fairly easily via Proton. macOS has some good ones natively but playing via Wine is more complicated. Some specialized industry workflows will require it. Windows-only games and applications are the only reason to recommend Windows.

Mac/macOS is great general purpose hardware and software. Good applications are available for art, science, engineering and productivity and it’s certified Unix. The ecosystem can be slick—Handoff from/to iPhone, unlock with Watch, TimeMachine backups, etc. Support people are usually native speakers from the same country. Some good native games and some through Wine are possible but Window and Linux have significantly more.

Linux can work for basic email, productivity and web browsing. Gaming choices are better than macOS but Windows is still better. They don’t have to worry about ads or the next interface fad being forced on them. They’ll likely need a bit more hand-holding and support down the road. They’ll need a Linux guy but they can be up and running on old/cheap hardware.