this post was submitted on 24 May 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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2024: The Year Linux Dethrones Windows on the Desktop – Are You Ready? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 5 months ago by urska@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.ml
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
  • NTSync coming in Kernel 6.11 for better Wine/Proton game performance and porting.
  • Wine-Wayland last 4/5 parts left to be merged before end of 2024
  • Wayland HDR/Game color protocol will be finished before end of 2024
  • Nvidia 555/560 will be out for a perfect no stutter Nvidia performance
  • KDE/Gnome reaching stability and usability with NO FKN ADS
  • VR being usable
  • More Wine development and more Games being ported
  • Better LibreOffice/Word compatibility
  • Windows 10 coming to EOL
  • Improved Linux simplicity and support
  • Web-native apps (Including Msft Office and Adobe)
  • .Net cross platform (in VSCode or Jetbrains Rider)

What else am I missing?

top 29 comments
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[–] wahming@monyet.cc 1 points 5 months ago

Most of the points listed here don't matter a hoot to the average user.

[–] nexussapphire@lemm.ee 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

There one glaring issue. Most people don't really even know what an operating system is and some of the people I talk to think Linux is a manufacture.

I literally bring up Linux to my friend when they are having trouble getting windows to work and they say I think I have a linux. They mean it's a Lenovo but they seem pretty confused about the idea of installing a different OS on their machine. This isn't just older people but 20 something year olds (about my age).

It's funny to me but I try to be patient and help them with their problems anyway.

[–] Corgana@startrek.website 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Confusing Linux with Lenovo is pretty funny.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

My ex wife turned out to be a Lenovo. She and her new girlfriend seem very happy. /s

[–] TechAnon@lemm.ee -1 points 5 months ago

Bro - sounds like you missed an opportunity to dual boot!

[–] thefrankring@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I switched from Windows to Linux full time around Feb 2024.

I think Linux is ready for desktop use.

[–] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world -1 points 5 months ago

I’m a Mac guy and I have a PC for gaming. I just installed Mint on my PC and it has been working great for gaming. I probably won’t need Windows ever again.

[–] nossaquesapao@lemmy.eco.br 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Better LibreOffice/Word compatibility

Was there any recent relevant developments in this area?

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Skimming though the LibreOffice 24.2 release notes, this was the first thing I've encountered:

New line break algorithm for interoperability

Since 2013, the non-proprietary, metric-compatible alternative fonts are no longer guaranteed the same paragraph layout, because MS Word 2013 and later introduced a new default line breaking algorithm for justified text. To fix the lost interoperability, the same algorithm has been implemented in Writer to reduce spaces within justified lines by up to 20%. tdf#119908 blog post (László Németh, donor: NLnet).

And in 24.8:

Fixed an issue with shape positioning in DOCX import for RTL paragraphs (Miklos Vajna, Collabora) tdf#160833

As it is nice opening a document and having the line breaks and figures at the intended places, it can be concluded that there is noticeably development going on for compatibility between LO Writer and MS Word.

[–] thingsiplay@beehaw.org 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Most people don't care. And that says someone who replaced his Windows XP when Vista was the newest shit on the market (I also had a Vista laptop back then). With every Windows version people argued and posted about The Year of Linux Desktop. If you are talking about number of users, then Linux on Desktop will not dethrone Windows in 2024. Most people don't care or the switch is painful in many ways. Don't get your hopes too high. My following argumentation is critical, but I am a Linux fanboy. Have that in mind.

KDE/Gnome reaching stability and usability

What exactly do you mean by that? KDE and Gnome reached usability long time ago. However thanks to Wayland the stability got a huge hit, plus KDE was always a bit wonky in regard that. But otherwise these are great desktops with good usability for a long time now. Way better than what Apple or Windows has to offer.

Windows 10 coming to EOL

This has never mattered. Most people just switch or buy next Windows version.

.Net cross platform (in VSCode or Jetbrains Rider)

This is not new in 2024, or did something happen here?

Better LibreOffice/Word compatibility

Better than what? Than the previous version? This is always the case and people don't switch from Windows to Linux because of that. After all, the application is available on Windows too.

... will be ... before end of 2024 ...

Will be remain to be seen if this is true. If there is one thing I learned is, don't trust estimation when software will be finished.

NTSync coming in Kernel 6.11 for better Wine/Proton game performance and porting.

This has no impact on Proton, but Wine as far as I understand. Proton already has an alternative that is similar to NTSync. So from performance standpoint, it has no impact on Steam games.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago

Windows 10 coming to EOL

This has never mattered. Most people just switch or buy next Windows version.

Or keep on using Windows 10 and are happy not to be annoyed by updates any more.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

THE YEAR OF LINUX IN THE DESKTOP!

It’s like Lucy and the football.

[–] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What else am I missing?

The fact that 90% of people don't give a shit about ads, privacy or their operating system in general. They want a machine to open a browser, that's it. If Windows comes pre-installed, they'll use Windows.

The only realistic chance we've got is that MS shoots itself in the foot once more by all that Recall crap and businesses drop Windows. But that's a long shot.

[–] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 0 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I find most people don't know of the alternatives but they are open to change as they are unhappy with current options that they are aware of. I've talked with a few people that were surprisingly open to to trying Linux. They didn't know how easy it is to use and install but jumped on the opportunity as they were unhappy with Windows.

[–] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

... And then something happens and they want you to install Windows again.

As much as I like Linux, compared to Windows and Mac OS it's high maintenance. Once in a while, things will bork themselves. And you need to have at least a rough understanding of what's happening to fix it.

Also (and that's not a Linux problem per se) people seem to think if Windows breaks, MS or they themselves are at fault, if Linux breaks, that weird nerd and his hacker stuff are at fault.

[–] Guenther_Amanita@slrpnk.net 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I have to disagree, at least in my experience.
Windows causes more problems, both for my mum and myself.

Her only purpose of a PC is basically to open a web browser, answer some mails and plug in a USB from time to time. For her, Mint never made one single problem, except when the hard drive failed.
She really liked the "boringness" and the old Windows charme.

And for me, Linux never made any big troubles in general. When I used Tumbleweed, there were a few papercuts (e.g. graphical glitches, program freezes, etc.) due to the bleeding edge, but nothing major.
And since I use Fedora Atomic, I completely forget that I use an OS in general. I never have to update anything, I can't break my stuff, etc..
It's the most "boring" and user friendly OS I've used, even more than MacOS and Windows. Only Android/ iOS are better in that regard.

But I've never seen my OS just borking itself. If that should ever happen, I can easily roll back in a second and it will work again.

And you need to have at least a rough understanding of what's happening to fix it.

If you can fix Windows (which made way more problems after updates for me) then fixing Linux is way easier. And if you're an average person, then you go to a local repair shop and say "My PC broke" and they reinstall Windows for you.

[–] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago

Without fail, every Linux installation I had destroyed itself after a while.

Be it a full boot partition, some weird driver compatibility, etc, etc.

My Windows installations (granted, all work laptops) never destroyed themselves. Yes, some bugs here and there, but it worked well enough for home usage. You can't discount that.

[–] thingsiplay@beehaw.org 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Changing to Linux means, people...:

  • need to have an understanding of operating systems, so they can think about alternatives
  • need to be aware of the actual alternative
  • need to be willing to learn something new
  • need to be willing to leave some applications or games behind
  • need to choose a Linux distribution
  • need the technical ability and understanding to actually download, flash and boot from boot system, install it and setup initial, such as root password and such

These are basic and trivial stuff for us, but most normies don't have this understanding and interest to go this far. And then it depends if they are happy and stay. Even if every PC manufacturer and distributor would offere the same PC with Windows and Linux, most would just choose Windows (probably). This is the current reality.

[–] Jesus_666@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago

Mostly yes but there's one other option that simplifies the whole thing: Chromebooks. They're actually pretty decent for someone who doesn't need much beyond a browser, a mail client, and a basic office suite.

Sure, they're tied to Google with all that entails but they can be a real option for someone like a senior who relies on relatives for tech support.

[–] polle@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago

Because here are many people who did a switch to linux. How did you handle using a cad software like solidworks or fusion360 after switching to linux?

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago

Full of optimism. But why those points that relate not in the slightest to the layman? Also sources for half of your points?

[–] azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.works 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

No. Nobody cares, no matter what MS does. They can literally crap on users faces and they’ll happily lick it as long is Windows is the supported platform. And it will stay like that for decades to come.

We can expect some growth, because the tech savvy PC enthusiasts might want to look for alternatives, and if the desktop Linux is good enough, some will stick to it, some will go back, as it was always for last 30 years.

[–] NoSuchAgency@reddthat.com -1 points 5 months ago

I was a Windows user up until a couple of years ago when I switched to Kubuntu and never looked back. I think after Windows 10 is gone, there will be a big uptick in Linux.

[–] z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

There's more than a few reasons why Linux can't make the jump to holding a dominant position in the desktop market.

One is simply preinstallation. For companies (and therefore the general public) to adopt the Desktop Linux, they'd need it simply to be installed for them, with a Desktop Environment like Gnome or KDE.

Secondly is updates. As much as Linux users tout the control they have over when and how updates take place, and how much Windows users will always complain about having to update their systems, until system updates on Linux are made automatic (or at least given the option to be made automatic), there cannot be a mainstream Linux Desktop. This means updates that happen very much like Windows, no administrator/sudo password, just happens on reboot regularly.

The reason for this is mainly that the average user would never update unless forced, and then when something inevitably breaks, they are left, as always, frustrated that their computer just didn't work as expected forever without any upkeep, understanding, or updates.

Lastly is support. And this is multifaceted. By support I mean software support by companies like Adobe. I also mean a much farther reaching swath of random devices that literally plug and play like on Windows.

As an aside, I'll also say that since there is a move towards Wayland, there also needs to be a No Configuration Necessary way of running Nvidia on Wayland. This is less a Linux issue, and more a Nvidia one, but until pretty much any and all hardware works on Linux the way it just works on Windows, this sadly affects Linux Desktop adoption as more and more of the Linux Desktop ecosystem moves towards forcing Wayland adoption.

Finally I'll say that the Microsoft corporation at large obviously relies mainly on Corporate Adoption of its products and services, and that the Windows Desktop is simply one part of that greater whole. Their approach to competing with Apple and their walled garden ecosystem has been to slowly but surely create their own, its just so much larger you forget there are walls. They have done this by absorbing more and more of the tech ecosystem either by acquisition, invention, or otherwise. Examples ot this include Bing and All Search Engines that Use it, the pushing of TypeScript into JavaScript Development, the predominance and proliferation of VSStudio/VSCode in modern software development, their heavy involvement with OpenAI and aggressive pushing of AI products/services, their acquisition of Github and subsequent further expansion of influence over software development and distribution, and much much more.

Despite the privacy invasion, enshittefication of the user experience, and their various other ways they have mistreated their users specifically via the direction they've taken Windows, Microsoft has established itself as THE Desktop, as THE Workstation, and as THE company that comes to mind when the average person mentions "computer", and the majority of people associate computer related productivity and play with Windows.

For all the advances made to Desktop Linux, especially in recent years, it is unlikely that Linux Desktop adoption will ever proliferate to the kinds of mainstream adoption that its accolades desire. Until Linux (or at least a Linux distribution) can demonstrate what I've mentioned above (preinstallation, automatic/automated updates, and wide spread software/hardware support from various 3rd party vendors) along with demonstrating a work flow/user experience that is somehow both familiar to the user and also better than the experience on Windows, then the day of the Linux Desktop will never come.

This aforementioned demonstration, btw, would have to become obscenely apparent to the average every day computer user who just wants to get their work done, play a Video Game, and watch Netflix, all without having to ever even know what a terminal emulator is.

I love Linux, and I think the Linux Desktop is not only a superior user experience, but is just better in general than Windows. But the average user I've encountered generally hates their Computer if it doesn't work as expected 110% of the time. Linux, and honestly computers, will never be able to do that, but the closer the Desktop (and user facing GUIs more broadly) get to creating that illusion of "it all just works all the time", the more adoption you'll see.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Here's the hilarious reality:

I installed Fedora Workstation on a laptop yesterday, just to check out how that's going.

I'm probably reverting it to Windows because there is no tool to adjust the scroll speed of the touchpad.

And that's what that takes.

[–] Asudox@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

GNOME is bad. Abandon GNOME. If you like the UI of Windows, try KDE Plasma 6. It's much more feature rich than GNOME and very customizable too. And touchpad speed can be adjusted in the System Settings application.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 0 points 5 months ago

I mean, it is, but part of the appeal with the stock GNOME was how streamlined and un-Windows-like it was. I tried moving to KDE but, honestly, it does feel a bit worse to use.

Not that it matters, because eventually a bunch of other more fundamental unsupported features made me switch back instead. Couldn't get the Nvidia dGPU to work and messed things up enough in the process that I'd have to start over, which is a dealbreaker. Plus it turns out that the suspend/restore functionality was completely broken and the hardware volume buttons were partially broken.

So yeah, no, I'm back to Windows now.