Why is Linux harder than Windows?

Question

Why is it some people say using Linux is more difficult than Windows? What is there to learn? For example, I am now using Ubuntu Linux and it is a full system. All I need is to use my mouse.

Why do some people say it is harder to learn Linux than Windows? What is there to learn?

Answer 1

It was true at one time, that Linux was for the tech head.



However nothing could be further than the truth these days.



Myself for instance was a dedicated Windows user for many years, would never have even considered using Linux, in fact I even shunned it, this was mainly due to the fact I didnt understand it.



How things have changed. Linux is now far more user friendly to the extent that I have ditched Windows completely.



For instance Linux Ubuntu 7.10 is a far superior operating system to Windows, easy to use and free. It easily beats the pants out of Vista.



Linux being hard to use is history and is now becoming a very real option.



Read up about Ubuntu @ :



http://www.ubuntu.com/



Linux is the future and how computing should be.

Answer 2

It's not harder, just different

If someone used Linux all their life, switching to Windows would be a pain, too. People expect to become instant power users. But it's a new OS, with a whole different set of commands and software. Probably the hardest thing about Linux is having to work with the terminal. People like things to be pretty and graphical. But once you learn how to use Linux, you'll realize that it's much more customizable than Windows, and that you can set up your computer just the way you want it. Almost everything is configurable in Linux, from the bootloader, the desktop, the hard drive partitions, xorg, etc.

Answer 3

Mind blocks. That is what makes them believe without questionning, that Windows is easy and user-friendly.



If they were presented Linux and the same marketting terms were used to push Linux, that is, Linux being their first ever operating system, I can safely bet that they will complain Windows is harder than Linux.



Mind blocks makes them beleive they know to work with all operating systems. But in fact they know only Windows' way of working and they believe Windows is the only OS out there. So when Linux or any other OS is presented, they expect Windows in the new OS. The new OS is apparently not Windows and mind blocks are challenged. So the complaints.

Answer 4

this is simply because linux has no restrictions, it is free to use and free to edit at your own will, people make more mistakes... windows is full of restrictions and rules, this prevents alot of things being done which you can do on linux, this is why it appears to be harder, when in actual fact it isnt, plus windows owns the market so it seems easier to use because that is what people are used to...

Answer 5

Not harder just different. We are familiar with using windows and to use Linux we must learn a new operating system

Answer 6

people grwo up with windows in work, in school at home.. how can they ever find it difficult... but everything else may seem difficult instead

Answer 7

Honestly I don't know. Microsoft goofed on so many levels of Vista. And it's really hard with all the eye candy. There are just to many versions of Vista. It should have been like XP in just having Home Edition or Professional. I think that Apple even did it better with OS/X. People would really hate Apple if there had been 2,3,4,5, etc. different versions of OS/X.

Answer 8

People who claim "Linux is hard!" usually need a follow-up question or two: When did they last try Linux? What was hard? When did they learn (whatever they say is better)?



Windows 3.11 (on top of DOS) was not easy to learn when I was twenty four and had to buy my first computer for school. Many people confuse the newness and unfamiliarity of Linux for difficulty... forgetting that there was a time when Windows/MacOS/BeOS/WhateverOS was new and mystifying, too.



Just like early Windows, there was a time when Linux wasn't as neat and tidy as it is now. Forget about that: it's irrelevant now. Now Linux can be purchased pre-installed on a computer from WalMart with all the drivers working (unlike the two brand new WinXP boxen I just bought) and it's easier to use than Windows, because you don't have to muck about with antivirus, antispyware, activation, or built in DRM.



Why do some people say it is harder to learn Linux than Windows? Some people will say anything, no matter how nonsensical.

Answer 9

depends how far you go back with linux.. i remember downloading version 1 many years ago at uni.. took 80 floppy disks..



BUT it was a lot harder to use then.. a good knowledge of unix (which is what it was based on) helps heaps.



since time, they have made it very user friendly for people who just want to use a interface.. BUT you can still access the console and use it that mode..



it's not tricky , it used to be a lot more.. most problems people had were down to having incompatible hardware , such as graphics cards.. but if they stick to the HCL (hardware comp. List) no problems at all..



linux is here to stay.. half of the web runs apache , amongst other things..

Answer 10

Some distros of Linux are now easier to use than they have been in the past, but it is fair to say that Linux can be more difficult to use because it requires more technical knowledge.



Windows is a dumbed down version of Linux and people expect it to work. If you do have a problem with a piece of hardware then it can be a problem but usually there will be a forum where you can get help.

Answer 11

Why is Linux harder than Windows?



> Everyone is used to using windows and doesn't want to learn about a new OS, unless you are on of the few. It is also has no customer service meaning you cannot call a professional if you have a problem you need find these guys on forums.



Why is it some people say using Linux is more difficult than Windows? What is there to learn? For example, I am now using Ubuntu Linux and it is a full system. All I need is to use my mouse.



> Ubuntu is easy, Gentoo is hard.



Why do some people say it is harder to learn Linux than Windows? What is there to learn?



> Same as above, the OSs are slightly different.

Answer 12

at first, you could partition for linux, and there are variations of Linux that enable you utilize stay CD's as a manner to objective the working device out, without even installation it, and you want a application reported as image burn, and then to receive an ISO record of despite version. 2d, Linux desires no greater desirable than 10 GB, any distribution, despite if just to objective out, so a partition isn't something. there is even linux variations that run from pen drives. ok, now to the subsequent area. maximum archives won't paintings with Linux, video clips, and song, and well-known filetypes will, yet no longer records, most of the time. i might bypass with any rigidity that would format to Exfat, or Fat32 is superb. Ntfs is domicile windows merely. You drag, and drop. Linux has a technique that invoves mounting the drives linked by making use of USB, after for you to use it as an inner, with the aid of fact Linux has no registry. to go all of it lower back, drag, and drop.

Answer 13

Windows is the usual operating system people use in everyday life. It's only recently that people have started to even consider Linux.



I use Kubuntu and find it an absolute doddle to use. It's not harder than Windows, it just has different methods of doing tasks and it's all fairly self explanatory anyway. I guess it's the command line (terminal) that scares people, as people see the command line as DOS and therefore old and cumbersome to use.



Personally, I think Mac is difficult to use, I'm so used to Windows and Linux that I was completely lost when I used one. I even had to ask someone how to log off, I was so embarassed.

Answer 14

It's like playing Checkers all of your life and then trying to play Chess. While Chess is not a difficult game in principal, at least not any more difficult than Monopoly, it becomes difficult for someone whose only idea when seeing a checkered board is to move a piece to jump over others. When one learns Chess first, Checkers is quite simple by comparison.



Basically Linux is "harder" only because the user isn't used to having options in how to play.

Answer 15

linux requires you to think a little it's no harder than windows just not yet a complete point and click system like windows. but it's free so that should more than ofset the ease of use issue. you can always go pay bill gates for his unsecure bloated vista.

Answer 16

Once you have a fully set up system in Linux, it is just as easy as Windows.



Linux has problems setting up the system initially. Installing browsers,cd writing software,drivers, etc is quite difficult.



Linux developers should, really, group together and produce a "standard" system. It could provide a serious rival to Microsoft by this method.

Answer 17

its harder to use because it is hard to find software for it and its software is hard to use as well.

Answer 18

cos it just is.............