(Apologies to the mods if this is type or style of post is not appropriate for this forum - please remove if so. These were mostly shower thoughts after looking over a document on my wife’s Lenovo laptop mentioned below, and remembering the ordeal described there. Thought there was a chance it might be interesting or conversation-sparking for others)
A group of KDE developers recently started working on an in-house maintained Linux distribution, KDE Linux. One of the major forces behind this was the desire for KDE itself to be able to approach hardware partners about providing devices with a pre-loaded, high-quality desktop experience based on KDE Plasma.
One reason I believe that type of work is so important is that, despite the common assumption, Windows doesn’t “just work” in many cases - so if we can get more and more folks over the hurdle of replacing a pre-installed proprietary operating system, then more and more folks will be able to enjoy the freedoms and quality experience of modern desktop Linux.
What follows are basic anecdotes, so they may be taken or left as you choose. However, they cover multiple general-purpose computers that my family has used over the past several years, all from different manufacturers, all purchased from major retail chain stores, so I believe there’s more than just uniquely bad luck at play. Putting together a hardware and software stack can be intricate work, and just because the model of deployment is different when devices come with Windows, doesn’t make it any less fool-proof:
HP Laptop
Although I was - and still am - quite happy overall with this device, it stands as a good example of how network adapter support is tricky for everyone. After a failed operating system update, I figured the best course of action was to simply wipe and reinstall Windows using a fresh download from Microsoft.
What I didn’t realize is that the Wi-Fi adapter in this device is completely unsupported by generic out-of-the-box Windows, relying on a driver packaged specifically by HP for that device - so, in an all-wireless household, I was left to prop up the laptop on an old piano bench next to our router, and make sure the kids and dog didn’t accidentally knock it over while Windows Update did its thing for the next two hours.
(The Wi-Fi on this device works as-is on every Linux kernel since at least 5.15, and it’s now happily trucking along on Fedora 41)
ASUS Laptop
Since we needed a device that could function as an on-the-go office work machine, a small and light device with good battery life was the priority here.
Too bad that letting it go to sleep (no matter the means - by inactivity timer, or by closing the lid), then waking it up, causes the fans to turn on and become stuck at “space shuttle exit velocity” speeds - enough to drown out my voice when trying to speak on a conference call, and seemingly enough to negate much of the potentially good battery life.
The only way to silence the raging machine is to fully power down - not even a restart will do it - so a “pick up where you left off” workflow gets pretty hampered by having to wait for a full shutdown, full startup and all programs to relaunch every single time.
Lenovo Laptop
This one takes the cake for hardware “integration” - my wife chose a specific Lenovo model to use for her work based primarily on its keyboard quality (along with sufficiently powerful specs, of course). We took it home, she started using it, then set it aside for a minute with the lid shut.
When she opened it back up…“hey, the screen’s not turning back on”. About an hour of web searches and a couple PowerShell commands later, we had figured it out - its factory configuration was to try to sleep in a state that was unsupported by its hardware, which led to a total freeze-up, hold-down-the-power-button situation by default anytime you closed the lid or left it alone for 15 minutes.
Bonus Round - File Search in Windows File Explorer
I’ve seen a lot of complaints about file search in FOSS desktops - GNOME’s LocalSearch (f.k.a. tracker), KDE’s Baloo, etc. A few days ago, on a Windows work machine, I was looking for a template for Avery 5167 envelope labels that I had downloaded and worked on a few weeks ago.
I already had a File Explorer window open, so I went up to the search box and typed “5167”. Only one file was found - it must have had 5167 in the contents somewhere, but it was an entirely unrelated ZIP file from multiple years ago.
OK, I’ll make it easier on this poor software - I’m sure it’s still in the Downloads folder, so I’ll navigate there and then search. After clicking “Search Downloads” to activate the box, then typing 5167…still nothing. OK, maybe I didn’t leave it in Downloads after all?
I opened Microsoft Word, and looked in the File > Recent Documents menu. There’s a search box there, so I tried typing “5167”…and sure enough, there it is. In the Downloads folder. With “5167” in the filename.
Moral of the story: if you ever need file search capabilities, save everything on a Windows machine as embedded in a Word doc, then use Word to search for your files. (KFind from KDE has never steered me wrong)
Why Nitpick Windows PCs?
I think there’s still an assumption that the benefits of an OS that doesn’t spy on you, that isn’t turning your identity into a product, and all of that, can only be gained by sacrificing functionality or comfortable use. “They built it to work with Windows, so it’ll work best on Windows, you’ll have to deal with things being worse on Linux”.
On the contrary, I believe there are many existing hardware configurations that would require few-to-no tweaks to produce better end-user experiences when pre-loaded with a modern Linux desktop, rather than the latest Microsoft Windows offering. The process of replacing an existing installed OS is an enormous hurdle for the average user - but once a Linux-based OS is in place, I think many users will be able to simply enjoy the experience.