An observation of operating system users...

KGIII

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We like to point fingers at Windows and Apple users - but the reality is that there are some people who get serious work done on either operating system.
There are true power-users of either OS. The Windows terminal is quite potent and MacOS is a full-on Unix under the hood.

The difference is that many of the folks who use Linux started out as power users of those OSes. We're the ones who dig deeper and seek a greater understanding of what's going on underneath. You don't need to be a power-user to use a modern Linux desktop. That's not required. But, many of us were power-users of the OSes we migrated from.

As I was thinking about this, it made me wonder how many power-users give up. They start with Linux and expect the same level of proficiency, or at least the same level in a short time. Of those, MacOS users might have a marginal advantage given their use of a Unix.

I don't really have a point, but it struck me as an interesting bit of food for thought. I wonder if it's easier for a non-power-user to migrate than it is for a real power-user?
 


Power users in either OS listed will have a harder time unlearning what they have become proficient with in order to do it the linuix way. And that's a fact.

It happened when XP lost support. It's even worse now, what with users' attitudes being what they are. at present, IMO.
 
When I retired in 2008 I was a syadmin for a few AS/400s (IBM i now).
I shopped around and chose Linux as my old age pastime because I really hate
sitting around all day watching TV.
I agree with you 100% that a power user of one OS is very hard to adapt to
another especially when you get old.
 
I was familiar with Linux. It was in heavy use at the business. I too switched when I retired, but I did so because I already liked Linux and for reasons like no longer needing to have interoperability with Windows.

I was still fairly young at that time. I still recall some frustration along the way, but frustration has always been a good motivator for me. So, I kept at it and kept at it.

There's still a ton that I don't know. I think that's a good thing. It'll be many more years before I can be a 'know-it-all'! ;)
 
This reminds me of when Morpheus tells Neo how the mind has a difficult time letting go and it only gets worse with age
 
I wasn't a power-user when I was still using Windows, I just knew more than the average normal computer user because I used by computer a lot. It wasn't until I found GNU/Linux that I started actually learning more about how the os worked, I think it is because I grew up learning Windows that I never got to being a power-user with Windows. I actually learned GNU/Linux when someone introduced me to GNU/Linux because I didn't know how to do anything when I first started, had to learn it from scratch.
 
I think it is because I grew up learning Windows that I never got to being a power-user with Windows.

Interesting observation. I did not grow up with Windows. I did some of the same things I do now with Windows, including helping people out online - usually by Usenet, which was the MSFT official way to get community support at the time. I was fairly well known in the community.

I've always dug deeper than the surface with my computers, inasmuch as time allowed. A lot of that was how prompted I was to do so due to how much they pretty much stunk. It wasn't the OS in particular, it's that they all stunk (in my opinion).

They were slow and didn't do anything I wanted them to do by default. So, to make them do what I wanted, I had to put serious effort into it. I didn't like programming, but the software I needed just wasn't there. I kinda hated 'em, but I needed 'em.

And, man... Weren't they slow...

I kinda hated computes until we got up over say 1.2 GHz. It was a love-hate relationship. I spent many hours using computers, but I didn't really enjoy it. When you started getting into the 1.2 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, and an SSD? That's when they were 'fast enough', at the time.

So, I've always dug deeper into them than many others. (Again, as I've oft stated, there's still so much more for me to learn regarding Linux.) I've wanted to optimize them, make them do what I needed them to do, and give me a stable/consistent experience.

Which leads me back to something I've also previously said. One of the biggest reasons I like Linux is that it gets out of my way and lets me accomplish my computing goals with little fuss and muss. For me, Linux "Just Works!®"
 
When you get charged a lot of money to get the OS Re-Installed (XP)...you think...I should learn to do this and that's where it starts.

Building a computer...burning an ISO to a Flash Drive...installing the Distro...learning to create an image etc isn't that hard. I wouldn't call myself a power user as I'm an average user that wanted to learn to do things myself and anyone can do it at any age too.
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Switching to Linux was the best thing I ever did as it's so much better in every way...I like to do things the easy way...I install the Distro...set it up the way I like...create an image...how easy is that.
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Should anything happen I don't spend days or weeks trying to find the solution...I just re-image the Drive...even if the Drive fails...I still have the image and loose nothing...simple.
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I still have the image and loose nothing...simple

Yup. Restoring is pretty easy.

When you get charged a lot of money to get the OS Re-Installed (XP).

I've never paid anyone to support me personally. I guess the closest I come to that is having someone install the OS before I bought it. That's just from buying systems with Windows pre-installed. I've never paid for my personal support beyond that.
 
Yup. Restoring is pretty easy.



I've never paid anyone to support me personally. I guess the closest I come to that is having someone install the OS before I bought it. That's just from buying systems with Windows pre-installed. I've never paid for my personal support beyond that.

Restoring is easy with Foxclone.

Many years ago I got a new Tower built in a computer shop...came with a new OS (XP)...I'd had the computer about 6 mths when I got a virus which locked my system.
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I didn't know how to remove it... no Forums or youtube back then...so to the computer shop I went...took 5 days and a truck load of cash...was told we couldn't remove the virus so we had to re-install the OS.
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Of cause later when I learnt to do both myself...I realised the computer shop was lying...either too lazy or didn't know how to remove the virus.
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either too lazy or didn't know how to remove the virus.
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I have a neighbor(-ish - as around here the term 'neighbor' can mean 20 miles away) who insists on taking her computers to Best Buy in the city. It seems to happen regularly, even today.

I just smile and nod, 'cause I'll not be volunteering my services to become her 'computer guy'.

That was also a bit of a motivator to move to Linux. When I moved here, folks knew I'd reached that point in life because I was 'in tech'. So, being able o say that I don't use Windows has come in pretty handy.
 
Not sure if totally related, but I have my own view of Windows and Mac users, and I find Mac users in general more advanced and power-user-like than Windows users, in average. At least in my circle.

To my experience, a lifelong Mac user is far more proud of their control of the operating system in terms of pure productivity of their professional niche, being it creative or not. Things like nerding on using how many hundreds of key shortcuts, programs to put even more shortcuts, applets and apps and helpers to complete the funcionality of the mac OS (deficient, imho) window manager, and the use of automator... are things that I have discussed with journalists, accountants, graphics designers and students alike. Nothing much to do with the underlying Unix architecture, but maybe rather with the product design features that intend to get the user more productive.

On the other hand, I don't find the same kind of apetite in the general windows population, regardless the nature of their use (professional or personal). Indeed, I only found that level of poweruserness in a front-end architect I used to work with a few years ago.

I don't know what is the reason for this, or if there is a cause for it (instead of just being just a coincidence) but it's been my consistent experience for the last ~10 years.
 
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I have a neighbor(-ish - as around here the term 'neighbor' can mean 20 miles away) who insists on taking her computers to Best Buy in the city. It seems to happen regularly, even today.

Do you mean this Best Buy...


I watched these videos years ago and nothing has changed.
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Here in my state we have computer guys that come to you...they claim "we can make your Internet faster"
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I thought that was my ISP.
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Do you mean this Best Buy...

That'd be them. As I recall, they call themselves the Geek Squad. As far as I can tell, they are capable of swapping out hardware and doing a fresh installation. They're still in business, so they must be doing something that folks value.

I'm pretty much a 'pay someone to do it, 'cause I value my time more than they charge' kinda guy, but that's rather limited in the computer aspect. I do buy all my computers stock these days. I don't put them together myself, I just order them with the stats I want.

But, if I felt like adding more RAM I'd do so. If the graphics card dies before I feel like replacing the whole device, I'll change it. Though, really, it might be dumb luck but I haven't had any major hardware failures in a long time.
 
That'd be them. As I recall, they call themselves the Geek Squad. As far as I can tell, they are capable of swapping out hardware and doing a fresh installation. They're still in business, so they must be doing something that folks value.

Their not in Australia but we have people just like them...if people don't know anything about computers they get ripped off as I did years ago.

I think it's like $A100 per hour to "fix" your computer...so we save heaps of money doing it ourselves. I wonder how much they charge to install a new Flux Capacitor.
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I've never had any complaints with Microsoft or Windows OS and still don't however I just don't care for Windows 10 OS.

As for the how and why I started using Linux purely curiosity and nothing more.

I have Windows and Linux and Apple computers and all get used on a regular bases without complaints an OS is an OS.

As long as the OS being used works for the user than that is what really matters in my opinion.

Keep in mind the average computer user don't care what's happening with their computer as long as it's kinda working. ;)
 

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