I went 100% Linux last fall with Kubuntu.

For those reading along, this person is talking about the KDE Plasma desktop environment. The Kubuntu Linux distribution uses it by default, but you can also install and switch to it on just about any popular Linux distro, even if it's not the default.

I use Plasma, too. It's good, reasonably familiar, and respects the fact that people might want to tweak things to fit their needs.

Since my work "upgraded" to windows 11 the task bar is the bane of my existence.

We all run a laptop docked with two monitors. In windows 10 I would set a monitor as primary, drag the task bar to the laptop screen. That would result in the most real estate for the software I use with out clutter.

Can't fucking do this is 11. It's either primary or all monitors for task bar. Someone suggested auto hide the task bar. Holy shit even that has been fucking ruined in 11. It turns off randomly and frequently. Plus notifications seem to over ride the hiding.

Speaking of which, my task bar keeps freezing every day I use it so my system tray and even the time is never accurate.

If you have multiple monitors, change the setting so it only displays on the primary monitor and see if that makes a difference.

I want to just throw my cursor into a corner without looking and click with the confidence that it will open my start menu.

So change it, that's a setting that's been there since day one on W11 to move the Start menu and taskbar stuff back to the left corner.

The start menu is a fucking mess. I really loved the Windows 10 start menu with its tiles and groups. Now you have to manually pin everything, it’s all small icons and you can’t have them in groups. You have to create sub-folders to put the icons in, adding an extra click for nothing.

The tiles were one of the biggest things people complained about on Windows 8 and 10 compared to previous versions. The Windows 11 Start Menu works more like previous versions in this regard, because that's something people were VERY vocal about wanting back.

Hi. I'm a Linux convert and hate Windows as well, but I feel the need to contest some of this

I hate rounded corners [...] I like having my whole desktop real estate to be used

Rounded corners only lose something like 30 pixels (assuming 100% resolution scale) out of the millions on screen. Serious question, no shade or sarcasm: do you need those corner pixels? Plus in Windows 11, the window corners are only rounded when the window is floating. The corners go square when the window is snapped and maximized so you get those corner pixels back anytime real estate matters most.

I want to just throw my cursor into a corner without looking and click with the confidence that it will open my start menu.

That's always been the case since... the Start menu was invented, I think? In Windows 11, just set your taskbar to Left instead of Center and you get that behavior back.

[The Start menu is] all small icons and you can't have them in groups.

The former is correct, the latter isn't. I exclusively keep my icons in groups, in the grid along with regular pins, on my last remaining Windows 11 computer. As someone who loves KDE, it drives me crazy that I can't keep my own in-grid groups like in Windows 11. Closest option I have is Plasma Drawer, which works but requires me to use the KDE Menu Editor to customize which is less convenient.

The taskbar freezing thing sucks for sure, my only recommendation would be to maybe try a 3rd party replacement like StartAllBack but it isn't free.

I was just forced to update at work and i haven't stopped bitching about it since!

A couple other complaints:
- I've been a top-taskbar person for a long time and now it's locked to the bottom.
- Also the emoji picker isn't as easy or efficient to use as it now requires extra inputs.

Thanks Winblows devs. I hate you. 🥰

I've just ditched my win 10 partition for a mac mini purely to run some cad software. As a KDE user I find it hard to articulate my hatred for what the fuck is going on with macOS design philosophy.

Not having used win 11 since its first release, it's funny how much of the above frustration I'm going through with the mac, both suck beyond suck now it seems. The base mac mini for £600 would be an amazing deal, if it was running Linux.

A lot of those problems is 100% fixable through the settings menu...

What I don't understand about Windows 11 is why they can't seem to fix the weird delay that now exists across the entire UI.

Right click, weird delay, menu shows up.

Press the Start button, weird delay, menu shows up.

Open Explorer, weird delay, program shows up.

Enter text in the search field, weird delay, results show up.

Windows 10 didn't have that delay.

I put my work computer on Linux(NixOS) lol. When I do IT for users on Win 11 I'm constantly like "Why is this so slowwww? ".

It's insane how many stupid little problems there are with it. Especially on functionality that has existed for years/decades. It's like they just change shit for the sake of changing it and then the changes aren't tested properly to make sure they work. Absolutely ridiculous coming from such a massive company. It's clear they give zero fucks about the user experience.

This is real petty, but on my work laptop, moving from W10 to W11 removed the popup calendar in the taskbar on secondary monitors and however many years later, it still messes me up every day.

Same. I got sick of Windows late last year and swapped to Linux in October/November.

I should have switched to linux a few years back as I was on windows due to having the same system as my wife to ease tech support duties. That changed and lazyness kept me static until windows 11 being forced forward that got me to change in the last year. Main regret was not getting my but in gear and doing it a few years sooner.

I'm not on Win11, but I read somewhere that disabling the animation effects makes the system much more responsive.

I'm just waiting for escape from tarkov to send the email to battle eye to enable Linux support and I'll throw windows into the sun

Wooops the requirements have been heightened insert corporate excuse that people will eat up.

windows 12 now runs in the cloud! requirements: always available internet, with low latency and high bandwidth, and ignorance over privacy

Rest in peace, Windows 7

At least switch to a Linux build. Hell, install a portable one on a USB stick to see if you like it first. The lack of security updates for W10 means you could very easily end up with a zombie computer on your home network.

Probably not a good idea once they stop security patches for win10.

Currently, in my head, moving to win11 (assuming you wont use linux) makes the most sense instead of foregoing security patches (whenever they stop).

How do you get third party protection? I've no desire to switch either but I don't want to go without malware protection.

welcome!

to get started, download a linux OS .iso and write it to a usb with Balena Etcher. boot to that usb by selecting it in your bios/uefi (restart the computer and smash the del key a whole bunch to get there) :)

its basic, but this is the part that can confuse those who arent so tech savvy and want to switch <3

Start now friend, it may take time to find alternatives for some of your workflow, also to find a flavour you prefer, Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, etc, there is a lot of choice. I've been slowly trying to get everything setup for a while now. Only a few more little apps and things to finish the switch. sadly I will still need windows for several VR games performance wise, some are just too stuttery on nix. I used to love Ubuntu/Gnome but KDE is a better environment, from the reading I did, for VR with an Nvidia vid card

Why waiting? Do it now. Give Linux Mint a try, or elementaryOS if you want a mac-like experience.

Test it out on an old PC, you gotta have one hanging around the house. After a couple of weeks you'll wonder how you got anything done without it.