The Best Windows is Linux(lunduke.substack.com)
13 pointsby gargan4 hours ago4 comments
  • pxheller2 hours ago
    One should turn this into a distro – Free10/FreeXP[1]-like base for the UI, with solid Wine integration for Windows compatibility.

    Wonder if anyone's ever tried to run linux with only windows apps.

    [1] https://xpq4.sourceforge.io

  • pixel_popping3 hours ago
    If I may, I doubt current Windows users aim for Windows 95 as a graphical interface :p That's more for hardcore linux users that had good memories on Windows back then.
    • bad_username17 minutes ago
      Adding my vote to "win2000 is peak UI" pile. I would genuinely use it today.

      There is one hickup though: the Win95 theme relies heavily on the pixel grid for its readability and aesthetics. Displays with very small pixels will either render it too small, or require some kind of upscaling with unpredictable results. 1920x1080 on a 17 inch display is probably as far as it will comfortably go.

    • noir_lordan hour ago
      I genuinely think windows peaked at Win2K including the GUI.

      It was stable, it was fast, the debugger couldn’t take out the entire OS, it had the classic windows 98/NT look but was polished and above all was self-consistent.

      Everything since then has been a step back in consistency and polish (with the possible exception of XP/SP2).

      It was the last time windows got out the way and actually let me compute.

      Now Windows 11 (by default) has inconsistent UX/UI, it nags constantly, updates are still painful and slow and they seem utterly determined to shoehorn things in I do not want, OneDrive and AI been the two primary but not only suspects.

      I’ve only used windows for gaming since 2003 and my primary get stuff done OS since ~2000 has been Linux, one has dramatically improved and the other has regressed.

      Even when I had to do some .Net stuff at work a few years ago I shoved Windows into a VM and did it inside that so I didn’t have to deal with native windows.

      The current backlash is the end result of all that accumulating over time, it’s not one thing, it’s dozens of little things and different users hit a different subset.

      Also if you do use windows and haven’t seen it, win11debloat is a time saver.

      Installing Linux is adding things I do want after install, Installing Windows 11 is removing things I don’t want, I know which one is respecting the user.

  • 3 hours ago
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  • wolvesechoes3 hours ago
    And the best Linux is WSL.
    • saejoxan hour ago
      Crashes too frequently for me. Needs a reboot to fix only to be crashed again few hours later. I never found a solution; likely related to docker/podman being memory hungry.

      Port handling requires constant Powershell maintenance too.

    • Carrett2 hours ago
      I completely agree, even if it’s an unpopular opinion.
      • cassianoleal2 hours ago
        It's unpopular because it probably only serves hardcore Windows users who happen to need Linux for work - which is a very valid but likely relatively niche cohort.

        I'm personally glad they (you?) are served but I suspect for pretty much anyone outside of that cohort, WSL is the worse of both worlds.

        • Carrett30 minutes ago
          One thing is Linux for servers, where it has no real rival, and another is Linux Desktop, which I’ve been using for more than 20 years. But despite Windows’ reputation, I honestly think that no Linux distribution — whether with KDE, GNOME, or Hyprland — comes close to Windows in terms of stability and cohesion when managing windows, even though Windows still has a lot of room for improvement.

          So Windows + WSL for anything you want to develop on Linux seems to me like one of the best solutions. I’d say you get the best of both worlds.