Jack Wallen, a longtime Linux user of 30 years, switched to Windows 11 for a week on the same hardware and daily workload. He encountered numerous frustrations that highlighted differences in user control and efficiency. The experience reinforced his preference for Linux.
Jack Wallen began his experiment a week ago, aiming for a positive experience with Windows 11 without preconceived notions. However, within the first hour, he questioned, 'Why do people willingly use Windows?' He used a laptop for his usual tasks, expecting efficiency, but found the opposite.
The issues started immediately. Creating a local account required complex steps, unlike Linux's simple 'sudo adduser jack' command, which only needs basic details. Wallen described it as 'hair-pullingly frustrating,' feeling like he had to 'sell my soul' to Microsoft.
Google Passkeys failed to work, even after enabling the 'Hello' service; they functioned instantly on a new Linux virtual machine but not on Windows. An email client from the Microsoft Store, Mailbird, locked him out with an aggressive paid-version pop-up, forcing multiple reboots to uninstall it—impossible via terminal without SSH on Linux.
Natural scrolling refused to disable properly, reverting despite settings changes, likely due to driver conflicts. Ads appeared in the Start menu and taskbar, which Wallen found unacceptable in an OS. Save dialogs defaulted to OneDrive, unlinked to his account, frustrating local-first workflows.
Resource usage was high; the msedgewebview2.exe process, part of Edge WebView2 Runtime, consumed more CPU than Opera with multiple tabs, causing the laptop to run hot with constant fan noise, even without using Edge. Security settings showed confusion: Virus and Threat Protection appeared disabled on one page but 'On' on another, tied to cloud and account features.
Power options failed to auto-dim the screen or hibernate on the laptop, risking battery drain; Wallen had to manually adjust OEM utilities. Throughout, he felt constant anxiety over potential crashes or forced updates and reboots.
In the second source, similar problems are noted, including brittle passkeys dependent on Windows Hello, pervasive ads in consumer editions, and WebView2 overhead. Security confusion arises from multidimensional cloud features, while power defaults require tweaking. StatCounter data shows Windows holding over 50% global desktop share, yet Wallen concluded Linux offers superior local control. He returned to Linux immediately after, appreciating its reliability.