I’m with you with (distribution) choice (that’s definitely stressful, especially when you aren’t used to actually having to choose what kind of computing experience you want) but driver/program distribution on Linux is less painful/easier than on Windows on average. If your hardware happens to be supported, everything should work out of the box without the need to install drivers; the biggest problem for more or less average users would be having to install Nvidia drivers if they have a Nvidia GPU.
Installing software is generally as easy as opening your distribution’s software store, searching what you need and hitting the install button.
I’ve been using Linux for about a decade now. Windows for even longer before that. We still have some Windows laptops in our house. Even a decade ago when I first started trying Linux out, it was far more plug and play than Windows and still is.
The overwhelming majority of the time drivers are provided by the Linux kernel - install your distro and everything just works.
Windows I always have to go to various websites, download files for various devices and then install them.
Even when I need something specific on Linux, one store (in my case Arch repositories, including AUR), I can use one interface and download and install anything in one step - I skip the looking for the manufacturers website, going to the website, finding the software download, downloading it and then going through the installation process on Windows.
Linux has some things that are more difficult, but overall is infinitely easier to use.
I’m with you with (distribution) choice (that’s definitely stressful, especially when you aren’t used to actually having to choose what kind of computing experience you want) but driver/program distribution on Linux is less painful/easier than on Windows on average. If your hardware happens to be supported, everything should work out of the box without the need to install drivers; the biggest problem for more or less average users would be having to install Nvidia drivers if they have a Nvidia GPU. Installing software is generally as easy as opening your distribution’s software store, searching what you need and hitting the install button.
Is not it true with Windows? Plug and play? And while I did not study this, I strongly suspect that it is more true for Windows than for Linux.
I’ve been using Linux for about a decade now. Windows for even longer before that. We still have some Windows laptops in our house. Even a decade ago when I first started trying Linux out, it was far more plug and play than Windows and still is.
The overwhelming majority of the time drivers are provided by the Linux kernel - install your distro and everything just works.
Windows I always have to go to various websites, download files for various devices and then install them.
Even when I need something specific on Linux, one store (in my case Arch repositories, including AUR), I can use one interface and download and install anything in one step - I skip the looking for the manufacturers website, going to the website, finding the software download, downloading it and then going through the installation process on Windows.
Linux has some things that are more difficult, but overall is infinitely easier to use.