Say a friend is looking for a new system, and said person is not particularly savvy with technology, what system would you point them toward?
this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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They all suck in their own unique ways, and I use them all, so I feel uniquely qualified to say that.
To be honest, I'm ready for the hate, but about 90% of the people I know looking for a recommendation are not the type of people for whom any flavor of Linux is well-suited. Apple is too much of a closed system and likes to do things its own way in contrary to everybody else, forcing users down their one and only path of truth regardless of whether it makes sense to do so even though it's completely different/opposite of nearly all best practices, which makes them a hard sell. Plus, they lost me with the "it just works" when they in fact do not "just work". So, just to make my life easier, I usually find myself suggesting people stick with Windows. I hate it, but it saves me time and sanity in the end.
It's funny to think about, because I have the exact opposite experience. I think it really comes down to the type of person though.
Most of the people I help (with IT) is people who is not that comfortable on a tablet and would like the next step up. A cheap laptop, with bigger screen and a physical keyboard. Used for banking, writing, browsing. Nothing that really can't be done on a tablet as well.
All of these people use Linux. Mostly Mint or ElementaryOS, depending on their preference.
If we add gaming into the mix, it becomes a little more "complicated". This really depends on the person. I have family/friends who game on Linux, but I also know one who didn't last that long using Linux, because it simply didn't fit their needs.