Far point regarding support, but I’ve found that Linux is often actually a lot more friendly for non technical people than windows a long as you don’t step beyond what is possible in the UI.
It's actually more friendly in the command line too. I've done support on both.
Anything reaching a high level of complexity basically falls apart on Windows. I can tell someone on Unix: "Type exactly X" into the command prompt.
If I want someone to get there editing the registry, using the Window terminal and/or modifying complex system settings through a GUI which changes seemingly every week, it's basically a dead-end.
Linux works perfectly fine for completely non-technical people, who can do everything and anything in a browser, and who doesn't game, use a lot of different peripherals beyond maybe a printer, and upgrades their system every 15 years or so. Like my parents.
You can take away their root access, and if needed, ssh in and do remote support if needed.
Obviously, linux also work excellently for advanced users, those who can just fire up a windows VM and pass through a GPU if they want some windows functionality. (Exactly what I'm doing now. I like to run Windows on top of zfs, as since snapshots make backups/clones, etc so easy.).
For those inbetween, that do intermediate complexity tasks and don't want to struggle with the OS to do them, Windows/Mac is easier.
What were the use cases you've found success at? I've only found Linux (Ubuntu etc) to be a smooth and stable experience when not installing things beyond what's included by default. Have tried some variant of Linux every other year for the past 20. Turns into dependency hell and arcane incantations.
- Device drivers and configuration of things like the X Server. From what I've heard this can be mitigated by buying well-supported hardware.
- Software that wasn't included in the distro's package repositories. This is where linux can really fall down in my experience, along with the fact software like MS Office isn't supported at all. But if you don't need anything beyond standard software then it can often "just work" more smoothly than something like Windows.
Same experience re standard software - Generally works great out of the box if you can get through the installation process. Should have clarified re distro's packages working great too.
It might be that you're thwarted by trying to install it on bleeding edge machines. I've run Debian stable on my home servers and Debian testing on my workstations for years. Nothing ever goes wrong, it's boring. Debian stable is rock solid.
You’ve never had to support Linux if you think this. Hardware support is absolutely all over the board. It works but often requires tinkering, which is a support nightmare when you have hundreds of potentially thousands of users.
Anything reaching a high level of complexity basically falls apart on Windows. I can tell someone on Unix: "Type exactly X" into the command prompt.
If I want someone to get there editing the registry, using the Window terminal and/or modifying complex system settings through a GUI which changes seemingly every week, it's basically a dead-end.
Kids learn terminals fine too.