Like you, I see those flashy headlines and articles every day trying to convince Windows users to switch to Linux—how it’s supposedly better in every possible way, how you can use all your favorite apps, and so on. But honestly, most of that is just talk. It sounds great on paper, but it doesn’t match up with reality. Still, I guess those kinds of articles do their job pretty well.
Here, though, I want to take a slightly different approach. Right from the start, let me be clear: I’m not here to persuade anyone to jump on the Linux bandwagon. Instead, I want to talk about what I think is the real reason many people never make the switch—and surprisingly, it’s something I rarely see anyone mention. The biggest obstacle isn’t the software, the hardware, or even Linux itself. It’s you—and your mindset.
Linux Belongs to the Fearless
A long time ago, people much smarter and wiser than I figured out something interesting — most of us like to stay in our comfort zones for as long as we can. It’s basically a clever trick your mind plays on you, all with one goal: keeping you in a safe place where there’s as little risk as possible.
That mindset shows up everywhere in life, and tech is no exception. Let’s be honest — switching from Windows to Linux is a pretty big step outside that comfort zone for someone new.
At the same time, there’s a saying I completely agree with: the best things in life happen when we step outside our comfort zone and take on something we’re not entirely sure we’ll succeed at—but something that feels worth the try.
For Windows users, Linux is exactly that kind of leap. It’s unfamiliar territory—maybe even a little intimidating at first—full of unknowns, but also packed with possibilities, independence, and freedom.
So before you get lost in all the “what ifs,” ask yourself a simple question: are you ready to take on the Linux challenge with passion and a real desire to learn, or are you perfectly content staying in your comfort zone with the familiar world of Windows—even if it’s not perfect, but you’d rather not shake things up? Brave or safe? It’s up to you.
Change Your Mindset
Forums and social media are full of people curious about trying Linux, and the first thing they usually worry about is whether their favorite apps—let’s say app X or Y—will work on it. The answer is almost always no, because, well… they are just not available for Linux. But then comes the hopeful reply: “Don’t worry, there are these magical Linux programs that let you run Windows apps just fine.”
Well, let me tell you—if that’s the mindset you’re going in with, things are not going to be fine. Because if you start with the assumption that this is true — which, to be fair, it is for advanced users — then for a new user, the chances of getting a complex Windows app to run on Linux are pretty much zero.
What’s far more likely is that you’ll hit an error so bizarre that, after spending hours scouring the internet and getting increasingly frustrated, you’ll finally stumble on a “solution” that involves running a bunch of commands you don’t understand, which are beyond your imagination, of what these “spells” do.
Eventually, you’ll lose your patience (maybe even hit your keyboard and spit on your monitor—don’t do it; I tried it many years ago, it didn’t help at all), and once you’ve cooled off, you’ll hop onto your favorite social network to announce that Linux is useless.
Why did I paint such a bleak picture? Simple — because there’s one thing you absolutely need to remember: Linux isn’t Windows. These are two completely different worlds, each with its own ecosystem and its own way of doing things.
So instead of trying to make Linux act like Windows and run Windows apps (which, honestly, IMO, is an insult to Linux itself), the better mindset is: “Let me see if the Linux tools can actually do this job better — and maybe even easier — than the ones on Windows.”
You get what I mean. I know it’s tough, but try to let go of your old habits and the routines you’ve gotten used to. Give yourself a chance to learn the new way of doing things with an open mind and with the tools you have now. Who knows — after a while, you might catch yourself wondering how you ever managed without them.
Don’t Give Up
Do you remember your first time trying to ride a bike as a kid? It probably felt like the hardest thing in the world, right? But you didn’t give up—and now riding a bike feels easy, funny, giving you that great sense of freedom. Well, switching to Linux is a lot like that.
One thing’s for sure—on your Linux journey, you’re going to run into all kinds of challenges. Some will be quick fixes, while others might really give you a hard time. But every single time, you’ll come out of it with a better understanding of how things actually work, giving you motivation for the next dose of knowledge.
And trust me, your mind will try to mess with you. It’ll whisper things like, “Why are you wasting your time? You could’ve done this in five minutes on Windows and been done with it.” Don’t fall for it. I get it—the road feels tough, and slipping back into your comfort zone sounds easy and tempting. But chances are, you’re just one small step away from figuring it out. And when you do, that sense of pride will make it all worth it.
So, just don’t give up. That’s really the only rule that guarantees success. Honestly, that’s true for just about everything in life. I know it sounds like a cliché—but it’s a cliché because it’s true.
Linux isn’t a short sprint—it’s a marathon. The longer you’re in it, the more you grow in enjoyment, strength, and confidence. It’s a never-ending story, written over time by countless open-minded, free-spirited people — and you’re on your way to becoming one of those writers. The best part is that there’s no finish line—honestly, no one even wants one, because all the best things happen along the way.
Bottom Line
The biggest obstacle to switching to Linux isn’t technical at all—it all comes down to your motivation and the mindset you bring to it from the start.
However, if you feel you’re not quite ready for the things I mentioned above, my advice is simple — just keep using Windows. Honestly, it’s a great operating system, and there’s no reason to argue otherwise. Windows works well, and the fact that it’s used by everyone from kids to our grandparents really speaks volumes about it.
Like I said at the start, this isn’t about comparing the two. It’s about making sure you’ve got the right foundation so your move to Linux ends up being both smooth and enjoyable.
Here’s a bit of advice—don’t just take at face value all those articles with flashy titles like “Forget about Windows, XYZ Linux is…”. That’s just not true. Most of the time, it’s a niche take—or honestly, just an excuse to have something to write about.
Instead, take a moment to figure out your own reason for wanting to move to Linux. Are you drawn to the freedom, the independence, or the idea of being part of a huge community of open-minded, free-spirited people? Start there. Forget the technical stuff for now—it’ll come naturally as you go along. That’s not really the most important thing at the moment. Because, you know what? With the right mindset, you’re already halfway there.
Most of my fresh switch was less of curiosity and more borne of disgust and impatience with Microsoft’s increasingly brazen data-harvesting bloatware, and their full declared goal of a monthly subscription AI OS. Apple was already sitting pretty at this stage for half a decade.
Windows is popular for the same reason Kellogg’s cereal is popular: it’s what’s on the shelf, and has been on the shelf for generations.
The largest hesitation I see with folks sharing my frustration with the two market dominators is their app attachment. They’ve decades of written work, design work, animation work that is hooked up to both file formatting and UI refinement and settings (this holds especially true for the creators chained to Procreate and Adobe). So yes, they will press and beg for any chance to preserve these tools. Shoutout to GIMP for their hard work in Linux compatibility and support, may more of the creative communities transition over. Shoutout to the multiple developers cranking out video editing programs. Their dedication gives me hope for us all.
But for all I’ve seen, hesitency has little to do with needing to get over it. They just don’t see much land waiting on the other side.
I’m sorry but this is a load of crap. I’ve seen many people migrating to MacOS without a problem (I think Apple’s vendor lock-in and walled garden are the worst, but that’s not the point). And that’s because of applications.
The thing is there’s not a single Linux company making efforts on the desktop. IBM has tons of money, they could pressure or pay important developers like Adobe or Autodesk (just two examples of hundreds) to port their apps to Linux. But IBM doesn’t give a damn about the desktop. Canonical is much smaller but still huge on servers, but it has mostly abandoned the desktop too. Don’t get me wrong, RedHat and Ubuntu do have desktops, but they don’t do comercial actions at all about the Linux desktop.
If the major players don’t believe in their own products, why would John Doe care?
Classic example of a paid Micro$oft troll spreading FUD.
Fear
Uncertainty
Doubt
Don’t fall for it.
Dear Pablo,
“…. you need to first be polite, rudeness will get you no where …”
It’s a general rule which applies not only to help. It doesn’t help to say I’m sorry.
Your first sentence is unfortunately undermining your point of view.
Linux allows you to become Dorthy as in the land of Oz. That scares people. But I go behind the curtain all the time in my linux system. To protect your self BACK-UP BACK-UP. Have a plan!!! What did the witch say “thees things have to be done carefully”. Or linux will burn you.
I switched to Linux over 17 years ago, and I am pretty much a GUI guy. It’s not that hard but attitude is everything. As long as you say, oh if I run into a small snag I will run back to Windows you will run back to Windows.
First find alternative software. I started that by using open source software on windows, SMplayer, Clementine, Open Office (now liberoffice). When I found out how well it worked I switched to Linux
Second find an OS with a good forum. Forums run a wide range from Debian which as a new user you do not want to use, but ones specifically for new users like Zorin which is very helpful. Some find Mint but Mint can be confusing with different desktops, Ubuntu and Debian based releases and to many users asking questions. Then there are ones like Ubuntu Mate and Solus that are very helpful to new people, very patient and have very knowledgeable users.
Third ignore the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) Windows trolls will try to scare you with. I could care less about desktop share. Linux makes little money from the desktop, mostly from servers, supercomputers and the IoT. There is no central authority to fund massive commercial campaigns with people singing and dancing and trying to convince you to use their OS, which means when you buy you pay for those commercials. So Linux is never going to compete in that way.
Fourth the day will come sooner than you think when you can run some Windows on Wine, PlayOnLinux, Bottles or virtual machines. I don’t do that. I used to keep and old Windoze computer for two programs. Quicken 2001 and Garmin update. Quicken no longer worked after a Windows update said this program will no longer run on your computer, so I switched to MoneyDance which is a paid program but does the job well as I am not buying Quicken now that it is a subscription service. Garmin I have not figure out how to get it to run on Linux, Garmin tells my my GPS is old and they want me to buy a new one anyway, which I will look for one that supports Linux. That is important for all peripherals, look for ones that say they support Linux.
Just keep an open mind, and forget the Windows way and you will do fine.
Well I tried to switch to linux 10 years ago, and learned the hard way to be very disappointed by the community. That means I followed instructions in a linux forum to install something, and these funny guys instructed people to use a command that wiped out the whole system – it took me very long to set it all up and then it was all gone with one command. Hope they had fun, lost a linux user. Now I´ll try again, but I´m still very traumatized about what happend back then. Humans. Or rather IT-humans, often sociopaths – ruin communities to feel clever for 2 minutes.
What Linux community? Each OS has it’s own and some like Debian are terrible for new users. You will get answer like RTFM (read the f’ing manual). If you are not a computer geek that forum is not for you. There are ones specifically focused on new people to Linux. They will help you with and someone will have patience.
To get help you need to first be polite, rudeness will get you no where. “I am trying this stupid OS and nothing is works” isn’t going to get it done. Remember the people you are asking for help love and use Linux.
Give the specs on your computer
Give the OS and release you are using.
Give a detailed description of your problem and what you want to accomplish.
I can’t get ‘this program’ to run on Wine doesn’t help anyone help you.
Always thank the people that help you, and remember to mark your problem solved when you solve it.
Only thing stopping you doing xxx is your mindset. This applies to everything…
Negating peoples fears does not make them overcome them.
Making good transition tutorials does.
“good transition tutorials does”
Good transition tutorials, reliable + updated + trustworthy online documentation (and online forum support website for assistance) may not by themselves and of themselves overcome fear but they certainly can help moderate and reduce fear. In my opinion, a successful and permanent Windows-to-Linux migration requires both.
Dear sir,
Again, I agree with your article. But I would like to point out that your main article argument (fear, confort zone, mindset) does not explain everything regarding successful Windows-to-Linux migration, in particular why Linux market share on the desktop is (or seems to be, if you prefer) shrinking and not increasing. Worldwide desktop Linux OS market share from statcounter dot com:
Sept. 2024: 4.48%
Sept. 2025: 3.16%
2 country examples (desktop Linux OS market share from statcounter):
India:
Sept. 2024: 17.25%
Sept. 2025: 6.62%
Greece:
April 2024: 12.01%;
Sept. 2025: 5.33%
Buying a computer with a pre-installed Linux distribution could be and would be a solution to some but …
– stores like Amazon, Dell, HP and Lenovo (which happened to have provided such purchase capabilities for already more than a decade) do not reduce their prices (when comparing with a PC with Windows pre-installed)… at least not significantly. When you compare a $1000 (one thousand) PC with Windows pre-installed with one with Linux pre-installed, it is about the same price. I have checked this and anyone can do so.
Dear sir,
Windows users looking to migrate their computers to Linux need a different mindset: we agree on this. But once they have such mindset, then they need to be able to access to some technical documents and/or to some technical knowledge:
– it could be a friend who has been using Linux for several years and who could act like a coach or shepherd, providing answers, solutions, recommendations during the early months of such migration
– it could be an onligne forum support website
– it could be a book (paper book or PDF book) providing step-by-step solutions or assistance
– it could be all 3 items beforementioned at the same time
Fear is probably the greatest and biggest obstacle to overcome by Windows users.
Fear of losing data, fear of screwing or botching something, fear of losing time and money, fear of not being able to do something like they used to before (with Windows), fear of having to buy a new printer or some other computer component (document scanner, wireless network card), fear of spending dozens of hours reading, searching and having to learn a lot. Fear of struggling with major difficulties alone.
Ordinary people have limited knowledge of how their computer and their operating system work. Alone, they often feel that such migration is beyond their capabilities. And they feel overwhelmed also by the amount of careful reading they would have to do to achieve such migration.
So, people who feel overwhelmed by such task just resign and pay for an upgrade (operating system with or without a new computer) with a computer store.
“these magical Linux programs that let you run Windows apps just fine.”
I have never used and never recommended softwares like Wine because these are complex emulators that are not garanteed to succeed and if they do, it may be considerably slow.
Totally agree. This is the article I would refer to new Linux users
People don’t use an OS for its own sake, they use it as a means to access applications. On desktop, Linux and Windows DO perform the same function. MacOS is also completely different from Windows under the hood. Its interface is actually more different than what KDE on Linux provides. And yet you see far fewer complaints about it.
Completely agree. I’ve tried Linux a few times over the years but I quickly went back to Windows because it’s familiar. I switched permanently earlier this year. The difference this time was that I was ready. Switching is harder when your still happy with Windows. Switching is a lot easier when you’ve just had enough of Microsoft and Windows.