But while the receding issue of a few illegal multimedia codecs, if needed, was a concern I would have to deal with, what has really kept me from being a “convert” to Linux was and mainly is that of lack of need and unwarranted time that would be required to customize it as I have with Windows (despite MS resistance).
Meaning that I have been able to quite easily and freely customize Windows, effecting improvements in efficiency (which Windows as well as Linux warrant), via enhancements and quick access to applications and features, but without much of a learning curve.
For one, I am the type of person who likes compact yet expansive menus, and overall enable quick access to programs and places, while improving layout without needing to learn much coding though I have edited the Windows registry a few times, and sometimes used Power Shell to accomplish such.
Therefore I like the the over 200 tweaks available in Ultimate Windows Tweaker for Windows 11 from the Windows club (Windows 10 users should use Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4.8 for Windows 10), as well as Winaero Tweaker and Explorer Patcher and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker beta.
To begin with, Explorer Patcher restores the Windows 11 taskbar to be exactly like Windows 10, and with it I use the Windows 7+ Taskbar Tweaker which provides more customization. Below is two-level (Windows enables this by dragging the top border upward) Taskbar:
Note that most of the buttons are that of multiple Portable Firefox installations, each generally being for its own purpose, from forums to shopping. (Note that to run more than one copy of installations of FF portable concurrently, you need to place a copy of the FirefoxPortable.ini from Other\Source to the main folder of FirefoxPortable and edit the FirefoxPortable.ini to instruct:
AllowMultipleInstances=true)
DisableIntelligentStart=true)
You can also create a Quick launch menu for your taskbar, either for a custom folders or the default Quick launch (buried in %UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch) . Right click on your taskbar and hit Toolbars and then New Toolbars and navigate you the folder of your choice,
Add to this Right-Click Extender (add items to many right click menus), plus Open Shell to replace the Windows 11 start menu
Resulting in these expansive quickly accessible layouts (composite image of desktop view in Windows 11: Start and Right-Click menus, default Device manager; task bar via Explorer Patcher.
In contrast, are examples of more limited, spaced out/less compact (though scrollable) default menus in both Windows and typical Linux distros (and the sparsity of the Mint right click menus is not worth showing. Puppy Linux is better)
(Mint):
Yet which is better than the Windows 11 default Start menu (contrasted with OpenShell, on right)
”Meanwhile T-Clock Redux works in W/10 far better than the default Windows clock, or any I have seen for Windows or Linux, but does not work for me in W/11 as yet.
Also, I like being able to quickly see and actually go the source of program executables in Windows via a right click on the menu icon, hit Properties and Open file location and go there, which I usually find I cannot do in Linux start menus
Why? For one, because we should be able to find actual locations. For instance, i may want to edit something in my Firefox profile folder, (in does such, I have found the extra security of Linux to be a hindrance. As the sole user of this PC, I do not want to have to run a terminal to do many things I can do as a Admin in Windows).
Another reason is because sometimes I want to be able to easily choose which application to open a file with, or which location to send a shortcut to. So I go to the buried Send to folder (%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo), and right click on that folder and choose to create a shortcut to it, and then place that shortcut in the folder itself. Then you can right click on program shortcuts such as to image viewers, editors, and send them to the Send to folder.
And then, if you want to open up an image or document in one of a programs designed for it other than the default one, then you can right click on the file and point to Send to and to one of the programs you placed there to open it with. Which can be faster than the Windows default “Open with” option (which does not list my portable programs)
Note that Windows hides extensions of known file types by default, thus hiding executables, and so of the first things I do in Windows is go to folder options and select Show hidden… and deselect “Hide extensions…”
Then there are free utilities such as AutoHotKey which does involve finding out some basic coding to create scripts which will do such things as remap keys. For me, this is very helpful, esp. due to typing and operations with stiff arthritic fingers). For I remapp Caps Lock to ctrl+c (which I find hard to accomplish past sessions in Linux), and Esc to ctrl+v ; NumLock to Esc and the middle mouse button to ctrl+x by addng the lines below to a script:
CapsLock::^c
(NumLock::Esc
Esc::^v
mbutton::^x
This enables copying a selected (highlighted) word or section of a page by simply pressing the CapsLack key, and pasting it with Esc, which is replaced by NumLock, while the middle mouse button cuts (ctrl_x).
There are also Windows programs that there are no truly comparable applications for in Linux (maybe There is for AutoHotKey now).
However, if you can code and compile etc. then that is fine. I do not want to degrade all Linux users, and maybe one day I will mainly be one, but I am giving my reasons for not having switched. At least not yet.
I thank God for the tools we have, and those who create and improve and provide them. May they only be used for good, expressing God, the source of all that is Good.