Look. I said that I didn't know what the solution to the problem was... and so you just "created a bogus solution" and made it mine. That's distortion. Really.
I'm an Open Source developer (for 15 years) and I've worked for a Linux distributor.
Yeah. I was pretty sure you weren't Linus. :-)
But the problem is that Win32 stinks as a user interface.
First time I've ever heard anyone make that claim, except for the Mac fanatics. I suppose that if the Win32 user interface "stunk", then nobody would be asking the theme question of this thread's article: "Can a frustrated Windows user dump Microsoft?" Heck, everybody's grandma and grandpa is using a computer now because the Win32 interface is very easy to use.
We like it this way [lacking a common "look and feel"].
I don't doubt that you like it this way. But not all in the Linux community like it this way. Furthermore, the other 99% of computer users who are on Windows or Mac have come to expect a certain consistency across their applications. The fact that Linux is different from Windows is not the problem. People switch from Windows to Mac and vice-versa every day with minimal problems. In either environment, after one learns how to work that first program.... learning others is rather easy. Not so with Linux.
Again, I contend that the lack of a common "look and feel" is one of the biggest impediments to mass migration from Microsoft to Linux. Like I said earlier, I'd put it in my "Top 6".
I dislike the Mac user interface too.
I suppose that if the Win32 user interface "stunk", then nobody would be asking the theme question of this thread's article: "Can a frustrated Windows user dump Microsoft?"
Most people don't know any better. Microsoft Windows suffers from what I call "you are trapped in a twisty maze of GUI windows, all alike syndrom". Also, like the Mac interface, it insists on using a broken mouse. Xerox Parc did years of research before deciding upon a three button mouse.
In either environment, after one learns how to work that first program.... learning others is rather easy. Not so with Linux.
You might have a point there with some people, but not all. Things in the Un*x world are certainly much different than they were 20 years ago. The first time I ever used Emacs I couldn't figure out to quit, so I finally had to pull the modem jack and relog in. It's much easier now. I've run in a Japanese locale and KDE for several years now. I am not a good reader of Japanese, but I haven't had too much trouble going about my business. I'll admit that I cannot install a Linux system in Japanese. I tried that once and it was a disaster.
Again, I contend that the lack of a common "look and feel" is one of the biggest impediments to mass migration from Microsoft to Linux.
O.K. I'll grant your point. I can't speak for anyone else, but I do development for me. I want an operating system that no one can ever take away from me and I can fix problems myself if I have to. It does not matter to me whether there is a mass migration to Linux or not. I don't care.