If you do GPU computing you can obviously expect your UI to freeze. Consumer level GPU's don't have (generally) interruptible behaviour, so the scheduling is between command buffer submissions and the same GPU is used to run your desktop and display server. So if you have a cuda kernel that runs for a long time for example everything else is blocked. Even worse if you have an infinite loop in your kernel ;)

Dunno... I manage to use nvenc for transcodes in windows without the UI freezing. I had similar issues with multiple monitors the last I tried... off server my htpc runs ubuntu, and I swear at least once a month I consider switching it back to windows (gigabyte brix hardware, all intel, like nuc), and the hdmi audio driver via intel/ubuntu is a consistent source of pain.

I love it for server-side workloads headless... but UI on linux still isn't nearly as consistent as it is on even windows, let alone mac.

I'm guessing you went with the open source drivers that have transitioned from horrible to merely inferior without much help from nvidia. The official drivers from nvidia, which you would install as a matter of course with windows, both work better and come with a gui to configure your settings and multiple monitors.

If (s)he uses the box for GPGPU computing, you can be pretty sure that they are using nVidias drivers. (CUDA doesn't work when the Nouveau drivers are loaded.)

Fwiw, I used the Nvidia drivers.

But the fact that users are presented with a choice and have the opportunity to screw things up sort of shows the misalignment between Linux and the general public.

The general public wants and needs a computer they can't screw up, not something endlessly configurable.

For most people, if things don't work out of the box, they might as well not work at all. Many people don't even know drivers exist because they've never had to manually install them.