e.g. in Gnome when I open a media file with VLC the focus remains on Files app even if the video opened fullscreen over the top. So when I press space to pause I instead open a second preview of the same file in the background.
Or I use the Gnome media player and it turns sub-tittles back on every time I use it, despite me previously turning them off.
Or the sleep system doesn't suspend to disk after an hour of RAM usage so that my battery is flat when I return latter.
Little stuff like that is an unnecessary pain, just for a lack of polish. I persevere with Linux because of all the little things it does better but it's a hard sell to friends and family.
In my experience, the switch is hardest for people who are savy with Windows and who'd need to re-learn everything in order to be as proficient with Linux, but fortunately, Windows changing menus and settings at every release can help making the switch (that was my case, I used to be a Windows XP power user got a little bit pissed off when moving to Windows seven and then transitioned to Linux instead of Windows 8).
But the people who know every Windows nook and cranny suffer hardest. They have so much to learn and unlearn, and they have work to do on a system that fights them. They'll be the loudest grumpiest customers in a switch. If they want to give it a chance and do the effort, it seems to take about a month before they reach equal productivity. If they don't want to give a different OS a chance, I rather see them continue running windows.
Each their own favorite tool, I guess.
This is almost certainly a firmware issue. Did you contact your hardware vendor for support and ask them about it?
Everything I've read suggests that this is just a fiddly config issue and setting up the correct script combination would solve it. I just don't have the time of patience to get to the bottom of it right now.
I installed Fedora to actually stay there and ditch windows.
And I had several errors with this chip on my motherboard: Realtek ALC892. Mind that asking in Fedora forums was an extremely unpleasant experience, saying that my reports were useless. Which they probably were, because I am not a linux expert, and I do not know what is the command they want me to write to get an output.
That chipset is a decade old, extremely common, and not yet supported. The solution is to buy and use an USB soundcard.
The second problem is related to Wayland/xorg. I was using KDE plasma, with an nvidia card and the propietary drivers. The very latest driver flashed my screen which were useless.
I had to run a myriad of commands in order to install a previous version and not to get it updated, which again, it is not what I would consider ready for desktop. I should be able to go to the software center, be able to select any previous version (you cant), and click an option that says do not update this please.
So I manage to make them work, but they only worked fine with xorg, not with wayland. And then other apps, stopped working, with blank screens, because they are only supported on wayland (but can't use wayland with my nvidia 1050 ti card). If you report a bug, they will tick it with "not our bug" and so it is.
Honestly, the experience was horrible, and I did try to make it work the best I could and get involved with the community. Even here I can see I already see my comment with -4 points.
But that does not change the fact, that the desktop experience with linux is not yet ready, and closing your eyes and say it is, because you manage to use it. It will not help linux at all in the future.
I've experienced issues with GMA500, could be resolved by Intel, never were. I've pinned package versions, patched driver - that's development, should not be exposed in GUI. I've switched to supported hardware, no issues.
Telling the user (me) to buy something else, not to use certain hardware, when there is not even a database of supported hardware, it is not desktop ready.
Imagine I want to buy an AM5 motherboard that is fully supported by linux. Where can I get such information?
Hardware you own does not respect freedom to switch OS. Nothing stops NVIDIA or Realtek from supporting Linux like Intel and AMD do.
I think it's got a ways to go. I know plenty of people who would be stumped by something like that, even though it can be solved with some basic internet searching.
In reality most people don’t even know they have a choice.
The real reason why people [1] use Windows is that it comes pre-installed.
[1]: individuals, companies have other requirements and are tied to Windows for other reasons
I went the same route a decade ago, and upgraded both my parents and in-laws to Macs, and the amount of "pc support" i have to do has dwindled almost to nothing.
Granted, most "non-work pc usage" these days is done over a phone, and the support has also shifted to "phone app support", mostly apps that launch "refreshes" that confuses the hell out of the elderly since they apparently rely more on muscle memory than "understanding" what the app does :)
My father is proud of paying for an antivirus subscription :) But at least he doesn't ask me anything.