Over the years, I’ve often thought that, despite how fast-moving the desktop Linux ecosystem is, there’s not much left that could truly surprise me. Yet I keep being proven wrong, and that’s a good thing. Winux, one of the newest additions to the scene, is a clear example.
Whether I like it or not, this distribution brings back memories of about 20 years ago, when Lindows, later renamed Linspire under legal (and fully justified) pressure from Microsoft, first tried to take the path of a Linux distribution built entirely to be as close as possible to the Windows experience.
Today, several Linux distributions aim to position themselves as an easy starting point, and even a replacement for Windows users looking to switch without friction. Zorin OS is a well-known example. Even so, these projects keep their own Linux identity, with similarities to Windows being more indirect than literal.
I’m not a fan of Ubuntu and its derivates in general (short version of the reason: Ubuntu continues to enshittify, its derivatives fight an increasingly harder battle to apply plasters to fix Ubuntu) and the reality since a few years is that an increasing number of people become familiar with SteamOS, its immutability and Flatpak use, so the old battle ground of .deb vs .rpm, where system config files are stored, etc. has just outlived itself. “A Ubuntu variant is the best because that’s what online tutorials are about” is no longer relevant for the vast majority of people.