Surviving Windows After 15 Years on Linux: Tips, Hacks, and Workarounds

1. First Impression

Windows 10 feels chaotic: a mix of a new UI and legacy Win32/GDI components, leaving the user stuck in a random hybrid that cannot be reconfigured like Linux desktop environments.

Dark mode exists but only for the new UI; legacy parts remain bright.

2. You Can’t Customize Anything

Unlike the highly customizable Linux world, Windows forces you to accept whatever Microsoft provides, while Linux lets you pick a distribution and tweak it to your needs.

3. Windows Is Not Designed for Developers

Linux is a toolbox built over decades for developers; Windows is a commercial OS aimed at Office users, lacking the composable command‑line utilities that make automation easy.

Non‑combinable software

Linux/Unix tools (echo, cat, grep, sed, awk, find, cut, sort, curl, ssh, …) are composable via pipelines. Windows largely ignores this model, offering isolated GUI applications that must be manually downloaded and installed.

Solution: Install GNU coreutils on Windows (e.g., via Scoop) and use them alongside PowerShell.

$ scoop install coreutils

4. Path Issues

Long, space‑filled paths are tolerable in a GUI file manager but painful in the command line.

5. Environment Variables

Windows uses %VAR% syntax instead of $VAR, and variables are stored in the registry. Updating them often requires restarting the shell.

Solution: Add setx commands to your $profile and reload it, or set variables directly in the session.

$profile
setx MYVAR "value"
. $profile

6. Installing Software

Most Windows software is still installed via .exe or .msi downloads. The Microsoft Store offers far fewer packages than Linux repositories (Debian, Arch AUR).

Package managers like nuget, chocolatey, scoop, winget exist but are not true repositories; they merely automate downloads.

Package repositories store metadata and binaries.

Packages are signed and securely downloaded.

Users can browse, install, update, and uninstall cleanly.

Windows lacks a unified system; MSIX is a newer format but not widely adopted.

7. A Decent Terminal

The built‑in Windows terminal is poor; installing the modern Windows Terminal (preview) provides a configurable shell (PowerShell) that is a huge improvement over cmd.exe.

8. Unexpected Restarts

Windows Update can reboot the machine without warning, closing all terminals, SSH sessions, and VS Code windows.

Disabling automatic restarts (if not enforced by IT) prevents this loss.

9. Virtual Desktops / Workspaces

Windows 10 finally supports multiple virtual desktops, but switching and window placement are less polished than Linux’s long‑standing implementation.

10. Sleep / Power‑Off Moves Windows to Primary Monitor

When a secondary monitor sleeps, Windows moves all windows to the primary display. Workarounds include extending sleep timeout or using tools like PersistentWindows to restore layouts.

11. No Middle‑Click Paste

Linux’s primary selection clipboard (middle‑click paste) has no equivalent in Windows; the Windows clipboard is singular and overwritten on each copy.

12. SSH

PuTTY is considered subpar; PowerShell now includes an SSH client that works well when used from a decent terminal.

13. Keyboard Shortcuts

PowerToys can add custom hotkeys, but some desired combinations (e.g., Win+Enter to open a new terminal) are blocked.

14. Community Opinions

Some users agree with the author’s criticisms, while others point out the adjustment period and praise PowerShell for administrative tasks.