To me these
arguments hold less water than a vegetable strainer. Sure Linux is
different to windows but it is no less harder nor easier. I
personally would say that in terms of ease of use Linux is equal, or
better, than windows. Why do I think this way? It is quite simple.

Modern Linux
distributions are more and more often targeted at audiences which are
of an average computer experience. This means that ease of use is
paramount in the design and implementation of these distributions.
Not that it is hard to do. Most of the tweaks that these
distributions do is in terms of pre-configuration so there is less
for the end user to have to worry about. Putting all of the
configuration options aside, lets assume that we have two machines
sitting side by side.

Both machines
are fully configured and set up with the required programs that the
end user will use. One machine is Linux and one machine is windows.
To make sure that things are as equal as possible, programs which
work on both operating systems are installed if feasible. So what
needs to be done if the computer user wants to go on the internet?

First they
need to find the internet browser and start it up. How is that done?
With both Linux and windows the end user grabs the mouse, clicks on a
shortcut or navigates the menu system and starts the program up. What
about email? The same thing, as well as for text or spreadsheet
documents. The mechanics for opening up programs are exactly the same
in Linux and windows. Hmmm, what about keyboard shortcuts? Linux and
windows both have those as well, often the exact same shortcuts.

A couple of
examples. On my home computer I run Gentoo Linux. I have a relative
who has a windows xp computer. One day this relative came over and
wanted to use my computer. I started it up for him and before I could
tell him what was where he had started up Firefox and was surfing the
net. This relative is not computer savy, he is just an average user
who checks his email and surfs the internet. What about a business
environment? We have an old computer out on the factory floor which
had windows 98 on it, yes it's that old
.
This computer had a lot of software problems so I put Xubuntu on it.
This person had never seen Linux before. As I was explaining to them
the basics of its use, basically showing how it starts up and where
the programs are, I came to the shutdown sequence. Just as I said for
them to click on a particular icon to shut the computer down they
asked if they can use the keyboard shortcut. Without waiting for an
answer they used the windows keyboard shortcut that they know for
shutting down the computer and it worked. It surprised me and pleased
them.

To me this
proves that Linux is just as easy to use as windows is (secretly I
think easier). Linux is just different and once people have become
used to the differences they have no problems. Sort of like driving
an unfamiliar car for the first time. Some controls feel different or
be in a different place. The car will handle differently to start off
with yet once you become used to the different control positions and
the handling characteristics you are just as confident as in your own
car.

Linux
is not hard to use, just different. What do you think?