> Do you really think random people will leave Windows behind? And do what? Most of the average PC users don't even know there's an alternative (aside maybe for macs, which they probably consider overpriced, so not a direct alternative).
This is a pretty dated argument. Chromebooks outsell Macs. Tablets (Mac or Android) are another well-known substitute for PCs for many. Macs are not that expensive compared to similar Windows hardware, and there's an entire low end tier of alternatives priced below Windows machines. 15 years ago Macs were expensive and nobody knew about Linux, so they drove to the store and bought a cheap Windows device. That hasn't been accurate for a long time though.
I agree with what you say, but this makes me think my argument wasn't clear enough.
I think that "regular users" don't make a difference between operating systems, as in it's not something they consider and, most importantly, it's not something they change after the fact. As a sibling said, people upgrade when they change computers.
I'm not arguing whether apple's hardware prices are justified or not (I personally consider they were up until a few years ago – I own multiple MBPs). I'm specifically talking about cheap computers. But the fact is I can walk into a random supermarket in my parents' small town and walk out with a windows laptop for a few hundred euros. Not sure where you can find "low end macs priced below windows machines" (or maybe I misunderstood your point). Chromebooks do look like an alternative, though, and can be found just as easily.
Of course, many people are taking up alternatives to windows pcs, like chromebooks or tablets. But I doubt they do this because they can't run windows 11 specifically. They probably realized they only browse randomly the internet, so they don't need a "full-blown" computer. Bonus points for chromebooks being cheap, and for tablets being light. But I think they only make this change when it's time to buy a new computer, not in response to some MS decision.
And more importantly, they won't install some other OS on some PC they have when they realize it can't run windows 11. They'll just keep running windows 10 until the pc won't boot anymore.
This is a pretty dated argument. Chromebooks outsell Macs. Tablets (Mac or Android) are another well-known substitute for PCs for many. Macs are not that expensive compared to similar Windows hardware, and there's an entire low end tier of alternatives priced below Windows machines. 15 years ago Macs were expensive and nobody knew about Linux, so they drove to the store and bought a cheap Windows device. That hasn't been accurate for a long time though.