Why again do we want people to use linux? The expectations of windows users is what gave us the gargantuan bloated desktop environments that we see today. DE's that seem to be trying to redefine the os in terms of an inferior metaphor.
All i have to say to windows users looking for a new os in linux is "GO AWAY!"

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iPhone's sync to the cloud, install pipelight in most repos, I don't have jogging watch, I haven't used macros speadsheets in years..

Yes I do understand you're point now that you made it.

If you buy a new winblows for your old computer or an ipwn or sknikes after knowing whats what?and now I want my $0.02 back. "because your time is worth more than somebody else's"

That's going to happen irregardless but more people at the table also means more of what you do like, we all decide what freedom is.

No because some people's time is spent doing other things both for a living and for leisure. A friend, for example, was a qualified medical practitioner for a living and had spent many hours studying for it and was paid adequately for it. It made a heck of a lot more sense for her to buy a Mac and have everything work than to spend hours getting Linux to work only to find it stop working a few months down the line.
On the other hand, another friend makes music and spends a lot of time doing so, spending hours on the details. For him Linux is perfect and he willingly spends his expensive time compiling applications to help him do so.
Operating systems are a means to an end and suggesting that one is better than another and people using one versus another means they are somehow less clued up or more lazy is incorrect.

your points are mostly valid but thats like saying car company x's muffler doesnt fit on car company y's; therefore car company y sux.

to be fair open office/libre office has a macro recording function. youtube/amazon video/hulu work on linux and samsung/nokia/motorola/htc/... work fine on most distros. i'm assuming pebble/galaxy gear work on linux.

a soon to be retired co-worker of mine bought a windows-8 laptop from hp (hated it). they offered him the same model with ubuntu oem-installed thru their business site (loves it). buying direct from the oem gives you tech support (added to the cost) much like apple/windows.

I'll admit it's been a while since I have looked into it but last time I did they weren't compatible with VBA macros.

Actually in this case it seems to mean less of what i like. Since the rise of the behemoth DE's there are fewer and fewer easily found resources on the net for putting together your own x environment from a window manager you like and some utilities.

I understand why this is, but lets not pretend its a step forward. Monoculture leads to stagnation, just look at windows.

7 Billion Directions

see my earlier post... i made no mention that they were compatible with lotus works/ms office/google docs/... just that they too have a similar function.

Your reply was specifically to my asking how to get the macros in my spreadsheets to work without spending hours. Since converting from VBA to whatever the other office suites use would take hours you didn't answer my original question. That is the case not only for existing macros of course but to create new macros of a moderately complex nature would require learning another scripting language -- again costing time.
I am by no means suggesting that Linux isn't worth using but suggesting that for some people the costs outweigh the benefits.

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Some of us think that hours spent setting up Linux exactly the way we want it, and even perhaps missing out on a few applications at least for a time, is worth it when considering the alternatives - becoming a cash cow for those who think their userbase/supporters are morons who need to accept the concept of "We know better what you need" and "You don't need to own your computer. We own it. You just lease it". To be clear, the real cost is not the condescension nor the dollar cost nor the lack of freedom and power, but where the future lies when we support such attitudes and systems.

Example - Although we now have an excellent workaround for Netflix, it was only a problem because Microsoft sought to commandeer the access with SilverLight which is akin to building a toll bridge that offers no intrinsic benefits, parallel to a perfectly good one. It is all too commonplace that proprietary systems devolve from providing solutions to erecting barriers.

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If people learn in Linux in the first place, time can still mean money, just more of it...

i agree, its similar to switching brands. e.g.: some cars have satellite radio and some brands have voice assistants. you have to spend time to get used to the difference if you decide on switching.

I think it's a lot like switchibg brands -- if you've a load of accesories that fit Ford trucks then you're going to think long and hard about switching to Toyota.