...then again, most people don't install Windows... on hardware
as heterogenous and diverse as what GNU/Linux frequents.
Leaving out the very micro (Raspberry Pi, etc.) and the very macro (supercomputing clusters) I highly, highly doubt that's the case.
Before you buy a computer you plan to install Linux on, you check the compatibility lists. Before you buy a laptop to run Linux on, you check whether Linux has drivers for the Wifi chipset. Buying a graphics card? Does Linux have drivers that can fully exploit it?
Arguments about Linux's alleged superior hardware compatibility seem to always be based on anecdotes about that one time a relative's Windows computer wouldn't talk to some printer.
Walk into any Fry's or other similar store, pick a random piece of hardware off the shelf, and there's a significantly better chance of it both a. working at all and b. being fully supported on Windows over Linux.
Before you buy a computer you plan to install Linux on, you check the compatibility lists. Before you buy a laptop to run Linux on, you check whether Linux has drivers for the Wifi chipset. Buying a graphics card? Does Linux have drivers that can fully exploit it?
Arguments about Linux's alleged superior hardware compatibility seem to always be based on anecdotes about that one time a relative's Windows computer wouldn't talk to some printer.
Walk into any Fry's or other similar store, pick a random piece of hardware off the shelf, and there's a significantly better chance of it both a. working at all and b. being fully supported on Windows over Linux.