I used to study with a guy that openly said "Linux is only free if your time has no value". I've tried Linux so many times, and my longest streak was when having a VMWare Workstaion to run Windows in it. Eventually, I just got fed up.
First and foremost, I need my systems to just WORK. When I sit down to code, the last thing I want to do is debug why it is not properly displaying on all of my monitors.
That's not specific to Linux. I don't even want to calculate the time I've spent on this...in recent Windows. Saying "Windows is only worth it if your time has no value" works the same way, and is just as meaningless.
In other words, I know no current OS which doesn't suck :((( Win7 held some promise, as did OS X, and current Linuxes hold some still; but alas, we're still not in plug-and-play land after many decades of effort.
I have had 0 issues with multiple monitors, even with different resoluions and switching from one to the other when moving about with a laptop. This is during the last 10 years with various different machines. It just works.
But even if you have issues with Windows, I have zero doubt you would spend more time batteling with Linux. It just doesn't have polish or UX as a primary target. It is wonderful for servers, but as a desktop it is a broken experience unless you value tinkering with it.
Interesting, but for your doubt I have the opposite experience. "Windows update came and took away the working drivers again" is a recurring theme, as are Windows networking issues (on many, many different networks). If I want a system that just works, I have one bootable and installable on a USB drive; for endless tinkering (and fighting against "where do we drag you today?"), there's Windows.
Where did that "monitors" issue come in, no idea - typing this on Kubuntu with 3 different displays, also no issues (except for my prankster colleagues unscrewing the video cable).
As someone above noted, I don't care about the OS. I care about the work I do on it - and I have the same Jetbrains tools, the same Firefox, the same Chrome, etc etc etc. Whether the title bar is polished, transparent and the exactly right shade of unmagenta, I don't care.
Are you running special hardware? Ever since Vista I have at most had to install a graphics driver, and that is it. Windows networking failures seems to be driver issues when I debug them, just as they are on Linux, but I haven't had any myself on either system.
To me, and without exception, every single person I talk with about this, have less issues with Windows or OSX, than Linux. This is primarily CS majors that are required to run it to get their degree.
The tools only exist for Linux, but there are plenty of machines available to remote into. Many just choose to install it on their own machine because they want to.
At work, I am a sysadmin/helpdesk monkey taking care of a network of ~80 users and a dozen servers, all on Windows, and let me tell you: Windows has its fair share of weird problems, inexplicable failures, stuff that "worked yesterday"...
Windows may "just work" often enough, but unlike Linux, it also "just stops working" so often, it's just not funny any more. On Linux, once one has it working, at least it keeps working.
First and foremost, I need my systems to just WORK. When I sit down to code, the last thing I want to do is debug why it is not properly displaying on all of my monitors.