Since the message that PA was here to stay was received, everyone got the point that the only way forward was to fix all the buggy audio drivers. It's no surprise, that it helped. Sure, it sucked for the affected users at the time, but in the long run, we all are better off.
> The PulseAudio that is one of the factors that drove me off desktop linux in 2013? :)
Yes that one :)
It still sucks if you have to get too close to it and work around some of it's uh... things. But during normal usage, "it just works" these days and has been for a long time.
I'd still easily pick it over audio on windows. Also it's on the way out, and pipewire, which is replacing it is way more powerful again, while being drop-in. Let's see how long it takes for pipewire to be really stable though. But imo windows and OSX cannot compete with pulse, and certainly not with pipewire.
The PulseAudio that is one of the factors that drove me off desktop linux in 2013? :)