Why does anything sound-related suck in Linux (still)?!?

[Panix]

Anything sound-related in Linux is an absolute disaster. I was trying to use Google Translate with mic input but it didn't work in Kubuntu. So, I boot up my Debian-based distro and still, it doesn't work.

So, after checking settings and trying things, nothing still works. I boot up my Windows 7 partition and lo and behold, I only installed Chrome since it wasn't installed yet, and it works. No settings adjustments necessary. This happens time and time again. Yet, everyone working on Linux never fixes this problem. ALSA, PulseAudio, conflicts, it's always the same - you need to read manuals and google search just to get basic functions to work. Part of the problem may be Google. I doubt this problem exists with Mac users, though.

[Panix]

Looks like a bug. Not sure 'what/which' is responsible.... using Pulse Audio, clicking the mic in Google Chrome, but I had to click 'set as fallback' in Pulse Audio (Volume Control), the clearchat USB (Microphone) port so that the setting would switch. I couldn't switch it otherwise. (At least, I think that's what happened!) Geez, that is pretty bad?!?

Sorry for the rant, but it wasn't intuitive at all (to me). :-(