Reclaim your PC. Make it yours once more. Join the penguins.
I dualboot to accommodate a handful of apps. Linux loads up fast and awaits my command once logged in. Meanwhile my pretty much fresh windows build sets my cooling fans on full before I’ve even touch the mouse.
I admit it was a bit of a learning curve getting things set up as I like, but man Linux is such a better experience.
There’s something refreshing and simple about the computer doing what you tell it to do and nothing extra.
When you don’t want or need your hand held, there is a simple beauty.
You might like a VM for Windows instead, so there’s no risk of a windows update taking a hammer to your bootloader
I didn’t spend tons of time experimenting, but found the VM wasn’t performing as smoothly as a second install.
Should I be worried about the boot loader thing? My OS picking experience is pretty wack. I have to slam esc while booting then f9 then pick my Linux boot up. It defaults to windows which I kind of like because it puts my actual OS on stealth mode lol.
If you’re booting without GRUB then you don’t need to be concerned about your bootloader breaking. Windows just sometimes overwrites GRUB, which is a pain
This is one of the reasons I like Qubes a lot.
I hadn’t heard of this before, and the concept is really intriguing. Thanks for this. I’ll check it out.
I finally did this last week, nuked out my Win 11 laptop install and switched to Ubuntu. I have yet to find anything I would need to go back to Windows for.
I was not so brave. I installed in dual boot, but I just never booted back into windows.
Or the pirates
Or stay on Windows 10, if the pattern holds true Windows 12 might be decent again.
Don’t hold your breath, 10 already broke the pattern IMO and all I hear about 12 is that they will cram “AI” into everything. Windows the operating system is dead, replaced by Windows the sales platform.
This time the software giant is trying out having PC Manager suggest that you ‘repair’ your system by reverting to Microsoft’s default search engine, Bing.
These are sound like things that are just begging European union to milk out some cash from Microsoft through fines.
They probably already set it up to not happen in Europe
Or set aside the cash as a neccessary expenditure to greater income.
Turned on my computer yesterday and this popped up. No option to decline. I had to go into the registry last week get all traces of OneDrive out. It’s worse than just ads; it’s also forcing its other products. Like: Bitch, I’m just here for your OS. Fuck off with all your neediness.
"Let’s finish setting up your PC Your PC needs to be backed up and connected to a few more Microsoft services to help you work more easily and securely acrossall your devices.
Back up your files with OneDrive cloud storage Have peace of mind knowing they’re backed up and available acrossyour devices
Enhance your web browsing experience Restore Microsoft recommended browser settings.
Achieve more with a Microsoft 365 subscription Get premium Microsoft 365 apps, 1 TB of cloud storage to back up files and photos, and more
Back up your phone to your PC Access your phone’s photos, texts, and more, right on your PC.
Sign in quickly with Windows Hello Securely unlock your device with a touch or a smile.
Remind me in 3 days or Continue"
I switched Linux distributions last night and it took maybe 15-30 minutes (including download time) and I’ve had no issues (once again). I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with that crap anymore.
I dont think the install time is what is putting people off switching OS, lol.
Except that it was totally painless. It just works without an issue. This time it was Garuda, and part after install it ran an assistant where it could install a bunch of other applications for you too. It’s incredible how easy the process is compared to Windows.
You’re the b*** using their OS
Is Linux supposed to be the 1 for 1 swap over?
There’s some distributions that are windows-like, if you want that you can try Linux Mint. But some DEs like Gnome approach desktop use very differently and do away with plenty of windows designs.
Even more using Q4OS, it’s maybe one of the most Windows like, it has even an Windows installer, making it even easier to change.
Literally never heard of it before. Please don’t recommend tiny distributions to new users, they’re a pain to debug due to the lack of information, and they typically have much less support.
Q4OS is a known nd reliable distro (Made in Germany Debian base, KDE<>Trinity) with active developement since 2014, I know several users which use and like it a lot, also very positive reviews in the web.
https://9to5linux.com/lightweight-distro-q4os-5-2-aquarius-is-out-based-on-debian-12-bookworm
No KDE or Gnome theme will bring drivers for software and hardware that is only working on Windows, unfortunately.
drivers for software
That’s not a thing.
theme brings drivers
Gnome and kde don’t bring drivers, they bring a compositor. The drivers come from LINUX and other packages like MESA which are distro agnostic.
only working on Windows
OS compatibility is in the hands of the engineers and developers, or more accurately in the hands of corporations that will go where there’s money. If you want shit to work on linux, you need to use linux.
Gnome and kde don’t bring drivers
No way, are you sure??
Yes. Linux on desktop is by design modulable, you grab parts from plenty of different packages and put them together to make a distribution. Gnome and KDE are just packages, large ones with plenty of dependencies to be sure, but just packages. Here’s the gnome package on arch, do you see any driver?
Ha. You’re not wrong.
Here’s a tool to permanently fix your windows installation from all this BS.
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I think today might be the day. I’m tired of every piece of tech’s infuriatingly enshittification of things. I wanted to google something normal only for the AI to spout nonhelpful, sponsored links. I’m sick of it ALL!!! I wanna burn silicon valley down and start fresh at this point
Do it, fucking go crazy, let all your weird fucked up dark fantasies out, as both a very chaotic person but also a very thoughtful and caring person, fucking now is the time to do it.
Linux has gotten really good, drivers are good. You can do it and your headaches will be so much less in the end.
Come over to the bright side.
Let your dark fantasies about doing lots of dirty things through the command line or whatever come true. Install a bunch of open source software and don’t even tell your husband.
It is 2024 do whatever the fuck you want, corporations have completely folded their hands and completely quit even playing the game of providing you (not rich person) with functional visions of products or even functional products. Why? I don’t even know honestly, I mean I am definitely a nerd about open source software and a raging socialist but it is truly astonishing how quick enshittification is in this late stage of 2024, it is the continual experience of standing im front of a massive glacier and watching square kilometer chunks calving and collapsing for no apparent logical reason.
searxng is awesome. Meta search of as many or as few engines as you want with no bullshit.
I just switched all my systems over to mint. I used to think Linux was the “just at work” environment. But now I’m flipping it. I’m sick of Windows, I know it’s less hassle but my digital well-being needs a break from ads.
It is truly the year of the Linux desktop.
Microsoft needs to be broken up.
Any company that can be so blatantly anti consumer and still makes boatloads of money is obviously abusing its dominant position on the market.
Didn’t happen with Apple, or IBM, or Google, or Facebook, or…
Wasn’t IBM broken up into different hardware and software companies? Or an I thinking of someone else
Not ibm. You might be thinking of Bell: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System
Nah that’s obvious. There was a major supercomputer company that split up their hardware and software soon after software wasn’t strictly for one machine anymore.
Which company?
My grandma call me saying she’s sick of Widows and its shenanigans and asked me to install gentoo on her machine next time I come around. Gonna be a fun weekend.
Grandma choosing USE flags already, get that bloat outta here
Idk what I can say about this except “lol”
My reaction too. Next thing they’ll have a hand reach out from the monitor and slap you in the face every time you log on. And people will still put up with it.
A lot of people don’t have a choice
Actually, those that don’t have a choice aren’t affected by the enshittification quite as much. This mainly affects the consumers using Windows Home. And those definitely could try something else.
Technically speaking noone is restricting you from changing your job/school
spoiler
sdfsaf
Who is this Noone guy, and why is he restricting everyone’s job and school choices?
I just rolled back my Win 11 to Win 10 only to use temporarily while I test some other distros to see which one(s) I like.
Shout out to Ventoy, my new favorite usb utility.
Even 10 has annoying popups all the time. And they added AI to the bottom right hand corner where I’ve accidentally clicked on it twice now.
better than flashing usb flash drives to install operating systems.
Truly a “where have you been all my life” moment. It even works with recovery ISOs!
I’ll never flash another usb again if I can help it.
I have a 128gb usb c flash drive that I just dropped a ton of distros onto and went to town. So far, EndeaverOS has been my favorite.
I fully switched to Fedora for a week now and it felt like a fresh air
And that’s why I switched to Linux.
Switching to Linux won’t save you if Microsoft Edge takes such a huge market share that a lot of the internet starts to basically require it.
What would that be? Microsoft Edge is a Chromium browser, it can’t do more with webpages than Chrome or any other of the bunch can.
Oh and Edge is available for Linux, so there’s that. Not that I’d use it…
Microsoft can modify chromium. They can add proprietary things to it. Yes you could use edge if you have to critical pages that only works right on edge.
So wait, let me get this straight, people shouldn’t install Linux to avoid windows because they might make edge somehow critical to the use of major websites? Why not just use Linux anyways since that’s not happening anytime soon (especially not with the market share Chrome and Firefox have)
I didn’t say people shouldn’t install Linux. But even if you do, browser share matters and if Microsoft is abusing their customers and tricking them into using edge in mass, then it will affect you as a Linux user too.
It’s fucking moot.
I promise you that unequivocally will not happen
Windows is telling people their computer is broken if they don’t use Edge.
Bing, not Edge.
Ah yeah. You’re right.
As it stands it’s better than the most popular browser so it’s not impossible
I have to disagree, edge has been a big ol’ joke since it’s conception, most non tech literate people see it and go, huh, okay time to download chrome.
Most tech literate people don’t like it for the myriad of other problems, i can’t think of a single scenario where edge dominates the market
It has performance tweaks over Chrome and doesn’t have Google’s spyware
what about Microsoft’s spyware
Majority of users already subscribe to that by using Windows
Older but is still accurate https://www.yugatech.com/comparisons/microsoft-edge-vs-google-chrome-which-browser-should-you-use/
I said “tech illiterate”, most people on here are going to primarily be using Firefox and other smaller competitors, but in the main stream world like it or not chrome is still huge
Yes my original statement was that it was a better browser than Chrome
It dominates the market in vertical tabs IMO. I tried Vivaldi, Firefox extension, the works. The best-feeling alternative was Safari
I use edge at work and Firefox at home. Using edge every work day for 3 years and don’t really have many complaints about it. I used to actively avoid it, but after trying it, it doesn’t really seem all that bad.
My only gripe is I infrequently have trouble logging into an Ethernet device locally.
Stockholm Syndrome is the only explanation I can come up with at this point.
Stockholm Syndrome
Completely off topic: Stockholm syndrome gets its name from a hostage situation where the police seemed to show no care or concern for the hostages’ safety and the captors did more to protect them than law enforcement. Of course the hostages’ felt more empathy towards their captors.
According to accounts by Kristin Enmark, one of the hostages, the police were acting incompetently, with little care for the hostages’ safety. This forced the hostages to negotiate for their lives and releases with the robbers on their own. In the process, the hostages saw the robbers behaving more rationally than the police negotiators and subsequently developed a deep distrust towards the latter.[9] Enmark had criticized Bejerot specifically for endangering their lives by behaving aggressively and agitating the captors. She had criticized the police for pointing guns at the convicts while the hostages were in the line of fire, and she had told news outlets that one of the captors tried to protect the hostages from being caught in the crossfire.
That’s a really interesting bit of nuance that I’d never taken note of! Thanks!
Honestly I think many consumers go buy “computer” & have no concept that it has an operating system or that you can change it.
If you know there is an alternative, then yeah… wtf
100% true, I should have acknowledged that!
I remember the day when you had to buy Windows separate, and pay full retail. Later, you got a massive discount if you bought the disks with your computer. Then, it came preinstalled. Then, it started to get crappy and more buggy.
I’m still salty my current laptop is sold at a discount in the EU without a pre-installed OS due to laws in place–but where I am, I had no choice but to pay a Microsoft tax & immediately wipe it. I used to not connect to WiFi & just look around for a few minutes out of curiosity before wiping, but since 11 moved to Microsoft Account + WiFi required & all the telemetry on by default, I don’t even bother with that anymore.
I find it funny, actually. For years, I used DOS, exclusively command line-based, on a 286 and when I got a new 486 computer in the early 90s I was so excited to get Windows 3.1 on it. Decades later, I find myself hating Windows and going back to Linux and often a command line. As far as I’m concerned, the closest thing to the last usable version of Windows was 7, and it still kinda sucked.
cd c:\oregontr
start .com
Good times. Good times…
(Edit. Added space in command, so it’s not a website)
When I made this, I did not expect I’d use it much. Then…Windows 11.
They about to find out the only reason people don’t use Linux is because Windows is ‘convenient.’
Windows: System needs repairing Me: proceeds to install linux mint