Too late, already on Mint.
My desktop has been running Linux for a while now, but I finally got tired enough with the repeated flops from Microslop™ that I switched my 6 year old Surface I use for surfing from the couch over to Mint.
Not looking back at this point.
If you ever distro hop on that, let me know how a touch centric distros works on it like Ubuntu touch. Was thinking of picking one up for couch browsing. RIP in peace my hackintosh Dell mini 9.
I’ll let you know!
FWIW, touch works fine on Mint, and you can scale the UI up a bit to make it a little more touch friendly
I’m close to a similar point, my PC has been Linux for a couple of years but my old surface book has been on windows 10 (with some 6 year security update thing that was mentioned during the time Win 10 was dropped).
The main reason I haven’t dropped it is that I sometimes use it for work or uni, so compatibility and other people being familiar has been a priority but I’ve graduated and got a work laptop so it’s probably time to drop Windows outright.
You can also dual boot in a pinch, it’s not too bad to setup
Just spent the weekend moving to Kubuntu. It only took about 5 hours and my computer is snappier than it’s ever been. I have been on Windows for 30 years. Microsoft, you should be scared. You can’t compete with free competition.
Windows has different design pressures. They have painted themselves into a corner and can no longer afford to manage it. If they make sweeping changes they break the number 1 rule of windows, maintain legacy compatibility wherever possible. If companies have to buy new, it’s a harder sell for Microsoft because there are better, cheaper options out there they can’t compete with. Their own ecosystem is holding them back and they cannot do anything about it.
Windows 11 literally broke legacy compatibility deliberately, it refused to install on older hardware. So probably not rule #1 any more.
It broke legacy hardware compatibility. Sorry I should have been more specific. They need to maintain software compatibility.
They might care when Windows is their cash cow again. Even enterprise windows is a drop in the bucket now.
Win 10 LTSC IoT edition already has security updates until 2032, and if you activate Win 10 with MAS you’ll almost certainly be activated with this version automagically.
Signing in with a Microsoft account is what they really want you to do. This is why they never fixed the glaring vulnerability that allows you to hack the password from local accounts. It’s also a general symptom of the fact that Microsoft doesn’t really care if you pirate their software anymore, they care about you disabling telemetry because they make more money harvesting personal data than they do charging for software - even subscription software like Office365.
Yep, that’s why every Microsoft game (even on Steam) now relies on “gaming services” to authentic.
It’s not about piracy, Foza gets pirated a lot and always has. If you’re pirating it, you can get around it. But if you have a legit copy, Microsoft uses that as an excuse to ID your computer and tie a name to it.
I really think it’s gonna be a big thing, they just kind of slipped it in without telling anyone. They’re gonna fuck around trying to constantly increase profit margins and lose their monopoly.
I’m so surprised I’m able to use my 2026 Win 11 laptop with local account.
Are you from EU perhaps?
Yes, but I doubt that’s the reason. After all, I had to unplug the internet modem during initial setup 😆
That can work too but I think I read somewhere that M$ cannot push online account in EU but only in EU. So, don’t know. :)
Signing in with a Microsoft account is what they really want you to do.
And for the sake of your personal data, it’s the absolute last thing you should ever submit to.
The number of people who have lost their entire digital life thanks to losing access to their Microsoft Account (doubly so now that BitLocker auto-engages, which makes direct extraction from the drive impossible) is just too damn high.
Always, always create a local account on install. That path is still available, even through USB installer builders like RUFUS.
After switching to Linux (CachyOS) over a year ago now, I think I’ve booted my still existing windows installation twice. Both times was at the very start to get some settings from installed software to migrate and to sync some data or something, I barely even remember. That has also been over a year ago.
Ever since I’ve switched, I stopped noticing I even have an operating system. I just use my PC. Unbothered by popups, updates and bloat are (re)appearing pinned in my start menu (no I didn’t want to have candy crush installed). Literally everything just works, and I’m mostly using my PC for gaming.
I regret not switching much sooner.
I switched whenever it was that I woke up and Copilot was installed on my computer without my consent. 2 years ago? More? Idk. I bought new drives because I didn’t want to dual boot, but also wanted to keep Windows “just in case.” Well, I haven’t booted from those drives once in that time. I did plug them in to get some files off them a few months ago, but they are back to collecting dust again. I think it’s about time to finally wipe them and put them back to work.
I actually got rid of windows instance entirely, I just realized one day that I hadn’t booted it up in 6 months, thanks Linux.
I have a Windows drive on my current machine. I boot it every six to eight months just to see what people are talking about in forums. So I shake my head and boot back into fedora.
In theory, I’m keeping it in case I bring my oculus cv1 out of storage. In practice, I’m pretty sure I’ll have bought a steam whateveritscalled long before that happens.
It’s been literally years (possibly more than ten by now) since I’ve had to use it to run a game.
CachyOS is arch right, is that regular work to keep it running or gaming?
It is absolutely no effort at all. When there are updates, you’re told in a notification. Click on it or don’t, up to you. You can of course also disable the notification and just manually update whenever you want (or not). Updating can generally be done through that tool, or through a normal GUI application that exists (where you can also install new software), or of course in the terminal if you prefer.
There will be updates basically daily, that’s the nature of the rolling distro model. If there’s like 5-10, they install in literally 5-10 seconds. If you’ve gone a month it’ll probably take 1-2 minutes. Also just cause there are updates doesn’t mean you need to care about it. You should of course update frequently enough that security fixes get applies, but many people just update once a week or once a month or something.
Appreciate the response. Interesting vs my experience with Bazzite. Have the rolling, frequent updates broken anything?
In just over a year the only thing that ever broke was a minor thing (probably a bug in KDE that slipped through) with no practical impact and an easy workaround, which then got fixed in like 3 days or something without any intervention from me. I’ve had more (in numbers) and more severe breaks in the same time frame on a server at work that’s running debian, one of which was related to actually booting the server.
The whole “rolling releases are so unstable” mantra gets thrown around a lot, and it almost stopped me from trying CachyOS/Arch when I switched. My personal experience has been the complete opposite. I honestly can’t tell if people who never tried these distros just keep repeating what they heard or read somewhere, or if I really am just pretty lucky.
I love that I don’t have to worry about getting some semi-modern software to run, like I’m often worried when on a debian based server and have to manually install so much shit by hand that I’m losing track, which I then manually have to update in the future. On CachyOS, I just assume whatever I can install is the latest version (it usually is, only once was it not I did took a minute to figure that out as I just dind’t expect it anymore). And usually I can just install whatever I’m looking for.
Another note: I’m running CachyOS on both my desktop and my laptop. My desktop I use daily, and I usually even update daily (it’s just the way I’m wired, and I don’t mind). My laptop I use rarely and consequently I only update it every few months or at least weeks. Neither approach has caused any issues. But do not assume that your install can’t break either, things can go wrong (as they can on Windows). But support for even relatively specific problems is reasonably easy to come by, and people are generally helpful (discord, forum, …).
Awesome recount, cheers.
I’m definitely giving catchyOS a go then, Bazzite proved games can (on a N 4070s) run in a fun way, so now I’ll get CatchyOS to replace windows (gaming/light work).
I’ve never had windows break on me, but I’m just so sick of the slop. I just want some peace when I switch on my desktop.
I run CachyOS on my gaming PC. I installed the OS, installed Steam, and the only regular work I’ve had to do since then is clicking the “upgrade now” button every couple weeks.
Anything break along the way?
Once the bluetooth stack updated and both steam and the OS were fighting for which one was doing the controller emulation for the nintendo switch pro controllers. I just went in and turned off the OS controller support in the bluetooth settings.
That’s literally the only problem I’ve had in… 9 months of this setup?
Interesting, quick solve too.
This has convinced me to try it out. Pretty impressive. Now i’ll try CatchyOS to replace windows.
Bazzite has been awesome while I only wanted to game.
Yeah, it was kinda frustrating cause I was trying to start a group game. BUT, I just clicked around a bit and figured it out, took maybe 5 minutes (of people watching me).
Before that I used Windows for my console PC, and I can honestly say that CachyOS is easier to use than Windows, and less likely for an update to break something.
Troubleshooting with an audience is never fun haha.
My only disadvantage seems to be my nvidia 4070 super…. But i haven’t seen a big issue with it in Bazzite. All im seeing and hearing are wins
When you say gaming, mostly indie titles and singleplayer?
I’d love to switch over, but a lot of games don’t run on Linux (especially multiplayer games with anti-cheat). Yes, it’s mostly on the developers, but it’s annoying as hell.
You say “especially” when it’s more like “almost exclusively”. Almost all games not bundled with malware (kernel-level anti-cheat) work with zero or minimal tweaking. It gets a little harder if you like to play with mods, though.
Linux gaming has come a long way. Back when The Witcher 3 came out, there was no Proton and running a game with Wine involved a lot of tweaking. Even then, I got better FPS than in Windows but it was hard. Now, I don’t even think about it. I just assume it’ll work.
That’s changing ATM as well, but i wouldn’t say a lot.
It’s like about ~10 of the biggest multiplayer games that’s unsupported because of kernel level anti cheats. P much every other games work.
If you’re in doubt about the compats of a specific title, check protondb :)
Everyone should be able to enjoy their life without the curse of microslop and the hauntings of it’s pharaoh Gill Bates
Not who you asked but I’ve played Sims 2 and 4, stardew valley, Minecraft, grounded, Ark, Alice Madness returns, and something I’m blanking on right now. I’ve only had linux mint installed for 3 months now so I’m sure I’ll try more games. I’ve had no issues. Well, I used issues with extras for as 2 but that was a simple, I didn’t read directions lol.
I made the deliberate decision years ago not to play multiplayer games even though having almost exclusively played those. It was just to get away from all the toxicity and competetiveness.
So from then on I have only played singleplayer games, and it have been such a positive change for me. Much more entertaining and no stress at all. And the bonus was of course that it made switching to Linux gaming so much easier, since I didn’t miss out on anything I wanted to play.
For me it wasn’t alot, pubg would be fun to play every once but the developers basically killed it with the bots update anyway. Rust has a nice but sadly small linux community and alot of other shooters like squad and the finals should just work. Rocket league just needed a line in the start options to work after the anti cheat update. Overall i was positively suprised how many games still run.
Huh, cool that The Finals work, seems like developers can enable EAC for Linux. Bit dumb that not more do it.
I’m hoping with the Steam Machine getting more popular that we get even more of a shift in the future.
I play almost no single player games, and I switched to Linux (Cachy) earlier this year. It’s been a blast.
Yes and no. I play singleplayer and indie games, but I also play competetive online multiplayer, but that’s mostly one game: Predecessor. It uses EasyAntiCheat and also just works. The games you play you can just look up if they work, usually it’ll be a yes/no and not more complicated and that mostly depends on the dev. Like Predecessor, where they ticked the box in EAC so it’s just fine. The number of games that do not work (specifically due to anti-cheat) isn’t huge, and well-known to check. You can just look up if it’s just a game or two you occasionally play, or if all you play is on that list (for a quick glance, check ProtonDB).
You can also just try to switch, if you actually want to, and only go back to Windows for the few games that need it. Maybe you’ll switch back and forth for a long time. Maybe you’ll find it’s too much effort to switch back to Windows and you play something that “just works” on Linux. Or you’ll find the switching annoying and you’ll keep booting mostly to windows “just in case” you wanna play one of the games that need it. Trying it out is very little effort and time these days.
Oh, I already did that in the past. But with dual booting you first start to set everything up twice (I want to check my email at any time for example).
Then you have a game or two that only work in Windows (Apex Legends). And over time you start to mainly boot into Windows just on the off-chance you want to play a quick round.
I still use Linux on my server of course. Recently I also got a MacBook Air for portability. But Windows really is just my “everything works” box.
Hell, even Nvidia GPU features I use on the daily (Like Broadcast) have no Linux support. So the switch isn’t worth it for me while Linux support is still seen as an afterthought.
I’ve also only booted mine twice. Both times because apparently you can’t update an Xbox controller from anywhere but windows or an Xbox and all I wanted was to Bluetooth connect my controller to linux so I could get an extra cabin in stardew valley 🤣
The current Xbox is still a decent emulation machine if you want to play old 360 and some OG Xbox games plus it does have access to retro arch so you can even play everything below 7th gen consoles. Not a bad system if you can find one used.
Oh that’s great to know. I have hardly used mine.
It will play a good amount of 360 and a few original Xbox games even with just the disc which is nice! It does need internet to work though since it’s a download.
I left windows years ago and have been splitting the difference between Mac and Linux since.
I’ve been working on moving off Mac too. The current beta is a speed demon (seriously impressive compared to Tahoe) but it’s still just a faster set of things I’ve come to hate. They are not even trying to solve a problem with their changes anymore. They are just selling things they have decided I must have.
Remember when Siri just used wolfram alpha for everything and was loaded with Easter eggs? Now we have an invasive AI nobody asked for and all efficiency gains get wasted on horseshit.
In my experience, I use Windows 11 pro and don’t get any stupid pop ups like that besides when I need to update the OS or update other programs I installed myself. Maybe it’s different on the other versions? I dunno… but it’s never been that big of a deal for me. I disable a lot of shit on it so it doesn’t do that to be fair.
Never used a windows version that wasn’t “pro”. It was even win10, not 11 as I refused to upgrade (and the reason for this post/thread). It wasn’t that constant, but annoying enough (despite numerous debloat sessions) that staying on Windows stopped beeing an option. I’m on Win11 pro at work, and it’s still a frequent enough fight to get rid of all the shit.
People usually have different tolerance level for pop-ups and distractions based on their neurobiology.
I have heard autistic people say pop-ups hurt and overstimulate them, ADHD people say they can’t ignore pop-ups, while neurotypocal people say they don’t even notice the pop-ups.
So both experiences can be true at once. You have no issues with pop-ups, while for someone else physically can’t tolerate a single distraction without stressing them out.
Too late. I’ve already switched to Linux Mint and am never going back.
Same, almost a year and couldn’t be happier.
I literally called this when they announced that they would only do it for a year. Of course it was going to fucking backfire.
We’re in an economic crisis, the AI shit is pumping tech prices through the roof (literally Microsoft is responsible), and they want people to get new computers? Fuck off, dipshits
I already switched my devices to Kubuntu.
Jumped ship to Fedora three years ago.
I been testing it out for about a month and it is a nice OS, and been enjoying the HDR support. Did wonder why videos didn’t play initially though when I didn’t have trouble on Linux Mint and Ubuntu until I found out I had to install RPM fusion. But, after that smooth sailing so far.
Maybe if they had done that to begin with I wouldn’t have nuked the SSD and dropped Linux on it?
After the 3rd or so warning about EoL and not being “allowed” to install windows 11, I went back to Debian. I’m not going through the trouble of switching again any time soon.
Yeah, once I was gone it’s over, I did Linux before when the whole Windows ME mess. I went back with 7, when it actually worked again, but them doing worse with 11 than they did with ME and then 8 is a “Three Strikes” rule on them.
I don’t think there is any way to convince me to every use their crap again, especially not as it’s all flippin’ cloud subscription SAS scamware slopified surveillence tech now.
More people are moving to Linux and are never using Windows in future.
Vista 2: Electric Boogaloo
ME 3: The Crappening
LOL!! I like it.
They gatekeep windows 11 from older devices, what did they think would happen? I tried Linux on my thinkpad yoga, and the drivers are so shit i had to switch back to windows on it, and no, I’m not throwing away a perfectly good laptop!
Out of curiosity, what Linux did you try on it? Relatively new and you tried Mint maybe?
I ran mint on an hm110 with an old as balls nvidia and the only bug i had was tracking down the 330 drivers so i could shut the godddamn fan up. (And then had to compile a Kodi build from source yay thanks muppets)
Linux isn’t as transparent as windows when it comes to legacy drivers, it’s always been an issue
Not to sell your experience short, that sucks, but that’s on Nvidia for being the worst company in the world for driver support.
Yup, two prongs on the same fork.
Fedora
And is the laptop quite new I wonder?
X1 yoga 3rd gen, so around 2018ish. The stylus and thunderbolt are broken. And the mouse lags. I already wasted a lot of time troubleshooting it. I’ll try again in a few years, maybe it’ll be fixed.
Well I’ll be. Didn’t know the Yoga line had abnormal hardware for things like trackpads/etc, as Thinkpads in general are considered to be so good for Linux. If you should tinker in the future maybe try something with a much more modern kernel 7+ like CachyOS. Either way nice chatting have a good one.
I’ve had this happen on a thinkpad yoga before. Honestly just keep windows on it and run an antivirus because you’ll definitely not be receiving updates for windows defender anytime soon as that is tied to windows update.
You could also be like me though eventually and hack the bios to not be absolute trash and get Linux working on it anyway.
I need a browser extension that removes “quietly” from headlines.
Why
Well, if there are headlines about it, it isn’t actually all that quiet.
But it was quiet before that. It just means there wasn’t any sort of announcement. Which is important context, don’t you think?
The “quietly” is aimed at Microslop. They didn’t grandly announce it on every platform like they do with everything else.
It is perfectly fitting in this context.
Ha! Suck it, every computer tech that told me I had to move to 11.
Jokes on them, if you have a shitty enough computer that’s doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, you get to stay on Windows 10 forever!
