Microsoft is ruining Windows. It just keeps getting worse. Whether it be their insistence on AI and cloud garbage, or just a general sense of incompetence, I can’t help but feel like the operating system has seen better days.
Normally I wouldn’t care too much, big tech ruins another thing, whatever.
But the problem is Microsoft has such a dominant market share that you can’t really escape them.
I guess unless you use a Mac or something I don’t know.
Microsoft Windows is heavily marketed and, for most of the general public that aren't aware of Linux, is a cheaper option compared to Apple/Mac/iOS.
I worked with/on Windows for two decades. Through those years I became more and more frustrated with the bugs and vulnerability to outside attacks. Windows is going to be attacked more, and for other reasons, because it is used by more people (a greater attack surface to exploit).
Back in 2008 I switched to Apple/Mac/iOS. I have never regretted it.
IF you have the time/knowledge (which most of the general public doesn't have) to use Linux, then I'd recommend it.
Please, stop with this 'fan-boy' shit about operating systems. Use logic and rational thinking which I believe that I've shown above.
It's important to note that opting into the Apple ecosystem locks you out of any form of agency on your hardware. They've moved hard against repairability and they maintain a stranglehold on spare parts.
For that reason I prefer my personal desktop computer to be a PC I can open, maintain or upgrade myself in terms of hardware. The operating system is my choice as well.
I understand not everybody has the means or interest to tinker with their machine, but I still think Apple's business practices regarding hardware is wasteful and polluting.
I understand and completely agree from someone who is knowledgeable about this subject matter. However, MOST people are NOT. To clarify again, (and this is something that is getting very annoying to repeat over and over again) the general public have almost NO knowledge about the differences between operating systems.
I recently reset a laptop with Windows 11 on it, prior to installing Linux, and went through the setup process again. It is so bad now, the offline account option was completely missing and it was constantly trying to push Microsoft services on me. It felt very reminiscent of how freeware installations often try to trick users into accepting additional third party garbage.
FWIW, you can still press Shift-F10 to open a command prompt, then run oobe\bypassnro. The computer will reboot / restart the setup process and this time there'll be a small link "I don't have internet" that'll allow you to set up a local account.
Just make very sure not to connect it to the internet (cable or Wi-Fi) before this point.
There have been rumours of newer versions of Windows 11 not allowing the bypass anymore, but I haven't personally seen any evidence of this so far.
Still a shit show though - trickery like this shouldn't be necessary.
@Radiant_sir_radiant@Ilandar I just used this feature on a Dell that was just purchased. So they haven't updated their image of win11 to that newer version.
By multiboxing, you mean running multiple instances of the same mmo client so you can control multiple characters at once? I'm curious what issues you run into doing this in Linux.
I guess unless you use a Mac or something I don’t know.
Yea … you can just use a Mac.
I switched … back in 2006 after being fed up with MS BS. Haven’t looked back. Since then I’ve had 2 laptops. That’s it.
The current one is getting old now, sadly, but part of the trick with Apple is timing your purchases for when they kinda nail the product in the particular design cycle. Don’t buy when they do something new for the first time, aim for near the end of a design cycle generally. And don’t get base specs, add RAM and disk space (perhaps through extended 3rd party devices). And their machines can be very useful for quite a while.
Of course there’s Linux, but you’ll know if you’re ready for that.
But you only have two kidneys, how will you buy a third Mac?
Macs are outrageously priced for the hardware you get.
Non-Apple laptops can be just as reliable and last just as long nowadays, and you get to upgrade them at a fraction of the cost. Actually I should say you get to upgrade them, period.
Macs are outrageously priced for the hardware you get.
Yea sure, we all know this. But we're talking about software here. Not to be too snarky, but the part you actually use. The differences might not be worth it to you, or maybe you need a gaming PC, but for some, it's just fine.
It's the professional software that keeps people off Linux. Particularly software for art, video and music. Not enough of it has Linux versions or Windows versions that run well enough in Linux. And a lot of people are forced to use Windows for work because that's their company's standard and they use all kinds of Windows-specific software.
Yeah I am so glad I switched to GNU/Linux years ago, Have to keep supporting closed OSes at work with our software and with each release they are just getting worse and worse, while GNU/Linux just keeps getting better.