Listen. I do not want fucking ads in the start menu. I have no idea how to code and I can't use the command terminal to save my life but I swear to god I'm going to switch to Linux before I touch Windows 11 with a 10-foot pole
Windows Pro doesn't have these issues, only Home. Home doesn't have group policy, so lots of this can't be managed easily. Pro has GP, which is where all this stuff gets controlled by Enterprise organizations.
Even better, LTSC has even less nonsense and only gets security updates (no feature updates, so nothing odd happening).
Get Win10 LTSC. It gets updates 2x/year, has very minimal bloat.
Then get O&O Shutup to reduce bloat even more.
And you can permanently license it using Microsoft's own scripts.
This all applies to Win11 too, if you just have to use it.
Many people suggest popOS for a new linux user which is based on ubuntu which in turn is based on debian. I never tried popOS but i found ubuntu hard to get packages or find help with when i was first learning.
I would recomend endeavourOS which is based on arch. In arch, its very easy to get packages and and find help since you can use the aur and the arch wiki . But it might require using the terminal a bit more than PopOS. Dont let that intimidate you however, the terminal is actually not hard to learn and many tools guide you through using it.
Both are better than windows and i would recomend you try them both on your machine. Just download the live image ISOs to a usb that has ventoy installed. Throw some other distros on there too like nobara just to round out your testing.
Then you can always install it on an old computer (even one that windows dosent work well on) or a spare hdd/ssd while testing until you are ready to leave windows for good.
I use EndeavourOS, only because I wanted to get up and running quickly. It's still Arch under the hood, and all the fun nuances that come with Arch. I would probably suggest that EndeavourOS is more intermediate, probably popOS or Mint are more beginner-suited.
You don’t need to code or use a terminal to use Linux
As someone who has fully transitioned to Linux myself recently:
You don't need to know how to code. But I don't know how you think you don't need to use terminal. Linux is complex. You run into problems. You will need to learn to troubleshoot. You will inevitably have to use terminal at some point (even if that's for copy/pasting commands, but you'll still need a very basic understanding).
Trying to underplay the complexity or learning curve for Linux is disingenuous and problematic for new users.
Didn't Windows 10 also have ads in the start menu from pretty much the start, like Candy Crush and such? Or maybe I just used a bloated OS image, wouldn't be beyond me.
It did, yes. One of the first things I did with my Windows 10 machine was install Classic Shell to give myself the Windows 7 start menu.
Good thing you don't need to know to code or use a terminal to use linux. Just install popOS! And you're good to go
It's easier than it looks, figure out how to do the first step: create your live boot flashdrive that you would use to install linux to your hdd. Then boot into that and play around before you install. I reccomend to follow along with this nerd in your terminal like it's a class. Once you learn this basic stuff you're pretty much set.
Same
Windows 10 won't take screenshots of everything I do on my computer, sooooooooooo
Oh its worse than just screenshots. They’re screenshotting, then they ocr the screenshot and store any text in a highly compressed searchable database.
But it does scan everything you put on your computer and sends it to microsoft
Neither will Windows 11 when I turn that feature off.
Until they turn it back on again during the next automatic update.
Until it is smuggled back in by an inconspicuous monthly security update!
Don't try to bring reason to an anti-Microsoft circlejerk
Neither.
laughs in penguin
—which one do you like better, beef or pork?
—umm, have you tried being vegan?vegans got a bad rap but they were never as likely to show up in every conversation uninvited as Linux users or weed smokers.
I've always wanted to try that distro just because of the mascot.
I use Arch
[cum explodes everywhere]
Username checks out
I USE ARCH BTW
Windows 10 is usable, so linux, I choose linux.
Anyone who thinks Windows 10 is better: Have you tried installing the current version recently? There's like a dozen screens full of bullshit where you have to click "maybe later" or "yes, I want the limited experience", while Windows hits you with messages such as "setting up some stuff" or "relax and let us take care of everything".
Then after installation you have to go through all the settings and deny, deny, deny some more.
Hide the annoying mouseover "news", the search field, remove Edge from desktop, taskbar, standard app settings and favorites, ...Shit, forgot to install updates first.
So you update. Now the privacy settings are changed again, Edge is back everywhere (it's your standard browser again), "news" are back, the search field is back. But only after you clicked through the blue screen asking you all the questions from the installation again.
Not to mention the urgent security notifications telling you you'll lose all your data if you don't set up OneDrive and your PC isn't safe without an MS account...I think windows 10 is better than windows 11, absolutely.
Have I tried installing the most recent version recently? Fuck no. I hate windows. Last time I installed it, it was for work and it was a server OS. That doesn’t change the reality of differences between 10 and 11.
However, your complaints apply to Win 10 and 11 equally.
Are you saying windows 11 somehow isn't a similar horror show with even more privacy invasion?
no
I have actually reinstalled recently. I've never had updates re-add or re-enable anything I've uninstalled or disabled. And the setup guide (all the things you deny, deny, deny) hasn't changed much in the last few iterations of Windows. It can also be totally automated to disable or not install pretty much any of those features when you create the installation media, and then you don't even have to manually do anything during setup.
The last thing that just appeared after an update was Copilot. And that was a super simple setting to get rid of.
Anyone who thinks Windows 10 is better
The fundamental difference between 10 and 11 is that in 10 I still remember how to turn off all these features while in 11 its that much more difficult to do so.
Ah, yes. Windows 11 is better because since 11 came out MS made 10 worse.
11 isnt even a decent sidegrade, its just a controlgrab trying to take away what little self definition a user has.
Hey! HEY! I resent that remark - yeah, sure, maybe it is exactly that, BUT it is also at least in equal parts an attempt to shove ads down the throats of customers who are rendered helpless to resist by the factor you mentioned.
Agreed. Or A greed, if you examine microsloths motivations
Windows 10 is as bad as windows 11. The problems with windows run so deep in the Microsoft design philosophy that they infect everything Microsoft touches.
I'd say 10 doesn't literally take screenshots of your actions every second but would anyone be surprised if it did?
100% true
It took me years to get my win10 install to a point that I was somewhat happy with it. I've lost track of how many registry edits i've had to do just to disable a feature I didn't want, or enable a feature microsoft wanted to take away from me. The numerous utilities I've had to download just to have functionality that was built into windows back in 7 or xp. I literally don't remember all the things I've had to do, and I refuse to do it again. Now microsoft wants to take away the entire operating system? No.
I just installed linux yesterday. It is a royal pain in my ass, as several design choices are just different from what I'm used to (middle click is paste? what the hell?). However, there's no ads in the start menu. Text I type into the start menu doesn't get sent to an online search engine. There's no proto-ai garbage. Oh, and it didn't cost $200 like my win10 key did.
It's going to take me a week to set up, as I have tons of data on many ntfs drives that I need to be able to do anything productive, and they're all "read only" because I think windows knows I have a linux install and now blue-screens every time I try to shut it down. (This is a problem because ntfs drives get set to read only if windows doesn't shut down cleanly).
FYI, you have 3 clipboards in X11. You have your standard clipboard usually used with Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, like in Windows. You also have your primary clipboard, which copies any text you highlight and can be pasted with middle mouse button. The secondary clipboard is typically not used. If you don't like the middle mouse paste, stick to the way you are used to. I learnt to make use of the primary clipboard and find that I always realise just how much I miss it when I need to use a windows system.
oh deer lord, that's even worse than I thought. It's been less than a week, and it's already become the bane of my existence. middle click pastes highlighted text?! I need to figure out how to disable this.
Starting to think 8.1 might be the most viable windows version...
I actually really liked it when I used it. It was kind of the windows 7 to eights vista.
Happily on Linux now, tho.
My gaming PC is sticking with 10 for the foreseeable future, it's my only windows machine and that's because it's a beatsaber and fusion360 machine and I don't want to be bothered with fixing something when I want to get a workout session in or need to urgently design a part.
P.S. if anyone knows how to get fusion working in wine I'm all ears
Fusion 360 is the ONLY reason why I have a Windows partition still. I haven't looked very hard, but I did look and didn't find any ways to run it on Linux without tons of latency or bugs. It is already slow and buggy enough without introducing more.
I play Beat Saber using Steam Link through Linux, so that works just fine.
I havent tried it, and i dont normally recomend snaps but fusion360 is in the snap store.
https://snapcraft.io/install/fusion360/arch
Also searching arch fusion360 (you can replace arch with another distro) gives a few hits that makes me think its possible like this one.
https://github.com/link12765/Fusion-360-Arch-Linux-Script/blob/main/fusion360_install.sh
They all have bugs or latency issues, or at least they did a year ago.
There was a bug causing logins to not work a few months ago I don't know if a patch went out for it, but I used it for over a year with minimal issues before that
Neat! I will be giving that a go! Having to relearn cad after switching to linux really slowed the use of my 3d printer :(
Funny thing is, I have so much stuff in OneDrive now, it has made transitioning from my PC to another temporary/permanent environment much easier. So…they might actually be helping me move to Linux.
waiting for Windows 11 LTSC, which should be later this year(?)
May I ask is there a reason why you jumping so early? I plan to ride windows 10 ltsc until end or at least as long as most of program works hopeful around 2027.
I'm open to either. It's just with Win11 LTSC coming out soon, I can compare and choose between them.
I'll take my Arch, please and thank you
Linux
Windows 7 😆
I do have a Win7 machine still running, it's a trooper. Doesn't need anything newer for what it does.
Extended support for security upgrades for Windows 7 ended on Jan. 10, 2023. So "what it does" should probably not include any connectivity to a public network.
At that point you might as well go back to XP. ;)
God I miss Windows 7.
*downgrade
windows 10 lacks bt aac codec so fuck it
Both these images are the same
Which one is Android?
Inb4 linux is better but ignoring that things like “trusted” repo upgrades could come with a side order of compromised for months, including spyware
Turns out, not everything is black and white
That happened one time, and it was caught before it was deployed to 99% of the people using Linux (assuming you're talking about the SSH hack, which was likely State sponsored).
Gamblers fallacy.
Python, npm, and others are seeing huge spikes in typosquatting with malware
Supply chain attacks are also continuing to rise which takes away everyone’s naive approach to trusting whatever comes along on the premise of “name brands”
There’s no such thing as greener grass. It is always just a different shade. We are long past simplistic systems, and continue to grow in complexity which means an increasing attack surface and a necessity for continuing education/research.
Never trust, always verify. Windows is a heaping dumpster fire 80% of the time but I’m not going to pretend that Linux magically fixes everything and is infallible or somehow just “better”. There’s a reason many people don’t switch to Linux and that’s in the simplicity of using windows (mac, even). Linux, to some extent, requires a technical mindset, especially when it comes down to analyzing push/pull history for every package that gets installed/updated.
Not to mention the bullshit that comes with the (go figure) most common and user-friendly Linux distro - Ubuntu.
"Thing A is worse than Thing B, because while Thing B definitely does stuff, Thing A has the potential for stuff."
-Microsoft Copeheads.
I can read a repo list. I can't see what windows is doing. It's an entire operating system that has spyware rooted into every nook and cranny of it. Now it takes screenshots of everything you do by default.
