Technology

They are shoving AI down our throats.

Linux is the only viable solution to this mess. And no it is not as scary as it seema

I finally troubleshooted why my Linux usb boot drive wasn’t working. Planning on making the switch when I have time off work.

So long as I can get Steam and Jellyfin working, I’ll never switch back.

yay! hi mint!

We have three windows laptops in the house. All for use in schools which were always heavily pro-Microsoft here. I haven't paid much attention to Windows 11. The last time I used Windows other than setting it up or fixing it for someone else was probably XP. All three users of those laptops come home from school/work, put them on a charger then head to a linux machine to play games, edit video etc. They know they have linux support and they have grown up with Linux. Not one of them has asked to upgrade their laptops to Linux yet.

Perhaps Microsoft isn't annoying regular users as much as the tech press and tech users think they are. Remember people still use shit like Facebook not just willingly but in some cases enthusiastically. We are a diverse lot. Some people, probably the majority, will put up with the same shit every day and not think to change their environment. I don't know whether it is too difficult or they are scared of change or they don't realize it is possible or perhaps they simple aren't bothered by the same things. Possibly all of the above.

It's insane how much extra time, effort and sanity you can retain simply by switching to Linux. I initially switched a few years ago, then fully shortly after. Using my PCs has never been better and I had no issues with gaming. The only games that don't work are some of the live service ones I'll never be interested in.

One of the best decisions in my life, right up there with deleting all social media. Life keeps getting better, relatively speaking, but of course rich pedophiles just can't tolerate us having a good time.

I will continue to enjoy my incredibly straightforward and to the point Linux desktop that’s somehow gained a new AI-free feature by doing nothing.

Called it

Ok, guys. I'm reading some of these replies which are saying the amount of outrage is out of proportion. I have to disagree with that. I don't want an AI running on my PC that is monitoring and learning about my shit. I didn't want that data saved even locally, let alone the monetization of that data. I don't want to be paying for power of a device that is turning me into someone else's paycheck.

Can you turn it off? I believe you can. But I also believe that doing it manually would be incredibly annoying since that does go with a lot of past practice. I also get it would reactivate itself after major updates, like how Edge keeps reinstalling.

Are there other solutions to my Microsoft issues, yes. Chris Titus Tech comes to mind.

But overall, the Windows ecosystem does not feel right to me anymore. Could other people still use it, yes. Am I going to stop them, not intentionally. But my Arch gaming PC runs games better than the same machine running Windows. I've always entertained the idea of a full switch, still have a Windows 11 dual boot and haven't officially done it yet, but with this the moment feels right. At least for me, hopefully you can understand that.

Have Win 10 and was a Windows die hard since I was a kid.

Been running Linux on another drive as my default boot for a year and a half in anticipation of this horseshit and was only hesitant to delete Win because my Fanatec sim racing hardware wasn't supported on Linux.

Welp, turns out hid-fanatecff is a thing. Installed the kernel driver and boom, working Fanatec peripherals. Even my Moza shifter is plug-and-play.

Bye bye Microsoft.

I work in IT and far be it for me to tell you what OS to use on your own computer.

The only thing I want to die right now, is the AI bubble. Just pop already. Holy fuck what a worthless endeavor this has been.

Posting from a 13 year old Windows 7 64 bit gaming desktop. Come get me Gates....

Windows is becoming so trash that a bunch of my not-that-tech-savvy friends have been hitting me up asking about gaming on various Linux distros. (Just a few years ago it was all “Linux? Haha nerd”.) And the non gamers are switching to Mac at a remarkable rate.

And things have progressed so well that even for the non-technical crew, after installing Mint and showing them how to use ProtonPlus to install and select Proton-GE, they’re pretty much off to the races without much further hand holding.

Four Horsemen of Apocalypse

1. The country where a lot of tech countries are headquartered in, elects a wanna-be dictator
2. Android restricts "sideloading" (aka: non-approved install)
3. Windows has mandatory AI
4. Mandatory ID Verification

Not sure why we're surprised. And even then, it took a while for the "good" OSes to get good. Windows 7 is remembered fondly because it ended well, not because it started well.

Windows 95: OK Windows 98: Bad Windows 98 SE: OK Windows ME/2000: Bad Windows XP: OK Windows Vista: Bad Windows 7: OK Windows 8: Bad Windows 10: OK Windows 11: Bad

Microsoft literally wanted me to convert my desktop to e-waste as it lacks the magical TPM chip that Win11 demands.

I said "fuck that" and pulled the Boot SSD, kept the existing non-boot drives for data, and put in a brand new SSD, encrypted it and installed Pop OS in one shot.

Not only was it easy, I lost literally zero critical functionality vs. what I had with Win 10. There is a Linux app equivalent for everything I had before. I had a few driver issues but most were auto-discovered including obscure ancient printers and scanners on my network.

Long time windows user, games retained me but I found Proton so bye bye forever windows. Now convincing my wife to switch it's the real challenge haha