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The day Windows died

thomasbandt.com

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Re: The day Windows died

#411

Post by TylerE »

einr wrote: post #394
piyush_soni wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And of course it's Linux, so there's infinite opportunity to get under the hood and tinker. - Or keep trying to fix the environment + hardware compatibility issues and not do the actual work/study. Or keep editing some random xorg.conf file because his monitor's display suddenly became weird. Or try to fix some other random files since the sound driver doesn't work. He's 10. I'm 40 and still horrified to deal with…

Or keep trying to fix the environment + hardware compatibility issues and not work on the actual study. Or keep editing some random xorg.conf file because his monitor's display suddenly became weird. Or try to fix some other random files since the sound driver doesn't work. He's 10. I was doing this stuff in Linux when I was… well, not 10, but 12. Today I work with computers. What do you think ”tinkering” means? I do…

In a lot of ways it was way easier back then as you didn't have the fragmentation.

You ran X11/Xorg (no Wayland), sysv init (no systemd), OSS or ALSA, not pulseaudio, you had sane/not insanely bloated desktops like KDE2 or XFCE.

Even unicode wasn't something most really had to care much about...world was still mostly ascii.

Re: The day Windows died

#412

Post by akvadrako »

natnatenathan wrote: post #383
apatheticonion wrote: post #332

It's really sad that there is no where for us to go in the desktop OS space right now. I, weirdly, daily drive all 3 OSes. MacOS; Work issued laptop and longish-time user (about 6 years with it). Windows; Desktop PC mostly for games. I've been using Windows since I could walk. Fedora; Desktop PC, dual booted which I use for most everything else. I cannot believe how much of a dumpster fire Windows has become. From th…

I just installed Fedora on my personal computer (X1 Carbon, 6th gen) and it is everything I've ever wanted. There was no configurations I needed to fiddle with. The semi-annual update is amazingly smooth. It also makes my old laptop feel like a hotrod again. I'm happy to have a computer without an AI chip. I use a Mac for work, and it is good, but I sense the subscription mania creeping in there as well. I couldn't m…

You got a bit lucky though. If you had installed Fedora on a 7th gen you wouldn't have had a working mic until about a year after release unless you patched your kernel.

Re: The day Windows died

#413

Post by bombolo »

piyush_soni wrote: post #380
safety1st wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This post is basically about the author's nostalgia for his early days of computing with Windows 95 and how he wanted his son to have the same experience. This post is screaming out for Linux. Linux is the solution to his dilemma. If he reformats that drive and puts say Kubuntu on it - the kid's first PC experience is going to be a vaguely retro 90's style shell with a start menu, the start menu is going to have a Ga…

> And of course it's Linux, so there's infinite opportunity to get under the hood and tinker. - Or keep trying to fix the environment + hardware compatibility issues and not do the actual work/study. Or keep editing some random xorg.conf file because his monitor's display suddenly became weird. Or try to fix some other random files since the sound driver doesn't work. He's 10. I'm 40 and still horrified to deal with…

I feel that people who haven't tried the thing they're commenting about in the last 10 years should start with a disclaimer like "=== ATTENTION, I'M JUST PARROTING HERE ===".

Re: The day Windows died

#414

Post by Nursie »

newaccount74 wrote: post #354
Nursie wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not really true. While the base spec won't meet all needs, you don't need to max out the spec to get a usable machine with a long life.

Yeah, but the base models really are crippled by a lack of storage. I've had to help a couple of family members with their 128GB Macs and 16GB iPhones and I hated every second of it. I bought my partner a Macbook with maxed out storage just so I don't have to deal with that shit again.

I don't think they sell 128GB macs any more do they? They shouldn't!

512GB seems to have been enough for me for the last ten years or so, if I need more storage than that, it goes on a different machine or cloud storage of some form. I haven't found it restrictive at all.

I had my 2013 MBP (i5/8/512) in active use until 2020 when lockdown hit and I stopped needing a laptop for a while. Now I'm on a M1/16/512 Air, and two years in I'm still very happy with it. Hopefully I'll get 7 years out of this one too.

Re: The day Windows died

#415

Post by no743advice »

nonbirithm wrote: post #233
josephcsible wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That is what anti consumer looks like. Not SIP. It's not an either-or. Both of those are super anti-consumer. If you want an OS without anti-consumer "features", then install Linux.

Are mainstream Linux distros as user-friendly to a 10-year-old as the other two operating systems, even if the latter are more anti-consumer? As the article states the author was trying to set up a first-time computer for his son. Which flavor of Linux to install is clearly an important factor for such an audience, as it makes distros like Arch out of the question.

Yes, at least much moreso than Windows 95 was.

Re: The day Windows died

#416

Post by ncallaway »

apatheticonion wrote: post #332

It's really sad that there is no where for us to go in the desktop OS space right now. I, weirdly, daily drive all 3 OSes. MacOS; Work issued laptop and longish-time user (about 6 years with it). Windows; Desktop PC mostly for games. I've been using Windows since I could walk. Fedora; Desktop PC, dual booted which I use for most everything else. I cannot believe how much of a dumpster fire Windows has become. From th…

> Windows; Desktop PC mostly for games.

That's totally fair, but I would definitely recommend that you try installing games on your Linux desktop as well. Proton is absolutely stunning in what they've managed to accomplish. I'm always a little surprised when a game _doesn't_ run well in Proton now.

If you've got particular games that you must play that don't run well on Linux, you'll probably want to keep the Windows partition available. But I've found the amount of time I "switch over" to Windows for a game has drastically decreased. I can scratch the itch 95% of the time without leaving Linux now.

Re: The day Windows died

#417

Post by spaceman_2020 »

grumpyprole wrote: post #370
localghost3000 wrote: post #167

I am sure I will get all kinds of hate for saying this: despite the extra up front cost, apple stuff is a better value. Lets take device lifetime: I have a 2013 MBP 15 and 2015 MBP 15. I use them for intensive things like music production. Both devices work flawlessly. I also a System 76 Oryx Pro which cost more than any mac I own. The webcam failed 5 months in, several keys don't work anymore, and it gets hotter tha…

If you buy a laptop with good Linux support, e.g. a ThinkPad. It should be fine for well over a decade in my experience. That is better value than Apple offer.

Thinkpads are solid devices but they’re really falling behind in screen and trackpads.

Most higher end Thinkpad models have 1080p screens with 300-400 nits of brightness at most.

The base M2 Macbook Air is 2560x1664 with 500 nits brightness. And it’s cheaper than a Gen2 Thinkpad T14.

And of course, all Thinkpads can’t hold a candle to Macbook trackpads

Re: The day Windows died

#418

Post by rwmj »

apatheticonion wrote: post #332

It's really sad that there is no where for us to go in the desktop OS space right now. I, weirdly, daily drive all 3 OSes. MacOS; Work issued laptop and longish-time user (about 6 years with it). Windows; Desktop PC mostly for games. I've been using Windows since I could walk. Fedora; Desktop PC, dual booted which I use for most everything else. I cannot believe how much of a dumpster fire Windows has become. From th…

I had to do some troubleshooting on macOS for relatives over the holidays, and I couldn't believe how bad and unintuitive Macs have got since I last used them ~ 15 years ago. Hidden functionality, non-actionable error messages, unintuitive workflows, terrible online information. Steve Jobs must be turning in his grave. (Still much better than Windows though).

For balance I daily drive Fedora too, and I cannot connect my new Sony bluetooth headphones to it. Oh well ...

Re: The day Windows died

#419

Post by spaceman_2020 »

petilon wrote: post #258
localghost3000 wrote: post #167

I am sure I will get all kinds of hate for saying this: despite the extra up front cost, apple stuff is a better value. Lets take device lifetime: I have a 2013 MBP 15 and 2015 MBP 15. I use them for intensive things like music production. Both devices work flawlessly. I also a System 76 Oryx Pro which cost more than any mac I own. The webcam failed 5 months in, several keys don't work anymore, and it gets hotter tha…

> despite the extra up front cost, apple stuff is a better value What extra up front cost? The Macbook Air costs $799 at BestBuy. Do you mean to say a similar quality Windows machine costs less? Only Samsung makes computers that are comparable to the Macbook. This Samsung [2] arguably has a better screen but costs $1450. (There are cheaper Samsungs but they don't have 200% screen resolution.) [1] https://www.bestbuy.…

Yeah the latest M1/M2 Macbooks have made them a nobrainer.

I can’t find any laptops in my country with the same screen resolution, brightness, weight, and trackpad combo as a base Macbook for a cheaper price.

My wife’s M1 Macbook Air feels faster than any laptop I’ve ever used, and outside of 3D rendering, even faster than my Ryzen 5900x desktop.

Re: The day Windows died

#420

Post by Godel_unicode »

bombolo wrote: post #413
piyush_soni wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And of course it's Linux, so there's infinite opportunity to get under the hood and tinker. - Or keep trying to fix the environment + hardware compatibility issues and not do the actual work/study. Or keep editing some random xorg.conf file because his monitor's display suddenly became weird. Or try to fix some other random files since the sound driver doesn't work. He's 10. I'm 40 and still horrified to deal with…

I feel that people who haven't tried the thing they're commenting about in the last 10 years should start with a disclaimer like "=== ATTENTION, I'M JUST PARROTING HERE ===".

Interesting, and what should people do if they are unable to understand that others experiences can and do differ from their own?

As of an hour ago, plugging a trrs headset into the jack on my laptop breaks audio until I go kick the daemon. Linux is a pain in the neck.

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