Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#91

Post by bilekas » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

Iv'e switched all but my work laptop because of well work, but the push came after they seemed to 'dumb' down the OS.

The disjointed WebView mixed with old winforms for navigating simple things is infuriating alone. I've had a problem where the webview wouldn't render any of the display settings so my machine was stuck at a certain resolution and scale.

Simple things like accessing Environment Variables now is atrocious and hidden in the most obscure unintuitive way. That's to say nothing to the crashing. Linux desktop environments have come such a long way it's really any wonder anyone would put up with Windows anymore.

But then again, Microslop don't seem to care about the customer market much anymore anyway.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#92

Post by levkk » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

senko wrote: post #41

Arch is great. However, I would never recommend Arch (or an Arch derivative) to a first-comer to Linux. Ease in gently, with Ubuntu or Fedora. Get familiar. Then go crazy.

Ok so Arch apparently has an install script that does everything[0]. I tried it the other day and it's pretty flawless, albeit terminal-based so not for everyone I guess.

Pacman is _amazing_. Apt broke dependencies for me every few months & a major version Ubuntu upgrade was always a reformat. Plus, obviously, the Arch wiki is something else. I would go as far as to say you'll have an overall better Linux experience on Arch than Ubuntu and friends, even as a beginner.

[0]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Archinstall

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#93

Post by mixedbit » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

I've been using Linux as my main system for ~25 years, but always kept Windows installed for games. On my latest computer I've build 3 years ago, thanks to Steam with Proton, I no longer have Windows and have been happily playing Windows-only games without major issues.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#94

Post by Zambyte » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

giancarlostoro wrote: post #68

This was me in 2022 or 2023. I have posted on HN about my shift a few times. I gave up with Windows 10 because you needed Windows Pro in order to make an "offline" account, I spent $2000+ for a gaming rig, and I couldn't add new users, one program told me to use the other program which brought me back to the original program... I had to go out of my way, buy a license just to make it work. I just went and installed L…

> if you don't sell your games on Steam or in a way I can run them on Linux I am not buying or playing them.

So much this. People like to moan about "oh game XYZ doesn't run so it's not reasonable for gaming". More games run on GNU / Linux than any gaming console. There are simply too many games that do run to give a second thought about the ones that don't, and it's been that way for years.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#95

Post by ecshafer » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

reconnecting wrote: post #5

Apple forced me to switch to Linux! Linux should consider paying Microsoft and Apple for new customers. Perhaps the customer acquisition funnel is quite long, at least it took 20 years of using Apple in my case before switching to Debian ( Xfce ), but it was worth it!

As a regular linux user for the last 20 years, who had used windows for games for about 25 of the last 30 years. When I had gotten a macbook pro for work in a company that was all apple there were three things that stood out: The M processors are amazing, the apple hardware is really good, and mac os is absolutely awful. I have no idea how people use mac.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#96

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

ColinWright wrote: post #3

Still reading the article, but early on it says: "Also, is it weird that I still remember the specs of my first computer, 22 years later?" My first computer was a TRS-80 Model 1, 1.78 Mz Z80 with 16 KB RAM. That was 48 years ago. Is it weird that I remember that?

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#97

Post by consp » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:29 PM UTC

Ah, the Microsoft "updates".

After the last "update" the setting for turning windows "game optimization" on and off doesn't work anymore and made factorio unplayable (it MUST be off, otherwise it optimized lag and stuttering and it automatically turns on after every larger update). Since games was the only reason I still had a pc with windows it was time to move. For funzies it tried installing some updates on the last shutdown (it got wiped afterwards).

The only pc I now have with windows on it is a early 00's pc with 98SE on it.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#98

Post by Markoff » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:29 PM UTC

My experience is more like:

"I'll switch when Linux supports X."

Linux still doesn't supports X.

"Okay, but how about my X?"

Linux still doesn't supports X.

"Well, X is still missing..."

Trados Studio, good luck finding equivalent, I tried, and the alternatives are horrendous and I'm not gonna run it in VM.

Also I tried at least for son on his old computer live distro Mint from USB drive, everything works fine (unlike Zorin, which had problem with sound I think), but when I try to install it of course it doesn't detect Windows, same with wife's laptop.

So I have 3 computers: son's old laptop where I could install Mint - Linux Mint doesn't detect Windows

wife's old laptop where I could install Mint - Linux Mint doesn't detect Windows

my daily driver where my work SW requires Windows and there is no point installing Mint - Linux Mint detects Windows

I will have look at it during CNY holidays, if I will be able to install it alongside Windows (I need there Windows in case something would happen with my daily driver laptop).

I also plan to switch my father's old desktop to Linux Mint, but somehow I already know what will be most likely Windows detection status over there as well after son's and wife's laptop experiences. It works where it's not needed and it doesn't work, where I could actually install it.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#99

Post by Muromec » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:29 PM UTC

giancarlostoro wrote: post #68

This was me in 2022 or 2023. I have posted on HN about my shift a few times. I gave up with Windows 10 because you needed Windows Pro in order to make an "offline" account, I spent $2000+ for a gaming rig, and I couldn't add new users, one program told me to use the other program which brought me back to the original program... I had to go out of my way, buy a license just to make it work. I just went and installed L…

This was me in 2005. I cant believe people say that M$ started to suck in 2025. It always did.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#100

Post by nightski » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 3:29 PM UTC

Zambyte wrote: post #94

giancarlostoro wrote: post #68

This was me in 2022 or 2023. I have posted on HN about my shift a few times. I gave up with Windows 10 because you needed Windows Pro in order to make an "offline" account, I spent $2000+ for a gaming rig, and I couldn't add new users, one program told me to use the other program which brought me back to the original program... I had to go out of my way, buy a license just to make it work. I just went and installed L…

> if you don't sell your games on Steam or in a way I can run them on Linux I am not buying or playing them. So much this. People like to moan about "oh game XYZ doesn't run so it's not reasonable for gaming". More games run on GNU / Linux than any gaming console. There are simply too many games that do run to give a second thought about the ones that don't, and it's been that way for years.

I run both operating systems. But I have to say it either runs the game you want to play or it doesn't. This is especially true if you play games with friends.