I think some manufacturers offer the ability to buy hardware without software preinstalled and have the software as add-ons you can opt-in. That should be the way.
Get your Windows license refund
31–40 of 350 posts
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#32I finally found the time this year to replace my parents' old T-series Thinkpad Windows 8 with Linux Mint. I also upgraded the hard drive to an SSD. The result - a 15 years old machine i5 Dual Core with 6GB RAM now boots and works extremely fast as compared to before. Also with USB and wireless mouse support out of the box - I didn't have to touch anything. Sorry, if this offends anyone, but Windows (non-Server editi…
Upgrades to SSD, thinks the OS made it faster. Ok
A bog standard Linux distribution boots under 30 seconds with a good HDD, assuming hardware initializes fast.
SSD generally adds 3x to that speed due to access latency for small files.
I remember pressing power button and leaving my PC alone to get a tea or something when I was booting my Windows installation which I had around for gaming. Same with an SSD. Desktop arrives faster, CPU still choked to launch whatever services are needed, fans are doubling as hair dryers.
Both scenarios were on the same machine, BTW.
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#33So after fighting windows for 30yr i also have started searching for linux os to switch to. Might feel weird initially but its a must now. 60% of my time spending on windows is wasted in refreshing/slowstartup/installing bloat and updates/. Clicking next > next etc multiple time just to install one software. Winget is not upto mark like apt and other unix package managers. As soon as i install chocolatey or 3rd party…
I switched to Mint and never looked back. It's one of the easiest transitions IMO, and if you really miss Windows, you can bring the aesthetic with you: https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes/view/Chicago95
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#34I finally found the time this year to replace my parents' old T-series Thinkpad Windows 8 with Linux Mint. I also upgraded the hard drive to an SSD. The result - a 15 years old machine i5 Dual Core with 6GB RAM now boots and works extremely fast as compared to before. Also with USB and wireless mouse support out of the box - I didn't have to touch anything. Sorry, if this offends anyone, but Windows (non-Server editi…
Upgrades to SSD, thinks the OS made it faster. Ok
This just in: multiple factors can contribute to the same result. Shocking!
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#35I finally found the time this year to replace my parents' old T-series Thinkpad Windows 8 with Linux Mint. I also upgraded the hard drive to an SSD. The result - a 15 years old machine i5 Dual Core with 6GB RAM now boots and works extremely fast as compared to before. Also with USB and wireless mouse support out of the box - I didn't have to touch anything. Sorry, if this offends anyone, but Windows (non-Server editi…
It shouldn't be offensive. The assessment is accurate. I used to think computers 'degraded' and got slower and worse over time. It always seemed weird to me since logically, the silicon is there. However, when you run a proper operating system, there's no degradation. It's a software problem in its entirety. Nixos has kept my laptop running for almost a decade at this point with no performance degradation. I am only…
It's a fair point but capabilities do degrade relative to what is considered "ordinary every day use software" even if nothing is wrong with the OS.
For instance there's a fair number of old laptops which exist now that can't play full screen 1080p content from youtube inside a browser without extensively dropping frames (way below a smooth 30 fps) because the cpu/video hardware has no support for hardware acceleration of the codecs in use. Even if the laptop has a 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 screen. Additionally they will struggle heavily with 100% CPU load doing something like running any video conference webRTC app (generally equivalent to google meet) in a browser tab.
Complexity of features and more computationally intensive things will still obsolete an old system even if it's running an 'optimal' non windows OS.
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my experience, unfortunately it’s fast until you need to use a webapp (Gmail, FB, Netflix…). For document editing or code it’s pretty awesome but a sluggish web is a deal breaker for many these days.
I've had some experiences like that, mostly when Spectre/Meltdown were new. (or if I had a dGPU which didn't have good drivers - or.. if there's no hardware acceleration for smooth scroll for some other reason, like chrome on ARM for a long time). I agree that it's a dealbreaker, and the circumstances in which it can happen are opaque and difficult to troubleshoot. Luckily these days with anything released since 2020…
Luckily these days with anything released since 2020- it's a lot better.
Unless it’s a post-Intel Mac, and that’s all of them these days.
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#37I finally found the time this year to replace my parents' old T-series Thinkpad Windows 8 with Linux Mint. I also upgraded the hard drive to an SSD. The result - a 15 years old machine i5 Dual Core with 6GB RAM now boots and works extremely fast as compared to before. Also with USB and wireless mouse support out of the box - I didn't have to touch anything. Sorry, if this offends anyone, but Windows (non-Server editi…
Upgrades to SSD, thinks the OS made it faster. Ok
> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#38I finally found the time this year to replace my parents' old T-series Thinkpad Windows 8 with Linux Mint. I also upgraded the hard drive to an SSD. The result - a 15 years old machine i5 Dual Core with 6GB RAM now boots and works extremely fast as compared to before. Also with USB and wireless mouse support out of the box - I didn't have to touch anything. Sorry, if this offends anyone, but Windows (non-Server editi…
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Re: Get your Windows license refund
#39So after fighting windows for 30yr i also have started searching for linux os to switch to. Might feel weird initially but its a must now. 60% of my time spending on windows is wasted in refreshing/slowstartup/installing bloat and updates/. Clicking next > next etc multiple time just to install one software. Winget is not upto mark like apt and other unix package managers. As soon as i install chocolatey or 3rd party…
[deleted]
Re: Get your Windows license refund
#40So after fighting windows for 30yr i also have started searching for linux os to switch to. Might feel weird initially but its a must now. 60% of my time spending on windows is wasted in refreshing/slowstartup/installing bloat and updates/. Clicking next > next etc multiple time just to install one software. Winget is not upto mark like apt and other unix package managers. As soon as i install chocolatey or 3rd party…
[deleted]