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Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

himthe.dev

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Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#261

Post by Iolaum »

kuerbel wrote: post #165
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…

I installed fedora yesterday. Instead of steam i am hoping that GOG with heroic games launcher will work nicely. Idk, I want to support drm free software so if it's on gog, I buy it there.

Fedora Silverblue user here. Lutris (from flatpak) can play GoG games fine (*).

(*): Apparently achievement support even on single player games requires the gamestore client (GoG client in my case) and Lutris doesn't support that yet. Am old enough to not care :p

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#262

Post by mattdeboard »

My work-issued dev device is a Surface Pro 10. I can't use WSL2 for various regulatory reasons. I will never, ever work on software like this again. Worst development experience of my life because of what a miserable dev env windows is.

I know that's been a meme since forever, but my first hand experience supports it to the extreme.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#263

Post by habitable5 »

LorenDB wrote: post #173

I'll copy my comment on another article here: 2025 has had some of the biggest Linux hype in recent times: - Windows 10 went EOL and triggered a wave of people moving to Linux to escape Windows 11 - DHH's adventures in Linux inspired a lot of people (including some popular coding streamers/YouTubers) to try Linux - Pewdiepie made multiple videos about switching to Linux and selfhosting - Bazzite reported serving 1 PB…

> Windows 10 went EOL

Kinda. But LTSC IoT is still on until 2032.

Another very important feature which does not get mentioned enough is Ubuntu launching Ubuntu Pro in 2022 which has an ordinary-user-affordable support option where $150 a year gets you what they call "full support" with a four hour ticket response time on weekdays. My time is way too valuable to deal with the driver problems Linux always has, community support is often best described as "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" -- I once had a problem with a peripheral and people directed me to the Arch Wiki page that I wrote. I stopped using Linux as my main eight years ago and have been on W10/WSL since. I am considering Linux main in May when I get my new laptop if there's commercial support backing me up. I reached out to them with my list of current hardware and they didn't reply yet :( which doesn't bode well.

Example: Thunderbolt networking. Is there a kernel module for it? Yes. Is there experience with it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#264

Post by thunfischtoast »

blackcatsec wrote: post #240
otikik wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. The ads in he start menu are a sign that you are no longer the customer, you are the product. Windows has other similar “features”.

I do not have ads in my start menu, and no, I didn't "debloat" my PC. This is a base install where I flipped a couple of settings in the start menu options.

How generous of them to allow their paying user to disable the ads. It's only a matter of time until this either becomes some sort of premium feature.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#265

Post by rounce »

pksebben wrote: post #162
Zambyte wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

The only pain point I've found is VR. I've bounced off trying to get it working multiple times with the best results getting about 10% functional (video working on one or two games, input broken on all). That said, I haven't tried getting the same kit working on windows so I can't say if it's any better.

I have both a Reverb G2 and a Pimax both working great via Monado.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#266

Post by ajross »

coffeebeqn wrote: post #248
ajross wrote: post #232

> I installed CachyOS, a performance-focused Arch-based distribution Ooph. It's frustrating to see the community starting (again) to get purchase in public mind share at exactly the moment when it's least prepared to accept new users. The Linux desktop right now is a wreck. EVERYONE has their own distro, EVERYONE has their own opinions and customizations, and so everyone is being pulled in like 72 different direction…

There are at least a dozen very stable and reliable distros with decades of history and support in addition to the cool new “hey guys I made a OS!” types.

> There are at least a dozen very stable and reliable distros

Exactly. "WTF?! There are a dozen distributions?!" Users love customization and choice when they understand it. No one wants to be confused. The Linux desktop world is a confusing mess right now.

Also note that the distinction between "very stable and reliable" and "hey guys I made a OS!" is only obvious to people who know how the distro is put together.

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#267

Post by manuelabeledo »

mock-possum wrote: post #224
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…

You spent $2000 on a new machine but wouldn’t shell out another $20-30 for a windows pro key? You’re willing to burn a bunch of time fiddling with getting a completely new operating system setup, but you’re not willing to spend a few minutes fiddling with setting up an offline windows account? I get that maybe that was the final straw or something, but come on, “I switched to Linux because I didn’t want to take an ho…

The main difference, in my opinion, is that to set up Linux one doesn't need to work around the expected behaviours of the OS.

And why would anyone put so much effort into making Windows usable now, when there is not knowing what Microsoft will do next?

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#268

Post by karteum »

> All major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave) have native Linux builds. Full support. No compromises.

Full support ? I thought that the DRM were not the same (e.g. Disney+ and Amazon Prime limited to 480p on Linux which is a scam... At least, I remember having to hack something to use the Windows version of Chrome with WINE in order to get a decent image with Amazon Prime when I got a 6-month offered subscription a few years ago)

Re: Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux

#270

Post by a-dub »

it's really bad these days. even the teams web client doesn't work properly and when it does it is missing the most basic features like "test my audio." i don't understand what it is about how that company is organized that the software keeps coming out with interfaces and user experiences that look like they were created by 2023 era generative ai.
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