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The day Windows died

thomasbandt.com

731–740 of 925 posts

Re: The day Windows died

#731
post #485

I just bought a Lenovo Ideapad from Costco for about $500. The last time I bought a computer preloaded with Windows was about a decade ago. My experience so far: I turn it on, there's a license agreement. Actually, there's two. One is from Microsoft, and it's rather long but I guess it's about par for the course. Then there's the Lenovo license agreement, which is actually a bunch of other license agreements concaten…

> I guess I'll crawl back into my cave and keep using Linux for the foreseeable future. Apple makes laptops, TV streamers, and tablets. Is there some reason you're avoiding them?

> Is there some reason you're avoiding them?

yeah some of us aren't made of money

Re: The day Windows died

#732
I'm actually making an effort for my daughter to have a Linux desktop as her first exposure to computing, outside of say, a Nintendo Switch.

I'm not trying to push my hobbies on her, but I want her to learn technology in an environment free of the ads and other garbage that come with Windows and (to a lesser extent) macOS. I want her to learn what the computer is doing and not treat it like magic.

I'm terrified by iPads, I don't want her to think that consumption and pay-to-win games are all thats out there.

Re: The day Windows died

#733

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why they wouldn't be able to install it themselves, tbh. The last n times I've installed (various distros) the install process went something like: select keyboard layout, select locale/timzone, go away while it installs, reboot. There was nothing there to do unless you want to get into customising disk partitions or something.

I just helped my brother install Linux on an XPS 13. The main part he had trouble with was configuring the firmware to allow the installation, and then know about the new UEFI partition, and then forget about the no-longer-extant Windows boot partitions. It wasn't obvious how to make that work even for me.

I had no problems like this with my installation. It's just that some people don't even know about bootable USB sticks - this level of "non-technical".

Re: The day Windows died

#734

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is just wrong? Most of them have "3k" or "4k+" displays, aka more than macs. Heck, my 5year old Thinkpad has a 2560x1440 500 nit display. You can get 1080p as an option, but why do you want to? It also has a very nice glass track pad, which as far as hardware is concerned is arguably better than the mac one. The difference is software support, which is better on Mac.

Well, at least in my country, the Lenovo website has 53 Thinkpad models for sale. 23 of these 53 are 1920x1080. 27 are 1920x1200. https://www.lenovo.com/in/en/dg/LAPTOPS?from=splitter&visibl...

No, they aren't. They are models, which among other resolutions also offer these options. E.g. the first one on your list offers 3840x2400 or 1920x1200 screens.

Re: The day Windows died

#735

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My non-technical relatives are using Linux just fine. They wouldn't be able to install it themselves though: I did it for them.

I don't know why they wouldn't be able to install it themselves, tbh. The last n times I've installed (various distros) the install process went something like: select keyboard layout, select locale/timzone, go away while it installs, reboot. There was nothing there to do unless you want to get into customising disk partitions or something.

>I don't know why they wouldn't be able to install it themselves, tbh.

putting the ISO on the USB, telling the BIOS to boot from the USB, dealing with any random failures in grub or whatever, these are showstoppers for nontechnical people.

(actually the grub failures are a showstopper for me as well, I've never been able to figure out what you're meant to do if you boot up and get an error at that stage. I just re-roll with a different USB drive or distro or ISO-burning tool and cross my fingers)

also nontechnical ppl often will only dare use linux if they have windows as a fallback option, so they want to dual-boot. and setting up / maintaining a dual-boot system has its own set of failure modes.

EDIT: the dumbest one I ran into was when I just couldn't figure out how to get into the BIOS. there wasn't any splash screen like you usually get where it says "press F{n}" (and why the fuck isn't that standardized anyway?).

eventually I figured out it was because the monitor wasn't turning on quick enough to show the motherboard splash screen, so the system had already started the windows boot process by the time I got to see anything. I had to look up the right key for the motherboard online, and then press it blindly the next time I booted.

EDIT: also doing this kind of stuff assumes you have another machine handy. you can use it as a "lifeboat" for your files, you can use it to burn USBs, look up documentation and so on. technical people tend to have a bunch of old machines lying around they can use in a pinch. but nontechnical people tend to only have one desktop/laptop. if they have anything else it's probably a phone or a tablet. if you only have one machine and you screw something up so you can't even boot, you're stuck in a catch-22. and then you need to take it to a PC repair place, and they'll just reinstall windows for you.

Re: The day Windows died

#737
post #485

I just bought a Lenovo Ideapad from Costco for about $500. The last time I bought a computer preloaded with Windows was about a decade ago. My experience so far: I turn it on, there's a license agreement. Actually, there's two. One is from Microsoft, and it's rather long but I guess it's about par for the course. Then there's the Lenovo license agreement, which is actually a bunch of other license agreements concaten…

Oh and don't get me started about the latency all the trash causes to the start menu. I had this routine, computer starts, you press win-key type 2 letters hit enter and the program you want starts instantly. Since Windows 11 this is horribly slow, like seconds sometimes, especially the first load. I can assure you this is not my hardware setup. Clearly their goal is not "provide the best, smooth and performant user…

Just leaving some links here since not everyone is aware. You can restore the Windows 11 Taskbar to a more normal state. First, remove the Win11 changes with ExplorerPatcher. Then, install openshell. It's unfortunate how much the windows ui has degraded.

https://pureinfotech.com/restore-taskbar-location-windows-11...

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

Re: The day Windows died

#738

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…

Very exaggerated imo.. but tbh, reread what the author wants for his kid. Even if he has to do that, it will be so much learning experience ... and also so satisfying when you figured this config thing and that issue out.

So even if exaggerated, I think your post is an argument and not a counterpoint wrt to the intended purpose. ;)

Re: The day Windows died

#739
post #484

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…

> This post is screaming out for Linux. Linux is the solution to his dilemma. I'm not sure about that. Ubuntu at least is being slowly turned into adware. Apt already shows advertisements, the snap store is being expanded and promoted — and yes, these are small changes for now, but that's exactly how Windows started changing as well. Change like this happens, as the saying goes "gradually, and then suddenly". Sad fac…

Suppose someone switches from Windows to Ubuntu, and then Ubuntu goes full adware and becomes awful. Switching from Ubuntu to a different distro will be a hundred times easier than moving away from Windows was - all their software will work, config files for the apps they use will work etc.

That's the beauty of GPL, let a thousand distros bloom, yes it's chaotic but no one can ever really force a bad distro down your throat (except your corporate IT department I guess)

Re: The day Windows died

#740
I mean, if the kid has access to the internet he's probably going to end up exposed to stuff anyway.

I had unfiltered access to the internet when I was a kid in the late 90's and early 00's and I grew up fine.

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