I've put it off for a year but now my Windows 10 installation is downloading 11 seemingly without any way to stop it. There's apparently a way to stop updates by editing the registry but I don't have the WindowsUpdate folder there for some reason.
I also looked into extended security updates for Win 10 but enrolling apparently costs 25 euros. No thanks. I know there are versions of Windows that have security updates until 2032 but I'm pretty sure I'd need to reinstall Windows to make use of those, and if I were willing to redo this installation I'd just go with Linux instead. (Coincidentally, I installed Linux on a small SSD last year and I've been spending a lot of time on it lately instead of Win10. If SSD prices weren't completely fucked I'd get a new big one and make it my main/gaming OS)
I assume I will need to make some kind of decision about this at some point since it's not like Win10 is getting any more secure. Going through with the Win11 "upgrade" is probably the path of least resistance. I'd appreciate any tips to disable forced telemetry, AI features, OneDrive integration and any other anti-features this update is likely to foist on me. Also is it going to fuck with my dual boot? As far as I know my Linux SSD should be completely invisible to Windows but I don't trust Microsoft to not do something sneaky and invasive.
EDIT: I got my Win10 ESU updates sorted out with massgrave scripts! Windows 11 averted
Have you tried other Desktop Environments? I never tried Cinnamon, so I don't really know how much it looks and feels like Windows, but KDE by default is really, really close while also being fairly easy to customize to make it even more like Windows if you want, and should become a lot easier once they finish their new theming system.
You can also try other distros to see if they don't have the issues you have with Mint, there's even a site to test them on your browser if you're interested, called DistroSea.
I know it's unsolicited, but if you ever need recommendations, I'm an absolute shill for Bazzite and Solus.
It's not a Mint or cinnamon problem, it's a me problem. I literally don't want to learn this stuff right now. I sit down and try and i just have to sit with a decade+ of growing resentment for the stranglehold this tech has on my life. I don't want to give it more of my grey matter. I just don't.
I would literally rather move on.
If you can't fathom it, I am not trying to deride mint nor cinnamon - and maybe other desktop enviros are more suited to my tastes? but the fact is i don't care anymore. i dont want to cram my brain full of shit i resent, and microsoft insisting i move to a system with a worse UI, worse performance, and a nightmare of panopticon slopfest bullshit, it just makes it easier to go, "fuck this shit entirely" tbqh.
going all in on a linux environment to me feels like retreating to keep fighting on a battlefield whose war is practically over, and not in the favor of the side i'm fighting for. It's a retreat knowing encroachment won't stop and won't ever let me get away in truth.
I want to re-conceptualize my relationship to this technology; i see growing resentment @ tech on the left and while I don't think some kind of "destroy it all burn it all down" approach is prudent, I think about the virtues of going offline, and going to older tech while we still have it; you know, stuff that can compute and assist with certain tasks without being part of a giant panopticon network, deployed for things that exclude leisure and entertainment? That's how I'm thinking of this tbh
i might be completely off-base in even making this comment, but might i shill gemini? (NOT THE GOOGLE THING). i hear a lot of the same rhetoric over there w.r.t. going offline and older technology. it's a more-or-less text-only network protocol so none of the surveillance and ad tech that's ruined the web. lagrange has an interface similar enough to a web browser so not much of a learning curve. sorry again if this is the opposite of the appropriate response but i've been looking for a place to talk about this on here because i would really like to see more communist blog posts there.
don't feel bad for sharing this stuff. This is interesting to me.
if you're hoping it's a bullet that fixes the problem, eh, not for me, but I hope somebody gets something a bit more directly meaningful out of it - divesting from the teat of big tech in every way is a good thing
RiotDoll go on meshcore
I've been using Mint since 2013 and basically nothing about it has changed in that time. I hope this gives you some solace.
I've also seen more people switch to Linux this year than ever before, and a dozen people go full sicko mode and start doing self-hosting shit to get off of Google services, something I've never seen before. I think there really is a cultural shift happening. I hope that also gives you some hope.
But spending more time offline is generally a good idea anyway, tbqh.
Oh I see, I get what you mean now. Yeah I can see how this sucks for you, I don't really have this relationship with OSes, but from what you said this must feel really shitty.
Yeah if you can re-conceptualize it someday it could be like a new beginning into exploring computers altogether. Old tech is neat and if it's something you want to go for, that's honestly incredible, it's a part of the past that is cool to see and interact with, even cooler when you can repurpose it for your own needs.