Microsoft has been the single most effective marketing asset for GNU/Linux distributions in recent years.
I'm so fucking glad I switched to Linux this year.
Well Valve was doing too well with the steam deck in that area so they had to trump them, second place is just the first loser.
Valve is holding the carrot, Microsoft the stick.
I remember them doing this with Internet Explorer back in the 90s.
"We can't remove this thing we don't want to remove! Look! It's hastily integrated with the OS! We can't remove it ever!"
yep exactly my thoughts. IE couldn't be ripped off a Windows computer at all
It still can’t.. Hidden somewhere deep in windows, there is still a IE, believe me.
it was vastly easier to install linux mint than it is to figure out registry editing or whatever the fuck i'd need to avoid this
Nah, mate, Linux is hard, you need to know what a Wayland is. In comparison, Windows is very simple and lightweight, you only have to run a dozen Powershell scripts and edit the registry weekly to get rid of ads.
"Do I look like I know what a Wayland is?"
This is where some Windows shill says "you only need to fix it once!" as if this is your only computer ever, and the only problem you need to fix. And then Windows changes it back to their default in next year's update.
And some Windows update would "accidentally" undo that anyways.
The difference between Linux and Windows is on Linux you're working with the operating system to make modifications and taking advantage of its vast resources (extensive wikis on major distos, terminal auto completion with fish and zsh, preconfigured defaults when installing through the package manager, etc). Meanwhile on Windows you're actively working against the system in order to disable unwanted features like AI and telemetry.
(Also I would recommend looking into Debian, the software may be a tad bit old but its the most stable distribution)
Happy Debian daily driver here. I would never ever recommend raw Debian to a garden variety would-be Linux convert.
If you think something like Debian is something a Linux illiterate can just pick up and start using proficiently, you're severely out of touch with how most computer users actually think about their machines. If you even so much as know the name of your file explorer program, you're in a completely different league.
Debian prides itself on being a lean, no bloat, and stable environment made only of truly free software (with the ability to opt-in to nonfree software). To people like us, that's a clean, blank canvas on a rock-solid, reliable foundation that won't enshittify. But to most people, it's an austere, outdated, and unfashionable wasteland full of flaky, ugly tooling.
Debian can be polished to any standard one likes, but you're expected to do it yourself. Most people just aren't in the game to play it like that. Debian saddles questions of choice almost no one is asking, or frankly, even knew was a question that was ask*-able*. Mandatory customizeability is a flaw, not a feature.
I am absolutely team "just steer them to Mint". All the goodness of Debian snuck into their OS like medicine in a kid's dessert, wrapped up in something they might actually find palatable. Debian itself can be saved for when, or shall I say if, the user eventually goes poking under the hood to discover how the machine actually ticks.
Debian is probably one of the worst choices for someone looking to try Linux, especially for gaming.
Nothing better than setting everything up only to find you can't install some new thing because your xyz is too old
Windows Debloat Tool:
https://github.com/LeDragoX/Win-Debloat-Tools
I run this on any new Win install. I also suggest Portmaster so you know where your data is going (I use it on Linux too!)
However, if you can, it is really worth switching to Linux. Linux is built as a tool by the people using the tool. Windows is making a product. Enough said.
If people would like to "try Linux before you buy," check out DistroSea. It spins up a virtual machine of whatever distro and flavour you choose to try.
There are a surprising and growing number of Linux compatible tools. Software is usually why people have a hard time switching. If you're dependent on Photoshop/Adobe, check out:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Gamers should check out:
This site shows how well games run on Proton (compatibility tool) and people offer solutions to get them running if there's any snags.
DaVinci Resolve is not a replacement for Photoshop/Adobe as a whole, but it is a decent replacement for Adobe products AfterEffects and Premier.
For Photoshop alternatives, I'd start with GIMP for photo editing or Krita for illustration and digital painting.
I'm still on Windows because my drawing app of choice is Clip Studio Paint, which has no Linux version. I've read and watched several guides to getting CSP running on Linux, but it still scares me off.
But this Recall thing is so insidious to me... I might try to get it working on Linux anyway.
Explorer has had so many dependencies attached to it that if even one of them sneezes, the entire desktop environment crashes and has to restart.
Actually insane when you think about it. Why the hell is a file explorer the root process of the desktop??????
I've only ever forced stopped thunar once and it was because I was messing with some thumbnail settings. Naturally the rest of my system worked as normal, as well as the other thunar windows open lol.
Looking at you microsoft store rdp manager. Crashing explorer when I dare to leave something in the clipboard.
Ahahaha, holly fucking shit.
They literally added some OS in their spyware.
For years... well pretty much since I had a PC, I had a Windows partition. Why? Well because I (sadly) paid for the damn thing (damn OEM deals). Plus, I admit, sometimes they were things that only ran on Windows.
For few years now though, everything, literally, from the latest tech gadget to playing games to VR, works on Linux.
Few weeks ago I deleted the Windows partition. I didn't have to. I didn't boot on it for months. It didn't affect me.
Still, I now feel ... safer, more relaxed, coherent.
When I see shit like that, I feel even better!
how the fuck do you even begin making recall a dependency for explorer?
I can't say how. But I can guess why.
"Sorry, can't remove it. It's a system dependency"
It's the Microsoft way
So.. how does this exist in corporate environments where PCI DSS is necessary? Is the government also going to have to deal with fallout from this?
I wonder if there will ever be a point where legislation dictates features from an os vendor.. we lost control of our hardware when they started forcing updates. I'm sure someone will hack a DLL or something to allow explorer to run but kill this component... But should we really need to hack our systems to protect ourselves from spying?
Inb4 Linux - I ran Slackware in the early 90s, and my server still runs a deb based distro.. but when I want to play Forza, I'm pretty limited with my choices, etc.
Microsoft: We're going to arbitrarily require TPM and SecureBoot and say that makes Windows 11 more secure even though that's a feature of your motherboard, not our operating system.
Also Microsoft: In Windows 11 the file explorer program depends on a program that periodically sends us screenshots of your screen.
So secure!
So, I just bought a new laptop. It came with Windows 11. But anyways, I'm writing this comment from a freshly installed Bazzite Linux OS.
Glad I moved away from Windows on all my personal computers. Fedora with Plasma is so similar to Windows and so much better. If my non-tech partner can use it, then anyone can.
Only problem is that Windows is better at resizing content on high resolution (4K) monitors. And ordering multiple monitors on the login screen doesn't always work right, but it's fine once logged in. And it takes a bit more to set up than preinstalled Windows that's on most computers when you buy them. But if it was preinstalled and set up already for the hardware like Windows usually is, it would be way better for nearly everyone.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
