Technology

I'm one of the few whose laptop is about 10 years old so it needs replacing. Most likely a new laptop will be preloaded with windows 11. Do they sell laptops pre-loaded with Linux?

11 was fine until they forced Copilot Vision on everyone. That was the straw for me to finally bail to Linux

Windows shoving AI down everyone's throats lead me to Linux. First Debian, then Fedora. BTW I'm using Arch now. I love AI, but giving Microsoft full access to my entire file system by force rubs me the wrong way.

I use Linux on my home computer, and Windows on my work computer (begrudgingly).

Windows 11 does not feel like an 'upgrade' at all. One obvious downgrade is that when I try to change the settings when printing a document, the settings window does not fit on the screen. ... I don't blame Windows for that - its a big settings Window. But the issue is that Windows doesn't allow me resize it, or scroll down on it, or even let me drag it partially of the screen. And so the result is that it is impossible for me to click the 'ok' button when I'm done. The only way to save my changes is if I memorise which button is ok, then press 'tab' the exact right number of times to have it select the ok button while I can't see it, and then press enter. That's pretty crap. I didn't have that problem on windows 10. (To be honest I don't remember exactly what was different. Certainly the window with all the settings was the same, but I believe it had a scroll bar, maybe? In any case, I could certainly press the ok button before 'upgrading'!)

There are so many annoying features in Windows 11 that I've spent ages trying to turn off. For example, I was happy with the way windows could be snapped to the top and to the sides of the screen in windows 10. In Windows 11 they've expanded that feature, but made it worse. The snapping brings up menus, and behaves different ways at different times. It's fiddly and harder to predict. It tries to do more, but ends up being less useful because it is unreliable. I've disabled most of the differences in the settings, but not all can be disabled.

And there are heaps of weird inconsistencies in Windows 11. For example, when I rename a file in file explore; often stays in the same places even though it is no longer in the correct file order with the new name. So with alphabetically ordered files, there are often a few things that are out of order - because Windows is inconsistent. (Closing and reopening reorders them.) There are also some weird glitches. For example, I often see graphical glitches while using Excel in Windows 11 which I never saw in Windows 10. Things like rows partially overlapping other rows after scrolling, or the outline of the selected cell sometimes not being visible in parts of the document until you minimise and restore the app. It's pretty bogus. Obviously they've tried to change some backend stuff and created some bugs in the process.

Anyway, the point is that it easy to see why someone would be reluctant to 'upgrade' to Windows 11.

If they just sold a very simple lightweight barebone version of Win 10 for 30-40 usd with regular security updates for the next 200 years, they could make so much money for eternity. Just sell those Apps/Widgets as additional paid apps, that is all you need.

Hahahahah. "Upgrade."

Win 11 launcher is pure shit.

But they managed to convince people to switch to Linux

Mandatory secure boot is the thing. Before I get a new motherboard and CPU I’ll just get Linux. Gaming works great there, and those 3 things I actually need Microsoft for can be used in a VM

They allow you to enroll in extended updates so you can get more time to upgrade 🤣