After years of using windows I went to Mac back in 2017 and only returned after building my custom pc back earlier this year. Still have and use the Mac alongside windows on my desk.
I can definitely say that while there were versions of windows I loved in the past I definitely had my share of problems, blue screens, freezes, and generally wanting to chuck my computer out of the window.
However in hindsight I wonder how much of those problems were caused by my use at the time of old outdated hardware and single slow spinning drives.
Fast forward to earlier this year when I returned to windows after building my custom OC, I wasn’t looking forward to it but I did a few things like install it offline and turning off all the telemetry bloat stuff and only using a local account. Full disclosure I’m using Windows 10 pro, however having a looked at windows 11 in a virtual machine besides some user interface changes it doesn’t seem that bad.
Well I must say that my return to windows has been a dream, I have never had a more stable reliable computer that gets out of my way and just allows me to do what I want to do without any problems.
I highly doubt it was my choice to build it using workstation grade hardware for my work but I game a lot and it is as reliable as that sun coming up everyday. That is something that makes me scratch my head as all I keep hearing are how windows forces users to fight with their computer and that it has lots of issues. Usually from Linux users who haven’t touched Windows in years.
I know people have user interface preferences, myself included but for me I don’t play with my operating system, I play with my computer and I care about the software I use not the OS.
Shortly I’ll have on my desk 3 running computers, one Windows, one Mac, one Linux.
To be honest based on my experiences I think a lot of the Windows hate is greatly exaggerated or I’m really missing something.
Well i think the hate for windows[for enthusiasts] really comes down to the inherent lack of UI customization, which has risen with the new versions of windows. If you are fine with the interface then the rest of windows isnt really that bad and with good hardware it will run great for the most part.
Also, there is a lot of windows hate from casual users who have used a cheap windows pc and a mac, blaming windows for the poor performance despite their hardware being a third the price of a mac.
I will say tho, i cant wait to get back to a linux setup. imo, i didnt really mind windows before windows 8 as i could always use a custom desktop environment with Win XP and 7.
so, that setting only sort of works. Microsoft can and has pushed updates that ignore that setting. Then they also have a past of changing that setting back to on after some updates so that you actually have to continually make sure it’s set to off.
Yeah, about that…
That is kind of luck based. When that setting is done in a domain as a policy, that can work, does not have to though. Windows also likes to ignore local update servers (WSUS) and instead go and download the update from the internet…
I am definitively getting lucky so far in my return to windows in that regard. Have nothing forced yet. Unlike the old days where things just happened whether you wanted or not.
I started using computers BEFORE there was a Microsoft.
Then DOS. Which was okay.
Then Windows 2. Cute but , meh.
Thru the mess that I thought was the likes of ME and Vista.
( this is when I said ENOUGH. Took on Linux. But supported the wife’s Windows )
Windows 7. Not bad.
All thru them BSOD and other crap.
Windows 8. Hell no.
Windows 8.1. Better but still a hard no. ( Told the wife that she could, but if she did she was on her own. She stayed with Windows 7. )
Then Windows 10.
< shakes head >
< heavy sigh >
Everyone I knew had problems. Continuously for some of them.
Bought a new Thinkpad with Windows 10. I immediately updated it and …
WELL SHIT! It broke.
Off came Windows. On went Linux and …
Ahhhhhhhh …
Bliss once again.
That is history.
And doesn’t take into account the rest of Microsoft’s bullshit. Of which there is a shit ton.
Do I hate Windows? No, actually I don’t.
Will I ever use it again? Not a snowballs chance in Hell.
The windows versions i liked, in chronological order:
Windows 95
Windows 98 second edition
Windows XP
Windows 7
Windows 10
My desktop is a version of Debian, my servers are mix of linux and windows. And throughout all those years, and after trying several times, i can not use a Mac.
I don’t mind Windows 10, it functions relatively well especially when compared to the instability it exhibited in its first couple of years. My issues with it are the more ideological: it’s barely customisable, it requires third party hardware to not send Microsoft information on you that it is not transparent in the nature of, Microsoft have openly toyed with Windows as a Service funded by advertising and tracking, the cavalier attitude to arbitrarily forcing obsolescence, the arrogance of Windows 8 which is not just about a Start Menu or issues that were eventually fixed, but about pig headed adherence to vision over usability, function, form and their own users.
We’re at the point where Linux can supercede all of the usability that I required of Windows, and doesn’t have any of the above issues that I’m not on board with so why would I elect to use Windows?
I understand and respect that ideology but I really don’t care for my own uses. I only care about how good the software is and that it works on my setup. I care about doing work.
That is where I fall more in the Linus Torvalds camp where he openly states that he will use whatever is best for the task whether its open or closed.
I this morning installed arch Linux with kde plasma on an old laptop of mine. Looks like a great OS that I would have a lot of fun with but if it doesn’t run the software I want to run and do what I want to do than its not much use to me. I will see in time the more I play with it.
If you only care about doing work and out of the box support, why would you jump straight to Arch? It’s like saying you care about MPG and daily shopping runs, and then building a kit car. There’s a continuum of options to choose from here and you picked one of the Linuxes that seems diametrically opposite what you’re after.
I want to be forced to learn about the OS. Irrelevant of whether I use linux day to day I do want to develop a level of competency in it. It wasn’t hard as long as I did what the instructions said to do.
That’s fair. It’s one of the reasons I have opensuse tumbleweed on my laptop and use Kubuntu on my main PC. I prefer tinkering and learning on the secondary machine, and the stability and software support that the Ubuntus offer on my main PC.
I am 33 years old my day job is working hands on in mechanical engineering work. I won’t deny being a gamer but my computer ideology is all about advancing science and engineering. I will be studying computer science while working full time in 2022 so I can go further down the rabbit hole, but for me its all about how advanced can this technology get and what can we do with it. I am greatly looking forward to advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
I use arch. I have the same install from 2 years ago running as a vm server using vfio passthrough. 1 windows 10 vm to stream to living room and bedroom on steam links, and another windows 10 to game on. I like all tech but always trying to make things work to my ideology.
Sometimes I wish I had an ideology. I was diagnosed with Aspergers as an adult. Ideology is not exactly my strongest point as far as what’s best for humanity.
I am 32, I was never diagnosed so I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m just a construction worker. I would love to see how powerful tech can be, say, 500 years down the road. But I could also be seriously afraid of it if it’s used wrongly. But I won’t be alive so oh well.
