Whilst I appreciate you can do this, and some people have programs they need Windows for, I am sick of fighting my OS.
One thing I realised when I switched to desktop Linux was just how quiet it was.
It just sits there until I want to do something. It doesn't try and trick me into changing my default browser, or put adverts in my program launcher, or harvest my data.
Probably better by now to just drop windows. Other ecosystems seem fairly mature by now and running the one off windows application when necessary seems to be getting easier all the time.
Indeed, leaving Windows behind for the odd application is easy.
With the depreciation of my late 2017 Intel iMac 5k incoming, i however wonder how to ditch macOS for Linux and keep the one odd Mac App I kinda depend on - ideas welcome!
If you’re wondering, the App is MoneyMoney and keeps track of all bank accounts automatically, sorts all spendings into categories etc.
There simply seems to be no equivalent, and running Mac Apps on Linux just doesn’t seem to be a thing yet (at least in a half-viable way I know of, and yes, I at least read about Darling).
Again, if anyone does have a pointer (running macOS virtualized? What’s the status there?) would be much appreciated..
Edit: oh and i fully intend to keep using the iMac, its an i7 with 64GB RAM and the 5k display is still so gorgeous to look at.
That's the part that's hiting me the most. Macos and major linux envs are squarely focused on traditional desktop experience, mouse and keyboard, and I sense a "that should be good enough for everybody" patronizing vibe from the designers of the interfaces.
Gnome did a big effort to better support touch, but that's thousand miles away from what win11 supports and I got the sense they didn't actually try to use it day to day with a Z13 with no keyboard attached for instance (dumb anecdote: tried to vim a config, just to realize the stock virtual keyboard has no escape key)
And I get it, the vast majority of the community probably doesn't give a damn about touch or even actively dispises it.
That just leaves people who found actual benefits to the paradigm stuck in dark corner where fighting win11 has a better ROI than fighting a whole community.
That is a very opinionated tool - it doesn't just uninstall some bloat, it disables Windows Updates, Windows Defender, memory compression, automatic BitLocker, core parking, switches to dark mode by default, adjusts the time the OS waits to kill apps, adjusts cursor acceleration, etc. (And it has an open issue of "default settings cause overheating during sleep".)
I've been Linux only for around 15 years personally, but I don't push it on others.
A few weeks ago I told the company our few Windows machines are going to be sunset-ted. No push back (other than a request to have one for the odd thing - but will do that in a VM. Even the devs who have always been on Windows are up for it.
At home my kids use computers for playing and making games. Windows was the path of least resistance. I realized it'll make essentially no difference to them to switch to Linux. And boy do kids adapt quickly.
So thanks MS, sincerely. I've never both worked and lived completely Windows free, but your encouragement to drop Windows has made me realize how painless it is, and I should have done it years ago.
Edit: One guy is on mac. And always will be. No issue there IMHO
What about people who need to use creative tools? There is Blender and Davinci Resolve, which are great. But GIMP is just not a match for Affinity. And what about apps like Ableton?
I wish I could make the full switch, but it's just not possible at the moment.
Tangentially, i find it amusing when people say they would be ok to switch to linux but not mac. It’s a valid preference, of course. The amusing part is how they justify it. Most of the time, it’s not the hardware that scares them away. Nope, it’s the software. Specifically, they believe mac has no CLI, no tools, no way to install your own software without paying apple, no open source stuff, none of that! You would think people working in IT should know about the origins of mac os, but i guess apple did too good of a job marketing their mac os devices to “content creators”.
Why bother? If you run updates, it'll randomly crap on all your custom settings anyway.
You win, MS. I thought I could keep a Windows box around for the occasional game and as an emergency backup for when I need random peripherals to "just work". I give up. The current Windows box (which I barely use anyway) is my last one.
Microsoft will just cotton onto the workarounds, block them, and force the crudware back in in an update.
The only way to win this game is not to play. Use a different OS. It will hit Microsoft where it hurts.
Although that may hasten Linux's demise, since it is only by Microsoft's good graces that Linux is allowed to run on PCs in the first place. Linux is Zion (The Matrix)—not a true resistance, but controlled opposition that reinfirces dominance. Once it gets too big, the Architect can wipe it and start again.
It will be hilarious if the thing that finally brings us "the year of Linux on the desktop" is not some killer new advance in Linux UX, but just the implosion of the Windows UX.
Everything is moved to Linux, but I still need Windows for the occasional proprietary Office document and tax software, which is available for Mac. I expect Windows 10 malware to be horrific so security risk is unacceptable and I despise Windows 11. I guess I’m buying a MacBook Air.
Speaking of cleaning up, as evidenced in the url this is just an article repurposed multiple times earlier this year and a year earlier than that. Thanks Ars.
Windows was tolerable up until they introduced their extremely intrusive service that will monitor if the user has disabled Windows updates and then undo the user's settings quietly and without notification, again allowing the updates to occur.
This single feature is almost certain to kill off the use of Windows for any important use cases, like kiosk-type softwares in non-trivial environments. It's impossible to control software updates deterministically.
Nice guide. One small practical tip I rarely see mentioned: if the setup forces a Microsoft account, just create a fresh throwaway account during install. In my experience it only asked for a name and password, no phone or extra data. Once Windows finishes installing you can immediately disconnect that account and leave it unused, or delete it later if you prefer. No command-line tricks needed, just a quick burner account and you’re done.
Plus: I also recommend running O&O ShutUp10++ (ShutUpWin11) for quick privacy hardening. It’s portable and includes a good default preset that makes Windows less intrusive. From the same developer, O&O AppBuster lets you remove bundled apps that can’t normally be uninstalled. Both are one-time portable tools, and while Windows updates may re-enable some settings or reinstall apps, it’s still a solid baseline to start from.
Or of course, ditch Windows for Ubuntu, Mint, Zorin or other solid distro, but you can't always do that for friends and family without causing issues for them.
In case you want to use Windows, hopefully ReactOS can be improved (one thing would be to make it possible to install; I have been told that it is too difficult to install), so that you can use ReactOS instead of Windows. In case you do not want to use Windows, then hopefully Linux or BSD will do. (There are also other operating systems that people make up, but they are less common; nevertheless some people might like it too.)
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 46.3 ms ] threadOne thing I realised when I switched to desktop Linux was just how quiet it was.
It just sits there until I want to do something. It doesn't try and trick me into changing my default browser, or put adverts in my program launcher, or harvest my data.
It just runs my programs when I ask it to.
With the depreciation of my late 2017 Intel iMac 5k incoming, i however wonder how to ditch macOS for Linux and keep the one odd Mac App I kinda depend on - ideas welcome!
If you’re wondering, the App is MoneyMoney and keeps track of all bank accounts automatically, sorts all spendings into categories etc.
There simply seems to be no equivalent, and running Mac Apps on Linux just doesn’t seem to be a thing yet (at least in a half-viable way I know of, and yes, I at least read about Darling).
Again, if anyone does have a pointer (running macOS virtualized? What’s the status there?) would be much appreciated..
Edit: oh and i fully intend to keep using the iMac, its an i7 with 64GB RAM and the 5k display is still so gorgeous to look at.
That's the part that's hiting me the most. Macos and major linux envs are squarely focused on traditional desktop experience, mouse and keyboard, and I sense a "that should be good enough for everybody" patronizing vibe from the designers of the interfaces.
Gnome did a big effort to better support touch, but that's thousand miles away from what win11 supports and I got the sense they didn't actually try to use it day to day with a Z13 with no keyboard attached for instance (dumb anecdote: tried to vim a config, just to realize the stock virtual keyboard has no escape key)
And I get it, the vast majority of the community probably doesn't give a damn about touch or even actively dispises it.
That just leaves people who found actual benefits to the paradigm stuck in dark corner where fighting win11 has a better ROI than fighting a whole community.
I was skeptical at first but after having a phone call with her today and telling me it just works. That made me happy
[0] https://www.revi.cc/
A few weeks ago I told the company our few Windows machines are going to be sunset-ted. No push back (other than a request to have one for the odd thing - but will do that in a VM. Even the devs who have always been on Windows are up for it.
At home my kids use computers for playing and making games. Windows was the path of least resistance. I realized it'll make essentially no difference to them to switch to Linux. And boy do kids adapt quickly.
So thanks MS, sincerely. I've never both worked and lived completely Windows free, but your encouragement to drop Windows has made me realize how painless it is, and I should have done it years ago.
Edit: One guy is on mac. And always will be. No issue there IMHO
I wish I could make the full switch, but it's just not possible at the moment.
You win, MS. I thought I could keep a Windows box around for the occasional game and as an emergency backup for when I need random peripherals to "just work". I give up. The current Windows box (which I barely use anyway) is my last one.
The only way to win this game is not to play. Use a different OS. It will hit Microsoft where it hurts.
Although that may hasten Linux's demise, since it is only by Microsoft's good graces that Linux is allowed to run on PCs in the first place. Linux is Zion (The Matrix)—not a true resistance, but controlled opposition that reinfirces dominance. Once it gets too big, the Architect can wipe it and start again.
Didn't think it would end up being the perfect time to stop taking feature updates and use security updates alone
This single feature is almost certain to kill off the use of Windows for any important use cases, like kiosk-type softwares in non-trivial environments. It's impossible to control software updates deterministically.
Plus: I also recommend running O&O ShutUp10++ (ShutUpWin11) for quick privacy hardening. It’s portable and includes a good default preset that makes Windows less intrusive. From the same developer, O&O AppBuster lets you remove bundled apps that can’t normally be uninstalled. Both are one-time portable tools, and while Windows updates may re-enable some settings or reinstall apps, it’s still a solid baseline to start from.
Or of course, ditch Windows for Ubuntu, Mint, Zorin or other solid distro, but you can't always do that for friends and family without causing issues for them.