Aaand … it’s ads. What a surprise.
Article says (but don’t believe them):
But it’s not all ads. In fact, Microsoft does make useful changes from time to time
There’s no apparent way to disable the Microsoft 365 account manager in the Start menu, and there’s no option to deactivate the constant nagging to upgrade to a paid Microsoft 365 subscription.
Sounds like an ad to me.
It’s a button to manage your Microsoft account that you signed into windows with. It’s not shocking that it has an option to upgrade said account
Edit:
- I don’t use windows, stop assuming things about me
- Everything you don’t like or don’t use isn’t an ad. This is no different than Gmail and Google chrome having Google drive integration.
- Microsoft has been forcing people to use online accounts for windows login, so it’s only natural for the account button to let you manage it as well.
- This isn’t an endorsement or a value judgement.
There’s always some post in here saying for people to use Linux. I find an admonishment to be pretty hollow, so I’ll share my recent experience installing a Linux distribution rather than simply saying it’s something people should do.
I installed one of the many Debian variants. Getting the installation media is certainly going to be a challenge for casual users. Otherwise, it was easy. It walked through the steps. It was different from installing windows, but I felt it was no more difficult. I am well versed in this stuff, but I feel like nothing in the installation process would be a problem for a casual computer user.
It offered several desktops programs at the login screen. This could likely throw off a lot of people. However, if you just logged in and ignored that you might never even know there were different options. The default was KDE. Everything worked. Nothing needed to be tweaked. This is in starck contrast to Windows, where once you get past installation, you need to get rid of a ton of crap it throws at you. The Windows 10 start menu is an unbelievable collection of weird boxes and shit and the task bar is similarly full of junk. The KDE start menu is just a menu. The task bar has your tasks. There’s nothing to do.
I did try Cinnamon too. I prefer the simplicity. I don’t think casual users are going to care.
Overall, I think for casual users, it’s actually easier to set up and use than Windows. Getting installation media prepared is not something most people are going to readily do, but I think it’s the same with Windows. They have the advantage there of having manufacturors install it. Otherwise, whatever issues there have been installing Linux distributions in the past aren’t there now. Conversely, installing and especially the configuration after installation is much harder on Windows than it used to be. If you’re slightly tech savvy, give Linux a try.
I installed mint recently and I kept the windows partition because I thought I would need to dual boot a lot but I haven’t launched windows in the past couple of months
I have a laser HP all-in-onr that I thought I’d have issues with but it worked automatically with the printing and scanner app, not even in windows it works so strangely
My only issue right now were self inflicting, because I created a shared NTFS partition to keep media a torrents and it sometimes give privilege errors after a bit update (it wouldn’t happen if it was ext3 from what I’ve been reading)
My wife needs to use the computer occasionally and I think she had more issues with windows 11 than mint, the only “issue” was that she was trying to find Microsoft word instead of openoffice
What did you do with your file system? I haven’t tried to dual boot Linux yet but I think bothering with partitioning and file systems is keeping me from taking the plunge.
(BTW it reminds me of why I didn’t go to law school, I hated filling out the paperwork for even doing the LSAT and realized the whole job is that. Dealing with partitioning and file systems and shit seems miserable and it’s just the start.)
If you have the port and money for it, I’d recommend a separate drive for the second OS. Windows is kinda notorious for stomping over GRUB if you rely on partitions for your dual boot.
If you’re worried about installing to the wrong drive on accident, you can always physically disconnect the existing drive until install is complete, then plug it back in and set the boot order in the mobo config.
I could do that, but how does Linux see/interact with my Windows stuff? Am I double-installing games to run-as-Windows with something like Proton? (like a Linux install and a Windows install on the old drive?)
As other people have said, you have to be carful with dual booting on the same drive with Windows. It doesn’t play nice with others. To add on though, Linux can access your NTFS (or whatever) systems fine*. You can leave them as they are and access the same data on both systems, though Windows is not capable of reading most other filesystems.
*May require installing a package, but every distro I’ve tried could out of the box.
I had an old computer and Linux is all that I installed. Not everyone is going to have an extra computer to do that with. However, this computer is more than 10 years old. It was quite good at the time, but it’s junk compared to modern ones. Yet, it is more responsive than my very nice modern laptop that’s running Windows 10. It’s not going to beat a new computer in a race to solve a computational model, but for streaming, browsing, and day-to-day stuff, the lack of bloat means things open quickly and UI elements respond immediately. There is probably a fair number of people with computers they think are useless that would actually work very well with Linux.
I see. I have some old computers kicking around, I actually just deployed a windows media server, but that could easily be a Linux server and probably should be. That system I could easily boot only Linux so that appeals.
The issue with my main PC is that it has multiple terabytes of windows -related stuff. I get how I could read the old drives but there are terabytes of games that I’d have to reinstall to do that on that computer (compatibility issues aside) it sounds like
I’m not convinced most somewhat tech savvy people are put off by the install of linux. As you describe it’s dead easy in most cases. I think most of their push back is getting their specific programs or peripherals to run. In their mind, Windows “just works” when they want to play a new game, use a specific business software that is required by their employer, or plug in a crafting peripheral like a cricut. That said, linux is an awesome alternative for regular folks that mostly use web based stuff in their daily lives.
Any recommendations on a window manager in Linux that behaves the same as FancyZones in Windows?
It’s like…the one thing (other than visual studio and teams) that I can’t seem to find a solid alternative for. I’ve tried a number of things I found online but they aren’t the same, they’re more like tiling systems.
KDE has very basic FancyZone inspired functionality that is very sub par (doesn’t let you have different layouts on different virtual desktops for example). There’s a KDE addon (I think) called Polonium that is a bit more capable I think but I haven’t tried it. Other than that there’s the desktop environment COSMIC that’s in the works that’s supposed to be a very tile/zone friendly regular desktop environment.
Perhaps more complex then what you’re hoping for.
But consider taking a look at hyprland. I’ve been very impressed with how modular and smooth this window manager is
One thing you’ll have to learn to deal with is that it isn’t Windows. Some things will work differently, or the specific tool or functionality you’re used to might not exist. There are probably different solutions to the same problem that might do the job, but may be different than what you had before. It’s the same with everything. There’s tradeoffs, and you have to come to terms with and get used to the differences. You can fight it and try to force it to be what you are used to, or you can get used to what it is.
This isn’t to say to give up on your search. I don’t know what FancyZones is or what it does. I’m just saying be open to learning a new way to do something. I’ve seen a lot of people struggle trying to make their system into a Windows clone, and it ends up being more trouble than just coming to terms with it being different.
I get that, FancyZones let’s you use keyboard shortcuts to move windows into custom configured zones. Typically I split my screen into a 2 up on the left, single in the middle, and 2 up on the right and I can move apps into those zones with just the arrow keys.
The annoying part of any current Linux solution for me is I have to use the mouse and resize a window and move it into what would normally be a zone. I’d prefer to be able to never use a mouse and be able to move a window with shortcut keys into a predefined zone and size.
i just set up virtualbox so i could install windows on it and use some simulation programs i need for school projects. what an unbelievable fight it was. first i can’t download the .iso file because their website blocks me. fortunately i found an old w10 iso file on my external. got pissed when i realized i need to use edge to download firefox. takes like 2 hours to get everything adjusted the way i like and all crap out of my way. get MAS, damn thing killed windows boot somehow. start all over again. same thing again, only then i realized it was the activation that kills it. guess i have to use light mode. oh and setting up onedrive and office apps is a whole story for another day.
edit: it wasn’t MAS, it was just failed windows updates. booted up with low resolution enabled from safemode settings in repair menu…
You’re right to point out the difficulty of preparing installation media.
Also, for the average person, friction will probably happen during installation - possibly having to circumvent safe boot to install and run a new OS (knowing how to enter the bios, feeling comfortable playing around in the bios, knowing how to even disable safe boot once you’re there, not exposing your device to security vulnerabilities by having safe boot disabled), the need for an existing understanding of how partitions work and how the partitions are structured on your specific device in order to test the waters with a dual boot setup on a drive that has data/functionality you want to preserve. Needing to know the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of swap, /home, and /root partitions. These points all came up on a recent installation, and I’m sure they would scare some people off.
Installation will be easy if you have the time, motivation, existing knowledge and/or bandwidth for a learning curve. But not everybody has that.
And that’s just installation, to say nothing of the actual use of the desktop environment, which is not as intuitive as its often claimed to be.
wait what?? downloading rufus and putting the installation media on it is too much for casual users (by this i mean fresh-off-of-windows)???
It depends on who you’re referring to as a casual user. My mother for example would certainly have a hard time with it, then figuring out the key to bring up the boot menu (and being faced with a scary dialog that they’ve never seen), then selecting the right device, then likely being faced with GRUB which would also look scary to her, and by then she’d be overwhelmed before even getting to the install portion.
Yeah it is. Most computers come with windows pre-installed so most people never do this kind of thing.
And there’s also things people need to be careful of. Like wiping all out all of their cherished photos by formatting the entire drive. Considering that casual users probably shouldn’t attempt to do this. Not trying to gatekeep or anything, but there is potential for data loss for a user that doesn’t back up their data properly, which is common for casual users.
Not to mention changing BIOS settings to allow booting from external media. I’ve yet to see 2 machines that were the same in that regard, so good luck writing instructions that a casual user could follow.
I really enjoy there being a natural filter through this process. I’d rather people who lack the willpower or cognitive capacity to complete an install be kept within the confines of Windows.
Elitism and gatekeeping from a linux user? Nah, never, I must have misread
I no longer view gatekeeping necessarily as a bad thing. In fact, it can be sometimes be necessary to preserve communities.
I’ve also learned over the years that the only people who succeed in migrating to linux are those who both considerably desire to do so while also having a level of technical competency somewhere north of average. Anyone else is just being strung along by a “helpful” linux evangelist in their family or friends group, and will ultimately drop the solution at the first sign of trouble and frustration.
Why do these articles never have a screenshot of the change. So annoying.
I’m running Windows 10 LTSC with a custom start menu (StartIsBack). So far I have avoided all of Microsoft’s nonsense.
As long as I’m not ready to switch to Linux 100%, this is probably the best possible solution.
Well… at least at home you can run Linux. That’s a start. And otherwise try to switch or create your own business. It seems the latter is the only option to fully get rid of Windows, since soon companies will move to Windows 11 with Windows Recall and other AI bs. No thanks, I’m out.
At my job I run what my employer wants me to run. I get paid for it, they get to decide the OS.
But at home I’ve been running Linux since 2006.
So far I’ve managed to avoid most this kind of crap with minor tweaking, but with end of life coming soon I’ve been meaning to make the switch for ages, but there are always more urgent priorities… If you don’t mind me asking, and if you know - is it still possible to switch from win10 to win10 LTSC, and if so, what does it entail (do I need a fresh install, or can I just upgrade?)?
I’m pretty sure it’ll be a fresh install, even if you do it from within your existing install. It’ll do a parallel install.
Better, fair, but is it possible to upgrade an existing install? 😬
I have a lot going on right now and convenience is priority over ideal if I’m honest…
I have been using custom start menus since the whole win8 full screen disaster. Every time I see the default win 10 or Win 11 menu I cringe. So much crap in the way.
Process optimization reaches a point of diminishing returns. Then if tweaked further it degrades the performance. Microsoft reached the close to the optimal OS design at Win7. It’s all been downhill since then.
The mobile OS systems are reaching the same point. Optimization has occured and most of the “new” additions degrade the user experience.
Outside of junk pre-installed, isn’t it also just a longer extended windows update? Meaning you’d eventually get the updates regardless?
Yeah, I really should switch to Mint or something
Mint with Cinnamon is great if you like the start menu style of Windows 7/10. Generally speaking Linux distros are mostly the same under the hood.
I’m attempting to normalize calling it CinnaMint. I get a few up votes Everytime I mention it, but I haven’t seen anyone else use it yet.
There are a ton of options. Plenty of people (me included) wouldn’t recommend Mint, but some will. Everyone has their preferences and tolerance for certain things. The most important step is to just switch. You can always move distros.
Personally, for a new user, I’d say Fedora with KDE is a good choice. I use the gaming version of Garuda, which just comes with some extra stuff for gaming you’ll probably need anyway, which you can do manually or just grab this. Regardless, KDE is probably what you want coming from Windows. It behaves similarly to Windows, but is very customizable. Other DEs have other benefits though, so there will always be other recommendations.
I’m curious why you wouldn’t recommend mint. Is it due to some kind of problem, or is it just a personal taste thing?
I use mint daily so if there are potential issues I just want to know!
Yeah, I just don’t like it. I don’t feel strongly, just not what I’d recommend.
