Like, I'd understand a free version of Windows that has the ads and bloat, but the idea that people are paying $100 for this disrespect is insane.
It isn't your computer, user license clearly states you're renting the software. You always have been, it's just now they can enforce that agreement more readily. Microsoft is making a lot of bad decisions at the moment, but the majority of consumers really don't care - adverts and surveillance are what they grew up with.
You can switch to Linux, but as much as I love it (it's my daily driver for work and for travel gaming, oh and the community is absolutely amazing), it's not 1-1. You will have to jump through hoops sometimes to get things to run (but damn me there are amazing people out there who can and do help). Then again, you own it because it is free, and it will run most things with the right tweaks.
I can't speak for MACs (too poor to use one, my devices tend to be upgradable or VERY long life), but I hear they're a better experience in terms of less bloat/adverts. Again though, you are renting with Apple, and are largely trapped in their ecosystem, and they have a 'reputation' for lack of repairability....
It isn’t your computer, user license clearly states you’re renting the software
It IS your computer, it's just not your software.
When I switched to Linux (year 2011), jumping through hoops reduced significantly, because:
running games on builtin Intel cards etc, that is, kinda second-class citizen hardware, was anyways PITA ;
it made my stuff run terribly faster ;
those hoops are not too different in complexity from installing mods for games under Windows ;
for trying to learn programming Linux is much less problematic (have ADHD, so didn't learn much back then, but) ;
the main issue of uninstalling McAffee went away for free ;
I was at school, so didn't have any problems with office suites' incompatibilities and such ;
and also Linux in 2011 was in general easier, don't believe RedHat fanboys and such, it was very nice before PulseAudio, systemd and widespread adoption of GTK3, say, to change colors you just needed a 20-line .gtkrc-2.0 and .Xresources, and your WM's config file, it's 20 minutes from fresh install to feel normal ;
the community was friendlier, somehow back then RTFM was considered acceptable, but people rarely used it, now everybody behaves as if RTFM was very bad, but also too many people use it, sometimes to avoid admitting that they are wrong and a certain thing is absent in TFM.
I've been a macOS user for over a decade and I am never going back to Windows. That being said, Apple does have iCloud (their version of OneDrive) which is tightly integrated into the OS and they're not shy about asking you to pay for more storage. They also want you to log in with an Apple ID when you first start your computer and I don't know how easy it is to use a local account.
It's not the same as Windows in terms of aggressive ads and upsells, but Apple aren't innocent in wanting more of your money. If you want true freedom you have to pay with your time and energy and run Linux.
Ask your doctor if Linux is right for you
He prescribed me a medication but when I went to get it from the pharmacy they just gave me a bunch of precursor chemicals which are just toxic if not combined in the right way. When I asked for help the pharmacist just said "RTFM"
Also, what is a comorbidity?
I'm struggling to transition still, honestly... Windows visualised as a street gives me access to all the shops and window browsing I need, everyone wants to be there and get my attention, and despite the masses of intrusive advertising and shady people around every corner watching me, I don't have to actively navigate the street itself very much. It's a dystopian street of neon distractions and side hustles but you can mostly shut it out and walk.
Linux as a street is a lot barer, the street is cleaner and less intrusive, I'm not being watched from the alleyways... but there are knee high walls every few meters, there are open manhole covers here and there, and I have to actively persuade some shops to let me in or even open.
I don't walk down a paved street for the joy of navigating an assault course, I walk down it to get places with the least amount of friction possible and I just can't seem to get that from Linux yet. Then again Windows would like to start stopping me every few meters and asking intrusive questions or hocking me tat, so my move is inevitable.
Using windows will do that.
Linux never looked so hot.
In Linux I wanted a window to open in a specific place on boot. Fairly simple bash script.
In Windows FUCK YOU.
With llm's you can get a lot of bad info but for Linux commands, basic tutorials and scripting Linux is WAY easier to learn nowadays.
Edit didn't mean to imply Linux is easier than Windows to learn in general.
Edit didn’t mean to imply Linux is easier than Windows to learn in general.
It is though. People just neglect that in today's world, no one "learns" Windows from scratch.
Learning to do anything from scratch is easier on most Linux distros than on Windows. The tools are better and the documentation is light years ahead. Windows is a steaming pile of horseshit in comparison. But once you've made yourself a cozy nest in the middle of said pile, getting to the comfy whirlpool hot tub that is linux requires you to scale over the walls of horseshit surrounding your nest. And that is what makes people claim "but Linux hard, muh duh!"
Would you mind sharing that script? That sounds incredibly useful lol. I'm new-ish to linux as my daily driver and love customizing it!
That makes the OP eligible for Windows-refugee status tbh.
Thanks in party to the spirit in Lemmy (thanks guys and gals) and getting pissed off at the ever more enshittification, I really went full-on on taking back control, and I don't mean just changing my home PC (mainly used for Gaming) from Windows to Linux, but also replacing the TV Box that's bundled with my ISP subscription (and will be changing ISP when the current contract is over) with my own Mini-PC with Lubunto and Kodi (which is also my Torrenting host with an always-on VPN and my home's NAS) replacing the original Samsung Android (which had been bloated due to updates to the point of filling up all memory) of my aging tablet, with LineageOS and even doing the same on my brand new Smartphone.
Granted, I've always had the spirit of avoiding "smarts" in stuff that doesn't need it - like TVs - but now I went and as much as possible took back control on even the stuff that does need "smarts".
So far I'm quite happy with it all: I've maintained (improved, even, such as my Tablet now having more available memory) my level of Tech access whilst cutting of the ways in which companies exploited my time and patience for advertising money - I definitely feel I'm better now than before: a lot of things became more convenient and less restricted than they were before.
Things are becoming really bad out there when it comes to treating customers as cattle to be milked and I reckon that the only future were Tech is actually a pleasure to use for users is for those people who take control back from the corps on all of their devices.
Let's be honest, very few people who talk about how much they hate Microsoft will even consider alternatives
Oops
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
