Microsoft is cracking down on people upgrading to Windows 11 on unsupported hardware

[shdwdrgn@mander.xyz]

Ugh that's terrible about the experience with the audio driver, and unfortunately I have to agree... there ARE some really elitist linux communities out there. My last bad experience was on Digg, I was trying to ask a question about changing the resolution on the console from the grub config. The admin of the group was so hung up on insisting that I couldn't have a "real" server because I had a monitor connected to it, that he wouldn't even let anyone else try to answer the question (and it's actually a simple setting). He actually deleted the post because he was so disgusted by the idea that my rack of servers has a kvm switch attached.

The communities here on lemmy have been so much better with helping people out. Yeah there is definitely still hardware out there that is impossible (or nearly so) to get to work under linux, but those are usually the "software" devices (like the 56k modems we saw just before broadband become widespread). I've also run across issues trying to get a soft keyboard to pop up on a 2-in-1 Dell laptop (where you can flip the keyboard to the back and use it like a tablet), but I didn't really poke at that for long. On the other hand I've run into similar issues on Windows over the years, trying to reinstall it on a machine and discovering even the manufacturer no longer has the drivers for the hardware they sold, so I don't feel like linux is unique in this problem.

As far as fixing problems goes... Have you ever had Windows break so badly that you had to burn an install disk, boot up to a command prompt, and perform a series of cryptic commands trying to get the system up and running again? I've had to deal with that both from viruses and from Windows breaking itself. Meanwhile linux has such tools built in from the boot menu, and yeah the commands are still cryptic to most people, but at least you don't have to visit pirate bay from another machine to get back online.

[dmtalon@infosec.pub]

And here I am with windows 11 compatible hardware refusing that upgrade. I'm primarily in Linux on my desktop these days, but it dual boots into windows 10.

[lucidnightmare@lemm.ee]

I can safely say that over 20 years of mainly Windows, I have never had any crashes or bugs. Ever.

I was using the same install of Windows since 2017, up to 2021, without a single issue. Why I had to reinstall it was because of a foolish mistake on my part, late late at night, trying to install Linux on a spare SSD I had lying around thanks to a laptop was really struggling to do anything any longer. Again, this was my fault 100% as I didn't understand SDA/SDB/etc. I do now though!

With Linux, there is always something that prevents me from using my computer in a manner that I would consider "normal". I mainly game. I use save editors, WeMod, and love to use mods on games that support it. I like how easy it is to set up my NAS, through Windows, without any extra fussing around in some config file somewhere. I like that I can just do what I'm planning to do with the computer that day, unlike in Linux where sometimes I can't even do something basic like set a jpg as a poster for a downloaded YouTube video on Plex that is all hosted on my NAS. On openSUSE, apparently I can't just do that. There is some arbitrary permissions issue preventing me from doing that, while on Windows, it just works.

Sometimes I wonder what actual programs Linux permanents use on the daily. I truly find it hard to believe it is a lot of applications, because most of the applications I like/need to use, will not work on Linux through Wine/Bottles/Proton. Nor do they have a Linux alternative. It makes me sad, because I truly want to get off that OS, but the wide amount of things I like to do always get snagged up on something in Linux.

All this to say that I absolutely fucking LOVE Linux, what it stands for, and the idea behind it. Just a counter argument, is all.

P.S. I've been an on and off again Linux noob since at least 2010, and even today, I am still trying to make the move. It's just not as simple as the Linux evangelicals like to say it is.

[bruncvik@lemmy.world]

I work in IT, run Mint on my travel laptop, and yet at home use the desktop I got 10 years ago, still with Win 8.1. And I use my current desktop quite extensively. There's still a lot of perfectly fine hardware with outdated OS floating around, and I'd argue that a significant portion of it is used by people experienced enough that they know what they are doing. Much of that will shift towards Linux. Not most of it, I'll grant you that, but more than people expect.

[fizz@lemmy.nz]

This is so cursed i have to ask why? Windows 8.1 is riddled with vulnerabilities and its ugly.

[korhaka@sopuli.xyz]

Most users won't. Users that are happy to fiddle with registry settings might be a little more likely to though

[korhaka@sopuli.xyz]

Linux as my only OS since 2010 here and poked it a little before that. Using Windows is annoying for me at this point

[korhaka@sopuli.xyz]

Tbh I thought they would have already gone subscription by now. When they announced win11 after saying 10 was the last I was very surprised it wasn't either free or subscription based. Now I wonder if they will at some point release win12 with AI tools behind pro and make that subscription only.

I use Linux so I won't be touching it but will see how it goes. Usually end up having to know at least a little about this as people ask me to fix their windows PCs

[misk@sopuli.xyz]

You can keep using Windows 10 safely on your old hardware after „official” support ends, it’s just subscription based: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/extended-security-updates

[bruncvik@lemmy.world]

I used Classic Shell to make it look as much as WinXP Classic as possible, so I'm happy with how it looks. As for vulnerabilities, knock on wood, so far I didn't have any issues (but I do run Bitdefender). I use it for gaming (GOG, newest game being older than my PC), photo editing (Gimp with Google Nik Collection), browsing, and office work. Nothing too demanding. But to be honest, I would have switched to Mint a long time ago if I found a Linux alternative for Smart Switch (my phone backup utility) and Garmin Connect for my watch. Those two are the only two pieces of software that keep me with Windows, and at this point I'm actually thinking of a cheap mini PC just for those two as a direct pass-through to my NAS backup.

[korhaka@sopuli.xyz]

Huh, didn't know there was already a subscription option. Perhaps that is the first step

[shady_shiroe@lemmy.world]

The year of the Linux Desktop is coming!!!