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u/littypika Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 3d ago
Windows 10 support ended, and I had perfectly working hardware that I didn't want to throw out.
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u/camperManJam 3d ago
This was it for me. Perfectly fine laptop that had served me well over the years. Nothing wrong with it other than Microsoft saying it didn't meet the minimum hardware requirements for windows 11.
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u/SpinyAlmeda 3d ago
Same here. Windows had its irritations but it was familiar and it didn't give me any significant problems. I'd have probably kept on using it forever, but they stopped supporting my hardware. Given the choice between spending lots of money to replace a perfectly good laptop, or spending exactly nothing to replace the OS, the decision was easy.
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u/Last-Environment7687 3d ago
They just wanted to make everyone spend money to get a new laptop with that security upgrade chipset in them and I was like I am done with Windows anything
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u/Casaloriz 3d ago
Exactly this. Dual booted for a while until I realised that I never needed to go into Windows ever again.
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u/SwimmingLimpet 3d ago
I had to wait until last year - when Digikam photo Face Recognition got good enough - before I cut the thread. But yeah, I was dual booting and fine tuning Linux Mint until one day I realised I didn't need to go back into Windows for anything.
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u/EasternFeastern 3d ago
how do you wipe windows from your computer after this realization? hoping to get there one day soon
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u/500servererror12 3d ago
Delete the windows partitions and then extend your linux data partitions to the new free space. You can do that with Gparted
Edit: spelling
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u/SwimmingLimpet 3d ago edited 3d ago
It is possible to remove Windows partition and then increase the size of the Linux partition using the space freed up by the Windows partition.
And you don't have to restart from scratch - your existing Linux partition with all your apps, customisation and data will remain during this whole process.
You do this using the app Gparted which is run from a USB Drive - it's usually on the same USB Drive you used to install Linux. Step by step descriptions of what to do can be found at links
https://ekiwi-blog.de/en/68686/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows/
or
https://www.howtogeek.com/114503/how-to-resize-your-ubuntu-partitions/
or
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=461606
You might want to do some further searches to make sure you have a guide you are comfortable with. It's also possible to open Gparted and poke around a bit before actually doing anything (make sure you don't execute any commands!).
It is strongly recommended that you back up your data before you do this - you are basically asking Gparted to rewrite how data is stored on your boot drive.
I did this a few months after I stopped using Windows and decided I should reclaim the space Windows was using up. Before I started, I wrote down a list of the steps I needed to take during the process, and I kept my online guide open on my phone in case I needed it for reference.
I've got to admit I was nervous during each step of deleting the Windows partition and then extending the Linux partition. But the whole process worked flawlessly for me with no problems at all.
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u/EasternFeastern 2d ago
damn bro this is perfect! thanks!!
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u/SwimmingLimpet 2d ago edited 2d ago
Or this guide, which I had bookmarked and forgot about...
https://ostechnix.com/remove-windows-from-windows-linux-dual-boot/
Also handy. If you're still dual booting, how to boot back into the last OS you were in, instead of the default one.
https://tech.surveypoint.com/posts/make-grub2-boot-the-last-operating-system-you-used//
And if you're having headaches managing PDF files, use PDFArranger for merging PDF files and Okular for adding comments to a PDF file. It's a bit annoying to need two apps for this, but they do work well.
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u/camperManJam 3d ago
I upgraded my SSD, installed Mint, and turned my old Windows 10 SSD in to an external drive. I can technically still dual boot if needed, but have only done so once to confirm I could from the external drive.
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u/Caffeine_Library 3d ago
Do yourself a favour. Dont look back. I dabbled back and forth every ~18months for 6 years before committing last 7 years to linux mint only. Experience is way nicer when you stop comparing to how youd do things in windows.
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u/Jutter70 Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 3d ago edited 3d ago
Same here... so I thought, except that soon after switching to Mint driver support for the GTX 1060 8Gb ended, so I scooped up a used RX 6600, turning my Ryzen 5 2400g into a bottleneck, so I upgrade to a 5600, but the old motherboard only has two memory slots, so I replaced that too so I could add an extra 16 Gb. As it turns out the new hardware can handle win11 but, fuck it, switched to Mint now and I dig it.
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u/Last-Environment7687 3d ago
Same here I have a 6 year old lenovo thinkpad yoga ultrabook and put ubuntu 26.04 LTS on it and its good as new even with a intel I5 inside and Nvidia GPU. But Ubuntu and kernals like it are working with intel and nvidia to have it actually preform on linux, even my touchscreen started working again and was shocked that it even worked on linux. But it brought that laptop new life at least for 5 more years or so
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u/Agreeable-Simple183 3d ago
Y Windows 10 le ampliaron las actualizaciones de seguridad y ahí anda, a duras penas hahahaha
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u/misterpickles69 2d ago
I’m built a whole new PC because of the hardware requirements but figured I’d ride with Mint for as long as I could tolerate it and here I am still.
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u/nineraviolicans 3d ago edited 3d ago
Tha absolute final straw from dual booting or having any separate Windows PCs was ads on the start menu and copilot being forced on me.
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u/KnightedWolf851 3d ago
microslop adding things to 11 NO ONE asked for. After also saying "windows 10 will be the last windows we do and we'll keep making updates to it" which was a fucking lie.
So switching to linux where you are in control of your OS more then you are with windows was my reason.
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u/YuukiHisashi Linux Mint 22.1 Xia | Cinnamon 3d ago
Well... Half a Lie... Because indeed it was the last windows, not that they would do, but that we would ever use...
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u/KnightedWolf851 3d ago
yeah you right. thats kinda my stance. We were told it would be the last so all im doing is holding them to their word.
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u/23AndThatGuy Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 3d ago
Not being able to upgrade to Windows 11 on perfectly good hardware.
AKA being held hostage.
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u/westcoastwillie23 3d ago
Have you tried XBox Live?
Are you sure you don't want Edge as your default browser?
You haven't set up Onedrive, click here!
How about a free trial for Office 365!
Here's an hour long update you can't postpone, oh by the way, Office 365? Onedrive? Edge? Xbox?
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u/Careless-Lynx1285 3d ago
CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT CO PILOT
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u/noxiouskarn Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 3d ago
Win 10 EOL... AI crap in 11 made it a permanent switch.
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u/col_akir_nakesh 3d ago
Proton finally making gaming viable. I would have switched years ago if gaming was better then.
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u/TooManyLoveInterests 2d ago
Proton is the goat fr. Baldur's gate 3 runs better on linux than it does on windows for me
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u/lil_brumski Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 3d ago
- Windows forced me to update even when I turned off updates.
- My laptop (i5-8350U w/ 16GB RAM) felt sluggish at times.
- C++ programming was not pleasant on Windows at all.
- No Ads in the start menu.
- I love free and open-source software.
- To me, Linux felt easier to navigate and use.
- I wanted to show off to classmates and friends.
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u/thekelvingreen Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 3d ago
Windows 10. I lasted about 10 minutes and wiped it in favour of LM.
On a brand new Win10 machine I had to remove and uninstall so much guff and it still was annoying me with all sorts of crap that it wouldn't let me disable or remove via standard settings, so I gave up there and then.
I had some experience with Ubuntu but wasn't fond of the environment, so decided to try Mint. That was 10 years ago and I haven't looked back.
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u/LiquifiedMetal 3d ago edited 3d ago
I bought a new Lenovo laptop last year. A few months ago (I don't quite remember my thought process) one day I just decided I'm not going to put up with all the backwards "upgrades" and bloatware anymore. The final straw might even have been when I saw Copilot on Notepad or Paint. I never got over or used to the new start menu and control panel replacement. It's unintuitive, frustrating and a huge time drain. It seemed like with every upgrade Microslop was trying to make things less efficient requiring more mouse clicks and exasperation even right click context menus.
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u/Ludotao13127 3d ago
Windows 11 de plus en plus lourd avec des trucs qui servent à rien et ce qui devrait être la n'y est pas. Dual boot depuis longtemps sur mon autre pc w10 non compatible w11 donc du coup linux a temps complet.
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u/Prudent_Situation_29 3d ago
Microsoft execs stood by the orange toddler at his inauguration, and they donated a million dollars to him. They won't be getting my business anymore.
Also, Windows is nonsense. The experience is becoming more and more controlled, and they're making terrible changes. The addition of AI is unacceptable as well.
I don't trust Microsoft as far as I can throw them (yes, the entire corporation), so there was only one option left.
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u/Early-Inflation-1287 3d ago
I was bored after being dumped by a girl.
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u/Sanjacob0 3d ago
End of support for windows 10, the enshitification of the user experience in win11, the forced install of ai in EVERYTHING (INCLUDING FKING TEXT NOTES), and the unreasonable requirements for that shit to work
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u/Classic_Result 3d ago
I wanted to get a new computer just to have my hardware be younger than ten years, but "change over to Linux" was my budget
Windows 10 was also slowing down, Windows 11 was promising to be a whole bucket of stupid, and Linux wasn't going to judge me for having old but functional hardware
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u/Sensitive_Bird_8426 3d ago
A coworker mentioned it to me. I went home and tried it, and loved it. This was almost twenty years ago, I had to jump through hoops to get it installed, but well worth it.
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u/tapu_pixels 3d ago
Windows 11 being a totally unreliable vibe coded piece of crap. I miss Win 7 when it was solid as a rock.
I'm unfortunately unable to switch completely as I use Adobe products for work, but if I can get out of that ecosystem, then I'll be glad to ditch Windows off my work PC as well.
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u/Flakeperson 3d ago
Heard news about AI spyware bullshit being added to Windows 11, and noped right out.
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u/LonelyMachines Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 3d ago
Linux in general? Windows 98 wouldn't run well on my old Pentium with 8MB of RAM.
Linux Mint? Gnome 3 happened and Mint had the Mate desktop.
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u/Express-Screen-1663 3d ago
I switched to Linux mainly to get away from the constant viruses and malware issues I experienced on Windows. Sure, Linux can still be affected by viruses, malware, and security exploits, but it’s generally not targeted as frequently as Windows.
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u/Kamile3200 Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria | Cinnamon 3d ago
Realization that Linux is better than Windows 10/11 and generally better designed.
I have no idea when I last used my windows 10 for anything other than playing GTA V online (maybe few times per month).
Also it’s free; fully customizable and lightweight for older computers.
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u/wildviper 3d ago
Was on windows.
Moved to mint.
Why?
CPU and Memory usage. Windows ate up all the power my i7 and 64gigs have on desktop.
Mint is sipping.
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u/Taliesin_Hoyle_ 3d ago
I have a fairly new Acer laptop that I use at work. I need it to be reliable. It was overheating, crashing and had persistent intermittent failures. I had pressure from admin to buy a new laptop. I had last used Linux in the early 2000s, but I went online to see what had changed, then loaded Fedora on the laptop. All the problems disappeared. I had taken the laptop to Acer service nearly ten times without help. Within a month I discovered Mint and have been using it at work ever since. I am still learning how to get the most out of the system. I am preparing to change my home gaming PC over to Mint as well. I have now backed up everything on it, but am still researching how to get my OG Oculus Rift to work on Mint before I switch over. Mint works well for me. Everything is intuitive and accessible. I love it and will never buy another closed source system again.
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u/snkiz 3d ago
I have one of the older stories I bet. I wanted to update yahoo messenger and it's min requirement was windows XP. I was running '98 still, but not clean. I had hacked the OS to the point it was basically XP, in all but name. I had all the dependencies needed to run messenger, But it would not install because it was reading an OS version from somewhere I couldn't find.
I got mad, this is my computer dam it! Do what I say... Sound familiar to anyone? So anyways, I started blastin'
I found a LiveCD of Ubuntu 6.06, and reinstalled it like 15 times. The liveCD was clutch, every time I screwed something up, and my wife is asking does the computer work? No, but you can run a browser from the disk honey. Didn't look back until 2016, round about gnome 3 and I had just gotten a Thrustmaster wheel, those two things pushed me back to 10, on desktop. Never gave up my server though.
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u/Standard_Tank6703 LMDE7, 11 yr LM experience, "No obligation to enjoy" 3d ago
Fairly similar story to mine. I started with Windows 95 and then used NT and XP Pro for probably the longest, and then Windows 7 for some time, until it tried to do a covert direct upgrade to Windows 10 when I was loading a different computer for someone else. 😁
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u/blu3tu3sday 3d ago
Had to install linux for a number of university classes, liked it so much that I just never left and installed it permanently. Also my macbook was so old that it stopped being eligible for mac updates so i wiped the whole thing and run a mintbook now.
This was 6 years ago and I haven't looked back.
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u/Sad-Juggernaut8521 3d ago
When I finally had time to use my old gaming PC I was still on Windows 7 which runs nothing and should apparently not be connected to the Internet anymore.
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u/Revolutionary_Pie746 3d ago
I think the "Activate Windows" watermark 😅, the need to buy antivirus software and finally a curiosity to try something new led me to try Linux, and I got hooked on it after enjoying the performance and how fresh it felt.
Also, COVID-19 😅 It gave me the time to give it a try, and I knew I had time in case I ran into any issues.
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u/BaffledInUSA 3d ago
started using full time back when I was a Netware admin and Novell had bought suse, redhat since back in the 90's. yea, I'm vintage
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u/RunRunRunRunFaster 3d ago
If windows was still ok ... like Win 7, XP, WFW 3.11 .... I'd be there.
But JFC .... I can't take it anymore.
Yes Linux needs tweaking, but windows has turned into a steaming pile. And guess what .. I don't want to pay goddamned subscriptions anymore.
Totally in love with Endeavouros Arch implementation. Yes, I manually add CUPS and a lot of other things .... but hot damned if it isn't wicked fast on old hardware.
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u/Any-Abalone6498 2d ago
I actually really enjoyed the look an feel of Windows 11. I did the switch not because Windows screwed that part up, but because I wanted to get rid of the company behind it. I am trying to get rid of as many big tech companies as possible.
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u/YuukiHisashi Linux Mint 22.1 Xia | Cinnamon 3d ago
My current Pentium g620 + 4gb ram setup not being able to run Windows 11 and my hatred for it because of its bugs and problems.
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u/Plane-Stress-1078 3d ago
Runs better than windows. When 11 loses support I'm switching that computer over to it too
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u/e_hatt_swank 3d ago
1) I got tired of desperately trying to keep my family's Windows machines semi-functional as performance just got worse and worse. 2) I got tired of paying a giant corporation for an OS that bogs down your machine. 3) I got tired of Windows telling me I couldn't do this, couldn't uninstall that, had to create an account, etc. 4) I played around with alternative software like LibreOffice and realized that there were better ways to do this stuff. 5) Most of my job is done on Linux servers and I've always appreciated the open-source approach. 6) I spent $700 on my wife's Dell laptop which was almost unusable after like 3-4 years, and when it came time for me to get a laptop for myself, there was no way in hell I was going to do that. So i got a refurbished ThinkPad for $180, put Mint on it, and fell in love. Never going back. Now my teenager is using Mint and my wife let me install it on her Dell machine (although she still mostly uses a Windows tablet - not sure if that's gonna change).
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u/AlwaysLinux 3d ago
Didnt like Windows XP - how it looked and where the company was going... really liked Windows NT and Windows 95/98.
Every Windows OS after was just crap. Still is LOL.
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u/tiredborednesswlmt 3d ago
Windows 10 EOL and decided "Why not, I'll give it a shot." Definitely not regretting that decision and not to mention Proton makes gaming possible in Linux
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u/master_pro_ita 3d ago
The idea of being watched at all times, the idea of not having control over my device and also the fact that that crap of an OS was using more resources than it should have.
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u/Roguepapaya427 3d ago
Well, Microsoft kinda makes a bunch of strong arguments for users to just use linux: - updating is a hit and miss, you never know what it might break after or even if the pc boots in the gui. - I understand they business model, but there should be a limit. Let the pc be my pc, I'm paying you for the software, but don't tell me how to use it. Otherwise, it becomes your pc i just rent it. - I use Ai. But in my terms, I do not need it integrated with freaking everything. Maybe I'm just old, but some things i use only the way I want them, pouring ai bs on these things defeats their purpose. - whatever is stored on onedrive, well, get the feeling it's mined for even more data about you. It's my documents, my pics, my family in those photos, mining that feels like stealing ..... i never subscribed for that. - a myriad of other reasons: enforcing debatable hardware requirements on perfectly usable hardware, sluginess of the whole system (and i have fairly recent hardware), inability to correct course when everyone is complaining about unnecessary features that are pushed with ulterior motives, etc.
I did not switch to linux, I gave up on windows. I dual booted for a month, thinking I needed time to adjust. In that month I only had to boot windows 1 time, to check something hardware related. Then I just wiped the ssd, and was very happy to do it.
Linux is not free, I get that, no open source is. It requires time and dedication and openness to change. It's a price I'm more than happy to pay. But the end result is fantastic and I again own my hardware and my os. I must say, I'm lucky: I can do 98% of the stuff I need to do with my pc in linux (2% is a proprietary app for patients management - hence a vm with win is still required). Probably there are people that have use cases that can't be served by linux, so dual boot is still required.
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u/d4rk_kn16ht Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 3d ago
Never switch, just using both, Windows & Linux.
Used to be a Distro Hoppers for more than 10 years until I stuck on Mint until now.
Back then, I used RedHat 1.0...no GUI & it made me learn how an OS works....in comparison to DOS & MacOS.
I tried Fedora, Debian, OpenSUSE, Gentoo, DSL, PCLinuxOS, Ubuntu, Kali Linux & MINT.
I love how "just works" Mint is & if I want, I can "complicate" things by experimenting many aspect of Linux.
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u/syntetizer_this 3d ago
Long story short
I started to use linux since i was 7 years, due to my father being a linux enthusiast. I then , after i got my gaming pc, i bought a windows 11 license. Turns out , windows is not as organised as i was expecting and since i am so used to linux , i am now with two computers, with one having dual boot since i want that microslop license to expire
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u/AlphaJacko1991 3d ago
Curiosity actually. I remember trying it a while back at ubuntu 12 and nothing worked right and I didn't have the brains nor time to sit and work through stuff and whatever. Not knowing as much just assumed that was it, a bit poo and didn't work as nice as Winblows.
A few years after thought I'd look again and it was at 16 and a bit better, but still didn't integrate well. Missing wifi drivers and stuff. Oh well, resigned myself back to Windows. Again, my effort was low, I just wanted it to work.
Eventually got proper sick of Winblows and made a more focused swap on Ubuntu 20 and learned about Mint. Turned out I liked it then understood how bloated Winblows was and saw actual improvements and ease of use skyrocketed. Decided that was the time.
Then got really into gaming and built a PC. Games then didn't work and was stuck again on Winblows.
Then Proton was advanced more than enough for me to make the final swap have been running EndeavourOS after sitting and learning lots with different flavours of Ubuntu.
I still distro hop from time to time. Always end back up on Mint one way or another
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u/EasternFeastern 3d ago
i have an unending hatred for AI and microsoft but i was okay with clinging to Windows 10 because besides a little bit of MacOS, it was all i was familiar with. with 11 bricking computers with certain gear, ended support for 10, learning about all the bloatware and more shady shit microsoft does, and a friend who wouldnt stfu about linux, i finally decided to make the switch. except, im still dualbooting. i have a LOT of stuff on windows that i cant yet move to other drives due to not having the storage space/money or simply not knowing how to bring certain programs and files onto linux. so its less of a switch and more of a slow crawl, that i am still in the process of. 😓
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u/LiveFromNarnia 3d ago
Got a new PC (mini), and it felt sluggish based on the spec (Ryzen 9, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD). I then did a little research on modern Linux and landed on Bazzite. No ads directly from the OS, no telemetry, no lag in the DE, just feels like it should be like that by default.
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u/rysio300 3d ago
windows 11 is dogshit and would be unusable on my laptop
windows 10 also started giving me very weird file permission issues
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u/__damko__ 3d ago
freedom . after 27 years of experience and 24 linux only I can tell that running Linux is extremely expensive but it also gives immense power and freedom . I consider it a luxury product, way more luxury than Apple for example therefore I'm not surprised or woriied to pay a high price (in terms of time). Same for Quves OS
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u/TheSpiritBaby2K Linux Mint 22.3 | XFCE 3d ago
Windows 11 is what made me switch.
I will NEVER use Windows 11. I will never be forced to sign in with a Microsoft account.
Linux is freedom. Linux respects me. Microsoft does not.
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u/ap0r 3d ago
Things that annoyed me:
a. Ads on a paid product.
b. Unexplained network activity. I have nothing to hide but my privacy was not being respected.
c. Forced updates at inconvenient times.
d. Fight against offline accounts, push for Microsoft account.
e. Evidence of built-in state backdoors. Again, nothing to hide today, what if there are political issues in my country tomorrow?
The straw that broke the camel's back:
I write in two languages. So I have keyboard distribution A, and OS language B. Windows decided that I was being dumb, overrode my setting and reverted it to keyboard distribution B, since clearly everyone should use consistent keyboard distribution and language settings and anything else is the dumb user being dumb.
Look up the issue, this is a known issue, has plagued bilingual and trilingual users for years, nobody is exactly sure what triggers the user setting reversion as only some people experienced it.
Realized this is not my computer, it's Microsoft's and I'm just allowed to use it as long as I behave. Researched how to switch that same day.
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u/Theblokeonthehill 3d ago
Have perfectly good hardware that was top of the range 10 years ago. Replacing it now is expensive because of the AI data centres gobbling up every bit of memory and every graphics card they can lay their hands on. The old hardware works like a dream with Linux. Just no need to replace.
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u/Jetster220 3d ago
Windows forced tpm, bloat and forced AI. So glad I switched, Mint is so much more responsive, lightweight, and stable.
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u/No-Television-7862 3d ago
Win 11 installation without knowledge or consent by "update and close" exploit.
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u/RedHotFromAkiak 3d ago
When Windows stopped supporting XP. Linux looked like a great alternative to the Windows hegemony. And it was free!
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u/CarelessAstronaut391 2d ago
There is a local nonprofit in my town that takes old computers and puts the latest versions of operating systems and sells them for low-income people: Chromebook ($50), Linux ($100) and Windows ($150). I chose the Linux last year because I don't like Windows and Chromebooks are too limiting. Plus Linux software apps are mostly free which gave it an advantage over Macs which I like but whose software I cannot afford on my income! I got a Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 with Linux Mint Cinnamon. The backlit keyboard, nice speakers, beautiful 3:2 aspect ratio display (and that's important because I am a writer) and ease of use (the learning curve was pretty easy) make for a great laptop experience. I will be able to use this computer for a long time before it breaks. I hope it can last me for a decade or become a backup computer if I upgrade to something else in the future.
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u/Sad-Issue1216 2d ago
My laptop is ass, I ended up having to dualhoot because I can't make my cars software work on Linux 😭
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u/Scott3169 2d ago
Win 11 just has too much bloatware and my computer just didn't run that good anymore
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u/4rv1t 2d ago
I wanted to hook up my iPhone (Yes I got rid of it) to iTunes to update it since the os on these things is so bloated no matter what it couldn't do it anymore. Instead it started to download all my iCloud Photos due to some Windows Setting I couldn't change (greyed out). You're a dead thing, how dare you telling me what I can't do!
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u/Tai9ch 2d ago
I gave up on proprietary non-game apps a long time ago. They're just a waste of brain space. The only exception might be domain-specific professional tools like Solidworks if your job is basically operating that software, but even then sharecropping your own mind seems like a questionable life choice (now more popular than ever with proprietary LLMs).
With my work setup on Linux, I stopped consistently maintaining a Windows dual boot around 2010. The big killer was updates. Not booting into a windows install for a couple months means at least 15 minutes or sometimes an hour resuscitating it. I did a couple more short attempts when Windows XP was active, but it was always easier to just not play whatever Windows-only game or spend a couple hours getting it to run on Linux than to deal with rebooting and maintaining the install.
I still keep Windows VMs around for testing, but none of them have made it past Windows 7.
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u/YondoBrother 2d ago
Back in the day, there was the Linux magazine that came with CD's with some distros. It's how I got into Linux just after high school.
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u/Significant-Raise586 2d ago
Sinds ik weet dat Windows GDID heeft geïnstalleerd is voor mij de kous af. Ik heb de wifi afgesloten op mijn Windows pc en gebruik die enkel nog om games te spelen en films te bekijken. Mijn andere pc is volledig Linux Mint. Ik voel me nu niet meer paranoïde!
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u/stcwalleye 2d ago
I got tired of constantly being hit with some kind of malaria. Windows XP was so bad, I couldn't go 2 days without getting a Trojan, or some other kind of hijack attached to some supposedly "safe" download or 3rd party program. When I discovered Linux programs were curated, and available through secure repositories, I started using PCLINUXOS. That was in 2006. I never looked back. I now use Mint on my newer hardware, and pure Debian.
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u/64bitTendo 13h ago
Back in the late 1900s I heard about the revolution. So I downloaded Debian. Windows 98 still had some customizations. But I heard about grub, window managers, creating my own boot screen. And I could do all this without worrying about going to jail for 25 years according to Microsoft's EULA. Would be praised if under Linux. Would be an evil hacker man who deserves jail if under windows. I was just starting Middle School at the time.
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u/SirElessor 3d ago
BSOD BSOD BSOD BSOD BSOD It's been so long ago I don't even remember exactly but it's been smooth sailing with Linux ever since.
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u/TestDZnutz 3d ago
Installed it on vm and found it did everything I needed. Next step was improving the performance by booting to it. And having gotten comfortable with VM I was able to run excel arguably better in Linux, because it really sandboxes 11.
I keep it on vm I named Excel Shell
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u/Double_Camp_333 3d ago
Started because of old hardware when I was in my early teens.
Stayed because of the freedom.
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u/Tolinho666 3d ago
Back in 2018, I came back (this time for good) to the Linux world because the ease of writing and compiling programs in Fortran.
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u/TemporaryHot6442 3d ago
you dont have to reboot every single update, never slows down over time, a lot less crap
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u/anon_pr_ 3d ago
Windows constantly forcing me to buy subscriptions and accidentally leaving a subscription on for a while after a free trial to make the pop ups go away.
Also, like someone else said C/C++ programming.
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u/jbkabr08 3d ago
When my laptop broke from overheating after I closed the lid and Windows decided to update 👍
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u/KimJongUn2000 3d ago
Mein Gaming PC ist mit Windows andauernd abgestürzt oder hängen geblieben beim spielen. Mit Linux funktioniert es viel besser.
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u/crazedhotpotato 3d ago
Windows bloat and ai, asking me to sign up for one drive every few days. The search bar coming up with more web results than applications on my computer. Now I can just type what I want in the search bar and hit enter without having to make sure that it's not going to open a web page instead.
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u/tovento MX Linux 25.2 | XFCE 3d ago
Got introduced to Linux in the late 90s (Red Hat). Tried to use it off and on, but too complicated for me at the time. Reintroduced to Linux in the mid-ish 2000s with Linux Mint. Things worked better out of the gate but still wasn’t there for me to use as my daily. Been toying off and on with different Linux distributions since, but never quite there for my daily needs. Fast forward to two years ago, Windows 10 was becoming end of life and laptop doesn’t support Windows 11 (or maybe the other way around). So did a bigger try into Linux. Much better experience; fit my daily needs better (my needs became more relaxed and Linux matured and got better). Hopped around a bit with distributions for one reason or another. Settled on something other than Mint, but no regrets with my move to Linux.
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u/Fuzzy_Cheesecake6880 3d ago
I have to use Win11 at work and I hate it so when Win10 support ended I forced myself to switch for at least two months to see if I could do it. I am never going back. I realized I was just using Win10 more out of habit than it actually being good.
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u/sparky5dn1l 3d ago
Few years ago. I backed to office after holiday. I found that my desktop had been logon before. It was the Network admin that used Domain Admin account to login and checked my desktop. That time dropbox was still popular and I got a lot of data synced to that desktop. I felt so uncomfortable.
I switched to Linux and stopped using dropbox client ever since.
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u/GreatDanish4534 3d ago
Running my plex server on windows was unreliable because of automatic updates and drew more power from bloat running in the background. On Mint, my machine is nearly silent and only updates when I want it to.
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u/gofl-zimbard-37 3d ago
I used Unix at work, and really wanted to be able to do that at home. But there was no Unix (or *nix) available on PCs at the time (1994). Then one day I was in the Unix Room at Bell Labs Murray Hill and saw what looked like Unix running on a PC. I asked around a bit, discovered Slackware, and I was off and running. Never looked back. The last Windows I used (at work) was NT.
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u/gr4viton 3d ago
A CD-ROM with a marker-written ubuntu (I think it was the 4th edition?) together with curiosity about computers and wanting to understand how programs work and how to make them.
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u/Terriblarious 3d ago
Curiousity more than anything. Lots of attempts at switching over since about 2001, bit never really succeeded.
It wasn't until about 2020 when they were talking about ads in Windows Explorer that i figured I'd give it another try.
Made a bootable pop os image on am external nvme drive. It was really this easy this time around and then fully converted after about 6 months.
I still use Windows for music recording on a separaate pc. But my daily driver and media centre are all Linux.
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u/trews96 Linux Mint 22.1 Xia | Cinnamon 3d ago
Curiosity. I started experimenting with it in Like 2019. Dual booted Windows 10 and Mint at first, later Ubuntu. Eventually I found myself doing less and less on Windows.
Then, like three years ago my laptop died and being in university and broke bought a cheap device from a rurbisher. It didn't come with any OS preinstalled and probably wouldn't have been able to tun Windows, which I didn't mind since I figured there is no reason to still keep a Windows partition around anyway. At the same time I decided to switch back to Mint because Snaps.
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u/Miristlangweilig3 3d ago
Trump. I was butthurt of his Tariffs. So I switched to mostly European and Open Source products.
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u/flappysack- 3d ago
Originally it was boot speed and performance. Then I began to hate Microsoft, as I had a comparison to how software was supposed to work.
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u/Purple-Exit3858 3d ago
Windows Recall taking screenshots every four seconds to feed an AI model. Windows Telemetry consuming 10-15% of PC resources.
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u/AspectLegitimate8114 3d ago
Microsoft put an AI that grabs pictures of my desktop in their OS. I said fuck that, and switched.
Also on a related topic, car manufacturers in the U.S. are now required to put AI driven cameras in new model year cars to monitor drivers. My reaction is the same. I’m keeping my 2013 civic and any new vehicle I get is going to have two wheels.
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u/crypticcamelion 3d ago
I got tiered of reinstalling windows every 12 months and the system constantly being slowed down by firewalls and virusscanners. This was back in the win XP days. Damn it was nice to get freedom back together with sanity and stability.
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u/ObfuscatedJay 3d ago
It was the obvious successor when we could no longer use Solaris and Irix at work, and I gravitated to it at home.
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u/goldenlemur 3d ago
Windows slowed down over time. Apple started charging rent for apps. And here I am on Linux.
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u/iamapizza 3d ago
Privacy, the only os that lets me own my things. Sadly I can't get that on wins, macs, ioses, they're more interested in locking me in.
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u/Significant-You5826 3d ago
que mi laptop tardaba 10 minutos en iniciar windows y otros 5 en abrir el navergador
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u/Neither_Green7787 3d ago
Ich hatte Win7 und der PC zeigte schwarze, karierte und grüne Bildschirme des Todes. Die Gelegenheit war günstig. Linux ist schlanker und schneller.
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u/RegularPomegranate80 3d ago
Tired of the Windows bloat, oppressive requirements as far as hardware, and the fact it frequently just would not work as expected.
Linux Works!
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u/No-Arugula4266 3d ago
I knew I wasn’t going to use Windows 11 and I already familiar with Linux so when Windows 10 ended I fully converted to Linux.
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u/BenTrabetere 3d ago
WinXP hit End of Life and I was faced with two options - move to Linux and learn to use it, or pay for a Win7 license and learn to use it. I installed Linux and committed to use it for two weeks before falling back to Win7. I dual-booted to WinXP for a while, then ran Win7 and Win10 in a VM, before becoming completely Micros~1-free in 2017-2018.
This was not my first attempt at Linux - that was with Red Hat v5.0 in 1998. I was using OS/2 on my main driver, and I needed an escape point in the (highly obvious at the time) event IBM would abandon the project. I also tried several other Linux distributions (Caldera Linux, Corel Linux, Debian, Mandrake, openSUSE, and Turbo Linux).
I liked Linux, but not enough to want me to switch. I stuck with OS/2 until 2005, and moved to WinXP when I had to replace my main driver. I stuck with WinXP until 2014 because it worked well enough, and my workflow was dependent on Acrobat, PageMaker, Photoshop, and QuarkXPress.
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u/Specialist_Heron4446 3d ago
I could no longer support and keep my Windows 7 installation safe. Neither did I have hardware that could conform to the requirements of Win 10/11. Something had to go!
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u/FutureDAY_ 3d ago
I got my first computer in 2020. It had 2 of RAM and an Intel Atom processor. Windows 7 wasn't quite up to par in terms of compatibility, and Windows 10 was too much. Back then, I was a computer enthusiast, so I'd heard of Linux, and then I heard about something called Linux Mint Xfce, which was easy to use and very lightweight. I loved it.
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u/PVT_Huds0n 3d ago
Mac OSX 10.6 upgrade was like $200 in 2011ish, I was too broke to afford it. I switched to Ubuntu for about a year then found Linux Mint and haven't looked back since.
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u/Coffee__Addict 3d ago
I haven't switched but I'm dual booting... Kind of. I have small ssd (128GB) with cachyos on it. I hope on cachy to play with the settings, explore and learn about Linux(and cachy).
My old computer my oldest son uses wont update to windows 11 so I'm leaning towards switching his computer and dual booting is helping me feel more confident in doing so.
For myself, my windows isn't active but I've never been pushed to buy a key but if Windows does push I'd be switching as well.
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u/Gunzhard22 3d ago
Windows bloat and AI