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So what did it take for you to go to Linux?

I'm asking what big motivational factors contributed to you into going Linux full-time. I don't count minor inconveniences like 'oh, stutter lag in a game on windows' because that really could be anything in any system. I'm talking, something Windows or Microsoft has done that was so big, that made you go "fuck this, I will go Linux" and so you did.

For me, I have a mountain of reasons by this point to go to Linux. It's just piling. Recently, Windows freaked out because I changed audio devices from my USB headset from the on-board sound. It freaked out so bad, it forced me to restart because I wasn't getting sound in my headset. I did the switch because I was streaming a movie with a friend over Discord through Screen Share and I had to switch to on-board audio for that to work.

I switched back and Windows threw a fit over it. It also throws a fit when I try right-clicking in the Windows Explorer panel on the left where all the devices and folders are listed for reasons I don't even know to this day but it's been a thing for a while now.

Anytime Windows throws a toddler-tantrum fit over the tiniest things, it just makes me think of going to Linux sometimes. But it's not enough.

Windows is just thankful that currently, the only thing truly holding me back from converting is compatibility. I'm not talking with games, I'm not talking with some programs that are already supported between Windows and Linux. I'm just concerned about running everything I run on Windows and for it to run fully on a Linux distro, preferably Ubuntu.

Also I'd like to ask - what WILL it take for you to go to Linux full-time?

Diplomjodler3 ,

Enshittification. I never had any technical reasons for leaving Windows. It has its share of annoyances but so does every other OS. What really got to me was the constant pushing of their own products over others. And I don’t even want to think about switching to 11. Without the enshittification I would still be using Windows, just because of inertia.

doctortofu ,
@doctortofu@reddthat.com avatar

Same here. I was fine with W10, but the recent W11 shenanigans were the last straw, and I decided to give Linux Mint a try. Couldn’t be happier - everything is so much more snappy now. And since I game on consoles only and my crappy PC was never a gaming machine to begin with, I have zero issues - wish I switched sooner!

stardustsystem ,
@stardustsystem@lemmy.world avatar

Windows 7 was a competent OS with low system requirements, a stable kernel, a simple feature set that was well-known and useful, an interface that was comprehensible and clearly conveyed to the user, and it didn’t require extra investment or online accounts, and compatibility options for the really old stuff. It remains the Best version of Windows in my eyes.

8 took away the comprehenisble UI, low spec options, and lack of online service requirements, then 10 further complicated the UI and filled the OS with ads, the then 11 bloated the feature set, added even more ads, borked compatibility, and made the online accounts a requirement unless you pay extra and/or know what you’re doing.

Textbook Enshittification

Diplomjodler3 ,

Agreed. XP was pretty decent too, though.

Lemvi ,

It’s not like I hate other operating systems, I just really like the idea of FOSS and try to use it whenever possible.

Balinares ,

Windows 98 really sucked and running Unix at home became an option.

mintyogi ,

Solid gaming support

popekingjoe ,
@popekingjoe@lemmy.world avatar

The final straw for me was Microsoft reinstalling software I had removed with updates, as well as installing crapware like Candy Crush, all in the background and without permission or notifying me. I left Windows back in August 2021 for Arch.

Until recently I had kept a Windows VM with a GPU passthrough set up until I decided I was done with Destiny 2. Now the only remnant of Windows in my life is a simple desktop in my living room that has a game I can only play on Windows, which is currently being ported to PS5. Once that port is released, it’ll be converted to a server running some atomic distro and become a fully dedicated server, and Windows will be fully removed from my life, ignoring PCs outside of my control like embedded systems.

joel_feila ,
@joel_feila@lemmy.world avatar

I didn’t want to have spyware for an os.

countrypunk ,

Windows kept shoving their stupid Edge browser down my throat. Tried every way to remove it and it kept popping back up like malware. Kept annoying me with “upgrade to Windows 11 popups.” I’ve used windows 11 on other people’s laptops and was flabbergasted that there were ads on paid software. In addition to that I heard 10 will stop getting security updates next year so I bit the bullet and switched to mint full time. It’s worked well for me so far.

Lettuceeatlettuce ,
@Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml avatar

Been 100% Linux on all my personal devices for about 4 years.

I just got tired of being treated like I was either an idiot or a criminal by Microsoft. Plus the way they kept forcing their bloatware and trash ads on the OS that I already paid for!

I decided I didn’t care what I had to give up, it was worth it to be rid of Microsoft’s clutches forever. Switched to Linux and I’ve never looked back.

Turns out, I actually didn’t have to sacrifice much at all, and the few things I don’t have anymore are nothing compared to the benefits of using Linux and FOSS software.

Everything works better for me too, more stable, updates are rarer and wayyyyy faster when I push them. No more fighting with AMD driver hell in Windows, no more weird lockups or crashes, a million times more customization options, and zero bloat or spyware installed by default on my system.

blitzed ,
@blitzed@noauthority.social avatar

@Lettuceeatlettuce @Frozyre

Yes, so many years squandered babysitting Windows PC's sheesh /0\ and dicking around with dopey serial numbers, gauntlet of security patches & multiple reboots LOL

I am exclusively Linux-based for Eighteen Years now wahooOOOoooo \0/

bufordk ,
@bufordk@noauthority.social avatar

@Lettuceeatlettuce
Actually you GAINED on many levels.
@Frozyre @billybon3s

bsergay ,

The pursuit of Freedom led me to Linux.

umbrella ,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

it rebooted itself while i left it overnight doing an important render.

thats after i fucked with it for hours to turn automatic updates OFF.

i would probably still be on windows 10 if it werent for microsoft going out of their way to make it shitty.

ExtremeDullard ,
@ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

When I was a CS student in the early-mid 90s, my college had Unix only and we had to fight to get a free terminal to complete our assignments.I had a good 486DX with Windows 3.11 and I had heard of Minix, so I could do my assignments in the comfort (?) of my dorm room.

I went to my local technical library to see if they had a box (that sort of places used to carry boxed OSes and specialized software back then). They didn’t, but they had this CD with Slackware written on it and the store owner said it was better. So I bought it on a whim.

After many hours and a lot of recompiling the kernel and libraries right and left, the thing finally booted and ran surprisingly stable. My roommate saw it and immediately installed it on his machine. The next days we went buy a couple of 10base2 NICs, some coax and a pair of terminator, and before you know it, we had NFS going.

It was our own Unix network and it was way better than college’s :) I never looked back.

I did work with DRDOS as a kernel dev a few years later, which involved reverse-engineering bits of MSDOS 7 (yes, that’s the version of MSDOS Windows 95 ran on top of). That’s as close to working professionally with MS stuff as I ever got. Other than than, I’m a pure product of the Linux generation baby!

chronicledmonocle ,

When Microsoft started enforcing online accounts to use my computer. It was then that I fully jumped ship. I was using Linux way before that for my media server, HTPC, etc., but it was that and the Steam Deck that made me finally fully jump.

RmDebArc_5 ,
@RmDebArc_5@sh.itjust.works avatar

Shit just not working with no way to fix it. I had aux speakers. They didn’t work on windows. Worked on Linux out of the box. Had a micro sd card. Was detected by Windows but couldn’t mount. Try to format. Windows said your card seams to be broken. Worked on Linux out of the box. The main problem wasn’t stuff breaking, it happens on Linux too, but stuff just breaking for no apparent reason and there being no way to fix it made me use Linux full time

Cowbee ,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

Becoming a Communist.

That, and increased gaming support, and a Thinkpad that struggled over time given renewed life with Arch.

HarriPotero ,
@HarriPotero@lemmy.world avatar

I switched in 1997.

The internet was taking off, and it was built on Linux and un*ces. It was just a lot more fun.

Also, C-programming. M$ had just gotten protected memory in NT4.0, but a lot of applications just didn’t run on NT. It’d take another three years before protected memory hit mainstream with win2k. No novice programmer wants their computer to bluescreen every time they do a tiny little out of bounds error.

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