• @[email protected]
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    23 months ago

    “Trade in” like theres a dealership willing to give you some kind of fair value for your old computer. That said, if you’re willing to be extorted by Microsoft, then you get what you have coming to you.

    • @[email protected]
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      173 months ago

      What’s 10 dollars? The people saying this are too rich to understand poor numbers. They probably think in terms of “a new pc costs less than an hour at my favorite spa, people are complaining too much”.

      • @[email protected]
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        203 months ago

        It’s a joke from a tv show. The rich out of touch lady thinks bananas “only cost” ten dollars.

      • PNW clouds
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        163 months ago

        Arrested Development tv show. Pretty funny. The family fortune started with the dad opening a banana stand in his youth.

        ALT: 2 panels. 1st panel- Rich mom from Arrested Development sitcom, holding a cup, opulent home, saying “I mean it’s one banana, Michael. How much could it cost? Ten dollars?”

        2nd panel- Michael sitting back, head on hand saying “you’ve never actually stepped foot in a supermarket, have you?”

    • @[email protected]
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      53 months ago

      Ms will stop supporting windows 10. Windows 11 has hardware requirements for a specific security chip and processors with specific features, so upgrading components isn’t an option.

      If you have an old pc you can’t easily upgrade. Theres ways of forcing it to work but it’s not supported.

      A lot of businesses will be getting rid of their old pcs so they dont need to deal with the hassle.

      Linux will still support and run on the older hardware, so a lot of people are expecting used hardware prices to drop.

      • Rikudou_Sage
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        23 months ago

        And thanks to Proton you can now do pretty much everything that you can do on Windows. Unless you do graphics design.

        • TrenchcoatFullOfBats
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          23 months ago

          That’s definitely been true in the past, but the gap’s narrowed a lot. GIMP (with plugins) and Krita cover most Photoshop-style workflows, and Inkscape does a pretty good job with vector work. For many graphic design tasks, Linux has solid native tools now—just takes a bit of adjustment if you’re used to Adobe.

          • Rikudou_Sage
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            13 months ago

            GIMP is nowhere close to Photoshop in usability. Don’t know about others.

    • @[email protected]
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      113 months ago

      No, the police will show up at your door on October 11th and arrest you on the spot.

      If you’re in the US you’ll be sent to El Salvador. If you’re anywhere else you’ll be sent to the US, receive a few tattoos, then El Salvador.

        • Sabata
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          3 months ago

          You can choose between Microsoft, Tesla, Google, Amazon, or Blackrock.

        • Ace
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          23 months ago

          In soviet US, tattoos pick you

  • @[email protected]
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    53 months ago

    I switched to Linux on my laptops years ago. Recently, I retired and started playing video games like Skyrim. I play on a Nintendo Switch. I considered playing Skyrim on a laptop so I could use/build mods. I bought a laptop with Windows 11 and spent forty minutes removing the bloat, ads, spyware, ai nonsense, and other dross, fixing it so it did not ‘update’ to restore everything I deleted, and installing my preferred alternatives (browser, search, email etc). It reminded me why I hate Windows almost as much as Mac OS (which is even more controlling). Microsoft have hundreds of engineers ‘enshitifying’ everything. It is more than a full-time job trying to stop them and block their ‘improvements’. I am retired. I have better things to do.

    I did not enjoy playing games with a laptop (hurts my arthritis, I prefer using a console and an easy chair) and resented having to reverse engineer everything I installed to keep it running but without sacrificing my privacy so the laptop now just sits in a drawer. It amazes me that anyone still tolerates Microsoft products, or any of the monopolists stuff. Why is anyone still using google search or chrome browser, why bing or any of it? Why is anyone still seeing adverts? Why is everyone still being fed by algorithms? You must chose this - but why? I always sought out better and if it did not exist, I built it, and if I could not build it, I did without. There is a lot of dumbing-down around technology. Back in C20th, we used to build our own hardware, write our own software. We were skilled hobbyists (later I got an M.Sc. to reinforce my hobby skills with theory and even ran a business for a while as an engineer). Around 2000 +/- five years, the monopolists offered ‘help’ in the form of WYSIWYG editors to write code for us or ‘click buttons to register your account’ platforms to host content for us instead of us running our own websites (blogger, wordpress, facebook, twitter etc). They dumbed us all down, farmed us like animals for data and used clickbait to get ad revenue and undermined our politics, culture, even changed our sense of being human. Now old folk can build resources but younger people can only consume. We have to re-skill and resist the seduction of the easy and free-to-use. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Never trust a tech bro, whether USA or any nationality.

    Personally, I want to ‘jail break’ my Switch and make mods for my console version of Skyrim. I can’t do that now as it is illegal but when they bring out the Switch 2 and the old console is ‘obsolete’ and they stop trying to get money for Skyrim, I reckon we tinkerers will get a chance to re-purpose the old console to play the old games in our own way. I reckon some exciting engineering is happening amongst the recyclers and re-purposers rather than amongst the corporates. I only buy second-hand for ethical reasons and to save money. I always install my own software based on AOSP or use a more ethical distro or alternative to the commercial options. I always debloat or degoogle or remove unwanted stuff. I wish that kind of personalisation were more common. There is a zero sum relationship with tech: either the technology controls you, or you control it. I urge you to control your own tech. Don’t be enslaved by it. I feel I am in a minority in wanting sovereignty over my damn phone. It makes me sad.

    • @[email protected]
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      43 months ago

      Personally, I want to ‘jail break’ my Switch and make mods for my console version of Skyrim.

      Why not just get a steam deck?

      • @[email protected]
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        13 months ago

        I tried creating a Steam account and was blocked by the revolving captcha security thing - took days to try to get help from their customer care and by the time they got back to me I had lost interest. I spent the waitjng time researching Valve and I decided they are not an ethical business. Made me sad as I loved the idea of a customised-for-gaming-on-console linux OS and liked the look of the hardware. But Valve is a monopolist and has too much market share and too many users and thus too much power - USA politics today shows how big a risk that is. Valve supports unethical business models like ‘rent game to play’, AI-generated junk games and IP violations so it debases game development and hurts indy developers, live-streaming games which is bad for environment. It promotes ‘easy access/always on gaming’ and is thus profiting from addiction-to-gaming, which ix a MASSIVE problem and few gamers admit it. It’s an American corporation and I distrust American corporate culture. Most of which might be said of other console/platforms so its not just Valve/Steam, I feel wary of but the whole industry. I bought a second-hand Switch so did not help Nintendo/Japanese corporate power directly. I bought a bundle of 2nd-hand games on sd card with minimal download content (except for ‘No Man’s Sky’ which constantly updates). I am trying to be an ethical gamer - limit my time gaming to stop me becoming an addict etc. But I admit I am compromised - I spend too much time gaming, being retired its easy to lose track of time. Honestly, I feel like a vegan who wraps bacon in thick wholemeal sandwiches and pretends they are not really eating pigs since its mainly bread. I am ‘a work in progress’.

        • @[email protected]
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          3 months ago

          The form factor of switch/steam deck is expanding, valve doesn’t by any means have a stranglehold over it, they are by far the biggest player but the benefits to linux gaming are shared across the board which opens up the entire industry not closes it down?

          Not saying I trust Valve or think they are somehow a company but good but yeah out of the current options I will happily give Valve my money.

          But I admit I am compromised - I spend too much time gaming, being retired its easy to lose track of time. Honestly, I feel like a vegan who wraps bacon in thick wholemeal sandwiches and pretends they are not really eating pigs since its mainly bread.

          Fuck that noise, play video games, they expand and stimulate your mind and you don’t hurt anyone or waste any significant amount of resources playing them!

          • @[email protected]
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            13 months ago

            You make fair comment. I don’t disagree with 99% of what you say. However, I stand by my words about addiction. I agree gaming is potentially a very benign thing and I get a lot of pleasure from gaming but I still want to red flag some aspects of it where addiction does seem to be a factor. Being addicted to gaming has led to health problems for players e.g. repetitive strain injuries or tendonitis - it has adversely affected my health, made my arthritis worse, caused tendonitis so I have had to cut back etc. In extreme cases, addicted gamers have murdered their own babies or been violent to partners because they were distracted by them while playing, lost their temper, and lashed out. And getting players addicted is obviously potentially profitable but making profit from addiction is evil. I say ‘responsible gaming’ needs to be the uncompromising rule just like with anything else that can be addictive or mood-altering or get under our skins the way a well-made game can.

        • @[email protected]
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          3 months ago

          Valve isn’t like most USA corporations, they’re private and generally a lot better.

          As an indie developer, Valve has helped me a lot. I have my game on Switch, Xbox One, Epic, and Steam, and Steam is by far the most revenue, and was the first platform that accepted my game. They make it so easy for indie devs to ship games - yeah the downside is they get a lot of low effort submissions, but the user rating system takes care of that (mostly). And they’re adding more warnings for gamers about what games have AI generated content/art.

          blocked by the revolving captcha security thing

          I’ve seen this happen for people behind VPNs or using public access points (coffee shops, schools, etc). Valve has to do this to prevent spammers, and the sad part is a lot of real users get hit too. But before they did there was a lot more spam user accounts in the steam forums and messaging users, usually scams. If you still want to create an account and can’t get past the captcha send me a private message and I can help you out with it.

          I don’t love Valve, as they’re just a company at the end of the day, but they have done a lot of positive things for Linux gaming and the indie developer scene. Especially for linux graphics drivers.

          • @[email protected]
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            13 months ago

            Cheers, thank you for that info. It’s good to hear from people with lived experience, real knowledge and experience. Yeah, I use a vpn and suspected it was the problem but even after I turned it off, cleared my browser cache etc, the captcha thing was not working. Bit of a mystery still.

            I am not fanatical about stuff. I would consider changing my gaming set up - I like playing on a console so I might try a Steamdeck one day, like when my Switch needs replacing. I like the games I play on my Switch - but they are all ported from other platforms and were developed for them. I find most of the games available for Nintendo Switch, i.e. developed for it, totally uninteresting. Not the sort of thing I would ever want to play so in future I would be looking for a less restricted technology and access to more content. Also, I find the Nintendo shop unuseable. I recently looked for a virtual tennis game because I thought it might help me be more active and I used to enjoy tennis. Could not find a decent option - just cartoonish rubbish like some Mario tennis or Pokemon tennis rip-off. I get the impression Switch games are made to exploit children. That is a big ethical violation in my view. So, yeah, its a complex topic and I am still learning my way around.

  • @[email protected]
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    43 months ago

    W10 wouldn’t get past the pin screen (type pin, then black screen forever, nothing else), so I used a live boot disk of fedora to rescue my files (turns out you can just bypass windows pins and mount the drive), then installed fedora on my old toshiba satellite and never looked back. Few years in I upgraded with linux in mind and now am cruising with a Framework 16. No regrets.

    Join us! Cast off your shackles! Microsoft has no power over you beyond what you willingly give them!

    • @[email protected]
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      Can’t game 100% on Linux not all games work well enough and driver issues.

      If not we wouldn’t be on Windows.

      • @[email protected]
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        33 months ago

        I decided not to trade freedom for microtransactions years before I even switched to linux, personally. If a game can’t run without literal spyware, I probably haven’t played it.

  • @[email protected]
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    03 months ago

    Lots of suggestions here. Here is mine peppermint OS. Simple and doesnt brake (debian based)

  • Lemminary
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    Hah. Good luck trying to make me dispose of the computer I built almost a decade ago and that I just upgraded. Neither my laptops nor my phones have outlived this baby.

    • @[email protected]
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      33 months ago

      It might be time to release the shackles of Windows and head on over to Linux.

      Or I guess you could get Windows 10 LTSC.

      • Lemminary
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        33 months ago

        Yeah! I’m gonna use Windows 10 LTSC in the meantime but I’m still eyeing a full jump to Linux.

    • @[email protected]
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      43 months ago

      I put Linux on my mom’s laptop which is nearing two decades old at this point. It was the pragmatic choice even though I personally use Windows.

      Windows security updates only last a few years. Would be annoying to keep reinstalling and re explaining the changed UI every few years.

  • @[email protected]
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    3 months ago

    Can MS be sued by EU for this? There was the thing with USB-C, because E-waste, and now the most used Desktop-OS says “just throw your PC away” for a not really needed (and artifically defined) requirement.

  • kingthrillgore
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    23 months ago

    Microsoft is getting billions for AI datacenters (they’re now turning back on) why do you buy me a fucking new PC Microsoft

  • @[email protected]
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    Hot take from an IT guy: save your important data, make a plain vanilla W11 boot USB (nothing fancy, no Rufus tricks), wipe your hard drive to zeroes, and install W11 like normal. I’ve reimaged a ton of older PCs and literally never seen it not work. My 10 year old Optiplex, supposedly ineligible for W11, runs W11 just fine.

    Microsoft might someday break it, sure. That’s not new. Microsoft products were always, in practice, available to us at Microsoft’s pleasure. This is the same company that allows massgrave to exist on github because they’d rather we pirate MS Office than allow LibreOffice any oxygen. We’ll probably be fine.

    • @[email protected]
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      Also IT guy. Hot take indeed. I’ve done this but won’t support this. I will almost guarantee some update will break shit at the most inconvenient time humanly possible and the people you’ve done this for will need your help, all at the same time.

      I’m using this opportunity to expand Linux market share.

      Most people only use a browser these days. People that ask me about Windows 10 eol get pushed towards Linux. There is really no need to spend money to replace a machine mainly used to browse the web.

      Only if they need stuff that won’t work on Linux or they really really want Windows to use Chrome or Firefox on for some reason I’ll recommend complying with Microsoft’s hubris.

      But not before suggesting Apple sells pretty and user friendly computers as well. Because I really want this to hurt Windows’s market share and by golly I’ll do everything in my power to help.

      • @[email protected]
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        03 months ago

        I will almost guarantee some update will break shit at the most inconvenient time humanly possible and the people you’ve done this for will need your help, all at the same time.

        Well, yeah. That’s life as an admin under the best circumstances. There’s a running list of Windows ticking time bombs over on r/sysadmin. There are lots of good reasons to ditch Windows, but I wouldn’t say the risk of MS shutting down technically unsupported hardware is one of them (because I don’t agree it’s a substantial risk).

        • @[email protected]
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          Well, yeah. That’s life as an admin under the best circumstances.

          I don’t disagree, but I don’t see the reason in tempting/inviting work to spawn. Especially in the cases where windows itself is optional.

          I also think it’s interesting you’re not convinced it’s a reasonable risk. I’ve had updates break things on clients under my control on several occasions, particularly post Windows 7 with the bigger feature releases.

          It’s definitely a “when”, and not an “if” to me.

          It’s also worth pointing out Microsoft has already actively been working against allowing you to bypass the requirements. It’s very clear to me they want to go towards some kind of hardware lifecycle management and I would definately not put it past them they deliberately make windows stop working on unsupported platforms at some point.

  • @[email protected]
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    203 months ago

    Just in case anyone reading doenst know - the free tool Rufus can write a Win 11 ISO to your usb drive md remove all the silly soft requirements.

    • @[email protected]
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      143 months ago

      Or better yet, windows 10 LTSC. Which will be supported for another 2 years. 4 if you subsequently switch the product key to the IOT LTSC version.

      • @[email protected]
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        203 months ago

        The hurdles windows users are willing to put up with is nothing less than amazing. That’s not a good thing.

        • @[email protected]
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          73 months ago

          Or look at it the other way: they hate Linux so much they’d rather deal with that than deal with Linux.

          • @[email protected]
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            93 months ago

            I would love to learn and deal with Linux, unfortunately the software I need for work only supports Mac or Win

              • @[email protected]
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                83 months ago

                Much business oriented software just hasn’t had the work done on it to work on Wine. Really the only reason I have to run Windows now is the 3D CAD software I use and my best option at this point is running it in a Windows VM on my server. And no Freecad and Fusion360 aren’t suitable options, they both suck.

        • @[email protected]
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          43 months ago

          Oh, I already have Linux on my laptop. It’s my desktop that still has some blockers preventing a full Linux transition.
          Primarily the Pimax headset. Once I get a suitable replacement, I’ll actually be able to start testing and transferring stuff.

    • @[email protected]
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      13 months ago

      The free OS Linux also doesn’t pull this crap, and Rufus can write a Linux ISO to your USB drive and remove Microsoft’s gaslighting from your life.

    • @[email protected]
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      23 months ago

      Windows updates don’t work correctly a lot of the time if you’ve bypassed the requirements. My predecessor at work installed 11 on some ancient systems and it’s been a hassle.

      • @[email protected]
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        23 months ago

        I’ve had no issues on the machines i’ve done this with, aside from having to do an upgrade in place with a major update (used rufus, write the latest iso, did the upgrade from the bootable usb.

        regular windows updates work without hassle. perhaps your predecessor didn’t use a complete solution 🤷

    • @[email protected]
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      Yeah, but will updates work? And even if they do, what’s stopping Microsoft in disabling them somehow?

      Nowadays if you want to have usable Windows installation you need to use a bunch of 3rd party scripts that might break on next update. Learning Linux is easier than this shit.

      I can’t wait for someone to ask me how to solve some shit in Windows, and me saying that I don’t have patience for this crap.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        updates work.

        MS won’t disable them - they want people to move to Windows 11.

        Congrats on migrating to Linux! it’s what i’ve been pushing friends and family towards for decades, and thankfully Ubuntu is in a position right now to be a fine desktop OS, esp for the average user who lives in a web browser.

        • @[email protected]
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          13 months ago

          I am using Debian stable, since I no longer care about having latest stuff and the whole Debian-like ecosystem is what I am the most familiar with. As for Ubuntu I never had good experience with it, with random crashes all the time last time I used it (about 10-12 years ago), and when I tried it last year, I encountered random crashes in GNOME apps just after finishing setup.

          Linux Mint (regular or LMDE) is what I’d probably install on other people computers though. Literally never had problems with it (used it about 10 years ago on a netbook).

          • @[email protected]
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            23 months ago

            sure sounds like you have some funny hardware configurations with all these issues you have across OSes.

            👍

  • Sneezycat
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    873 months ago

    October is going to be a great month to get a cheap second hand computer.

    • @[email protected]
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      203 months ago

      It’s online corps offload computers but there will be a delay and many will just have the extended windows 10 supports. So I’d give it another year.

    • @[email protected]
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      23 months ago

      ooo and I bet they won’t be that bad all things considered with how wild some of the non supported hardware is.