Sup bros. Longtime gamerfag here. I recently bought a new laptop, because I'm going to be spending some time in a hospital soon. Naturally, the new machine came preloaded with Windows 11. I had been (mostly) happily using Windows 10 up until now and, while I've had my frustrations with the way the OS's development was going in the past, I figured I could once again endure the latest new thing for the sake of convenience. Unfortunately, I stand corrected. I have never seen this many privacy disclosures in my life before. I took plenty of time debloating the machine out of the box, only to come to the unfortunate realization that the OS, itself, is spyware. I knew it would be worse than Windows 10, to a greater or lesser degree, but I did not think I would be this resentful about it. The level of overreach is just insane and, in retrospect, I feel like it really needs to be seen to be believed. I just wanted to play some video games.I'd like to do something about my situation, instead of continuing to tolerate the intolerable. My first instinct is to say fuck Windows altogether, and try out a different OS for a change. I've been hearing good things about Linux for years, and I've gotten curious about it. That being said, for as long as I've been using computers, I'm no computer scientist. My understanding is that there's a bit of a learning curve to Linux, and I haven't found that online videos are very good at demonstrating what the OS is really capable of. I'm willing to learn, and I now have seemingly unlimited time to try and fail, but I don't have any sense of direction beyond just "use mint lol." In that case, it might just be easier to use an older version of Windows, assuming that's something I can still do. Therefore, I wanted to ask you guys for advice. What should I do here? Should I even bother with Linux? Should I go balls deep on it? Or, is there some sort of older version of Windows I can use that isn't fucking gay as hell?
unironically try MacOS
>>103221413I just kind of jumped in back in 2015 when I was a W7 fag who looked at 8 and especially 10 and said "yeah fuck no"it's different but you learn and you get used to it. gaymen especially is a lot easier nowadays than it was then. Though you really should have thought about this and made a decision before buying new hardware.
>>103221433If you're not planning to buy another computer to run MacOS, try using ChatGPT to assist you with any Linux-related issues. It's incredibly effective for learning Linux, as you'll likely encounter various challenges along the way. Definitely avoid Windows.
First of all, it sounds like you need to lurk more. Second, just use Debian with KDE on it or something it runs on anything and if you ever want to switch back you can always just look up your system drivers and hop back on windows. > Or, is there some sort of older version of Windows I can use that isn't fucking gay as hell?Aside from windows 10 LTSC, no. Don’t use any other older version. It is a terrible idea.
>>103221447Glad to hear all of that. What distro would you recommend? Any tips brother?>Though you really should have thought about this and made a decision before buying new hardware.The worst part about all of this is that I kind of did, but ignored my instincts. I figured that the worst thing that could happen was that I end up in this exact situation: Disappointed, but in possession of really good hardware that would last if I ended up switching OSes. Then the hardware manufacturer started asking for my information too, and I fucking lost it.
why do you have to be in the hospital?
>>103221490>>Glad to hear all of that. What distro would you recommend? Any tips brother?Back then I started with Debian, that's really as good a place as any. The differences between distros aren't as big as they seem, mostly it's in package management and how quickly they update things, along with some low-level system-configuration details. You have your choice of desktop environments on Debian, or Arch, or Gentoo, or etc etc, on any of them you can set up whatever you care to, whether that's full-fat Gnome or KDE, or a minimalist tiling WM. Pick something and go with it. Distro-hopping is often kinda silly but as you get experienced you will develop opinions about the right way a distro ought to be run, and once you do you won't need to ask for advice, you'll know which distro you want to use. One thing I did that was helpful was to switch all my Windows apps to things that were cross-platform. Once I was using e.g. VLC and Libreoffice and so on, then switching the OS out underneath it wasn't such a jarring change. It is still a change, and not everything has a perfect 1:1 replacement, you need to have some determination, and a willingness to experiment and solve problems. But it's definitely doable, and probably easier now than a decade ago when I did it.
personal experience as windows 7 baby duck, linux isn't the solution if wanting to be "privacyfag"linux will help you to gain skills depending on distribution you opt forgaming isn't good as praised to be; this of course, depends on games you play. if you have serious autism, attention to latency and it will become apparenthttps://www.youtube.com/@mrdeathjr28if you are going to use debain for """"""stability"""""" i recommend you to use https://github.com/Kron4ek/Contyyou eventually will get fed up, distrohop phase then operating system switching for awhile, in the end you will switch back to windows as main operating systemwindows server 2022 is windows 7https://privacy.sexy/wsl2 is incredible
>>103221413I thought of what I'm going to when I get a PC and move away from console before the tariffs. Which is to dual boot OSes, and use window only for gaming and removed as much as bloatware possible and don't give anything that will compromise a lot of PII to macrosoft. The only problem that I have in my plan is the retarded amount of Linux distros, why the fuck can't there be just one tranny OS and that's it???
>>103221501If you must know, I'm about to become a baldbro. I should hopefully survive, but not if I'm forced to contend with Windows 11 every day.>>103221453>Using AI to help with solving Linux problems.This is a novel idea. I don't mess around with AI, so I hadn't known if this would actually be possible or not. But, if my choices are an AI homie or Windows 11, I'd take the AI homie. Very interesting suggestion.>>103221467>>103221557Will definitely be looking into Debian, now that you both pointed me in that direction. People online were mostly saying mint, pop!os, "Stay away from Arch if you're new," etc... But, this advice seems much more well-reasoned than attempting to develop a paradigmatic understanding of something I know nothing about, and attempting to make a decision based off that lack of understanding. "Jump in here, have a plan to get out if you hate it, and develop an opinion as you go along." I think that's something I can manage.
>>103221599>wsl2That pretty cool, from what I quickly read on the wiki it says is not a separate VM, I'm curious does still send telemetry to the soft? If so that's not very prvacy fag of you
install a few different distros on a virtual box and see which one you like the most. my recommendation is arch but if you want something more stable i'd recommend debian/mint.as another anon mentioned the only real difference is the package manager and the desktop manager that's pre installed with it, but it's nicer to just have something out of the box that you like that you don't need to tinker with.i'm sure you're familiar with proton and wine, valve has done a lot for compatibility with games because of the steam deckthe way i learned the most about linux was from just lurking here and fucking around with it on my own. if you want to be an aspiring linuxfag then you're going to have to use it eventually
>>103221658>baldbroOh man anon, that sucks, you should visit the Turkish doctor for a hair transplant
>>103221599I play a lot of rougelikes and low-graphic titles, so I'm not too autistic about performance. I'm very curious with this post. Everyone else was saying not to bother with Windows anymore, but you still use it?>privacy.sexyThat name is suspicious as fuck, but I'll look into it anyway.>>103221613It looks like we are in exactly the same boat.
>>103221662>I'm curious does still send telemetry to the soft? If so that's not very prvacy fag of youif you know how to setup proper firewall + block tracking hosts you wouldn't be replying with that smugnessi don't think you understood what i wrote
>>103221744> Everyone else was saying not to bother with Windows anymore, but you still use it?i use multiple operating systems
>>103221772>i use multiple operating systemsReason? Is it because you couldn't decide on one distro and just decided to use all?>>103221749You went back to windows because it is more simple? Also, built in Windows firewall or a third party software?
>>103221825i'm not referring to distros, i'm referring to windows, macos, *BSDs, and *nix>>103221825https://github.com/henrypp/simplewallon linux, i use https://github.com/evilsocket/opensnitchin combination of pihole + openwrt
Main problem with Linux is some multiplayer gaming. Most games aren't made to be played on Linux but you got Proton and Wine to make them work (usually), the one thing it continuously fucks you over with is chinese spyware like anti-cheat and it's often on purpose, since Linux users are seen as heckin' hackers.OS is a tool, make a list of all the things you usually do or want to do on your computer, try different distros and see which one performs best for your use-case. After all, you want to actually use your machine, not just imbue it with a vague sense of privacy. If privacy was your concern, it'd be enouh to not conect to the internet on any OS.
>>103221413If you have the free time for it (good luck, sending kisses), you may have the opportunity to fuck around and find out plenty. I suggest doing that plenty to build up your own knowledge, instead of worrying too much about making the right decision. Evaluate for yourself whether the consequences of making bad decisions are less important than usual, and, if they are, rejoice, for you have lots of learning to be done. I use arch, btw.
>>103221599so are you recommending windows server 2022 as an alternative to Windows 10?
>>103222072I'm also trans
>>103224332yes in a way, it's a weird release of windows server editions too, a hybrid between windows 10 and 11.you still need to remove components and etc, which is why i linked https://privacy.sexy
>>103224490Windows 10 LTSC IoT debloated better than your suggestion? privacy.sexy is fantastic, but, it can break certain things. It isn't the end all and be all of achieving privacy and a debloat install, either.
>>103225069windows 10 consumer/regular editions (this includes iot and ltsc) "GlobalTimerResRequests" is broken, this messes with performance + latency.in windows server 2022/windows 11 this is fixedin latency, server editions nt kernel is configured to operate in lowest latency as possible https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?t=10283#p83348windows servers are already debloated further than ltsc from microsoftthe real con, programs will refuse to run on windows server 2022 what you use (if its a lot of proprietary software) will depend>privacy.sexy is fantastic, but, it can break certain things.you can revert changes if it breaks a component.>It isn't the end all and be all of achieving privacy and a debloat install, either.are you referring to ntlite or dism? imo privacy.sexy scripts does the same exact things after install. i use pihole + openwrt router for my home network. privacy is a subjective termthis is related to group policy https://github.com/troennes/private-secure-windows
>>103225760thank you for this clarification.
Using Windows Se7en in 2024, to me, is abysmal. Supermium is the only browser I've found to actually work. Everything else is truly a daunting and futile task. Especially for gaming.
>>103225837it was fine when everything supported it, wish i took advantage earlier
>>103225853Same. I can't stop thinking about how far away they've strayed and wonder wtf they did. Why can't they create a release that's just as light and simple for modern hardware?
>>103221413virtue signaling cope thread
>>103221413hardened windows 7 behind openbsd networkwarning. may cause unhealthy attachment, waifufaggotry and thoughts of marrying computer software>>103225837palemoon
