Giving up on Microsoft????

[secret squirrel]

My friends, this is just a curiosity question. I use my PC mainly for home office work and web browsing. My main PC is an i5 Core X4 3.0 GHz with 16 GB RAM, Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM hard drive, its from 2016. It can dual boot to Windows 11 and Linux Mint. I am thinking about upgrading to a Solid State Drive, but doing away with the Microsoft Windows all together. I started PC work back with Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS 6.22 were the big thing. I remember the first time I got ahold of a copy of "the Norton Utilities." The first external 100MB ZIP Drive from IOMEGA. Sound Blaster cards, Trident SVGA video cards, 4X CD-ROMS. My first PC was a IBM PS/2 386 SX 16 MHz. It was speedy compared to my friends AMD 386 20 Mhz, with ISA bus. I think it may be time to try to switch to straight Linux. I am curious if anyone else gave up on Microsoft and Apple for Linux Mint, or another version. All opinions welcome.

 

[brandon7861]

I gave up on windows on my home pc. I keep windows 7 on a laptop for all my paid software like solidworks from the 2010's, but for almost everything else, I use linux now. I am using the latest Zorin OS. Drivers are sometimes an issue and I still struggle getting used to linux, but its better than the shenanigans microsoft is playing.

I bet hardware manufacturers are going to be coerced my microsoft to not offer drivers and instead have them rolled into microsoft (like sandisk did) to try to force people back.

There will always be something that can only be run on microsoft software, but I'm getting too old to care. I don't game and my drafting and design hobby fizzled out. My computer is from 2016, has a 980GTX graphics card, liquid cooled i5960x and 32gb ram, and if it spends the rest of its life running at 29°C with 2% resource usage, thats fine. Speadsheets, music, my USB 'scope and simsmith are all I use it for now. I didn't even bother with the linux nvidia drivers.

 

[TM86]

I gave up on Windows just before Windows 95 came out. I've been a Linux user ever since. So about 30 years now. Currently running Linux Mint.

Since you're dual booting presently you already know what each OS can and can't do. If you're thinking there may be something you'll need windows for, run it in a VM. Your machine is more than capable of handling Virtual Box or QEMU.

 

[John David Trolinger]

I have Windows 7 for most of my radio stuff, a Windows 11 laptop and desktop, and use Raspbian and Ubuntu desktops for things like APRS and SATNOGS.

MSFT went full surveillance with requiring everyone to provide personal info just to log into their own home machines. Crazy stuff but it is the dream of the surveillance state come true. I remember CALEA and the day that my bank wanted my social security number. Was the end of privacy IMHO.

I just want back my Privacy. What OS has that?

 

[FlyBoy50]

I'm thinking about a plunge in to Linux because I'm getting sick of Microsoft. The dual boot is a interesting thought but I am getting rusty at building and setting up my own systems. Been out of industry and learning for a while so probably forgot some stuff.

 

[TM86]

I'm thinking about a plunge in to Linux because I'm getting sick of Microsoft. The dual boot is a interesting thought but I am getting rusty at building and setting up my own systems. Been out of industry and learning for a while so probably forgot some stuff.

You can do a live image off of USB to check things out first before making the plunge. Unless you tell it to install it shouldn't touch your hard drive. Don't like what you see? Unplug the USB drive and reboot. Your system is back the way it was before you started.

 

[Cable Guy]

Oh boy, I started with a Commodore Vic20, only blank storage media, no commercial software,so I had to learn BASIC to use it. Eventually I got a C64 with cassette AND 5.25" floppy storage (years later we upgraded to the 3.5" floppy, didn't see many of those around). My first pc had a Cyric 6x86 processor and 1MB of ram, if I remember correctly, it ran DOS SHELL.

Around that time the middle school computer lab ran green-screen Apple IIe computers (Oregon trail, anyone?). I didn't get much time with those. When in high school, the main computer lab used iMacs but the business lab used old pc machines, windows 3.11 for workgroups on small SCSI HDDs and less than a MB ram. When that school year started there were only about 10 of those that worked with a stack of ~20 broken units in a closet. Thanks to a supportive teacher, who really wanted more PCs to work, and my uncle sending me the book "Upgrading and Repairing PCs", when I left that class there were only 2 carcasses left and a PC at every table.

It's really a blur from that point to the Windows XP era. That is still my favorite OS although I only get to use it in a VM now. I now use Win10 on both work laptops and they don't support Win11 so I don't know what I'm going to do about the looming end of support. My shack PC is a dual boot Win7 (external hardware compatibility) and some Linux distro I can't remember for sdr stuff. You can't tell it now, but I used to be up on things computer related. Been called a computer expert for years, now I can't find the power button.

 

[FlyBoy50]

Been called a computer expert for years, now I can't find the power button.

Some time I ask myself if I should be stressing myself out over technology issues when stress Kills ! LOL

 

[sp5it]

Whatever suits you.
For me too many software I use is not running on Linux. And I do not want replacements.

 

[Brother DXer]

My friends, this is just a curiosity question. I use my PC mainly for home office work and web browsing. My main PC is an i5 Core X4 3.0 GHz with 16 GB RAM, Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM hard drive, its from 2016. It can dual boot to Windows 11 and Linux Mint. I am thinking about upgrading to a Solid State Drive, but doing away with the Microsoft Windows all together. I started PC work back with Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS 6.22 were the big thing. I remember the first time I got ahold of a copy of "the Norton Utilities." The first external 100MB ZIP Drive from IOMEGA. Sound Blaster cards, Trident SVGA video cards, 4X CD-ROMS. My first PC was a IBM PS/2 386 SX 16 MHz. It was speedy compared to my friends AMD 386 20 Mhz, with ISA bus. I think it may be time to try to switch to straight Linux. I am curious if anyone else gave up on Microsoft and Apple for Linux Mint, or another version. All opinions welcome.

secret squirrel, you and my father in law are very similar when it comes to computers. I hear him talking about Windows, Linux, RAM, Storage, CD ROMS, Processors, and on and on.... Now he wants a new computer, with this and that and the other.. You guys would get along great! He's also into CAD programs and so many other things.

Me, I couldn't be more opposite. I have one computer and it's a work computer. I treat it like I would treat a shovel, my hands don't fit the handle and I have no interest in using it unless it's absolutely necessary.
I have a very nice tablet I do my shopping and surfing on.

Interesting topic! Thanks.

“I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn’t know how to use it.”

73

 

[FlyBoy50]

I have a very nice tablet I do my shopping and surfing on.

I just bought a nice big Samsung Galaxy tablet running Android to learn that because my smart phone has Android, but I sure need to learn how to navigate and save in Android. LOL

 

[John David Trolinger]

1977-8 I soldered together a single board RCA1802 computer and learned to program it from the RCA manual. Used that in the school science fair a couple times and found that this put me way-ahead when I went to submarine electronics school. After that I had the Kaypro II so that I could learn other languages and business software.

I have tried most of the workstation and server technology including the big iron mainframes. For a while I worked in the data centers and critical facilities and that was just great with the travel and the big names getting to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Let's see what the current stuff here looks like. In the truck I have an android tablet connected to a TNC and that the HF/VHF/UHF radio. Of course the cell phone is connected to the world most of the time.
In the house I have SDR radios, Pi3/4/5s, android tablets, windows laptops, slackware, ubuntu, window XP/7/11.
In the airplane I have a windows tablet, and android tablet. Previously used an iPad to have three screens that made the cockpit into it's own ATC facility. Once the ADS-B ground stations went on line I was connected in the air with little need to talk to a controller unless in their airspace.

I really like all of the technology but my gripe with MSFT/AAPL/GOOG and the others is that there is no option for privacy. The same few powerful people and their companies that took over the tech world in the 1970s have a grip on us via government. Everything seems to be phoning home to someone's database storehouse and I do not like that.

Computers and electronics gave me a comfortable life and a good retirement. I was able to retire at 55 so like people were telling me back in the 1970s I push out the advice to learn the STEM or a trade as I don't need someone to deliver me fast food but I do want all this complex stuff to be operated and maintained example my gigabit fiber that was just installed this spring.

/rant

 

[FlyBoy50]

I have Windows 7 for most of my radio stuff, a Windows 11 laptop and desktop, and use Raspbian and Ubuntu desktops for things like APRS and SATNOGS.

I had a custom built Windows 7 computer I just retired not to long ago. I kept it percolating long after MicroS stop supporting it. But after years no one else wanted to support it so I let it retire and started cleaning up a Windows 10 BS Desktop that I'm using as I type and I'll Runner Til She Blows ! I tried to fire up my Win. 7 desk top to retrieve info a couple months ago only to find the video system won't fire up. That Pizzs me off because that would be a good dual boot machine to throw the hard drive in from the Windows 98 computer I built and upgraded to Windows 2000 Pro then upgraded it to Windows XP. I had a lot of fun along the way but I'm afraid I'm forgetting what I learned. My first computer was just DOS and don't remember the version. It's hell to get old. LOL

 

[Smokinone]

Oh boy, I started with a Commodore Vic20, only blank storage media, no commercial software,so I had to learn BASIC to use it. Eventually I got a C64 with cassette AND 5.25" floppy storage (years later we upgraded to the 3.5" floppy, didn't see many of those around). My first pc had a Cyric 6x86 processor and 1MB of ram, if I remember correctly, it ran DOS SHELL.

Around that time the middle school computer lab ran green-screen Apple IIe computers (Oregon trail, anyone?). I didn't get much time with those. When in high school, the main computer lab used iMacs but the business lab used old pc machines, windows 3.11 for workgroups on small SCSI HDDs and less than a MB ram. When that school year started there were only about 10 of those that worked with a stack of ~20 broken units in a closet. Thanks to a supportive teacher, who really wanted more PCs to work, and my uncle sending me the book "Upgrading and Repairing PCs", when I left that class there were only 2 carcasses left and a PC at every table.

It's really a blur from that point to the Windows XP era. That is still my favorite OS although I only get to use it in a VM now. I now use Win10 on both work laptops and they don't support Win11 so I don't know what I'm going to do about the looming end of support. My shack PC is a dual boot Win7 (external hardware compatibility) and some Linux distro I can't remember for sdr stuff. You can't tell it now, but I used to be up on things computer related. Been called a computer expert for years, now I can't find the power button.

Never had the VIC20, but started with a C64, had a bulletin board with the 5.25 high capacity floppy drive, a couple of 3.5 floppy drives and a regular 5.25 drive. Moved on to the $1000 20 mb hard drive. Then went to an Amiga 500, Amiga 2000 and another one I can't remember. Finally moved on to PC clone even though I though the Commodore had the best product, just not as supported.
I now run the oldest board (MSI_Z270-A-PRO) that would accept the new memory chip type drive (Samsung_SSD980) running WIN7.
I remember running games on the Amiga with a 3.5 floppy that would probably take a megabyte drive to run these days.
But everything has pretty much gone PC clone with Microsoft. Used to be you would buy the software and it basically was yours, now you rent the software.
Just like the drug dealers, they get you hooked, then change the rules.

 

[VA7JHI]

I think it may be time to try to switch to straight Linux. I am curious if anyone else gave up on Microsoft and Apple for Linux Mint, or another version.

Subvert the dominant paradigm!

I use a sixteen-year-old Mac Pro 4,1, mainly because it's UNIX underneath and it supports a wide array of commercial and open-source applications. Linux is fairly weak for running commercial applications.

An open-source community keeps it upgradeable to the most recent MacOS via Open Core Legacy Patcher (OCLP). I generally run "latest, minus one or two" versions of MacOS; currently running Ventura 13.7.5. OCLP is painless; I simply install what OS version I want from Apple, OCLP notices, and prompts you to download the proper patches.

I love it because it is extremely upgradeable. If you install the latest firmware, it "becomes" the next newer model (5,1). I currently have dual six-core Xenon processors at 3.46 GHz, with 128 GB RAM. The front ports only support USB 1.1, so I have a USB-C 3.1 card. A lot of graphics apps stopped working 5-6 years ago, so I installed a ~$100 AMD Radeon R7 265 2 GB — probably inadequate for gaming, but it runs anything I throw at it.

For this reason (upgradability), these machines tend to maintain their value, so don't expect to get one at 2009 Windows machine prices!

It's fairly snappy for video, audio, and image editing. I create a number of MariaDB (fork of MySQL) databases and do a lot of Ruby scripting, which makes me pretty independent of the come-and-go grind of most specialty data programs, like logbooks and frequency logs.

Yea, you could do all this with Linux, too. But I'm guessing it would be more work. Also, I don't have to re-boot to move between commercial applications and UNIX.