Microsoft makes Windows setups more restrictive.
  • Not a replicant@lemmy.worldEnglish
    571·
    7 days ago

    It’s not a big deal. They’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script, which is just this:

    @echo off

    reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

    shutdown /r /t 0

    You can still use shift-F10 at the same point, type those two lines (not the @ECHO OFF), and it will achieve the same result.

  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zipEnglish
    19·
    6 days ago

    Hi another recent Linux adopter jumping in on a “fuck windows” thread.

    Seriously, it’s not hard to shift. If you’re use to macOS, get Elementary. If you’re used to Windows, try Mint. Your machine will probably be fine for either. Setup/testing it out is trivial.

      • IceFoxX@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        5 days ago

        Can recommend ventoy. Then simply put the iso’s from the main distributions with different DE’s on the stick

    • arkanoid@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      I’m a long time Linux user going back to the linux 1 kernel days. The only reason I still use Windows on my home PC is for gaming. I know Linux has come a long way thanks to many contributors like Valve, but how stable are the AMD video drivers and how well does it work for playing AAA PC games? The last time I built a new PC (2023) I tried running Linux w/ Windows in a KVM virtual machine and direct GPU passthrough, but that was such a nightmare to get set up and working, I just wiped it and installed Windows 11. I game on it and run Hyper-V VMs for Linux, which works quite well actually but feels like a sin.

      • HereIAm@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        5 days ago

        I have a very extensive steam, gog, and battle.net library with all kinda of games from wolfenstein 3D to Baulders Gate 3. The only game I haven’t been able to run is Ground Control 2, but that doesn’t work on windows 10 (possible a USB device issue). Unless you play a game with an anti cheat that explicitly deny Linux (the only one I know off the top of my head that does that is Fortnite) you are most likely good to go. I’m quite a performance/fps snobb, and I haven’t found any game that runs worse on Linux either.

        • arkanoid@lemmy.caEnglish
          2·
          5 days ago

          I play the DMZ mode of Call of Duty a lot. And Cyberpunk 2077. Recently started playing Reka. Heard of any issues with those?

          • HereIAm@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            4 days ago

            Looks like Warzone is one of the unfortunate ones, the kernel level anti cheat currently stops it from working on Linux.

            Reka (added to my wishlist 😄) seems to run well. If it will run straight out the box or not seems to be a little hit and miss. You can check any troubleshooting steps on protondb. This shows Linux isn’t quite at the “it just works” stage. But for this title if you do run into an issue it seems like an easy fix.

            Cyberpunk runs really well. I haven’t had to tweak anything for my install.

    • Vinstaal0@feddit.nlEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      Does the dualboot of Mint cause any issues for Windows? I only tested it very briefly on somebody elses machines where I needed to wipe windows and install Linux

  • Floopquist@lemmy.orgEnglish
    441·
    7 days ago

    Man, Microsoft advertising for Linux Mint YET AGAIN?! They are so gracious.

          • Parsizzle@lemm.eeEnglish
            61·
            7 days ago

            So out of curiosity, why Mint over, say Debian? Has Debian added telemetry etc as well?

            • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
              141·
              7 days ago

              In addition to what the other guy said, Mint is also more focused on desktop. A bunch of apps are pre-installed that one would expect on a desktop OS. Additionally, the default Mint UI, Cinnamon, feels very familiar to a Windows user. It has a start menu, task bar, tray, etc.

              Debian is in the same family, and is more oriented for servers. It is super minimal out of the box, which is perfect when you want it to sit in the other room and perform specific tasks. However, you can install all the same programs, even the Cinnamon UI on Debian.

              Really the difference is the out of box experience, but they are otherwise pretty similar.

              • Parsizzle@lemm.eeEnglish
                4·
                7 days ago

                Ahh so Mint is kept up to date like Ubuntu/Fedora and doesn’t have all the telemetry and pop ups for Ubuntu Pro. Thank you!

                • Petter1@lemm.eeEnglish
                  2·
                  6 days ago

                  Ubuntu and Fedora have different “up-to-date”. Ubuntu is patching old code to work / feel modern and Fedora is updating as fast as possible to new Software.

                  I think Ubuntu is unnecessary doing double work, but I guess they have to, since they have drifted too far from upstream…

            • DannyBoy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              6·
              7 days ago

              I’ve been using Debian on my desktop for five years now so this information might be a bit outdated, but I have recently installed Mint on my server.

              In my experience Mint (and Ubuntu) have been more beginner friendly with installation and initial setup. I remember trying to install Debian on my MacBook which just crashed on bootup whereas Ubuntu worked out of the box. Mint draws from Ubuntu’s repositories which are more up to date and has more packages in it. Being able to rely on apt for installing packages has meant an easier user experience. And the last thing is that there’s just more information out there for troubleshooting Mint problems than there is for Debian in my experience.

              That’s what I find. I could be wrong about some of the details

              • Parsizzle@lemm.eeEnglish
                3·
                7 days ago

                Oh wow that’s a great explanation, thank you! I have a bit of experience with Ubuntu and a fraction of that with Debian but absolutely no experience with any other Linux distro, so I appreciate your reply!

                I run Ubuntu Server for my home lab and had a RaspberryPi running Debian for a short while as well but it was all CLI so I have almost no experience with the GUI. I was quite surprised to hear about pop ups for Ubuntu Pro.

                I personally found setting up Debian for the Pi to be fairly straight forward and about as difficult as converting an old windows laptop into an Ubuntu Server…server, so they might have made Debian a bit easier to get up and running.

                That being said I can’t recall if I got that particular installation specifically for the Pi so that might have an impact there.

                I genuinely appreciate your explanation! :)

      • Zink@programming.devEnglish
        22·
        7 days ago

        Mint is ubuntu with the icky stuff removed and given an extra layer of polish. Still loving it here.

  • mazzilius_marsti@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    6 days ago

    LibreOffice better step up their games and make their office suites better. Outside of very niche and specialized applications like CAD or video editor, the average Joe will just need a good office suite to do stuff.

    • irelephant [he/him]🍭@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      7·
      6 days ago

      Most people just use the online office 365 thing.

      What issues did you have with LibreOffice? I didn’t spot any problems when I used it

      • mazzilius_marsti@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        6 days ago

        oh LibreOffice works great for me in general. Only for some documents with macros that were created in MS Office, I have problems running them. Eg: I once received a MS Word document that has some preprogrammed drop down list - so you click to extend the list and choose your items. The document opens fine, but I couldnt get the drop down feature to work. For Excel, documents with lots of VBA codes, I need to go in and do some manual changes.

        In general, for 99% of the tasks, LibreOffice is fine. But it is that 1% which makes me still open up my Windows VM for MS Office.

        After their shenanigan with subscription only models, we still see MS Office being used a lot. It shows how strong MS grips on the Office area is.

        You are correct that 365 is used for most people. I used to use it too…For me, I prefer to be able to access stuff whenever I want. I live in an area with very shitty internet (both Wifi and 4G). Once, a client and I had to wait 5 minutes because Office Online takes too long to load up a spreadsheet. Offline for me is just a peace of mind.

      • Vinstaal0@feddit.nlEnglish
        2·
        5 days ago

        Depends on what you do with it. In accountancy we and most of our clients work with Microsoft Office desktop. Also things like templates based on CRM work better with actual Word.

        Edit: Libreoffice is also a bit annoying since the settings aren’t in the same layout so helping others becomes harder. Not sure if they implemented it since I am not that well versed with it as with Excel, but I belief they don’t have a PowerQuery alternative?

  • Puzzlehead@reddthat.comEnglish
    121·
    6 days ago

    We no longer own our products. We just pay to use it until they decide you can no longer use their service. What happens if they mysteriously shut down your account without warning?

    That is what happened to a guy and he had to get court involved and then he found out his account was flagged for CP by their algorithm because he had a video of his 19 year old ex. False bans do happen. I couldn’t find that story again sadly to share.

    Also, make sure you always have back up turned off or have one drive not installed on your phone. If you’re a parent, be careful what photos you take of your children because if those get backed up to cloud, their AI will kill your account because it can’t tell between CP and normal family photos.

    I actually want to own our products than make accounts to use.

    • PieMePlenty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      5 days ago

      We no longer own our products.

      This is a popular saying but its not as clear cut. You have choice. You can own the products you use or buy. So why don’t you?

      Yes, the software we used yesterday is no longer a one time purchase today. However, you still own the software you bought yesterday and you have choice to buy new software which you will own or you can subscribe to a service providing the updated version of the new software. Example:

      I can still use a purchased copy of Adobe Lightoom from 2010.
      I can buy a new license for Affinity Photo today and use it forever.
      I can pay to use Lightroom as a service.

      Imo, the only price you pay is the trek you take into unfamiliarity brought on by using new software.

    • DFX4509B@lemmy.orgEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      Nothing’s stopping you from nuking your Windows install and installing some Linux distro though, at least on a normal PC. Surface products tend to be more locked to Windows though. I haven’t ran Windows as a main OS in years and don’t plan on going back, and Windows has gotten so user-hostile lately that I don’t even trust it enough to dual-boot it anymore, LTSC included.

      (so far LTSC has dodged most of MS’ worst atrocities but it’s only a matter of time before that version starts getting compromised in some way too, so I don’t trust Windows outside of a VM, period, anymore, at least if I virtualize it, whatever stunts it may pull are isolated to that VM and won’t affect the host generally)

  • Casteyes@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    6 days ago

    Funny how corporations think taking away consumers freedom and privacy is a good idea.

    Have fun losing customers.

    • irelephant [he/him]🍭@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      6·
      6 days ago

      Its a good idea for their shareholders, who don’t think beyond the next quater. Pretty sure most of them don’t have object permanence.

    • phubarr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      6 days ago

      “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”

      -Benito Mussolini, 1932

  • superkret@feddit.orgEnglish
    4·
    7 days ago

    How does this work nowadays when you buy a PC from a store?
    Does it come with Windows already installed?
    And if so, with what account?

    • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.businessEnglish
      19·
      7 days ago

      Installed yes, but the OOBE that runs (assuming the OEM didn’t fuck it up) is more or less the same as a retail install: you have to add the account, untick the 300 ‘yes, please spy on me’ boxes, and tell it that you do not want office 14 times.