As the Windows 10 EOL date is close I was wondering what fellow Linux users thoughts about it are.
Are you helping open minded people making the switch to Linux? If yes, which distro are you using? Are you using resources like endof10.org?
Or are you using the the opportunity to get your hands on some cheap hardware for your homelab? Are you keeping an eye on special websites or just ebay (or your local equivalent)? Are you talking with local companies to get the hardware directly from them?
Or are you just observing and enjoy your peace of mind because you switched already to Linux before?
Whatever it is, we are very interested to hear your stories concering this interesting time.
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Installed bazzite on my son’s gaming laptop, it works perfectly well and he really likes the ricing.
The bazaar on bazzite is really convenient for the non-power user
Most folks I know don’t know the existence of security updates or Windows 10’s EOL so they just keep using it. Even if I told them about the EOL their pcs wouldn’t run Windows 11 nor they’re interested in Linux
Transitioned my moms computer to Windows 11, 11 months go. Pretty easy. Her computer was originally for Windows 7 and is still fully supported. Her computer will always be Windows as I’m not local and other people have to be able to support her too. It is also what she knows. I love Linux but it is not for everyone.
Feel you. If you are tech savvy you can debloat Windows for them and get rid of recall and the online accounts.
That’s become increasingly difficult.
There are some good tools to create stripped ISOs and to adjust running installations.
You can strip ISOs of some bloat but you cannot strip M$ out of it , tho. And there’s always a chance an update adds it back in.
I had outlook appear back on one of my laptops after an update. I had removed it ages ago. Some services do the same.
So, are you going to limit updates too? That’ll make it vulnerable.
My point is, it’s just going to be cat and mouse game with “cleaning or stripping” Windows.
See, I run a stripped Windows for playing games that don’t run under linux. I update it regularly and nothing intrusive was re-added by updates. The other systems I use are linux and macOS, with each OS having its purpose.
In acknowledge that Linux is not intrusive and that you have to have PiHoles and other DNS sinkholes for a basic protection, which is hard for regular people. But in the end you have to look at peoples needs and if somebody insists he needs Windows, and you are knowledgeable in IT stuff, make it as secure and clutter free as possible.
have to have PiHoles and other DNS sinkholes for a basic protection, which is hard for regular people
mullvad’s free dns. free for all, not just their subscribers. encrypted doh or dot only. a basic ad and malware blocking dns sinkhole is a fairly simple configuration away if your os supports it (win11 and android do… those are what i’ve set it up on for others so far).
Linux is my only real love, but as much as I love it I am not ready for Arch. Therefore my estrogen after a month long trial sits on my shelf. Currently on Mint and confused as fuck. Any idea where I can get SERMs?
I’m still using Windows on dual-boot with Arch because of games, that’s the only reason. I’ve Windows 10 LTSC IoT, which is the most debloated version available, plus I ran a debloater script, so the OS is basically raw now, no Microsoft account linked.
Unfortunately Windows still gets more performance, at least on my experience, I’ve a Laptop 16GB RAM, Hybrid GPU (GeForce 1650 4VRAM + AMD).
I’m still not prepared to give up from this little extra performance just to switch to Linux, it really makes a difference, and I pass the whole day dealing with Linux so at the end of the day I just want to boot into something that just works without major tweaks.
I know it’s not Linux fault, but most games are made to run better on Windows. If and when W10 become unusable, I’ll switch to 100% Linux without any doubt, it’s my last Windows.
I’ve been dual booting since 2000 starting with Mandrake. Then Ubuntu and stuck with it or Xubuntu or Kununtu ever since.
I had been using win 10 a lot more when I eventually installed it. It was a great OS in my opinion. Until it wasn’t because Microshits decided to make it bad. I was getting angry with that and learned last year that it would reach EOL this October. So I booted in Linux and started experiencing with Steam and Proton and Bottles and I was blown away by how easy it had become and how well the games played. So last December I wiped the disk, installed Kubuntu 24.04 and it’s been a great experience ever since. Honestly it’s insane how easy it has become. To think I had to recompile my kernel to have all the features of my hardware back in the early 2000s. LoL!
I tried to convince my GF to move to Linux but she can’t due to her job. It’s complicated.
Unfortunately still have to use W11 for some anti-cheat games I play with friends :(
But being forced to update to 11 motivated me to come back to Linux on a PC. I already have a little homelab with all the flavors, but was wondering how it would game on my desktop.
Ultimately went with Debian + KDE on a second SSD, and it’s just awesome. Especially coming from WSL on my desktop, it’s just so seamless.
Had a little trouble getting Nvidia drivers for my relatively new card (Debian’s latest proprietary driver still didn’t support it lol), so I had to use the official Nvidia repo. And it was a little tricky signing it for Secure Boot, but other than that, awesome.
Need to run better side-by-side tests, but it at least feels like a 10% or so performance improvement.
Thank you Linux! And fuck Fortnite, release a Linux port already!
I hosted an endof10.org event at my local public library. Advertised like crazy, posting flyers around town, posting online, etc. I had over 30 USB installers ready to go with Debian 13. I was worried that I was advertising too much and wouldn’t have room for everyone.
Only 2 people showed up, and neither were prepared to go through with an install. In a town with well over 70k people and a major university, I expected more.
Now I’m thinking an event like this would only be viable in a major metropolitan area.
In my circle of friends and family, I only knew of one person who was faced with the Windows 10 dilemma, and he chose to purchase new hardware (granted he’s nearly 80 years old).
Yeah nobody in real life really cares about this. Anyone techie enough has already replaced their system and runs Win11, or has already switched to Linux themselves.
Anyone not techie enough doesn’t care and will continue using Win10 (or just follow the Windows nagging and buy a new PC from Best Buy).
Yeah…and I think there’s also a chunk of the non-techie population who are getting by with just their phones now.
Why Debian? Why not Mint?
No offense, but this question is what is holding many people back that would otherwise be on the fence or ready to go.
If there were just Mac / Windows / Linux, it would be an easy sell.
But we have Mac / Windows / two million Linux flavors.
It does not matter which one you pick, it is bound to cause questions or issues. And once you’ve chosen a Linux flavor, someone asks you why you chose that desktop and not foobar9000 instead which everyone knows runs much better on your Linux flavor anyway.
I honestly think that Linux’ biggest enemy is Linux. Sure, choice is good, but this is too much. Way too much.
Debian is a stable operating system and as user friendly as mint once you get past the installation.
Mint also uses a Ubuntu base but Debian has better quality of packages and is less likely to break.
LMDE is also a good option in this case
Yeah Debian is stable, but it also doesn’t come with an easy to use app store or pre-installed codecs for multimedia.
The installation process isn’t exactly user friendly either. And if you plan to use BTRFS with Timeshift for easy snapshot creation, you have to do some pretty technical stuff.
And finally, there’s stable and stable. Linux Mint being Ubuntu based is already VERY stable, but you still get fairly recent packages. With Debian you have to wait much longer for the latest software.
Wdym not user friendly? I use Debian everyday and the stuff you were talking about dates back to the bullseye days.
Trixie is a lot more user friendly and even includes the calamares installer now which is a GUI installer that’s similar to mint’s one
It also comes with gnome software and you can enable flatpaks with 2 commands. I don’t see how that’s not user friendly in any way.
Of course nonfree software is a different case but you can always use snap or flatpak for it
I installed it recently in a VM to check the latest release and the instalation process is not as user friendly as Mint.
For everything else though I guess you’re right. But Mint has more quality of life stuff.
Just use the live installer, it includes the calamares installer which is as simple as installation in mint.
This might push me over the edge to trying home linux. I use RHEL at work all the time. I just want to still be able to use Steam and Runescape.
Believe it not, Steam even works on RHEL if you use Flatpak.
But you are probably going to want to go for something a bit more current. Fedora or Bazzite may work for you as they use the same core layout and userland as RHEL. Fedora is the test bed for the ideas that go into CentOS that becomes RHEL.
Only helping those who are interested and are willing to debug things. Otherwise, windows 11 or macos it is
I would help if asked, but I’m not out there trying to convince people. This isn’t the first Windows version to be EOLd, and Apple and Android have all but convinced people that a 2-3 year hardware replacement cycle is normal. I just don’t think this is a significant consumer event at all.
Or are you just observing and enjoy your peace of mind because you switched already to Linux before?
Yeah, but I wouldn’t say “switched” is the right word for me. I’ve been using a variety of OSes for personal and work for a long time. I worked in embedded software, and we had to support a variety of build toolchains for different host OSes and different target OSes. So the idea of using a different OS on my own computer is not a big deal. Over the years it’s been Solaris, BSDos, Mac, Windows, and more flavors of Linux than I can recall.
Not the question you asked, but it was gratifying when Raspberry Pi really started to take off because it was the first time that developing for a different hardware arch and OS target was going mainstream. I would enthusiastically help people with that sort of thing. But even fewer ask. lol
I switched to Linux about a year ago. I was a windows power user and now I’m a Linux noob, but couldn’t be happier.
I hate to say it, but there’s still reasoning to have Windows. I use a VM with ameliorated windows running for the few things I can’t get away from.
For others, I tell them my story. Most people I talk to won’t or can’t make the switch, which I’m respectful of. To those that would benefit, I recommend at the minimum O&O Shutup but highly recommend ameliorated. This has been more welcomed.
People won’t care until they have a reason to care. I’ll still be around when they do.
I went through the effort to guide some people (mostly my family n≈10) through distrochooser, but in the end most of them chose Linux Mint and two wanted to go with endeavour for gaming, but I installed base arch on it and we designed their basic workflows together. For now everyone is happy.
I used windows 10 on my gaming PC for many years. I “upgraded” to 11, and it felt bad. The UI/ux was tolerable, but between the AI features and everything requiring a Microsoft account, it got on my nerves quickly.
I literally just wanted to upgrade the firmware on my Xbox one controller (so it’d work in Linux…) and that forced a login. At that point I logged in, upgraded my controller, formatted as ext4, and now I rarely look back.
Every once in a while a game will crash or not be playable on Linux, but I’d trade that for being in control of the hardware I’ve spent thousands on over the years.
Very happy with bazzite on my htpc and a kde based distro on my main computer. I pop over to my MacBook for casual computing, but for the real stuff I’ll never use windows again (barring being forced by future employers)
proooobably should think about putting Bazzite on the gaming PC soon. but my partner is reluctant.
how’s online gaming on linux going these days? the issues with anticheat are a bit of a pain.
