I mean, I get it, people are just allergic to “anything MS”, but it’s just silly.
Set up a “burner” MS account. Use it to set up the OS, get your BitLocker recovery key and the OS license backed up automatically for easy use. Create your regular local account, switch, remove admin rights from the MS account, never use it again.
Job done, problem solved.
The third one (better performance) is disingenuous. Better performance… where? On what hardware? Nvidia drivers are notorious for causing issues. Many games, even on Proton, run like crap or just… don’t run.
The last one, security, is also a bad reason. Linux is not inherently more secure than Windows, it’s just less attacked due to a lower desktop market share. What Linux does have, however, is that it’s massively easier to break by a clueless user, especially when following online advice when something isn’t working - and that’s going to be a common occurrence, especially with freshly-switched newbies. Windows will prevent noobs from breaking or exposing a lot of stuff.
The urban legend that Linux is more secure than Windows needs to die.
I’m always amused at the hoops that some Windows users will jump through in a vain attempt to sidestep Microsoft’s telemetry and surveillance—rather than just using an OS that respects your privacy to begin with. It’s gotta be Stockholm syndrome or something.
I’m always amazed at the hoops some home owners will go through in a vain attempt to renovate an existing bathroom in their house, rather than just burning their house down and building a new one from scratch. It’s gotta be Stockholm syndrome or something.
Despite it being literally the biggest barrier brought up anytime someone suggests people should switch to Linux, it’s like you guys just can’t seem to get it through your head that literally 99.9% of PC users lack the technical knowledge needed to make the switch and find the amount of time and effort needed to learn how intimidating to the point that, yes, those “hoops” you mention are actually the easier option.
Call me crazy, but I get the sense that the same 0.1% of Windows users who jump through arcane command-line hoops to work around their anti-consumer OS would do just fine with Linux’s pro-user arcane command-line hoops.
I mentioned telemetry because Windows (by default) regularly shares information collected from your computer with Microsoft. Some people try to work around that when they could instead invest that time elsewhere (say, installing Linux).
Yes, it does, but telemetry is not what people think it is.
Remember how Microsoft regularly kills those “cool features” for “no reason at all”? That’s because those that use them have telemetry blocked, so - from MS point of view - it seems like nobody is using them. Why waste dev time on something that nobody uses?
That’s telemetry. It’s anonymous. It tells them which parts of the OS work, which cause issues, which features are utilised, which aren’t. It’s not spying, it’s diagnostics.
You’re trusting Microsoft’s word that telemetry is anonymous, because you can’t inspect the Windows source code to find out what they’re actually sending.
You’re trusting Microsoft’s word that telemetry is anonymous
Do you honestly and truly believe that nobody has ever analysed these packets? That nobody in any security position, especially in business, has ever checked if sensitive information wasn’t being transmitted? That the entire IT and Data Security world just goes “huh, I guess they’re spying on us, nothing we can do about it”?
Microsoft’s word isn’t worth very much:
Microsoft doesn’t publish detailed breakdowns of telemetry collection, which is a red flag in itself
Oh yeah, Recall, the absolutely horrible… ummm… *checks notes* fully local and encrypted system… That isn’t even implemented yet… but when it is, you’ll need to manually turn it on…
Are you kidding? My public facing VMs get ssh brute force attacks like 10 times a minute, that’s not counting http attacks, vulnerability scanners, etc etc. all of the internet is running on Linux.
The first one (MS account) is so weird to me…
I mean, I get it, people are just allergic to “anything MS”, but it’s just silly.
Set up a “burner” MS account. Use it to set up the OS, get your BitLocker recovery key and the OS license backed up automatically for easy use. Create your regular local account, switch, remove admin rights from the MS account, never use it again.
Job done, problem solved.
The third one (better performance) is disingenuous. Better performance… where? On what hardware? Nvidia drivers are notorious for causing issues. Many games, even on Proton, run like crap or just… don’t run.
The last one, security, is also a bad reason. Linux is not inherently more secure than Windows, it’s just less attacked due to a lower desktop market share. What Linux does have, however, is that it’s massively easier to break by a clueless user, especially when following online advice when something isn’t working - and that’s going to be a common occurrence, especially with freshly-switched newbies. Windows will prevent noobs from breaking or exposing a lot of stuff.
The urban legend that Linux is more secure than Windows needs to die.
I’m always amused at the hoops that some Windows users will jump through in a vain attempt to sidestep Microsoft’s telemetry and surveillance—rather than just using an OS that respects your privacy to begin with. It’s gotta be Stockholm syndrome or something.
EDIT: https://tessa.transpri.de/i/ngcpy.gif
I’m always amazed at the hoops some home owners will go through in a vain attempt to renovate an existing bathroom in their house, rather than just burning their house down and building a new one from scratch. It’s gotta be Stockholm syndrome or something.
Despite it being literally the biggest barrier brought up anytime someone suggests people should switch to Linux, it’s like you guys just can’t seem to get it through your head that literally 99.9% of PC users lack the technical knowledge needed to make the switch and find the amount of time and effort needed to learn how intimidating to the point that, yes, those “hoops” you mention are actually the easier option.
Call me crazy, but I get the sense that the same 0.1% of Windows users who jump through arcane command-line hoops to work around their anti-consumer OS would do just fine with Linux’s pro-user arcane command-line hoops.
I’m always amused at people just randomly talking about telemetry (without understanding what it is), even unprompted.
Pray tell, why did you feel the need to say it, especially say it this way? I never mentioned anything about telemetry in the first place…
Oh, wait! Do you believe that the existence of an MS account on your device changes something related to telemetry…?
I mentioned telemetry because Windows (by default) regularly shares information collected from your computer with Microsoft. Some people try to work around that when they could instead invest that time elsewhere (say, installing Linux).
Yes, it does, but telemetry is not what people think it is.
Remember how Microsoft regularly kills those “cool features” for “no reason at all”? That’s because those that use them have telemetry blocked, so - from MS point of view - it seems like nobody is using them. Why waste dev time on something that nobody uses?
That’s telemetry. It’s anonymous. It tells them which parts of the OS work, which cause issues, which features are utilised, which aren’t. It’s not spying, it’s diagnostics.
Do you honestly and truly believe that nobody has ever analysed these packets? That nobody in any security position, especially in business, has ever checked if sensitive information wasn’t being transmitted? That the entire IT and Data Security world just goes “huh, I guess they’re spying on us, nothing we can do about it”?
Huh?
Oh yeah, Recall, the absolutely horrible… ummm… *checks notes* fully local and encrypted system… That isn’t even implemented yet… but when it is, you’ll need to manually turn it on…
Yeah, truly, the death of privacy is upon us.
Have you read the article you linked?
Linux is more secure than Windows
Linux-desktop is less attacked than Windows.
Are you kidding? My public facing VMs get ssh brute force attacks like 10 times a minute, that’s not counting http attacks, vulnerability scanners, etc etc. all of the internet is running on Linux.
OK, maybe I’m wrong. Why do you think Linux is more secure than Windows (taking into account user-land issues, mind you)?