Windows has been in my life since that fateful day my parents bought a Pentium-MMX 233MHz powered Windows95 desktop for their business all the way back in 1997. Before that we had a few hand-me-down computers all based on DOS given to us by family members.
Windows95 started my deep dive into computer software and hardware. That eventually led me to college and graduate as a Computer Systems Technician.
There were all the usual stops. Windows95 gave way to Windows98 and then to Windows98 SE. From there I moved on to WindowsXP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.
All the entries of Windows from 95 to 8.1 were more than tolerable (minus 8, that was trash). Windows 7 was probably my favorite of them all.
Then came Windows 10 in 2015. Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s supposed final operating system in OSX. Microsoft decided to make Windows 10 their “final” version of Windows as well as they moved Windows to a software-as-a-service model rather than a focus on singular retail sales.
Windows 10, while relatively speedy has been a terrible glitchy mess since it’s release in 2015. There have been very few releases over the years that have not introduced bugs and some even bricked computers completely.
Microsoft has been really aggressive with their updates making it incredibly hard to stop any computer from updating automatically. I run Professional versions of Windows 10 on all my systems. I should have control over what is installed and removed from my computer.
In fact, Windows still downloads games immediately on professional machines. It’s ridiculous.
Microsoft has also made it incredibly hard to setup systems without a Microsoft account since the launch as well.
Ever since Microsoft released Windows 11 (their FINAL final edition of Windows?) they have been nudging me to upgrade. I appreciate that upgrade is free but I am not going to upgrade to an operating system that spies on me even more the Window 10. Windows 11 also makes it almost impossible to setup without a Microsoft Account.
To prevent Windows from installing Windows 11 without my permission I disabled the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on my system. Otherwise I was concerned it would automatically install overnight like it did on my dad’s laptop (thanks Microsoft). Microsoft made TPM 2.0 a requirement of Windows 11 (in the process creating millions of tons of E-waste, thanks Microsoft). That was successful until just a couple days ago when Windows informed me that my system was ready for Windows 11 and was pre-downloading the installation so I can install it when it (not I) was ready.
WTF?
I then find out from Dan that this issue has been bricking computers recently. Great.
So I decided to monitor this and proceeded to do some Windows Updates. After those updates, I could no longee stream any online video in any browser on any website. I also could not play local video. All I would get is the first frame of video in every case and no controls would work.
Even after updating graphics drivers and restarting my computer no video would play.
Excuse my French, but FUCK YOU MICROSOFT.
This has been coming for a long time. I am tired of Microsoft trying to get every last ounce of data out of me from my computer. I am tired of them selling that information to third parties. I am tired of updates that break things so often (printers are STILL broken for many people). There are so many other things that have pushed me to the edge here that I have not put down here. I honestly can’t remember them all.
The alternative? Linux. Linux has matured enough to the point that I can do all I want on it. Streaming, browsing, work and even gaming. Valve’s Steam Deck with Proton, and for games outside of Steam, Lutris, makes gaming a snap.
I will never return to Windows. I am not the only one leaving, Microsoft. Pick up your game or leave the business and stick to your cloud business. It’s obviously all you are interested in taking seriously.
Pop!_OS for me.
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