I still don't know why Linux Mint didn't work on my previous main desktop. Video performance was so bad that even basic desktop stuff was slow and stuttered, and then it randomly locked up (requiring a hard shutdown - even the reset button didn't work).

In case nobody has been able to tell from my earlier posts, my attempts to move away from Windows 10 have been a total disaster. I'm ready to abandon modern hardware, get a computer from the dump that doesn't meet the Windows 11 CPU requirement, and run Lubuntu on it. The latest LTS version should finally have the compositor enabled by default, which will fix the screen tearing problems it has had since switching from LXDE to LXQt.

Windows 11 is really stupid. Who thought that Explorer needs to recommend files for you to open? Of course, the worst problem is the big tech corporate dystopia of the LLM-powered surveillance state and all of the regular people (unaffiliated with those corporations) who get angry at me for saying something.

yesterday i updated mint 22.1 XFCE in my T60 (its even more annoying than windows with the updates), restarted and then proceeded to login loop, it reaches the desktop, shows some icons and then goes back to the login screen

i wasted 2 hours trying to fix this from the console. In 1 year i tried to update mint 3 times, the 3 times something broke .

Guess what Linux? i coming back to 10 LTSC because i value my time and i have better things to do than thinkering with things that are fixed in Windows since XP. At least now i can suspend the computer and login with the fingerprint.

Also, the amount of things that i still have to do from the console and that should be in a GUI makes me mad.

This was my last effort on trying to adopt Linux in a looong time, im happy with a fine tuned 11 and 10 LTSC for those who cant run it. Well see in 5 or 10 years.

rant /off

Namrok wrote on 2025-09-04, 17:06:

Well, I finally talked my wife into letting me put Linux Mint on her 10 year old laptop. There is nothing wrong it, in fact I upgraded the memory from 8 GB to 16 GB and upgraded the HDD to an SSD to cope with the continuing enshittification of Windows 10. I've been on Linux Mint since the beginning of the year, and all my wife does is use the internet on it. When I went to log into Windows to begin backing up files, I noticed some telemetry service was using 100% of the CPU. See, it's shit like this...

She keeps complaining that her laptop has "gotten slow", and I keep telling her she doesn't have a laptop problem, she has a windows problem. Fingers crossed this goes alright.

So, this went relatively well. Took forever to boot off the USB, the first time I tried I think it failed somewhere along the way. Second time it worked fine. Got everything installed and no wifi. Turned out it used a proprietary driver I had to download using Mint's driver manager. So I plug it into the network the old fashioned way, get it installed... and still nothing. The driver wasn't properly signed. So I had to turn off secure boot to get the wifi to work. Not a huge deal.

Printer was next. Linux thought it discovered it and had drivers ready, but that was a lie. Had to install the drivers using a script downloaded from Brother's support page. After that it went pretty smooth. Until I installed NordVPN, which broke network discovery. That was an easy enough setting to fix, and it helps that I jumped through most of these hoops on my own PC when I switched earlier in the year. Didn't have to wrestle with the wifi however.

Imported all her saved passwords and bookmarks out of Chrome and into Brave, and honestly she barely notices the difference. The web looks the same as it ever did, the laptop appears to perform better, so she's happy. When I checked the resource monitor it was using about 1 GB of ram idling versus Win 10's 4+ GB, and it's CPU was idling around 15-20% versus Win 10's being pegged at 100% because of random cloud processes.

Could it have been possible to "fix" Windows? Maybe. But I'm just so exhausted fighting the enshittification of Windows, having to turn off features it keeps turning back on, uninstalling things, having it constantly override my decisions with new updates. Good riddance.

I'm having my own Linux WiFi problems where some web pages or page elements (like random pictures) refuse to load. When an entire page refuses to load, it will eventually load if I mash F5 (it needs at least three refreshes). I don't know if that's another Qualcomm bug or something else. I probably would have been better off if MSI used AMD's recommended Mediatek WiFi card.

There was also a random bug that prevented Gwenview from opening or image thumbnails from appearing in the file manager, but that was fixed a few days later. That's one of the reasons why I was hesitant to run a rolling-release distro, but I ended up doing it anyway because my hardware is so new. Fedora seems to be more up-to-date without being a full rolling release, so I should probably try it at some point.

Living wrote on 2025-09-05, 04:19:

i value my time and i have better things to do than thinkering with things that are fixed in Windows since XP.

Microsoft has been slowly breaking those solved issues, so it will eventually be just as bad as trying to make Linux work.

Living wrote on 2025-09-05, 04:19:

Also, the amount of things that i still have to do from the console and that should be in a GUI makes me mad.

Linux is definitely not for regular people.

UCyborg wrote on 2025-09-03, 21:18:

Imagine 20 years from now, Windows 10 will be hot topic here! 😁

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!"
It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who're looking at their past living in, err, 'alternative' freedom through a positive light. 🙂

Same can be said about that piece of software, maybe.
There surely will be people who will be nostalgic for Cortana, MS Telemetry Service, the -uh- new taskbar, Edge browser,..

Just wonder if Windows 8.x will make a cameo eventually.
Can't wait to see nostalgia for metro apps, err, modern apps and fullscreen start menu. 🙂

Namrok wrote on 2025-09-03, 20:10:

Something went terribly wonky in the sampling method?

I don't think so. The method is still same, results are little wonky.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-09-06, 16:55:

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!"

Just to explain others E-Gemany = Eastern Germany (GDR) and "the thing" is called Ostalgie. And to add a personal observation, this does not only apply to eastern Germany.

lti wrote on 2025-09-05, 03:56:

I still don't know why Linux Mint didn't work on my previous main desktop. Video performance was so bad that even basic desktop stuff was slow and stuttered, and then it randomly locked up (requiring a hard shutdown - even the reset button didn't work).

In case nobody has been able to tell from my earlier posts, my attempts to move away from Windows 10 have been a total disaster.

Living wrote on 2025-09-05, 04:19:

yesterday i updated mint 22.1 XFCE in my T60 (its even more annoying than windows with the updates), restarted and then proceeded to login loop, it reaches the desktop, shows some icons and then goes back to the login screen

i wasted 2 hours trying to fix this from the console. In 1 year i tried to update mint 3 times, the 3 times something broke .

Guess what Linux? i coming back to 10 LTSC because i value my time and i have better things to do than thinkering with things that are fixed in Windows since XP.

I still will never understand why people have such a struggle with Linux anything when I've used two different distros that expect you to; from ground up: install everything manually one step at a time to get to your desired desktop environment...

I guess it's either:
A: You have NVIDIA graphics but get "nouveau" by default because NVIDIA's drivers are closed source binary blob nightmares that can't be pre-installed by default due to stupid copyright laws.
B: You don't have all the binary blob firmwares for any other piece of hardware in the machine.

I've been running a horribly outdated piece of hardware (First gen Skylake Intel NUC6i7kyk) on Void Linux using just the Xfce desktop environment and lightdm desktop session manager and barring inexplicable hard resets (which should be impossible because I disabled those in the UEFI firmware itself...) I haven't had any general system instability or file system corruption for the past several years now. And just as inexplicable those out of nowhere hard resets have stopped happening entirely with no rhyme or reason as to why they were happening or why it's nolonger happening...

I had gotten this NUC sometime in late 2019 and it's still serving me well with barely anything going amiss apart from Wine having serious regressions because of people overhauling things and clearly not testing the consequences of said overhauling...

Mine was the most boring all-Intel desktop that you can get (Gigabyte H370 HD3 motherboard, and the only expansion card was an Intel 8260 WiFi card in a PCIe adapter), and Mint was the only distro with those kinds of video and stability problems.

Lubuntu and MX Linux had other unrelated problems. I used the MX Linux version with the modified kernel, which was probably the main contributor. Lubuntu just had the screen tearing problem (fixed by enabling the compositor, which should have been enabled by default), and it has been solid on my shitty old Sandy Bridge Toshiba laptop (even better than Windows 7), but I don't know how well it would run on current-generation hardware. Framework (the laptop company) implies that Fedora keeps the kernel and drivers up-to-date, so I'd like to try it (one of the flavors with a different desktop environment than Gnome or KDE) some day.

I've since been running EndeavourOS, and I've been running into all kinds of bugs that I can only assume regular Arch users would also encounter. The worst have been related to KDE and the Qualcomm WiFi card in my current space heater desktop. Even it has locked up a couple times with a green screen (it makes my monitor switch to YPbPr color mode when it crashes) on that newer hardware, but it was fine on the older all-Intel system.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-09-06, 16:55:

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!" It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who'r […]
Show full quote

UCyborg wrote on 2025-09-03, 21:18:

Imagine 20 years from now, Windows 10 will be hot topic here! 😁

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!"
It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who're looking at their past living in, err, 'alternative' freedom through a positive light. 🙂

Same can be said about that piece of software, maybe.
There surely will be people who will be nostalgic for Cortana, MS Telemetry Service, the -uh- new taskbar, Edge browser,..

Just wonder if Windows 8.x will make a cameo eventually.
Can't wait to see nostalgia for metro apps, err, modern apps and fullscreen start menu. 🙂

Not that I've ever lived in a communist country, but can imagine at least a few things were better. I know often the older generations feel um "left behind"? as were promised the state would look after them in old age and now that state no longer exists.

I've also no doubt 20 years time people who grew up on Win10/11 will miss it and just ignore its negative points like Cortana, MS Telemetry, etc.
Just as we ignore the buggy unstable mess that Win9x really is!

I can't see Windows 8 been fondly remembered and think it'll fall into the WinME/Vista category of it's not that terrible, but who knows?

chinny22 wrote on 2025-09-08, 02:55:

Not that I've ever lived in a communist country, but can imagine at least a few things were better. I know often the older gener […]
Show full quote

Jo22 wrote on 2025-09-06, 16:55:

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!" It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who'r […]
Show full quote

UCyborg wrote on 2025-09-03, 21:18:

Imagine 20 years from now, Windows 10 will be hot topic here! 😁

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!"
It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who're looking at their past living in, err, 'alternative' freedom through a positive light. 🙂

Same can be said about that piece of software, maybe.
There surely will be people who will be nostalgic for Cortana, MS Telemetry Service, the -uh- new taskbar, Edge browser,..

Just wonder if Windows 8.x will make a cameo eventually.
Can't wait to see nostalgia for metro apps, err, modern apps and fullscreen start menu. 🙂

Not that I've ever lived in a communist country, but can imagine at least a few things were better. I know often the older generations feel um "left behind"? as were promised the state would look after them in old age and now that state no longer exists.

I've also no doubt 20 years time people who grew up on Win10/11 will miss it and just ignore its negative points like Cortana, MS Telemetry, etc.
Just as we ignore the buggy unstable mess that Win9x really is!

I can't see Windows 8 been fondly remembered and think it'll fall into the WinME/Vista category of it's not that terrible, but who knows?

I was so confused by Win8, 8.1 is already good. And Win98 is my favorite operating system 😀
10 is already mature, but it will end, 11 is a bit mixed up, I am forced to retrograde the start menu and framework, because accessing the shortcut menus is hidden in the basement xD .

chinny22 wrote on 2025-09-08, 02:55:

Not that I've ever lived in a communist country, but can imagine at least a few things were better. I know often the older gener […]
Show full quote

Jo22 wrote on 2025-09-06, 16:55:

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!" It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who'r […]
Show full quote

UCyborg wrote on 2025-09-03, 21:18:

Imagine 20 years from now, Windows 10 will be hot topic here! 😁

Reminds me of a saying about former E-Germany: "Back then not everything was bad!"
It's a sentence by former GDR citizens, who're looking at their past living in, err, 'alternative' freedom through a positive light. 🙂

Same can be said about that piece of software, maybe.
There surely will be people who will be nostalgic for Cortana, MS Telemetry Service, the -uh- new taskbar, Edge browser,..

Just wonder if Windows 8.x will make a cameo eventually.
Can't wait to see nostalgia for metro apps, err, modern apps and fullscreen start menu. 🙂

Not that I've ever lived in a communist country, but can imagine at least a few things were better. I know often the older generations feel um "left behind"? as were promised the state would look after them in old age and now that state no longer exists.

I've also no doubt 20 years time people who grew up on Win10/11 will miss it and just ignore its negative points like Cortana, MS Telemetry, etc.
Just as we ignore the buggy unstable mess that Win9x really is!

I can't see Windows 8 been fondly remembered and think it'll fall into the WinME/Vista category of it's not that terrible, but who knows?

Somehow I doubt anyone will miss Windows 10/11 ever. I mean, anything under the sun is possible, a few people might. But I don't think it will happen at scale. I saw the comparison to Win9x, which I get. Win9x was unstable, and it wasn't uncommon to just reinstall windows or reboot your computer every single day, or even before you started certain games. I think what makes Win9x so nostalgic for so many people, myself included, was not it's quality (that award goes to Windows 2000), it's that it was the first OS to be so easy and intuitive, and effectively give us the UI we still use to this day. And it was also the first operation system, more by coincidence than design, that let most of us play some of the best games ever made during the late 90's. It's hard to separate Windows 9x from Half-Life, Quake 2, Unreal, Baldur's Gate, StarCraft, etc. There was the nascent internet as well which was incredibly tied up win Win9x adoption. Talking to school friends over AIM or ICQ was a profound novelty you could only do in Windows 9x. Kids didn't have phones back then.

I'm not sure Windows 10/11 has any of those same associations. Every game is multi platform now, it has no "exclusives" in the same way Win9x had. Honestly I can see people get nostalgic for whatever smart phone they were using in this era before they get nostalgic for Windows 10 or 11. Young people probably have way more formative experiences on their phones, even specific phones like a Samsung Galaxy or a iPhone, than they do on their computers at all, much less in Windows 10 specifically.

Looks like Win10 extended security updates will be free in EU countries for one year, without the need for cloud backup.

Relevant article.

Namrok wrote on 2025-09-03, 20:10:

Grunt wrote on 2025-09-03, 18:26:

The heck happened? Why is Win7 slowly rising and Windows 11 declining?

Something went terribly wonky in the sampling method?

One percent is something wonky in sampling method:

What is this? It looks like the entire VOGONS has booted up all available Windows 7 licenses. Or seriously what the F?

Grunt wrote on 2025-10-04, 18:52:

What is this? It looks like the entire VOGONS has booted up all available Windows 7 licenses. Or seriously what the F?

Makes sense to me. If I had to decide about keep running an obsolete OS, I would at least choose one that's user friendly.
And since both Windows 7 and 10 are equally being obsolete, Windows 7 is the more comfortable choice.

It's been mentioned in this YouTube short, btw.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PcyRmfszL0E

Installed Manjaro not too long ago on my main machine and I'm dual-booting it since I still need Windows for a handful of things.

Runs good so far vs W10 (which I've lightened up as much as possible without going into custom scripts) and I'm losing only 5-15% when running games on my 3070ti and it's supposedly crappy official linux drivers. I suspect that vs stock W11 it should run things about the same.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-10-10, 09:13:

Makes sense to me. If I had to decide about keep running an obsolete OS, I would at least choose one that's user friendly. And s […]
Show full quote

Grunt wrote on 2025-10-04, 18:52:

What is this? It looks like the entire VOGONS has booted up all available Windows 7 licenses. Or seriously what the F?

Makes sense to me. If I had to decide about keep running an obsolete OS, I would at least choose one that's user friendly.
And since both Windows 7 and 10 are equally being obsolete, Windows 7 is the more comfortable choice.

It's been mentioned in this YouTube short, btw.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PcyRmfszL0E

I'm building a Win7 Ryzen PC with a GTX 1080ti just to be able to run boxed games with little to no patching, though I doubt many other people are doing this to be able to make a dent like that in stats.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-10-10, 09:13:

Makes sense to me. If I had to decide about keep running an obsolete OS, I would at least choose one that's user friendly.
And since both Windows 7 and 10 are equally being obsolete, Windows 7 is the more comfortable choice.

oddly, while I prefer 7 overall I am fine with 10 now in terms of its overall usability, it's been around for a long time, it was a return to some kind of "normal" after windows 8

i know 11 installs on non "compliant" hardware if you want to make that happen, but to me - 10 already works on lots of older hardware, and even older hardware is fine with linux mint or 7. It does kinda fit. It'll be a shame when it starts becoming unsupported. Like others, i'll still use it - but not for anything that matters (online) any more

I used Linux Mint on all my laptops and HTPC for years, but I got tired of spending hours dealing with drivers and configurations, Samba for example, and glitches, when in Windows you can share anything on the network with just a few clicks, and drivers are installed and managed much more easily and quickly, and are more readily available.
On an old computer, I prefer to install Windows 7 instead of Linux, because I know that everything will work without problems.
Then, if the hardware has any special features... more problems. I used an Alienware M17X R3 that has a backlit colorred keyboard, and getting the keyboard lighting to work on Linux was already very complicated, the problem came when, for whatever reason, the entire keyboard would turn off.
I have various Laptops with AMD APUS from the pre Ryzen era, and the support on Linux always gave me a lot of problems, back then I had the impression that Linux favored Intel/nVidia, I don't know how it's now, but I don't care because if I install Windows 10 or 7 on those laptops, every thing just works.
My time is important to me, and installing and configuring Linux takes me longer than disabling telemetry and uninstalling bloatware from Windows 10/11, I always use Pro editions, so I think that all the telemetry and unwanted apps can be disabled/uninstalled, but maybe I'm wrong.

I understand that Linux is perfectly useful for many people, but for me, it is only useful in the Firewall , OpenWRT, because I have not found a suitable alternative for me on Windows or another OS.

Personally, as an alternative to Windows, I really like Haiku OS, but the last time I tried it, it still had problems delivering performance and functionality on par with Windows/Linux. If I ever leave Windows, it will probably be because Haiku OS can meet my needs.

I am going to keep my Win-10 installation which has been Rock solid reliable for the last 3 years
I am going to buy a 2tb Nvme drive for Win-11
Right now I am using a dual boot Nvme Win-10 and 500tb Sata SSD for Win-11
It seems to work okay on my PC Workstation.
I am going to Dual boot 2 Nvme drives one for Win-10 and the other for Win-11
I found Dual booting windows actually works very good and reliable.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-10-10, 09:13:

Makes sense to me. If I had to decide about keep running an obsolete OS, I would at least choose one that's user friendly.
And since both Windows 7 and 10 are equally being obsolete, Windows 7 is the more comfortable choice.

Windows 10 still has extended support at least for 3 years. Windows 7 is obsolete for few years now.

And why such an increase from Asia in particular?

I finally got Windows 11 on my laptop. For some reason, it wouldn't come through Windows Update like it should. There have been so many notifications nagging me to install it, and now that Windows 10 is EOL in two days, there was just a note saying that it would be rolled out to me later. I started the downgrade from USB installation media, and then I waited hours for the "checking for updates" stage of the installer to proceed past 46% (downloading at 5Mbps because that's the limit of my Internet today).

I also installed Linux on an "unsupported" computer to compensate. I still have some configuration to do, but it's midnight now.