I haven’t been spending much time online lately but did miss coming here to talk Linux etc.
A couple months back, I picked up a Lenovo IdeaPad for a new laptop. Of course, the first thing I did was partition and install Ubuntu which runs perfectly on this machine. The only thing that doesn’t work in Ubuntu is the fingerprint reader which isn’t a huge deal but it’s so convenient to just swipe my finger to login to Windows and unlock Bit Defender under W11.
I fully expected to dislike Windows 11. However, I must say it’s very snappy. Explorer having tabs is a nice upgrade. Battery life is excellent. Of course it’s still cramming Edge down my throat. I decided to try Edge for a while and really like it overall. I know it’s just a Chrome clone, but it has nice features.
I still plan on using and playing with Linux but I’m impressed with W11. What’s everyone else think of Windows 11?
@DanTheManDRH
At least you did not wipe the whole drive and install Linux, W11 runs just fine!!! The only difference between you and I, is that I would never partition my W11 boot drive for Linux. although I will run Linux in a VM.
I don’t mind Windows 11. I bought a medium-level box and use it exclusively for gaming–it was cheaper than any console. But I do all my important work, with important data, on a workhorse Linux machine. They’re connected with a KVM so I can use just one keyboard/monitor/mouse, but the Windows 11 box is just for games, not anything important. It works ok.
At work they have not blessed it as an upgrade item. Maybe they never will. I’ll get W11 on the next laptop.
At home I have a Dell laptop with an 11th gen i7 and it would run W11 just fine, but that’s where I’m running Pop!_OS. The hardware makes it difficult to install Windows, believe it or not. There is an Intel Optane drive and that seems to muck things up for a generic install. I could pester Dell for a USB installer, but I am not very interested right now.
I also have a tower that is first gen i7 and is capable of running W11, but Microsoft does not officially support that gen. I get along with W10 dual booting with Ubuntu there.
My home laptop has a fingerprint reader. It did work with Windows 10, but not with Pop!_OS. That would be nice.
@DanTheManDRH That Lenovo looks very nice and at $500 seems like a steal. My kids each have a Lenovo laptop they are happy with.
I also use MS Edge for the most part now. I use Firefox for my AWS work and a few other sites. I started using Edge when the Firefox snap started up super slowly. That has improved a ton and I could use the snap again at this point without any painful startup delays.
One of the coolest ways I use Edge is to have it read aloud a page. Unfortunately, they removed that feature from the Linux version a couple years ago.
I upgraded to Windows 11, only had it for ten minutes and reinstalled Windows 10. Absolutely hated it. I dual boot Windows 10 with Linux Mint 21.2, as 21.3 Xfce edition has some rather heavy ram usage going on, but will leave that for another day. Use icy docks on my computer, meaning that I can plugin whatever drive I want to use. Linux Mint and Windows are separated away from each other. Linux is always first to boot too.
I use a script to debloat Windows and take away some of the telemetry. I advise people who are using Windows to login with a local account, as Microsoft won’t be able to track you so easily. Delete or uninstall unwanted crap that Microsoft cram down your throat, that they think that every user of their OS needs. The script I use is from Chris Titus Tech. He wrote the script, featuring free and open source software. Video below.
I have several clients now on 11 as they insisted they needed new computers as windows 7 had finished and 10 could not be bought on new machines. So played a little with it but nothing too exciting just like 10 but trying to copy a mac with icons in the bottom middle of the screen bit like launcher.
Would i buy it for me … NO
Is it any good … NO
If it was then we would not be waiting niw for 12 to come out in September, get the feeling 11 is just a repeat of windows 8 or 8.1
My only W11 experience was with tinyW11 in a VM.
I could only get it to bring up one window at a time? Never conquered that… is that how you are supposed to work?
I use Edge all the time - on Linux and MacOS - it works VERY well when integrated with other Microsoft productions (I’m talking Office 365) - I sync Edge using my work Office 365 account. I have no complaints.
I do also run Brave and Chrome (all three at the same time usually). On my work Macbook - I usually have Firefox running as well!
I do most of my personal stuff and searches (e.g. even work related searches [I AIN’T about to start using Bing in Edge for that!]) in Brave, using Google’s engine (yeah yeah - cookies privacy, blah blah blah) - but I keep Chrome running most of the time as well, usually just a secondary social media account - and Google Maps (yeah i runs in Brave and Edge - but Google Maps / Street / Earth runs so much better in Google Chrome).
Strangely - I don’t use Safari on either of my Macs - I only ever use it on my iPad…
Last two laptops I’ve bought has never been booted to windows. I just install Linux directly. Same with my second hand htpc. I did try win10 in wm and I hated it immediately Maybe it’s just me because it’s been so long I’ve had an win machine.
Last August I brought a used Lenovo laptop model E14 with an i5 11th gen processor. It had Windows 11 already installed. I added a M2 SSD and install Linux Mint. So now the PC has dual boot.
I must say I believe Windows 11 is a great improvement over Windows 10. I started using Linux because I got so feed up with Win 10. If Win 11 had come out sooner, I might not had made the switch to Linux.
There was a stage, for me, when Debian Linux was a great improvement over FreeBSD.
More recently I am finding that rolling release Linuxes are an improvement over fixed release distros.
What next?
Maybe some new init system will outperform systemd.
Maybe immutable distros.
Maybe we all switch to GUiX
Same here - last laptop I “bought” was a Lenovo E495 (Ryzen 5) - never even booted Windows - wiped the 256 GB SSD (NVMe) with Ubuntu 22 (I think?). I’ve since upgraded to a 1 TB SSD and running Pop!_OS 22.04 on it…
Note - just a reminder - if your device came with a Windows license - you might be able get your OEM license code(s) back using the strings command on Linux :
This also works on Dell hardware too (but naturally enough - doesn’t work on my MSI desktop motherboard - which has NEVER EVER EVER booted any Microsoft Operating system ) - I’m also guessing it might not work on Dell XPS Developer Edition with Linux pre-installed (and maybe same for Lenovo devices with Linux pre-installed).
Nice to know, thanks Dan! My newer laptop is 5 years old so I’m not sure they’ll refund anymore. Next one I’m going to buy secondhand. I don’t need newest hardware.
I’m pretty sold on my used hp/compaq 6300 small format box. There are probably millions of these ‘obsolete’ office computers available. I found mine at NewEgg for about 80USD, but there are plenty of vendors out there.
I had space for adding an extra spinner but it’s too old for an M2. I have a 1T external plugged into a USB port for backups. I usually put a daily driver on the original 500G drive (this month it’s Xubuntu) and slice up the 1T second HDD for sandbox use. Right now it’s Antix, but I haven’t figured out how to get the sound working. I may reload Emmabuntus–it’s pretty neat and I haven’t rung all the bells and blown all the whistles.
We can save a ton of money with ‘obsolete’ computers!
One of my mobo went belly-up and I am now using a mini that was given to me lately, but mine is an Acer AXC-603G-UW14. It only has space for a DVD and one HDD, I changed the HDD and installed a SSD, wiped W10 and it is now running Gentoo and Redcore, with ram maxed out at 6GB, Nothing I can do with the CPU, it is soldered to the mobo.
Couldn’t get sound to play in Firefox while using Antix. Will check in their forum.
Otherwise, it’s fine. I like polished, functional distros that simply work after installation. Debian, Devuan, Mint, Fedora, Peppermint–all work when new with a minimum of fuss. They recognize my hardware.
I don’t have the patience to deal with distros that fuss about UEFI or have an uncommon cli (Void) behavior. And I’m damned sure not going to learn to compile anything at 76!
Maybe it’s just me because it’s been so long I’ve had an win machine.
) - I’m also guessing it might not work on Dell XPS Developer Edition with Linux pre-installed (and maybe same for Lenovo devices with Linux pre-installed).