This alone is enough for me, to consider Windows a bad choise.
I've said that line so many times.
this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2026
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I would note that every single time I've tried to reactivate windows after a mobo or CPU upgrade, it has failed.
I guess it's supposed to work better if you sign into your Microsoft account ever, which I don't, because I see literally no reason they would need me to expect to advance spyware and adware.
The phone activation is the only thing that has worked. Good thing I've been dual booting a Ubuntu fork for the past six months. I guess after my next hardware upgrade I'll be Linux only.
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Remember when you activated software with a key on the back of the CD case?
FCKGW?
How did you get MY key?!
Your key‽ That’s MY key!
Our key comrades.
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This is the dumbest decision for one reason alone: some laptops and desktops that lack updated drivers cannot connect to the internet.
It literally happened to me with a lenovo laptop, where I had to find a way to bypass the internet requirement or else I'd have a $800 paperweight.
If I didn't need Windows for a specific reason I'd be on Linux, believe me. But this decision is ridiculous.
I don't see how this particular thing is an issue. You don't need to activate Windows during the setup. You can skip activation, update the driver, and then activate windows afterwards
I think the real problem is setting up Windows without a Microsoft account?
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Activation scripts can be put onto a USB drive, so if nothing else, there's always a way to keep using the hardware you paid for (assuming you want to stay hostage to these fucks)
Dear Microsoft,
Could you please squeeze your users a little harder yet.
We're eager for the year of the linux desktop.
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microsoft kills official
was gettin excited there
This garbage makes me so glad I switched to Linux Mint. Gaming has been just fine. Sure there have been a few hurdles, but they were well-worth spending time on as Microsoft continues this foolishness.
I've been perfectly happy on Mint since switching over a year ago. The few games I play run just fine (FO4, FOLON, Portal, and such), and the other apps work too, GIMP, Inkscape, LibreOffice, Blender, etc.
In spite of the recent post about which Linux distro to recommend, and seeing many no longer recommend Mint, I'll stick with Mint. It just works.
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To all Linux users. Help out the new ones, explain calmly and make them feel welcome so that they can contribute back later too.
Couldn't you theoretically download an ISO for an older version of Win 11, install that offline without an account, then update it to the latest version?
Well.....here's the thing. Step 1 of your plan is to install windows 11.
In the words of Manny Calavera:
"I don't really want to do that...."
I've installed a more recent version of Win11 without network and local account was still working. I also recently found that the IoT Enterprise version cuts out Copilot AND the Windows store in the base install. So IoT + Massgrave ftw.
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I moved three Win 10 boxes to linux mint cinnamon this week. Twenty more and I'll have made good progress on my little nonprofit. But I'm probably at least a decade from being able to go 100% away from windows and Mac's. Fuck em both.
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"What else can we do that's hostile to our customers?"
The next move will be bringing back Clippy and then a full-screen ad that you have to dismiss every ten seconds.
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It was only a matter of time. Surprised it took this long.
My last Windows will officially be the Win10 IOT I have installed in a Virtual Box, just so I can run a couple of little programs that aren't available for Linux, and don't work in Wine.
I had a copy of windows Xp that I used to call to get activated.
The moment I needed Microsoft’s permission to use my computer after installing a graphics card, I made an image of the drive, wiped it and installed a Linux distribution. That was 2008, and I’ve been a very happy computer user since.
I know not everyone can make that switch, but it’s easier than ever before, and Valve has really changed the calculus with Proton. Gaming was the biggest thing holding back Linux adoption (IMO).
I’ve gone back and forth between Linux and Windows as my daily driver- biggest problem for me was and still is lack of Adobe Creative Cloud support/good photo editors. Wound up switching to Mac for work stuff but use a SteamDeck and run Bazzite on a gaming rig hooked up to TV.
Adobe is sadly the only thing that still requires windows.
Fuck Adobe and everyone there, they were the OGs that started the subscription bullshit for software and they had such dominance no business could say no, thus no schools could say no.
And they've just been buying up competition since, so no one can challenge them.
Adobe and Oracle are the software equivalent of cancer.
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And with that any chance I’ll ever buy a Microsoft product ever again.
I’d switch off windows but most of the games I play won’t work on Linux due to “anti cheat”.
Gta, bf6, rainbow 6, cod, none of these run because the game studios hate giving linix users anything and its not worth their time.
Most of them are made by horrible companies we shouldn't be supporting anyways.
Not judging, just curious.
What games are those? In the last 12 months I tried 151 games on Linux. All of them worked, only 6 required tinkering.
The fact they mentioned "anti cheat", it's going to be your modern online multiplayer games. It's going to be games like Fortnite, PUBG, Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc.
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I've come to terms with the fact that i just won't play those games. There are just too many wonderful games out there that do run perfectly well under linux. Does help that most of my gaming buddies think the same. Definitely a challenge when your entire friend group is hooked in those kinda games
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You could always just install Linux Mint and then install the Mint XP theme. No Microsoft Account required.
There are offline environments that cannot do it online, this is bullshit. Working with critical infrastructure in OT networks, Microsoft is basically saying that Windows should not be used anymore in those.
Problem is that OT is full of legacy shit, so switching to Linux is more easily said than done.
Microsoft is basically saying that Windows should not be used anymore in those.
I would agree with them.
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