So far I’ve managed to avoid most this kind of crap with minor tweaking, but with end of life coming soon I’ve been meaning to make the switch for ages, but there are always more urgent priorities… If you don’t mind me asking, and if you know - is it still possible to switch from win10 to win10 LTSC, and if so, what does it entail (do I need a fresh install, or can I just upgrade?)?
Wow, thanks! That does look promising (to me as a lay person anyway!), I’ll have to give it a try once I’ve sorted out that extra memory I’ve been meaning to buy since my backup space is running out, and I definitely want to make sure I have a solid back up before trying anything.
The last one about a backup is a great idea. Not because some receipt can be misleading, but because my 20y+ with Windows showed me it has some temper on it’s own and can kick back for no reason.
Well… at least at home you can run Linux. That’s a start. And otherwise try to switch or create your own business. It seems the latter is the only option to fully get rid of Windows, since soon companies will move to Windows 11 with Windows Recall and other AI bs. No thanks, I’m out.
Any company worth anything will keep recall disabled. Obviously, with Microsoft, it will get “accidentally” activated in an update, so admins will have to play whack a mole, but nobody should enable that malware when it’s released.
Everything about it is so bad. It’s like someone woke up one day and thought, what is the legally worst piece of software I can make and force in people?
Users of Microsoft accepted more and more. And slowly we are all in this situation (if you would still use Windows). Similar to the The Boiling Frog Syndrome. Get out now, while you still can. Try to search for alternatives. You have been warned.
I went cold turkey to Linux this past December. Best choice I’ve ever made. I am still stuck on Windows for work and I assist friends and family with their stuff, but otherwise I’m happily out of the system.
Oh that’s no accident, nor do your words go far enough, unfortunately, bc they are doing stuff now that actually was fully illegal, back when the US government was more functional and pursued antitrust laws against Microsoft. :-(
How does the interoperability work for your setup? Did you set up something special? What backup system do you use?
I ask because I plan to integrate some Apple stuff so my family can interact with it, like local-only backups, interacting with the TV (kodi) and music (mpd). I will not use software from apple on my side (well, beside the FOSS stuff from them, like bonjour or the printer stuff).
I meant like a daily usage situation - e.g. working from a terminal, running MacVim, and things like Firefox and Slack etc. all work fine from a Mac - but I don’t self-host, and I run actual Mac OSX itself, so my answers may be of limited utility to you.
If someone else is reading this I would look into running a Jellfin server from a machine running Linux, which can be connected to from a device running iOS or Android or whatever they want - but your kodi+mpd already sounds like it should do the trick.
Hopefully you can avoid running Mac OSX itself, but if that’s not possible then perhaps at worst you could get a machine that does that and then partially isolate it on the network? (though that is beyond my skillset:-)
For TV I just an ancient ChromeCast (iirc it’s a first-generation even!) and that works from everything (ironically one of the harder solutions was from Samsung mobile, though even ancient iPads have apps that will make it happen). I worry about when my TV and especially the ChromeCast dies what will I do - it will take so much time to investigate a replacement, it seems all/most of the newer solutions are trying to inject ads or whatever into the stream, or even just not working as simply as the old. Mine is security through obscurity, which only works for so long until the hardware flat wears out:-).
And I barely have a backup solution - just a single SSD that I put stuff onto when I think about it, and is aging so when it too wears out… I have so much catching up that I need to do, I’m setting myself up for pain most likely:-(. But also I tend to “stream” most things rather than “download”, so my need for thus is extremely much smaller.
I have been using custom start menus since the whole win8 full screen disaster. Every time I see the default win 10 or Win 11 menu I cringe. So much crap in the way.
Process optimization reaches a point of diminishing returns. Then if tweaked further it degrades the performance. Microsoft reached the close to the optimal OS design at Win7. It’s all been downhill since then.
The mobile OS systems are reaching the same point. Optimization has occured and most of the “new” additions degrade the user experience.
I’m running Windows 10 LTSC with a custom start menu (StartIsBack). So far I have avoided all of Microsoft’s nonsense.
As long as I’m not ready to switch to Linux 100%, this is probably the best possible solution.
So far I’ve managed to avoid most this kind of crap with minor tweaking, but with end of life coming soon I’ve been meaning to make the switch for ages, but there are always more urgent priorities… If you don’t mind me asking, and if you know - is it still possible to switch from win10 to win10 LTSC, and if so, what does it entail (do I need a fresh install, or can I just upgrade?)?
I’m pretty sure it’ll be a fresh install, even if you do it from within your existing install. It’ll do a parallel install.
LTSC images (MD5 verifiable)
Microsoft Activation Scripts
Fresh install is better tbh
Better, fair, but is it possible to upgrade an existing install? 😬
I have a lot going on right now and convenience is priority over ideal if I’m honest…
The thrid one looks like a solid suggestion: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/544156/windows-10-pro-to-ltsc See if you trust it.
Wow, thanks! That does look promising (to me as a lay person anyway!), I’ll have to give it a try once I’ve sorted out that extra memory I’ve been meaning to buy since my backup space is running out, and I definitely want to make sure I have a solid back up before trying anything.
The last one about a backup is a great idea. Not because some receipt can be misleading, but because my 20y+ with Windows showed me it has some temper on it’s own and can kick back for no reason.
I wish you to get it right without a problem.
Oh yeah, I’ve had my fair share of disaster, backing up lesson learned the hard way lol
I’ll do my best to remember to update when I get around to trying the upgrade out. Thanks again!
I went 10 years ago to Linux. To avoid all Windows non sense…
Many people want that, but can’t bc of their jobs.:-(
Well… at least at home you can run Linux. That’s a start. And otherwise try to switch or create your own business. It seems the latter is the only option to fully get rid of Windows, since soon companies will move to Windows 11 with Windows Recall and other AI bs. No thanks, I’m out.
Any company worth anything will keep recall disabled. Obviously, with Microsoft, it will get “accidentally” activated in an update, so admins will have to play whack a mole, but nobody should enable that malware when it’s released.
I agree. Fun fact: You can’t uninstall Microsoft Recall.
Everything about it is so bad. It’s like someone woke up one day and thought, what is the legally worst piece of software I can make and force in people?
Users of Microsoft accepted more and more. And slowly we are all in this situation (if you would still use Windows). Similar to the The Boiling Frog Syndrome. Get out now, while you still can. Try to search for alternatives. You have been warned.
I went cold turkey to Linux this past December. Best choice I’ve ever made. I am still stuck on Windows for work and I assist friends and family with their stuff, but otherwise I’m happily out of the system.
Oh that’s no accident, nor do your words go far enough, unfortunately, bc they are doing stuff now that actually was fully illegal, back when the US government was more functional and pursued antitrust laws against Microsoft. :-(
Oh yuck. I also switched away - half Linux, two-thirds Mac (hehe, all fun:-) - but not everyone can manage that.
How does the interoperability work for your setup? Did you set up something special? What backup system do you use?
I ask because I plan to integrate some Apple stuff so my family can interact with it, like local-only backups, interacting with the TV (kodi) and music (mpd). I will not use software from apple on my side (well, beside the FOSS stuff from them, like bonjour or the printer stuff).
I meant like a daily usage situation - e.g. working from a terminal, running MacVim, and things like Firefox and Slack etc. all work fine from a Mac - but I don’t self-host, and I run actual Mac OSX itself, so my answers may be of limited utility to you.
If someone else is reading this I would look into running a Jellfin server from a machine running Linux, which can be connected to from a device running iOS or Android or whatever they want - but your kodi+mpd already sounds like it should do the trick.
Hopefully you can avoid running Mac OSX itself, but if that’s not possible then perhaps at worst you could get a machine that does that and then partially isolate it on the network? (though that is beyond my skillset:-)
For TV I just an ancient ChromeCast (iirc it’s a first-generation even!) and that works from everything (ironically one of the harder solutions was from Samsung mobile, though even ancient iPads have apps that will make it happen). I worry about when my TV and especially the ChromeCast dies what will I do - it will take so much time to investigate a replacement, it seems all/most of the newer solutions are trying to inject ads or whatever into the stream, or even just not working as simply as the old. Mine is security through obscurity, which only works for so long until the hardware flat wears out:-).
And I barely have a backup solution - just a single SSD that I put stuff onto when I think about it, and is aging so when it too wears out… I have so much catching up that I need to do, I’m setting myself up for pain most likely:-(. But also I tend to “stream” most things rather than “download”, so my need for thus is extremely much smaller.
That’s already plenty, thank you very much!
At my job I run what my employer wants me to run. I get paid for it, they get to decide the OS.
But at home I’ve been running Linux since 2006.
common sense 101
I have been using custom start menus since the whole win8 full screen disaster. Every time I see the default win 10 or Win 11 menu I cringe. So much crap in the way.
Process optimization reaches a point of diminishing returns. Then if tweaked further it degrades the performance. Microsoft reached the close to the optimal OS design at Win7. It’s all been downhill since then.
The mobile OS systems are reaching the same point. Optimization has occured and most of the “new” additions degrade the user experience.
The Win10 one can be pretty handy if set up nicely.
I also like the LTSC version for my workstation, less nonsense.
Outside of junk pre-installed, isn’t it also just a longer extended windows update? Meaning you’d eventually get the updates regardless?
No, LTSC only receives security updates, not feature updates.
Interesting, thank you for the detail.