Linux or Windows.
Linux or Windows.
Does anybody know if when using Windows on a computer but not paying for anything windows related: is windows/ Bill Gates profiting from it? Is it worth installing linux as a protest?
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Based on your country microsoft will run a varying amount of ads in the OS, and as mentioned by other users: telemetry.
Is it worth installing Linux as a protest? Depends. Switching to Linux will always come with a little bit of tinkering involved. So the answer depends on your willingness to spend some time to learn a new OS. But it offers you the opportunity to gain some control over your machine, privacy and learn some things.
I would switch the "will always" into "might". "Switching to Linux might come with a little bit of tinkering involved." I have seen more and more cases when you put a linux on somebody's laptop and they even hardly notice something is different.
I used Linux as a child. I remember that I couldn't play games on it... Define tinkering... It'll be pointless to have a computer if I can't play games on it imo
From my experience (Linux Mint exclusively) you might need to edit config files, fiddle with drivers and packages, and compatibility software like wine, lutris etc. ChatGPT proofed quite helpfull with most of these tasks, and there are passionate ppl on lemmy ready to help you out.
Gaming is in a great spot imo. I can run abt 90% of my steam games thanks to proton, and I was pleasently surprised that some EA games ran without the EA client. Competetive games on the other hand are a bit of a gamble since most of them don't have an anti cheat solution for Linux and won't run.
Would a windows emulator be possible? Or is that basically like running windows anyway?
Proton kinda is that already. I mean it's not technically doing "emulation" (it's based on WINE, which literally stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), but it is a reimplementation and translation layer of the Windows API, such that Windows games can run in Linux.
Anyway, it works fine (except for kernel-level anti-cheat) and has done for quite a while now.
Also, to answer your original question: absolutely you should use Linux. Everyone should, including US folks, because Windows is literally malware. Don't even run it in a VM, let alone on the bare metal machine.
@Liljekonvalj @KokusnussRitter
I just finished installing Wine (which, as the name itself says, is not a Windows emulator). If you really need to run a Windows application, Wine will do the trick for many apps you may need. So, my suggestion is: switch to Linux, find any alternative for your needs, and, in case you don't find some alternative apps, install Wine and get rid of Microsoft once for all.
You don't really need Microsoft at all.I don't have a lot of experience with that. I had a Win10 Virtual Machine ages ago, so it is possible but I don't know if/to what extend it could collect your data and sell it.
A virtual machine running Windows will act exactly like a bare metal machine, with all the telemetry and advertising and such.
In any case, it at least won't touch anything outside the vm.
That would depend on how directory and clipboard sharing are configured. There are some potential problems if the user is looking to share files between the VM and the host.
Just install Steam or GoG and play the games through those. Then all the configuration work is done by the Steam/GoG crew. You just buy the game, install it and play, out of the box. About a quarter of Steam's games work on Linux. The only thing I miss is something akin to Skyrim or Witcher. Factorio works and Stellaris works, so I'm happy :)
EDIT: Ok, Steam's American. But GoG is Polish.
Oh, don't worry about games. With Steam's Proton, they work like a charm (there are exceptions of coarse, but the majority does). Sometimes even better than on Windows. For non-Steam games there are options as well.
The biggest problem I've seen people struggle with when migrating from Windows to Linux is that they do things the Windows way, but this is a different operating system, so obviously it doesn't work and they get frustrated. The hardest part of switching to Linux is being able to and willing to learn how to use a computer again, but from a different perspective.