I see so many people claiming that windows is crap and that’s why they moved to Linux.
That got me thinking: I can no longer have an opinion in the matter. I haven’t used Windows at home since 2004. I used it at work until the beginning of 2019 but someone else maintained it, since then, I haven’t had the need to touch windows.
Whether good or bad, I feel I’m not as knowledgeable as I was.
Well, actually, two years ago I cleaned up and “revived” my dad’s desktop which was taking two minutes to boot and about the same time to open the first app. After installing an SSD and a couple of hours of clean-up, it was as fast as new. I guess with proper maintenance it can be good enough. However, isn’t it the main criticism about Linux? That you “need to know” to use it?
People complain about Linux drivers, but as far as I remember, it was quite common that new versions of Windows dropped old drivers and your perfectly good printer/scanner/video card/etc. became a paperweight. Is that still the case?
I would say upgrading to an SSD is like a magic wand for an ailing system, regardless of OS.
As others have said, at the core the issue is enshittification, be it AI, or Recall, or ads, or Microsoft account requirements.
Truth is, if Microsoft had taken all of that out, left me with something that was functionally very much like what was available in the XP & 7 era, then eh… Windows would probably still be my daily driver. I still have to use it for work. But there has just too much encroachment on the ways I want to use and control what is on my system that I couldn’t justify using it anymore, let alone pay for it.
All my home computers are on Arch or Debian now, and I couldn’t be happier.