This is an excellent article as well as a sign of the times. I wish the list of Linux choices had included Mint, which is essentially Ubuntu without Snaps. Snaps are a partly closed-source Ubuntu project that contradicts the open nature of Linux.
Linux users can install the free software suite LibreOffice, which not only replaces Office but reads and writes the same file formats. Many similar choices exist, this is just one.
Gamers can install the free Steam game compatibility layer on Linux, then play many of the same games they play on Windows.
Meanwhile, Redmond's recent requirement that everyone sign up for a Microsoft account, and its pushing the Recall eavesdropping-to-cloud feature with no user opt-out provisions, clearly signals Microsoft's belief that their customers should't be allowed to choose.
Here is a list of current Windows traits that should be options, but are out of an end-user's control:
* Required Microsoft account.
* User tracking and telemetry without knowledge or consent.
* OneDrive, which is cloud storage and tracking, requires technical skill to disable.
* Desktop-recall images to the cloud, essentially Microsoft mass surveillance.
* Edge browser, cannot disable or remove.
* Unintuitive user interface, out of user's control.
* Advertising everywhere.
All these frequently heard complaints are addressed by Linux, and Linux is free.
I've been a Linux user for 30 years. I maintain one Windows dual-boot system, partly to help friends deal with Windows issues, partly to entertain myself with what most people believe constitutes a normal end-user computer experience.
How do you feel about binary blobs required to run most WiFi cards in Linux? And, I am pretty sure that both NVidia and AMD have similar (binary blobs).
It's a matter of choice. We have no choice about firmware drivers, but we do about which Linux distribution to install. Since there is a choice, we can exercise it and send a signal that open-source is preferred.
> And, I am pretty sure that both NVidia and AMD have similar (binary blobs).
Yes, all true, and as more powerful GPUs appear, this is likely to become a more contentious issue.
You're right, I overstated how Recall works, right now. At the moment, it's opt-in and the images are only stored locally. I was wrong -- my claims were several months out of date.
Recall's current form results from a heated online debate about its original form, which was neither encrypted nor opt-in.
At the time I write this, Microsoft won't allow users to uninstall Recall, a demand made by security professionals who see serious risks for non-technical end users in the event of a compromised system.
Having said that, let's revisit this feature some years from now. Let's see whether Microsoft's perennial corporate death-by-a thousand-cuts strategy has changed anything.
Linux users can install the free software suite LibreOffice, which not only replaces Office but reads and writes the same file formats. Many similar choices exist, this is just one.
Gamers can install the free Steam game compatibility layer on Linux, then play many of the same games they play on Windows.
Meanwhile, Redmond's recent requirement that everyone sign up for a Microsoft account, and its pushing the Recall eavesdropping-to-cloud feature with no user opt-out provisions, clearly signals Microsoft's belief that their customers should't be allowed to choose.
Here is a list of current Windows traits that should be options, but are out of an end-user's control:
* Required Microsoft account.
* User tracking and telemetry without knowledge or consent.
* OneDrive, which is cloud storage and tracking, requires technical skill to disable.
* Desktop-recall images to the cloud, essentially Microsoft mass surveillance.
* Edge browser, cannot disable or remove.
* Unintuitive user interface, out of user's control.
* Advertising everywhere.
All these frequently heard complaints are addressed by Linux, and Linux is free.
I've been a Linux user for 30 years. I maintain one Windows dual-boot system, partly to help friends deal with Windows issues, partly to entertain myself with what most people believe constitutes a normal end-user computer experience.
A bit of context -- my first computer was an Apple II in 1977, so my definition of personal computing might seem out of touch with modern times (https://www.atariarchives.org/deli/cottage_computer_programm...).