Who needs Windows? You need to use better applications. And if work requires Windows, this article still doesn’t apply because it is the company’s responsibility, not yours, and running on an unsupported machine is a security risk.
I use Linux and none of the programs I need for structural engineering work on Linux.
Trust me, I would totally ditch the dual boot if I could, but sadly, I can’t
Hopefully that’ll change as more users adopt it. But most users don’t need structural engineering or other specialized software, they just don’t want to change their workflow.
Exceptions exist, and they should become fewer as the userbase of Linux grows.
What are they called? What do you need for Linux that only works on Windows or Mac right now?
Revit, Tekla, AutoCAD, the usual. I have tried out FreeCAD but found it clunky to use comparably.
Try BriscCAD. It is very similar to AutoCAD and supports their files.
Revit seems to work fine with Wine, and although wineHQ reports Tekla performance as garbage, that was a very long time ago. It probably works better now.
Trust me, if you’re used to the AutoCAD workflow and UI, BricsCAD is just different enough that it can be a bit jarring and a huge drop to your productivity.
Because of course there’s absolutely no program a regular person outside of work could possibly need Windows for. None at all. Not a single application. Not a single game. Not a single piece of hardware they’re using (like many laptops with hardware needing specific drivers that don’t exist for linux).
Nope, absolutely nothing a regular user could have a need for Windows.
I didn’t say all applications work. I said use better ones.
As for hardware, less computers support win11 than Linux. You can run Linux on 40 year old computers, and on brand new computers.
Ans this article is literally about bypassing the restrictions that were put in place to protect users with CPUs that have the specte and meltdown vulnerabilities. You’re safer on win10 even after they stop supporting it than win11.
So just another variation of the “you’re using it wrong” excuse. Gotcha.
If you’d rather risk becoming a botnet node than to even consider using alternative software then you are absolutely using it wrong.
If your computer doesn’t support win11, then switching to Linux before win10 ends is the only right choice. The other less right choices are:
Stay on win10, Upgrade to win11 and disconnect it from the network and the internet permanently.
The worst choice is do what OP did.
You’re safer on win10 even after they stop supporting it than win11.
That’s just not true. An actual spectre/meltdown/etc exploit is much less likely than you run-of-the-mill virus or whatever, so if you’re not getting security updates to your OS and apps, you’ll be much worse off than the fringe case of a theoretical attack.
So that part is just flat out wrong.
Either upgrade your hardware or run Linux, don’t run outdated software on anything that touches the internet.
Security updates means patches against exploits like spectre/meltdown, not antivirus updates. You’ll still be getting antivirus updates on windows 10.
Which means that until such an exploit has been discovered, windows 10 would be safer than windows 11 since windows 10 does have a countermeasure against spectre/meltdown while windows 11 doesn’t. Windows 11 literally does not provide security updates to unsupported computers, and the exploits are already known.
windows 10 would be safer than windows 11
Virus protection is a lot different than security patches, and there are a lot more exploits than hardware-level exploits. Virus protection can limit the mechanisms that security holes can be exploited, but they aren’t proactive, but reactive, so by the time your antivirus detects a virus, you have already been exploited, and it’s possible you have been exploited for some time. Antivirus checkers don’t catch everything, and they can be delayed in catching issues for quite some time.
On the whole, I think Windows 11 would be safer than Windows 10 because:
- almost nobody uses Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, so the attacks in the wild will be much less common
- a lot of people will use Windows 10 on supported hardware after SW support ends, so any zero-days will remain unpatched at the OS level, so you’ll be vulnerable to any new viruses using older exploits; the longer you use unsupported SW, the more viruses will be created to exploit it
If I had a friend/family member considering using Windows 11 w/ unsupported hardware, I would give them these options:
- upgrade their hardware - I’ll help them pick out something or upgrade what they have
- use something other than Windows - some flavor of Linux, most likely
Remaining on Windows 10 is unacceptable because it’ll get more insecure the longer they use it, and using Windows 11 on unsupported hardware is unacceptable because they’re vulnerable to bugs in unsupported hardware. That said, I think Windows 11 on unsupported hardware will be more secure than Windows 10 w/o software updates on supported hardware.
OWC instructions for updating their firmware on macOS are basically “Install parallels. Install windows 11. Run the firmware updater.”
https://eshop.macsales.com/support/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock
Linux doesn’t have several programs I use to control my peripherals, the mobo RGB profile, and GPU fan control from Sapphire. It also doesn’t have a proper AMD adrenalin as far as I’ve checked, nor firmware updater for SSD/NVME, and the list goes on and on. I also heard controlling high refresh rate displays on linux is a nightmare.
If I want to use the gaming PC I built to its full potential then I need windows…
The article is still dumb though, anyone left behind using old hardware should not go through the pain of forcing win11 to run. They all should switch to linux
You usually don’t need proprietary software and drivers on Linux because of the great general purpose open source alternatives. Even on Windows, a ton of the drivers are actually useless and only bloat your system or perform invasive telemetry.
Personally I don’t even use the RGB features on my gaming PC, but OpenRGB is open source and lightweight. I would probably use it over proprietary RGB profiles even on Windows. You should give it a try.
GPU fan control is already available by default in most Linux distributions and should require no additional drivers.
AMD always have Linux drivers. The Linux adrenaline driver is here: https://www.amd.com/en/support/download/linux-drivers.html
SSD/NVME firmware updates should also already be supported by default in linux. With for example fwupdmgr.
High refresh rate displays should also work out the box on the modern distributions. On Linux Mint and Ubuntu they have a GUI for it, but changing resolution and refresh rate with Xrandr also only takes one or two terminal commands. There likely is software to do it, but if anything I could write you a script that does it if your distribution doesn’t already have GUI for it. I had to write a script to adjust some of my monitors’ drawing area because I mirror, but my displays don’t have the same aspect ratio.
I have already looked up most of what you recommended, and I arrived at the same initial conclusion…
- OpenRGB doesn’t list support for my Gigabyte mobo, or XPG ram (unless I’m reading this wrong). I need this to stop the default behavior which is rainbow puke
- AMD adrenalin only lists 3 distros, and none of which I’d like to use (I’d prefer linux mint LMDE)
- Plus I haven’t even talked about the apps (office for starters, then itunes+icloud which I use to sideload apps)
OpenRGB doesn’t list support for my Gigabyte mobo
Unfortunately, this is still relatively common on Linux, but it’s not really a Linux issue, but a manufacturer issue. The manufacturers should be the ones supporting Linux, not the other way around.
The situation is getting better, so when it comes time to upgrade, you can find something more open so you’re not beholden to some random software and have more choice.
AMD adrenalin only lists 3 distros
Honestly, I don’t see the point of adrenalin on Linux. For framerate locking, use libstrangle or mangohud. Don’t bother with OC, it’s honestly not worth it (if you really want to, it is totally possible).
I don’t know what else Adrenaline provides, but I’m sure there’s a way to get what you want on Linux.
apps
This is absolutely hit-or-miss, and IMO a bigger issue if you really need something that’s not properly supported on Linux. If it’s not in the repositories or in flathub, IMO, don’t bother if it’s going to be a dealbreaker (esp. Adobe products).
But if you’re fine using an alternative (e.g. LibreOffice for office software, likewise for any other apps), then give WINE a shot, maybe you can keep your same workflow. Or if it’s really only for an occasional thing either run a VM (if it’s not performance sensitive) or dual boot. I have a drive w/ Windows installed just in case I need it for something, but I haven’t booted into it for something like 2 years now. But it’s there if I ever actually need it (will need a ton of updates though).
When people create programs/drivers “See, it exists for Linux, no need for manufacturers, it’s much better!”
When programs/drivers are missing for Linux “It’s the manufacturers you should blame!”
So, which is it now?
We should always blame manufacturers. Either it’s manufacturers helping out development by creating decent drivers, or it’s manufacturers hiding their documentation so developers have to reverse engineer their chips, which takes way longer. But the focus should always be on the manufacturers, whether for good or bad.
I’m sorry but “you need to use better applications” is very funny to read when most of the time the Linux open source alternative will never be as good as the product made by the company that has hundreds of paid employees working on it.
otoh a lot of the most useful and enduring software ever made has been made by volunteers in their spare time
Except most big open source project are developed by companies, and only the tiny ones aren’t. This applies to all open source projects on all platforms.
Also, most of them already are better. People just don’t want to change their layouts and workflows. And people also don’t value privacy, which if they would, they wouldn’t rate the proprietary software as half as good.
Exactly. For example:
- LibreOffice - Collabora offers paid support for larger companies and does a ton of development on the core
- WINE - CodeWeavers has their own proprietary version (CrossOver) that they sell as a commercial product; oh, and Valve helps a ton too
- GNOME - RedHat/IBM funds it and most things in its ecosystem for its commercial customers
And so on. Most big FOSS projects are backed by one or more companies with full-time developers supporting it. The difference is that the license makes lock-in a lot less likely, since the community (read: non-paid devs) will likely patch in compatibility (i.e. file support, data export, etc).
made by the company that has hundreds of paid employees working on it.
You’d have a point there, if the company’s aim was solely to make a better product; it’s been increasingly about increasing their margins at the expense of the users, advertising as much as possible and buying out the competition.
