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alt3rn1ty

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.. And just when we are getting mostly happy with Windows 10 (apart from the constant security fubars, and plugging crap in we dont need occasionally) ..

Windows 10 (what was said to be the last Windows forever more) is to be retired 14th October 2025 :facepalm:

No new security updates etcetera after that date.

"Round the buoy again please coxswain!"

My wish would be for an LTS (long term stable) version of windows we can buy, without any additional good ideas club additions messing everything up, just a basic windows OS that only receives security fixes and stable changes.

Apparently you can get one now if you are an Enterprise customer, and have a specific need for sensitive machines which are vital to a business, you can request for an LTS version for the companies mission critical machines.

I have seen mention that you can get that version for a limited time if you jump through some hoops, but have to re-do the registration every month or something similar.

But I'm guessing that's just a dream that will not come true. More like they will overhaul the look of it, find more ways to scoop valuable data for a while before people complain in enough numbers to make them change things (by which time its too late but then MS will make a public statement saying we have listened and will give you all the tools to opt out more obviously, as if they are the good guys and didn't realise they "made a mistake" oh really!). Maybe they will try to re-invent the Start button / page again .. But overall it will be the same old rope with a new coat of paint and more security issues ad infinitum, causing gamers headaches again, and a method of pushing everyone into adopting it as soon / aggressive as they dare so as not to upset the bean counters and target audience too much swinging into less popular opinion damaging the overall adoption and profitssss!. Have we been here before? :lmao:

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"The last version of Windows ever!"

Uh huh, how's that working out now guys?

Based on what little I've seen of this 11 stuff, I don't want it. But then there's 4 years between me and the end of Windows 10 so I'll worry about it 4 years from now I guess.

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I'm going to wait and see how development goes for Linux support for the couple of games I use long term, but apparently Pop!_OS is pretty good

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop!_OS

https://pop.system76.com/

 

Libreoffice, Chrome, VLC, GIMP, and either AMD or NVidia support out of the box + Vulkan.

And more importantly an LTS (Long Term Stable) version.

X4 Foundations is (as of a few years ago) Linux compatible. A few users on Egosoft forums reckon it performs better than on Windows 10

No Man's Sky, they never mention Linux is supported but in the past there have been fixes for Linux compatability from Hellogames, probably run via Proton ..

Anything else I want, well you can install Steam and Valves development of Proton with Vulkan (Wine fork). I will probably get a Steam account just to add to the Linux sales and help promote the development.

I might just give it a go, backup my Documents / Emails etc, I have a USB Recovery stick for Win 10 if anything goes wrong, and completely wipe the SSD with a Pop!_OS installation.

When dual booting Windows + Linux in the past I always found Linux OS's had a better file system which was quicker than Windows, and obviously less intrusive with background services, unlike windows anything not necessary by default is not running. I am veeery curious to see how much better that will be on my 970 Evo Plus SSD.

And Malware .. Its a lot less of a concern for Linux, Win 10s Defender has been superb in recent years, but that will be another one less thing needing to run in the background.

Edit: Hmm just a thought, better if I let the warranty run out first on this laptop :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another W11 bombshell, The BSOD will now be ... black.

It's 2021, and still no option for choice of colour in un-sable system demise.

The personal preference for an alternative has actually gravitated towards something like ultraviolet, a mostly invisible hue aided by something in the spirit of the current change: "Blacklighting", The acronym for ultraviolet also suits the occasion having a better ring to it, no? ... USOD.

Yes USOD W11 for the idea of making the said sad SOD experience completely gloomy and unmemorable, and not the SOD makeover we were hoping for!

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  • 3 months later...

Sounds like Microsoft are trying to make a Local Account on Windows 11 a bit awkward to find (again, they did a similar thing with Win 10 at the start) ..

How do I install Windows 11 on a local account?
 
Choosing a Local User Account on the Windows setup screen
  1. On the Account Login Screen, click on Sign-In Options. ...
  2. Click on the option that reads “Offline account” option. ...
  3. Windows will again prompt you to go for a Microsoft account instead, but you have to click on “Limited Experience” option.

.. The wording of "Limited experience" is obviously to try and put people off choosing it and get everyone sucked in to a Microsoft account and auto-cloud everything again.

Personally I will just want to install games, and back-up my documents to an external USB as usual.

What features will be "Limited"

If you sign into Windows 11 with your Microsoft account, that account is also added to system apps like the Microsoft Store, Mail, Xbox, and so on. It also lets you sync your settings across devices. This allows you to buy apps and movies from the Microsoft Store, for example. You also can’t download free apps from the Store if they have an age rating that requires verification. That includes apps like Netflix and Spotify, due to the wide range of content available there.

However, you can add your Microsoft account to these apps individually, so you don’t necessarily have to sign into Windows 11 itself.

.. Only free app I can foresee needing is the NVidia Control Panel, and that does not have any age rating needing verification. And any streaming accounts can be done via Chromium ..

.. So the "Limited Experience" imho will be fine :)

Edit If at time of release the above is not an option and MS change things again, apparently this could work :

"When you see the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen, hit Shift-F10, type “taskmgr” in the command prompt window, and kill the process called “Network connection flow.” This will allow the OS to install normally after you insert a user login and password."

If anyone gets sucked into making a Microsoft account, you will be able to change to a Local User Account again via windows settings / account .. Hopefully.

I really ought to make a new topic, but I cant be bothered, its going to be variations of the same old tricks MS pulls that we saw at the start of this topic.

Edit 2 : Apparently the release version has a memory leak in file explorer :facepalm::lmao:

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Interesting. Same as Apple, they are tying users tighter and tighter to their cloud.

In my case, I'm not likely to be running W11 anytime soon. Not only no TPM 2.0, but also my i7-6850K isn't a supported CPU. At the time, that was considered the best for gaming. A lot of machines of that era will be out of luck.

Since I'm mostly running Skyrim, a 2011 era game that really doesn't handle many threads, there's no good reason to upgrade. With a nVidia 1080 and Valve Index, it runs No Man's Sky VR reasonably well.

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A few months back when they first released their compatibility tester for Windows 11, it complained to me that my system failed the test and I'd not be able to install it. Didn't bother me one bit because in my mind that meant it would leave me out of any attempts to install 11.

Fast forward to right now, looking at the Updates & Security menu, it's saying my system DOES qualify and implies it'll just do it when it feels like it and I won't even be asked.

I haven't done anything to the BIOS to enable TPM, yet it's saying it'll update me when it sees fit. That kind of makes me think they've dropped the TPM hard requirement.

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Yes I think TPM requirement has been dumbed down a bit, my machine qualifies in that regard but I dont think it will be as necessary as Microsofts perception of how many people are likely to take up the OS if they dont make it a solid requirement. Just like Win 10 they are going to want to push this hard again ..

There was a Win 10 update last week which unusually didnt require a restart, I looked into the files it updated and quite a few files were about updating the OS .. Since then I too now see the notice in Windows update :

https://i.imgur.com/UaBeHGi.png

So this is like an evolution of the system tray notifications we had pushed on us before Win 10 came along.

No doubt choice to opt out will not be obvious, there will be a time limit for the free update to encourage more adopters, and eventually security updates for win 10 will stop and we will all need to upgrade.

But, I dont see anything being any worse than Windows 10, in fact they are getting rid of a load of crap that nobody ever used and (though it will take time to be refined) supposedly better security and performance.

Cortana the house spy is going, yes!. But I think OneDrive will still be a default thing uploading all of your files straight away to the Microsoft Account they are trying to force you into.

Plus maybe just new ways of hiding how to prevent us from changing any privacy issues. In about a year from now there will have been a few public outcry's probably, and Microsoft will pretend it was all a bad error or some bullshit .. By which time they will have scooped up all the data they wanted from the masses so it will not matter (again) for them to give appropriate easier opt outs.

They have an effing monopoly, and recently its as if they cant be arsed doing some serious security updates left hanging for months (Printnightmare is still hanging, plus a few others), but why should they care its not like they have any competition to worry about.

I like Win 10 now that it is stable, but just as you get comfortable with a version of windows they pull the rug out from under your feet with another money for old rope edition so they can feed off the enterprise cash cows and marketing data.

Oh well, at least NVidia have released compatible drivers in good time this time around .. Standing by for many more Windows fubars, but hopefully we will be able to delay it for a while.

PS  ..

If you want rid of all the old crap that you could never permanently uninstall, it will remain behind unless you do a clean install. Personally when I am forced to update I think I will be going with that, backup all my files first then delete them in case they really do prevent us from initially opting out of the Microsoft account. Then change back to a Local account via settings, and then disable what I can before re-installing my files from the backup.

@Arthmoor I cant imagine the shit you have to go through with all your projects when Microsoft keeps doing this.

We need a Long Term Stable Edition we can buy, I would pay for that. All I want is a stable PC Gaming platform with good security, Microsoft are failing regularly with the latter and often enough to be annoying with the former .. Then replacing the whole thing periodically with another batch of bugs the hacking world are waiting with glee to uncover and sell to the highest bidder. Oh plus new exciting ideas :crash:

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Well surprisingly Windows 10 hasn't been that huge a hassle and hasn't hung me out to dry like everyone said it would, but that doesn't mean I like it. I tolerate it. Except when the rug it pulls out from under me was pulled by an unannounced reboot. Unlike you, mine booted me in the middle of doing something this time around and that's when it came back with the notice that the system is able to update to Windows 11.

I suspect my habit of ignoring the updates screen for weeks at a time does indeed have a limit and I probably exceeded it :P

As far as what to do about Microsoft's monopoly - the answer is staring us all in the face in the form of Linux. With Proton gaining traction and Valve reinvesting time and effort into development on SteamOS (even if it is directed at their SteamDeck for now) switching over to linux might actually work for gaming. Yeah, I know, I've made mention of that for 2 decades now but at some point it has to come true. Gabe has always hated Windows and this might just be where he draws the line.

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On 10/9/2021 at 8:43 PM, Arthmoor said:

A few months back when they first released their compatibility tester for Windows 11, it complained to me that my system failed the test and I'd not be able to install it. Didn't bother me one bit because in my mind that meant it would leave me out of any attempts to install 11.

Fast forward to right now, looking at the Updates & Security menu, it's saying my system DOES qualify and implies it'll just do it when it feels like it and I won't even be asked.

I haven't done anything to the BIOS to enable TPM, yet it's saying it'll update me when it sees fit. That kind of makes me think they've dropped the TPM hard requirement.

And I actually wanted to test Win 11 but W10 still doesn't say my notebook qualifies. Tells me to "get ready" for 11. While on my notebook's manufacturer's website it says it does qualify. I have TPM enabled etc. Strange, maybe it has to do with PiHole blocking some MS telemetry servers in my network... Tried disabling it and running Windows Update but nothing changes though.

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18 hours ago, Arthmoor said:

As far as what to do about Microsoft's monopoly - the answer is staring us all in the face in the form of Linux. With Proton gaining traction and Valve reinvesting time and effort into development on SteamOS (even if it is directed at their SteamDeck for now) switching over to linux might actually work for gaming. Yeah, I know, I've made mention of that for 2 decades now but at some point it has to come true. Gabe has always hated Windows and this might just be where he draws the line.

Yes I'm watching Proton Development and ProtonDB like a hawk in the last few months, I am dying to switch to Linux completely, but for the games I want to be stable very long term the results are mostly positive with occasional wont run at all .. No Man's Sky was a complete fail for one user after a newer update to Proton, where previously it was Platinum in its status for a long time. X4 is natively supported so Proton is not needed at all, but occasionally still has hiccups (also seen on Egosofts forums with dedicated Linux users), which then needs Proton to make it work in one user case.

Those are the main two, Cyberpunk 2077 is Gold status, but the thumbs up is coming from people on the Linux Distro I want to use, using older versions of Proton, not the most recent. Yet other games are more stable on the more recent Proton.

Baldurs Gate 3 is a mixed bag, Gold status but still has issues for various machines / distros .. and the game itself is still Early Access

Kingdom Come Deliverance has Platinum status, seems to be good on Pop!_OS for one user but not good for another ..

.

It's all looking very promising, but I think I am going to have to endure another Windows edition before I totally jump ship .. And my work is kind of tied in a bit with the home laptop at the moment due to covid, I need to get myself disentangled with that first too.

I also have mentioned jumping ship before and still haven't due to the above, but I seriously would love to.

Emails / passwords / chrome bookmarks / files etcetera are all easily transferrable via a USB Hard Drive, I just want all the games to be as stable and guaranteed to work on Linux as they do on Windows on an NVidia Optimus Laptop before I do, and not have some working some not, or use an older proton for one game but use the most recent for the others, or not at all for a native game .. but then again a native game may need proton temporarily = Fingers crossed it all gets there one day.

The other issue is jumping ship in my case requires that Linux becomes the only OS, I have in the past dual booted various distros (including bleeding edge Fedora and its ridiculous update regularity) alongside Windows on the same machine, but with this machines BIOS and Windows security restrictions never the twain shall meet :(. So the OS I choose would have to be a complete replacement to windows forever more = I need to be sure all's well before I do. Mint is probably going to be my choice, Cinnamon variety IIRC (or was it MATE, need to check I have been out of it too long to be sure) for the best NVidia support out of the box so to speak.

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Some interesting points in the most recent Security now podcast, first couple of pages ..

https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-840-Notes.pdf

.. @Arthmoor You may have seen this elsewhere but just a heads up AMD (themselves) acknowledge that Windows 11 may be a problem for a while particularly when it comes to gaming performance using AMD processors, so hanging back for as long as you can before upgrading to Win 11 is probably wise. Well I think we all here know that anyway, I just had not seen an official acknowledgement and explanation of it before.

Someone on Youtube gave a side-by-side performance video of games on W10 v W11 and there was very little difference perceptible .. But I now think that may have been on Intel Processor machine.

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On 10/11/2021 at 5:06 PM, alt3rn1ty said:

Yes I'm watching Proton Development and ProtonDB like a hawk in the last few months

Glad that you are checking. I've gotten rather far behind.

When I was doing Standards for Red Hat, we were talking to Valve about putting more effort into integrating this stuff into Linux. But their take (3+ years ago) was it was more cost effective to concentrate on making this Windows gaming/graphics shim work.

Once upon a time (Feb 2012), I'd bought my first Windows machine in almost 20 years to run Skyrim, spending $1,200 for an i5 + gtx 570 to play a $50 game. Then hardly ever played the game, because we spent so much time fixing bugs. Entertaining in its own way....

On a conference call with former colleagues, realized that I've no Linux systems here at home anymore. My main machine is a MacBook Pro, plus a late 2017-era (i7 + 1080) Windows upgrade machine in the TV room for mostly weekend gaming. (Many Linux developers actually use Macs for our client/desktop development machines, talking to Linux CI/CD backend servers.)

In 2018, nVidia dropped support for the 4xx-5xx (Fermi) cards, and last week dropped 6xx-7xx (Kepler). So it's probably time to turn that old machine into a Linux development system, and contribute to OpenMW-CS.

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Another thing to watch for when transferring data from rig to rig is the Windows Backup. 

The old Windows 7 backup will actually function nicely once the netshare is set up in Windows. AFAIK, the backed up data goes in a D/B which can only be used in a Restore command, so best option for the entire drive. In reality, Restores will only work if you are feeling lucky.

Haven't tried the OneDrive backup, but the free option sounds better option when you know the personal files are less than 5 gb.

File History is the one which looked the most attractive here, like OneDrive backup, the option of selecting the files & folders you want to backup is critical. The common problem is once the netshare is populated with the backup files from the first backup operation, it never seemed to want to do the periodic update. Had a personal misadventure with accessing the drive the old style CP- kept getting an "Unknown Error" with the Netshare: 0x80070020, which means the S/W is tied up in knots. Best thing was to switch the drive, then change back into a new directory where the backup can restart without a hitch. Sounds like it is all a bit broken, and no longer maintained, as discussed here:(

 

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That's .. a bit of an eye opener. I guess MS are now totally depending on OneDrive for win 10 & 11 and have let the other methods drop by the wayside, so they can skim all files for market research .. So glad I always stick to manually copying files / folders to an external USB HD, never have trusted Auto-Backup / Restore tools, plus its one less thing running in the background.

Greg Carmack at your link also recommends manually copying.

For the system (including your windows license key), Windows 10 (and hopefully Windows 11) has been very good at creating a USB thumb drive backup for restoration, previous versions of windows were a bit unreliable. A couple of times I have used my recovery drives to do complete clean re-installations.

Type "Create a recovery drive" in the start menu on win 10, and have a couple of thumb drives (over 32gb are best, I use 64gb thumb drives which make a recovery drive (or two) without fail in my experience)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yep, I've been having to keep my system from accepting the update for the last week now. It's getting insistent about it.

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