Windows 11 Home - First Real One

[timeshifter]

Not if they have turned the pin login on. They forget the password and you have to use a password in Safe Mode.

Right. I should have clarified, just regular local or domain accounts. MS Accounts need help a lot because of PINs and the like because the password is not used frequently, if ever.

 

[PaulTech]

All of this begs the question of why not Linux? I personally have never promoted Linux to any of my clients but why not? I started using it as my main machine about 3 weeks ago and I love it. No more, do I have the time to run an update right now. Everything just pops and does what it's supposed to do. And if you plan ahead for the right printer that's not a problem either. I can likely anticipate the responses but many a small business user really just needs email and word processing. There is a change of mindset required as it's not Windows and it's not Mac, it's the flavor of Linux and the Desktop environment you choose.

 

[MudRock]

All of this begs the question of why not Linux? I personally have never promoted Linux to any of my clients but why not? I started using it as my main machine about 3 weeks ago and I love it. No more, do I have the time to run an update right now. Everything just pops and does what it's supposed to do. And if you plan ahead for the right printer that's not a problem either. I can likely anticipate the responses but many a small business user really just needs email and word processing. There is a change of mindset required as it's not Windows and it's not Mac, it's the flavor of Linux and the Desktop environment you choose.

I actually started goofing around with WindowsFX10 and not too bad. If someone has to have something as close to Windows as possible, this is a very valid path, and a GREAT way to repurpose old hardware.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I can likely anticipate the responses but many a small business user really just needs email and word processing.

Not in my experience. Most, if not all, of my clients, deal with a Windows-only LOB apps. Nor can they deal with non-Microsoft Office suites because of compatibility issues.

 

[britechguy]

And whether or not LOB apps are involved, people like what they're used to, and they're very used to Windows. The DNA chain between the versions is clear, and Office being Office, it's really become the de facto standard office suite.

I've used Linux. I was once a programmer-analyst in a Unix environment. I love Unix and Linux, but it is not nearly so easy a transition from Windows to Linux as some suppose, just as it's not an easy transition from Windows to a Mac (and all of this applies vice versa, too). There are just so many things we are no longer even conscious of that become almost automatic, like breathing, that we've learned how to do under any ecosystem that must be relearned, and that's just the OS. When you start throwing in alternative applications in, things become even more complicated.

As much as I like Linux, and as widespread as its use has become in data centers, I don't think its day is ever coming in the desktop environment more broadly. The fact that there are God-knows-how-many distros and users have no informed way of sifting among them makes things even worse.

 

[Blues]

I actually started goofing around with WindowsFX10 and not too bad. If someone has to have something as close to Windows as possible, this is a very valid path, and a GREAT way to repurpose old hardware.

That is a pretty cool Linus OS there for people who want and don't want MS.

 

[britechguy]

That is a pretty cool Linus OS there for people who want and don't want MS.

Now, of course, it's WindowsFX 11.

I have no criticism for the folks that develop this distro, but those who believe any Linux is even close-ish to the same as Windows are going to be in for a rude awakening.

It may have the look, but it does not have the feel, at least as I define the "feel" of an OS.

 

[timeshifter]

I heard that 2022 is the year of Linux on the desktop

 

[britechguy]

I heard that 2022 is the year of Linux on the desktop

And I'd heard that (to use regex notation) 199[0-9]|20[012][0-9] were/are the year of Linux on the desktop.

To paraphrase Twain, "Reports of coming success of Linux on the desktop have been highly exaggerated."

 

[Blues]

Now, of course, it's WindowsFX 11.

I have no criticism for the folks that develop this distro, but those who believe any Linux is even close-ish to the same as Windows are going to be in for a rude awakening.

It may have the look, but it does not have the feel, at least as I define the "feel" of an OS.

When I was reading on their site it sounded like it supported maybe things to emulate much of the windows experience but I haven't tested the OS myself but I am willing to put it on the list of flavors to try out.

 

[MudRock]

When I was reading on their site it sounded like it supported maybe things to emulate much of the windows experience but I haven't tested the OS myself but I am willing to put it on the list of flavors to try out.

I have not played much with the emulation factors, but apparently its Wine/etc implementation is pretty smooth. My understanding is (As I'm sure you've all ran into), Microsoft Office, its custom implementation, and Click-2-Run, they can't emulate that well. But native Teams/Skype/OneDrive/

Lets be real though; Unless some custom job program, emulation has gotten so good. I have a friend who plays just about every AAA video game title as a Windows game under Linux. It has matured a LOT.

The one thing I did like about WindowsFX, is that you can run an installer (EXE or MSI) to install most programs just the same way you would in Windows. Removes one of the hurdles for an end user.

 

[britechguy]

The one thing I did like about WindowsFX, is that you can run an installer (EXE or MSI) to install most programs just the same way you would in Windows. Removes one of the hurdles for an end user.

I will have to play with this distro when I have time. If anyone ever comes up with a Linux distro that is a very effective replacement for MS-Windows in terms of "the overall experience" and has a clear dedication to maintaining it over time, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to give it a long-term whirl, at least as a secondary machine.

Given the business we all are in, though, and the absolute dominance Microsoft Windows has had for decades, and will almost certainly continue to have, I'm certainly not going to walk away from native Windows. I need to stay on top of it.