Microsoft Forced me to install Linux.

[rogerthat1945]

This is just a background story from the perspective of a new user.

Living abroad, I bought a Japanese steroscopic i7 3D laptop with Windows 7 x64 in Japanese (for which I had to pay and extra $100* approx, to get it into English on it via Ultimate Upgrade); but after over a year my hard drive crashed and burned; so I bought a Samsung Pro SSD and went to Microsoft for my windows 7 Home Premium so I could update again to Ultimate (my cheap back-up disc failed).

But Microosft said I cannot have my software, and pointed me to Toshiba who sold the laptop.

I contacted Toshiba who said they do not supply/sell a Windows repair-DVD disc or download, and told me I would have to buy a hard-drive-repair off them and they install it (me post them the laptop) at $350; they said otherwise Microsoft is responsible for supplying the OS the OEM Licence is for when the PC is out of the manufacturers year warranty.
So, I got back to Microsoft with what Toshiba told me about them being responsible for supplying the software, but Microsoft said I should forget my Windows 7 and my $100 Ultimate upgrade and spend an extra $100-to-$150 for windows 8 (which causes my laptop keypad to re-boot with a BSoD on the trial versions).

The Microsoft ISO issue being my Windows 7 install has to be in Japanese for the Japanese license key to work, and there is no download site for the Japanese Home Premium version anywhere. The laptop `key` code does not work for the English version of MS Win7.

So after a year of no Windows 7 OS I discovered Linux had become easier to install and use and was still all but entirely Free.

Installed Cinnamon 16. A few glitches with getting the laptop to run both Japanese and English alphabets; but getting to grips with the learning curve. And all I can say is "Well done everyone in the community". Thank you. I didn`t know it was this good.

Now I am kind of happy Microsoft tried to defraud me of my software for my licence.
And I would still pay $25 for an even easier/fuller/simpler version of this Linux OS.

Hopefully the organisers here can use that to make the transition smoother for more customers who want to drop out of being spied upon by the gubberment and Microsoft twizzlers.

I will be looking to Youtube for some learning videos next.
Thanks for the listen.

[The-Wizard]

welcome to the Mint family forums

wizard

[jahid]

Welcome to the Mint familly....

[jazz.h]

Welcome! Great story, btw...

[exploder]

+1 great story! I gave up Windows a long time ago when they came out with their product activation. Back then I changed hardware a lot which meant a call to Microsoft. Every time you call they accuse you of installing on more than one computer and I got fed up with that pretty quick! Needless to say, I have been a Linux user for many years. Welcome to the forum and your new found freedom!

[austin.texas]

+1 great story! I gave up Windows a long time ago when they came out with their product activation. Back then I changed hardware a lot which meant a call to Microsoft. Every time you call they accuse you of installing on more than one computer and I got fed up with that pretty quick! Needless to say, I have been a Linux user for many years. Welcome to the forum and your new found freedom!

DITTO
The idea that I couldn't install MY Windows, that I had paid for, on any computer in my home, was absolutely unacceptable - so it was sayonara to Windows

Welcome to Mint and the Mint forum, rogerthat1945

[Pierre]

Microsoft will Force everyone to install Linux.

- that just may even true, - Y'know.

[killer de bug]

Great story! Glad you joined Linux Mint.

[Brahim Salem]

I had a more aggressive story with Microsoft here http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=160836

[daveinuk]

Wow you had more patience than I would have had, great story, no surprises, except for the good one, that you got away from 'the windows virus' before it was too late

Welcome to Mint............

[Brahim Salem]

We should add your story to Halloween Documents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents

[teilnehmer]

Saucy that they call *that* customer service. Cattle sabotage or victim punishing seems what they should call those people. I mean, I can totally see how Windows has a different business model (with questionable deals between hardware manufacturers and Microsoft), but the very least I expect from a company is trying to please their customers so they keep on buying that product I'm selling even though I'm of course aware that there are free alternatives out there. I mean, they should really be grateful for everyone calling who's still trying to get Windows running, instead of simply running, period.

[Kath27]

I am an XP convert; Microsoft forced my hand as well. Looking at my upgrade options last summer I was not happy with the Microsoft options, and was not thrilled about all the extra stuff I would need to buy as well: anti-virus, MS Office suite, new printer, etc, etc... So I began looking for alternatives. I installed Mint 13 along side XP this summer and loved it so I upgraded to Mint 16 when it was released; I am no longer using Windows. Gone is the feeling of dread that something might go wrong with my software configuration. Since I started using Mint I have had few problems, but I know that if the worst happens I can wipe the hard drive and reinstall in about an hour without the headache of finding license keys and reactivating multiple software programs. This is truly freedom!
And the support here is top notch!

[Brahim Salem]

I never run Windows OS at home or on my personal computers but at my temporary work I'm forced to use it

[Crewp]

Welcome to Linux Mint.

[rogerthat1945]

Saucy that they call *that* customer service. Cattle sabotage or victim punishing seems what they should call those people. I mean, I can totally see how Windows has a different business model (with questionable deals between hardware manufacturers and Microsoft), but the very least I expect from a company is trying to please their customers so they keep on buying that product I'm selling even though I'm of course aware that there are free alternatives out there. I mean, they should really be grateful for everyone calling who's still trying to get Windows running, instead of simply running, period.

wow
thank you all for your kind comments,
The_Wizard
jahid_0903....
jazz.h
exploder
austin.texas
Pierre
killer de bug
Brahim
daveinuk
teilnehmer
Kathy27
Crwewp
&
jesica

You all seem like a fair type of people
Will see you on the forums as all I am doing atm is raising a very small child for the next year, or so. Until kindergarden.
Spouse busy at the millstone.

Kudos.
Next port of call is
1) Secondary `mouse-click` does not give options to copy/paste etc.
2) Refine anything to do with the SSD its working on.
3) Figure out which of my laser printers will work on this. If.
4) Organise/familiarise myself with `Office` a bit more. Maybe install/run Office 2000 Ultimate via `Wine`? for `compatibility with my hundreds of Office documents on Discs? Am already looking into if/how.

Thank you.

[jesica]

Greetings from the Mint family

[TechGuyAndrew]

I gave up Windows a long time ago when they came out with their product activation. Back then I changed hardware a lot which meant a call to Microsoft. Every time you call they accuse you of installing on more than one computer and I got fed up with that pretty quick! Needless to say, I have been a Linux user for many years. Welcome to the forum and your new found freedom!

Yeah. Just wait until you have to start dealing with the Windows server licensing process. I manage a server running Windows Server 2012 and Mirosoft gets you for everything. Some examples are: you have to buy one license for every two proccessors in the system, you have to get the most expensive version to do any virtualization, and you have to have a license FOR EACH USER CONNECTING TO THE SERVER. I am hoping that in the future I might be able to switch it over to Linux.

Anyways, I totally understand about all of Microsoft's licensing garbage. Welcome to Mint and the forums rogerthat1945, where you'll hopefully never deal with licensing issues again.

[teilnehmer]

4) Organise/familiarise myself with `Office` a bit more. Maybe install/run Office 2000 Ultimate via `Wine`? for `compatibility with my hundreds of Office documents on Discs? Am already looking into if/how.

Oh, don't do that! You won't need Wine, that'd really be a very large workaround for no-problem-at-all. Both OpenOffice and LibreOffice support the usual Microsoft Office document format .doc (or, lately, .docx). Just load them right in your native Linux Office program. You can even save them in doc format if you should be so inclined.

[rogerthat1945]

4) Organise/familiarise myself with `Office` a bit more. Maybe install/run Office 2000 Ultimate via `Wine`? for `compatibility with my hundreds of Office documents on Discs? Am already looking into if/how.

Oh, don't do that! You won't need Wine, that'd really be a very large workaround for no-problem-at-all. Both OpenOffice and LibreOffice support the usual Microsoft Office document format .doc (or, lately, .docx). Just load them right in your native Linux Office program. You can even save them in doc format if you should be so inclined.

Excellent.

I was not sure because....

(another Microsoft horror story)...
When we upgraded from MS Office Ultimate 2000 to MS Office Ultimate 2007 (when it first came out) there was a MONSTEROUS bug in the Microsoft Office software, ...

...What happened was, that if you opened a MS Office 2000 Document in Office 2007, or the other way around, (passing docs from one PC to another), and you had altered the SAVE time to (say) from pre-set 15-minute save to (for instance) save every 5-minutes, your Document would EXPLODE all over your desktop at the save point. But the reason was not made known to us. We didn`t know for weeks what caused that, as it seemed to be happening at random. We used a single core processor at the time, and thought the problem may be hardware related.

We had hundreds of documents left smashed in bits on the desktop until Microsoft rolled out an Update repair for that nightmare that cause a lot of distress to all its victims.

I/we did not know if the Office package in Linux might do the same; but you aleviated our few vague concerns there. Thank you again.

I hope other people note the beneifts of the Linus Office pack from your comment, in the months and years ahead.

P.S.
Dont get me started about MS deliberately causing EVERYONES Windows 8 discs to not work in "REFRESH Your PC without losing Files" if you Updated to windows 8.1 after MS advised you to `Update` (that is a nightmare of epic proportions which MS still keep under wraps to all its customers [they dont warn you of the `side-effect` of it stopping your disc working]).
When you ask for a fix, MS tech support just poke around in our Pc and tell us to re-install everything from scratch; 276Gbs of home files and personal docs.
We are sure they do it to make customers so cheesed off that they/we just buy yet another version of Windows (8.1) so we have a functioning support DVD (to fix OS problems); and wonder if MS do that underhand trick, in order to keep their shareholder happy, by getting suckers to buy more copies of their discs.

Yeah; I run about five computers for various gaming and office tasks..