Do you use Windows?

[all41]

I fit no category.
I am found on windows not of my own choice, but of others

[Mick-Cork]

Have been totally LM for about five years. One hiccup during that period was when I bought a Laptop with W7 on it. That lasted approx 3 weeks before the withdrawal symptoms got too much and I installed 17.

Apart from the normal browsing, photos and music stuff I also have xampp and NetBeans installed for local web development - works great. My biggest hurdle was losing Photoshop but I've gradually got to grips with Gimp such that it does what I need.

I've introduced three others to LM (I've never used any other distro, other than a brief dalliance with Ubuntu), and I've got another friend currently interested in migrating from W10.

If I was to look at another OS it would probably be Manjaro out of curiosity, but TBH LM works great for me and I enjoy using it.

[Redact]

I've exclusively used Linux for around 10 years, Mint for around 5 years.
The last Windows I had was at the very beginning of Vista.
I've debated about getting an inexpensive laptop for things like updating my GPS, but I end up using a friend's computer instead.

[Nate]

I used to have a machine just for games that ran Windows, but I never really liked the modern incarnations of the OS, it felt forced on me and so the moment I could get my favourites running through either something like an open source game engine (Open Morrowind for example) or to a satisfactory level via WINE (Fallout New Vegas being my top priority there), I canned Windows for good. I've found WINE to also cover hardware that demands a bios update or something through Windows quite well.

[sphyrth]

Windows only for work
If I didn't have any customers who are so tied down with Microsoft products, I would've been free along with the stranglehold.

[MScott]

I didn't vote because I'm not sure what the bare metal reference means, regardless, I'm glad to have choices and I'm thankful that Linux has come so far, Apple is great too but too expensive for my needs. Windows has always just worked for me and I've been using the OS since DOS 6.22/Win 3.11.

Ford, Chevy, Dodge, foreign or domestic, there are many good cars and trucks as well.

Joe Satriani, Larry Carlton, Al Di Meola, Vinny Moore, Jeff "Skunk"Baxter, come on, would you want to have to choose.

I have never encountered the various issues many complain about with Windows, though I know there real. My Win2K box ran for over 6 years without issue, needing only the usual debris cleaning and dust-busting to keep things cool, I might have replaced the thermal paste once, and a case fan. XP ran for over 7 years, I think my WD HDD had 62000 hrs on it, it was my PSU that finally gave up the ghost otherwise I might still be running it. I built these systems as DAWs and they did everything I needed them to do to create music for many years, the hardware wore out and MS and other devs quit supporting the OSes, and I understand it was time to move forward, though I'm not sure MS did with every OS to date, some moves looked to be going in reverse.

My very modest Lenovo laptop with Windows 8.1 x64 has worked without a hitch for 4 years (I think), but of course the major issue is the white-listing tactic Lenovo uses to keep you limited on your (essentially non existent) upgrade-ability. If Mint works fully on this machine I will be nixing Win 8.1 asap - still looking into some things.

The security risks are very real on Windows but most problems can be avoided with some common sense.

I'm really impressed with the various flavors of Linux and with my eye on Mint I'm hoping to fully divorce myself from Windows mostly because I'm tired of forking over money every few years and losing more and more control of the OS to auto-this and auto-that -- I simply don't like where MS has gone with taking control away from the user -- IMO. If I can make Mint work for me I will drop MS altogether and never look back, but not because it didn't work for me, I agree much more with the philosophy of the open source, FOSS, linux, call it what you will community.

[Moem]

I didn't vote because I'm not sure what the bare metal reference means

'On bare metal' means directly installed on the physical machine, as opposed to installed inside a virtual machine.

[MScott]

I didn't vote because I'm not sure what the bare metal reference means

'On bare metal' means directly installed on the physical machine, as opposed to installed inside a virtual machine.

Thank you for the clarification, much appreciated.

[coffee412]

I use windows in a VM. I use it to test out virus software, Run some tax software and thats about it.

When I do use windows I feel so dirty afterwards. I just feel I have to go wash my hands lol...

[exploder]

Currently running Windows 10 on a new HP laptop and an older HP business class desktop. The laptop is not supported yet under Linux, the desktop gets a screen full of errors and is slow as molasses running Linux. Windows is not so bad once you go through and tweak everything and install all the open source apps we are all used to. I have Mint installed on my son's laptop so I can still see how things are progressing.

I was shocked when I gave Windows 10 a chance on the desktop, it is a refurbished HP dc7800 SFF. The desktop is surprisingly fast after a fair amount of tweaking. I had a couple newer HP desktops running Mint but I ended up giving one to my father-in-law and the other to my 12 year old son.

[BaltyRaven]

I currently use Windows often for 15 years now. I even have it running on 2 of my 3 computers. One of which is my main PC, which is an Acer Veriton X2631 from 2014. The other is an Acer Predator Helios 300, which is a beast due to its massive memory and hard disk storage. It even has virtual reality compatibility, since it's a modern gaming PC. Both of them run Windows 10 64-bit by the way.

[Moem]

Windows is not so bad once you go through and tweak everything and install all the open source apps we are all used to.

If you don't mind the spying, I guess.

[MurphCID]

I use Windows on my gaming computer, Mac o/s on the Macbook, and Linux on my HP Spectre x360. I prefer Linux Mint over either of the other two.

[Ozo]

I have 4 desktop computers (for no reason) and 3 have the LMC 18.3 os installed. I do not dual boot or use a VM. I have no Android devices either having dumped the smartphone a couple of years ago. I am retired so no office with Windows, ha. I do have a Sony Playstation to play games.

I have divorced myself from Windows except for one tiny stick type pc. I bought it out of curiosity for a hundred bucks. Linux can not be installed on it and it is a sealed unit. I am tossing it right now as the recent round of updates was over the top. No more Windows. I loved (past tense) the incredibly fast boot time of Windows but that is the only thing that stands out.

Bottom line; I would rather have a sharp stick in the eye than use anything Windows. My vote is most definitely "No".

[sarge816]

I would walk away from Windows completely years ago except that my wife is a Real Estate agent and must use it for work. Windows 7 SP1 (original patch, no updates, auto-update turned OFF) on her home office PC, her laptop and work pc. Windows 10 will never touch my computers. Linux Mint on every other computer in the house and we have many including laptops, kiddie computer, htpc, etc.

And, ofcourse, my job uses only Windows, so I use it there perforce.

[BaltyRaven]

I would walk away from Windows completely years ago except that my wife is a Real Estate agent and must use it for work. Windows 7 SP1 (original patch, no updates, auto-update turned OFF) on her home office PC, her laptop and work pc. Windows 10 will never touch my computers. Linux Mint on every other computer in the house and we have many including laptops, kiddie computer, htpc, etc.

And, ofcourse, my job uses only Windows, so I use it there perforce.

Maybe you could install Virtualbox and install a Linux distribution (preferably Ubuntu, Mate, or Mint, but anything else is your choice) so your work PC wouldn't be so bad.

[151tom]

.

[majpooper]

When I do use windows I feel so dirty afterwards. I just feel I have to go wash my hands lol...

Best response so far

[Rayland-BH]

Sadly, I had to go with "Often..." but I am slowly working my way up the list (I hope to reach the top someday). I have 4 systems at home, one LM only for banking, 2 Dual boot LM/Win7 for everyday tasks, and one Win10 for gaming (getting the dual boot treatment soon). I stay on the Linux side as much as I can, but I am a rookie, and when I get stuck I go crying home to Win. It's a bad habit, I know, and one I am trying to break.

At work, though, I am drowning in MacOS (11 MacPros, 1 Win workstation, 2 Win servers). I am the only "Windows Guy" at the office, as everyone else has Apple everything. I do find it amusing that when my co-workers see me on my Samsung laptop in Linux, they just assume it is Windows.

[xfrank]

I use windows rarely, only for some bureaucratic tasks (tax paying...).