Microsoft could have made Windows:

able to run on any hardware

free for basic usage, paid for commercial usage

lightweight, simple, stripped of all cruft and extras

consistent in it's UI and cleaned up from 40 years of inconsistencies

But they didn't - so people are looking for alternatives.

I put up with so much Windows crap over the years, and Windows 11 was the final straw. It’s not even the gaming OS anymore as Linux feels snappier and more stable for running games.

I wonder what's their endgame. I mean, if it keeps getting worse, at some point they will really bleed users.

Even if for now the stats (e.g. steam hardware survey), show only a slight increase in Linux users (and a lot of them could be dual booting)

I never thought it would happen, but now I use Linux about 95% of the time. These days, I rarely touch Windows. It feels like Microsoft’s higher-ups never found a clear direction for the OS, focusing more on saturating the market than on maintaining quality. :(

How about requiring a ms account to activate?

Have they closed the double install trick?

1. Install once with ms account and activate.

2. Reinstall offline with local account.

3. It will be activated when you go back online.

I suspect the remote server remember your computer hardware generated guid

I've been running openSUSE tumbleweed myself for years, and recommend Linux to like-minded power users. OP is preaching to the choir.

How do you all deal with (extended) family? This Christmas I spent time with my parents and the topic of Windows 11 came up again with all of its associated dark patterns.

What do you all do to help them out of this madness? Is Ubuntu/Fedora/etc the best option for seniors? My dad's entire career was in Silicon Valley 1.0 where Excel/Outlook was his bread and butter and feels married to Windows, but ever since leaving the workforce those skills are more of a hindrance than an asset.

Now that he's retired, he still uses Excel to plan vacations for example, but Windows is riddled with this BS and I am powerless to help him navigate this anti-consumer behavior. It's incredible that Microsoft is shooting their most loyal customers I'm the foot with this BS.

Do you all help your parents remotely? What kind of issues do you run into being your parents IT support?

How did we get here from W2K? It's hard to think of a time when you could use software without internet connection or a phone line.

i recently upgraded a computer. windows 10 deactivated itself due to the hardware change. i tried everything i could to reactivate. microsoft support told me my only solution was to buy a new license. microsoft treats its customer with contempt.

Kills ONE official way to activate Win11/10 without internet. There's still KMS and other methods... Article title is slightly misleading.

Sure, it sucks about the phone activation thing, but frankly... STOP USING WINDOWS ALREADY.

This is just so bizarre. Like 90% of the people wouldn't even know you COULD activate without an MS account and the remainder will just use Rufus to bypass restrictions. So what is MS actually "fixing"?

This is the result of indification of microsoft as a whole.

(as a person whose "year of the Linux desktop" was literally 30 frickin' years ago) Oh no! Anyway...

Finding more modern ways to be lame and making it easier for folks to either pirate (use shady activation methods) or move to other platforms.

People should switch to Linux. I started using Fedora on Cosmic and it is great!

Mint is very similar to Windows UI