• A new patch is being quietly pushed to Windows 10 (and 11) PCs
  • It’ll force upgrades in certain circumstances to keep the PC in support
  • This update will mean more nag prompts coming to your PC
      • dustyData@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Always remember to disable secureboot and remove bitlocker before installing linux on a oem windows machine. They make it hell to remove that malware from newer machines.

        • catloaf@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          Bitlocker doesn’t mean anything when you delete its partition.

          I would recommend keeping secure boot enabled if your OS supports it, and manually enrolling the key if it doesn’t. Boot chain attacks are a real concern.

          • dustyData@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Some linux installers will refuse to erase the bitlocker partition automatically. Then you have to manually erase it before running the installer.

      • Screen_Shatter@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I get that, and this is likely what I will do for my existing PCs. The reason I ask is three fold: 1) To save time. I don’t have a ton of spare time, so I would rather spend it gaming than messing around with wiping drives and installing stuff. 2) To encourage my friends to switch over, many of whom are less likely to spend time and effort than I am. 3) This is less important, but wouldn’t I be paying for a windows license I won’t even use? Not a fan of wasting the money, not a fan of paying Microsoft for a service I’m actively fighting to get away from.

        Nonetheless, thanks, I will try to find some time to fiddle with installing on an older machine I have and see how that goes.

        • funkajunk@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago
          1. The actual time needed to wipe out Windows and install is under 30 minutes.
          2. See above.
          3. Prebuilt machines use OEM keys, which are $10-$20 at best - whoever you buy the system from is definitely getting a volume discount. In my opinion, a small sacrifice to be free of M$.
    • mesamune@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I have a system76 machine. It’s been really good with steam. Or a steam deck, it’s just a PC.

      Their laptops are not worth it if I’m honest. They have issues with the hinges. I had two of them give out. They use a very cheap plastic. But you are guaranteed no driver issues if you use PoPOS on their own machines.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        And for those on the other side of the Atlantic, there are several computer shops that will just put a computed together for you without an OS.

        Here’s a random example “configure your own computer” from a computer shop in France. In this one the OS (Système d’exploitation) is not included and you have to pay extra for it.

        In my experience with custom assemblies like this the OS is never included.

        When I live in the UK at some point I’ve even used of these kind of stores there to get a custom notebook.

        It’s basically an “assemble your own computer” for people who don’t know how to do it and aren’t confident enough to try (understandable given that the parts value of a whole desktop PC adds up to at least €1000 so there generally is some fear of fucking it up if you’ve never done it before).

      • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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        1 month ago

        Ew and buy components? No thank you, just mine, smelt, and build them, cheaper to boot.

    • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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      1 month ago

      At least when it came to a laptop, I bought mine without a preinstalled OS - that is far more common than preinstalled Linux.

    • John Richard@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Yeah, you buy a gaming PC with Windows and you insert a USB stick and install Linux. Otherwise, you’ll be paying a high premium for a company that does basically the same thing. Things to look out for are try to find a PC with Intel networking and bluetooth adapters. Realtek is relatively well supported, but has been known to have issues.

      • dustyData@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        If gaming is top priority. Go all amd, disregard Nvidia. AMD has extraordinary linux support and if it runs on the steam deck it will run on any all AMD machine.

        • BassTurd@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          True, but Nvidia has come a long way and I believe announced support in the recent months, but don’t quote me on the last part. I have a desk and laptop both with Nvidia GPUs, and I don’t have any issues. Wayland did not work until 4-6 months ago, but everything is pretty stable now.

          • dustyData@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            My biggest fear is that so far Nvidia has a track record of introducing regressions and new bugs with each new driver version. Just a week ago all my flatpaks weren’t working on Wayland, again. It happens almost with every single update. Some games that are native or platinum randomly stop working and it takes several updates before they start working again. While on AMD everything just works all the time and regressions are solved in a day not weeks. It’s just annoying.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I built one — took about 4 hours once all the parts arrived. My first build. Installed Linux Mint from a flash drive and it worked perfectly. Ended up switching to Zorin OS later — also works fine.

      I have been able to play every game I wanted, except one requiring a VR headset.

        • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Didn’t really try. Couldn’t get SteamVR working without lots of hacking. I ended up buying a smaller second hard drive and installing windows just for that use. Once I was done with that game, I haven’t booted into Windows since, as there is no reason to.

    • bitwolf@lemmy.one
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      1 month ago

      System76, Dell, HP.

      That said, I feel it’s very worth taking an evening to backup and install yourself

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      1 month ago

      System76 desktop is not gaming per se but it will game

      They develop PopOS which is one of the better “normie” linux distros and supports nvidia gpus if you cuda is ur thing.

    • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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      1 month ago

      I’m sure if you searched for stuff nearby you could find a small local shop who could help you out.