I thought about this too. Not only is MS forcing 24H2 on people whether they want it or not but MS is also raising the price of the Office suite. It's just a few dollars but that's not the point. MS is also forcing their AI into Office, again whether we want it or not. Sure, they say you can turn it off but that's not the point either. I am really taking another look at Linux Mint again. Linux might not be perfect but at least they don't force their hand on users and they have never asked me for money.
C.H.
Microsoft 365 now lets you access Copilot in Office apps. But the subscription's price has been increased for Family and Personal plans.
www.ghacks.net
A person that installs Windows 10 or 11 and any other Microsoft software product covered by any license type other than Volume agrees to forced new features and upgrades. Even Volume licensees cannot opt-out indefinitely. I get it. Nobody reads software EULAs and Terms of Service.
The only truly effective way to opt-out of Microsoft's ways of doing things is to air-gap the system and update everything piecemeal manually via a USB flash drive.
All Microsoft software is for the masses - the billions of people - and there is only the possibility of after-the-fact opt-outs or removal via the OS, the application, or discovered system hacks.
Windows using a Microsoft Account is not unmanaged. It is managed. The system is Azure Active Directory identified and authenticated. It is also managed by Microsoft and integrated via that Microsoft Account with all the integrated Windows services. Even the security is managed, albeit at the lowest level of Microsoft management. Basically, you're on your own kiddo. Need something? OK. Contact Microsoft support. $75 per ticket.
Everybody says they will move to Linux. But only those with the greatest determination make that move and stay there. Usually it is when they need to do something on Linux that they can only do on Windows they then move back to the Microsoft ecosystem.
Using Windows means the user agrees to a lot of things whether they know it or not, whether they want it or not, and the only thing to do is to make the switch to Linux or just stay on Windows and cope with it.
I've been using 11 24H2 for over 1 year without any issues. I clean installed the OS. I am not lazy. I am not afraid to do a lot of work, if required. In my mind it is better to take all the pain at one time and get it over with. Plus, I don't play victim. I'm not going to wait around for Microsoft to force an OS upgrade on me that is gonna bork the system. A clean install of the upgraded OS have never caused an issue across hundreds of machines.
The Linux model can never be successful because the vast majority of software companies out there do not or just outright refuse to develop Linux versions of their software. It has nothing to do with Linux itself. It has to do with the fact that there are 8,736,091 distros out there and dedicated users always cry when they can't get a software version for their distro but it is available on Ubuntu or Fedora. Most are lucky if they have anything beyond a single platform version for Windows.
www.bleepingcomputer.com
www.elevenforum.com
