Windows 7 in 2023 with SharpEnviro shell.

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Posting from my Compaq Presario A900 laptop. I nickname it "Youmu".

 

[Ryab]

My main question here is, why? I mean I get the fact that it runs a lot better. But it's getting harder and harder to use each day. Every day I see some app I use drop support.

 

[LainaGabranth]

My main question here is, why? I mean I get the fact that it runs a lot better. But it's getting harder and harder to use each day. Every day I see some app I use drop support.

I would rather lose some apps than deal with OS-As-A-Service bullshit.

 

[Ryab]

I would rather lose some apps than deal with OS-As-A-Service bullshit.

Oh I hate modern Windows releases like a lot of people. I was more just saying it as a longer term usage. Over time nearly every app is just going to stop working. Also the whole "OS-As-A-Service" seems to just be the way Windows is going to go in the future. I plan to just entirely ditch Windows in the near future.

 

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For Windows 10 dislikers, you can get WinAero Tweaker.

 

[Ryab]

For Windows 10 dislikers, you can get WinAero Tweaker.

I think it's less that and more the performance and telemetry. Windows 10's performance is horrible when compared.

 

[PityOnU]

Posting from my Compaq Presario A900 laptop. I nickname it "Youmu".

Very cool! Good on you for keeping that ancient-ass hardware alive and kicking!

I think it's less that and more the performance and telemetry. Windows 10's performance is horrible when compared.

This is a very generalized statement, so I'm not going to question it too much. That being said, the NT kernel really hasn't changed that much since, like, Vista, so actual performance on any kind of relatively recent hardware will be very similar. They recently added in a bunch of changes to the scheduler to recognize and utilize the new chip designs from Intel and AMD better, so in those cases Windows 11, specifically, would "perform" better. At least by some metric.

In terms of resource requirements, the Windows shell (Explorer) is definitely heavier in more recent versions of the OS, and Windows 11 straight up removed features from it, so that definitely sucks. But it's just the GUI, which is equivalent to a launcher on Android. And as the individual above has shown, if you're really somebody who wants to tweak things to get good performance, installing an alternate shell is fairly straightforward (I haven't checked, but something tells me you could even use Gnome or KDE if you really wanted).

All this being said, I can understand being salty about having to pay money for something and then having to spend a ton of time tweaking things and turning features off. But it's so easy to get legit licenses for the latest Windows for free these days (I literally just closed a .txt file where I have 10+ just sitting around), and setup is so straightforward and reliable when compared to the alternative, that it's really difficult to justify having to learn an entirely new OS which is essentially eternally playing catch up in terms of compatibility with things like games and Office.

 

[Ryab]

Very cool! Good on you for keeping that ancient-ass hardware alive and kicking!



This is a very generalized statement, so I'm not going to question it too much. That being said, the NT kernel really hasn't changed that much since, like, Vista, so actual performance on any kind of relatively recent hardware will be very similar. They recently added in a bunch of changes to the scheduler to recognize and utilize the new chip designs from Intel and AMD better, so in those cases Windows 11, specifically, would "perform" better. At least by some metric.

In terms of resource requirements, the Windows shell (Explorer) is definitely heavier in more recent versions of the OS, and Windows 11 straight up removed features from it, so that definitely sucks. But it's just the GUI, which is equivalent to a launcher on Android. And as the individual above has shown, if you're really somebody who wants to tweak things to get good performance, installing an alternate shell is fairly straightforward (I haven't checked, but something tells me you could even use Gnome or KDE if you really wanted).

All this being said, I can understand being salty about having to pay money for something and then having to spend a ton of time tweaking things and turning features off. But it's so easy to get legit licenses for the latest Windows for free these days (I literally just closed a .txt file where I have 10+ just sitting around), and setup is so straightforward and reliable when compared to the alternative, that it's really difficult to justify having to learn an entirely new OS which is essentially eternally playing catch up in terms of compatibility with things like games and Office.

I mean I'm a Linux user for the most part nowadays. I just got tired of Microsoft's annoying changes.

 

[PityOnU]

I mean I'm a Linux user for the most part nowadays. I just got tired of Microsoft's annoying changes.

Mm. TBF I turn off Windows Updates after getting everything set up how I want it. The way the completely reinstall the OS twice a year these days (what used to be called "Service Packs") is a little much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But hey, it could be worse, I suppose. At least they're continually adding new features and making them available for free. Could be like a lot of Android handset manufacturers do and just drop support/updates for older devices after like 3 years.

 

[MariArch]

Windows users keep having these stupid coping mechanisms whilst Arch users eat good

 

[Ryab]

Windows users keep having these stupid coping mechanisms whilst Arch users eat good

View attachment 350288

Btw I use Arch.

 

[PityOnU]

I mean honestly if you're skilled/familiar enough with Linux and FOSS to go from zero to hero with Arch, then yeah you're pretty dumb if you use Windows. That's a lot of expertise that is not transferable AT ALL.

However, I think you can also recognize that you are definitely a very small part of the general population - likely a small part of even the more niche computer-savvy population.

For me, I use my personal PC a handful of times a month, and my work PC is maintained by the company. I definitely wouldn't remember all of the various terminal commands/software packages I used from one year to the next when I went to reinstall/reformat things. And when I come home at night I don't want to have to spend time fighting with things or looking up workarounds on forums.

 

[Ryab]

I mean honestly if you're skilled/familiar enough with Linux and FOSS to go from zero to hero with Arch, then yeah you're pretty dumb if you use Windows. That's a lot of expertise that is not transferable AT ALL.

However, I think you can also recognize that you are definitely a very small part of the general population - likely a small part of even the more niche computer-savvy population.

For me, I use my personal PC a handful of times a month, and my work PC is maintained by the company. I definitely wouldn't remember all of the various terminal commands/software packages I used from one year to the next when I went to reinstall/reformat things. And when I come home at night I don't want to have to spend time fighting with things or looking up workarounds on forums.

Linux userbase has for sure been growing quite a bit in recent years though. Also the comment on remembering packages and stuff. I just have a script that I can run on a new install that in 1 command, installs everything I need.

 

[PityOnU]

Lol, I've had this same conversation on repeat like a million times with a thousand people over my adult life, and I know beat for beat how this going to play out, so we'll just call it here. That's not me being passive-aggressive, just old and tired.

But yeah, totally fair. I'm happy it works for you, and I hope you can keep enjoying it how you like. For me, Windows works just fine and doesn't require me to spend time learning anything new, so that's what I'll keep happily using until one of those things isn't true anymore.

Again, I really don't even use my PC much during my leisure time anymore - certainly not anywhere near as often as I did when I was younger. If I spent more time with it perhaps I could justify the time investment to fret over the 5-10% performance/efficiency I'm potentially leaving on the table, but as it stands, not so much.