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Giving up on modern software.

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namename11

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Since macOS keeps getting shittier and more intrusive by the day, I was recently in the market for a decent x64 laptop to install Linux on and settled on a ThinkPad T16. It didn't feel or look as nice as my MacBook Pro but it was a lot more easily repairable, so I was fine with it.

I decided to go with Ubuntu since it's the most popular distribution from what I see, and everything was fine at first. But when I tried installing some system security updates the OS recommended, it froze up at 56% and wouldn't respond, so I had to turn it off. It wouldn't boot past the logo after that. No worries, I tried installing it again and it failed in exactly the same way.

I know there was probably a way to fix it, like there always is, but I didn't buy a part time job and decided to try Windows.

I installed Windows 11 IoT LTSC and it was actually fine, at least until I updated it. It would not boot after that. I tried to reinstall it but it refused to install!

So I decided to move over to my MacBook Pro with Mojave and have been using it for weeks now. It's crazy that a 8 year old OS on a 11 year old device is more usable than anything modern I tried.

It is insecure as fuck, but I don't have anything important on it and its on a separate network, so I'm not particularly bothered.

If there's another excellent old OS I should try, let me know!
 
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Honestly, at this point it feels like Ubuntu is trying to follow in the footsteps of Windows, it's become somewhat bloated, I'd recommend giving Mint a try, it's a nice all-round OS. Though, depending on what you use the PC for some other OS might be better.
 
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namename11 said:
Since macOS keeps getting shittier and more intrusive by the day, I was recently in the market for a decent x64 laptop to install Linux on and settled on a ThinkPad T16. It didn't feel or look as nice as my MacBook Pro but it was a lot more easily repairable, so I was fine with it.

I decided to go with Ubuntu since it's the most popular distribution from what I see, and everything was fine at first. But when I tried installing some system security updates the OS recommended, it froze up at 56% and wouldn't respond, so I had to turn it off. It wouldn't boot past the logo after that. No worries, I tried installing it again and it failed in exactly the same way.

I know there was probably a way to fix it, like there always is, but I didn't buy a part time job and decided to try Windows.

I installed Windows 11 IoT LTSC and it was actually fine, at least until I updated it. It would not boot after that. I tried to reinstall it but it refused to install!

So I decided to move over to my MacBook Pro with Mojave and have been using it for weeks now. It's crazy that a 8 year old OS on a 11 year old device is more usable than anything modern I tried.

It is insecure as fuck, but I don't have anything important on it and its on a separate network, so I'm not particularly bothered.

If there's another excellent old OS I should try, let me know!
Click to expand...
OS failing to install is typically a sure sign of hardware issues. Pair that with the issues with updating on *both* Linux and Windows, probably a driver or something that got updated caused the faulty hardware to freak out.
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Reiten said:
Honestly, at this point it feels like Ubuntu is trying to follow in the footsteps of Windows, it's become somewhat bloated, I'd recommend giving Mint a try, it's a nice all-round OS. Though, depending on what you use the PC for some other OS might be better.
Click to expand...
Mint is just Ubuntu with a different DE. Nothing wrong with that, but you can put a different DE on Ubuntu too, if the default one is too bloated for you.
 
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namename11 said:
So I decided to move over to my MacBook Pro with Mojave and have been using it for weeks now. It's crazy that a 8 year old OS on a 11 year old device is more usable than anything modern I tried.

It is insecure as fuck, but I don't have anything important on it and its on a separate network, so I'm not particularly bothered.
Click to expand...
Probably you're not bothered when your compromised machine is used as an attack vector against other people either. Way to go...
 
The Real Jdbye said:
Mint is just Ubuntu with a different DE. Nothing wrong with that, but you can put a different DE on Ubuntu too, if the default one is too bloated for you.
Click to expand...

Not just the DE For example, using Flatpak over Snap provides the better experience in the vast amount of scenarios.
 
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Reiten said:
Honestly, at this point it feels like Ubuntu is trying to follow in the footsteps of Windows, it's become somewhat bloated, I'd recommend giving Mint a try, it's a nice all-round OS. Though, depending on what you use the PC for some other OS might be better.
Click to expand...
I remember installing it on an Intel Mac some time ago, but it was really buggy and it kept getting corrupted. Not sure if that's improved now which is why I went for the more popular Ubuntu. Also, I returned the ThinkPad. Though reselling it would probably have made me money with prices these days :P

cearp said:
I'd have put asahi linux on your mac, if it's a newer one. and if it's an older x64 one, easy too :)
Click to expand...
That's the first thing I tried but the lack of hardware accelerated video made me quit. And it lagged a ton too.

The Real Jdbye said:
OS failing to install is typically a sure sign of hardware issues. Pair that with the issues with updating on *both* Linux and Windows, probably a driver or something that got updated caused the faulty hardware to freak out.
Click to expand...
Updating drivers is the first thing I do on all operating systems that aren't macOS. Maybe the device is too new but I was too pissed lol.

lwiz said:
Probably you're not bothered when your compromised machine is used as an attack vector against other people either. Way to go...
Click to expand...
Good luck with those ;)

JuanMena said:
Windows 7 ❤❤❤
Windows 10
Click to expand...
I have an XP PC that I also have a 7 partition on. It's a little slower due to the slow hardware but very nice feeling!
 
I've not tried ubuntu in years. I'd give my own (recent) recommendations, but given you've had 3 different OS'es fail on you, I'm also inclined to blame the physical media rather than the operating system(s).

Sorry, but I honestly can't recommend using an operating system that isn't maintained anymore.
 
Taleweaver said:
I've not tried ubuntu in years. I'd give my own (recent) recommendations, but given you've had 3 different OS'es fail on you, I'm also inclined to blame the physical media rather than the operating system(s).

Sorry, but I honestly can't recommend using an operating system that isn't maintained anymore.
Click to expand...
It originally came with Windows 11, and Crystal Disk Info said the SSD was fine. The problems started after I started installing other operating systems, but I ran the included memory tests too so I don't know what the problem is tbf.

As for Mojave, it's really nice to use but yes it's hard to recommend to anyone. I'm pretty sure one release had a "bug" where you could press escape on the login screen and log into the unsecured root user :rofl2: or something similar.
 
I'd say Fedora with RPMFusion repo (for the software/codecs that Fedora doesn't ship). You can choose a DE as well, I think the GNOME DE is the default option which is a Mac like layout. or you could go with Fedora KDE Plasma for a Windows like layout.

There's other spins as well like COSMIC for a similar to GNOME layout with way more options and customization but that's still in beta, XFCE is also another spin that has a lightweight DE.


edit: each spin is it's own ISO
 
Last edited by SMNFXCN,

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