One of their pledges when they were bought was to always have a standalone product to buy so people don’t have to do subscriptions.

Question, are you running it? I got really hopeful about it but feedback I read said it wasn’t very good. It worked, technically, but was buggy making it less than ideal. I forget all the details but it was enough to make me not want to even try it.

I’m assuming the windows machine is a work PC and the Linux is yours right?

Because what you describe doesn’t sound like a “windows” issue but rather an IT management issue.

You can put off updates and reboots a very long time. And always be able yo postpone them.

Applying updates on boot daily sounds dumb to me. But I’m also figuring your IT dept has poor (or no) sense in managing their inventory well. Most updates can be applied silently at a scheduled time.

Also, your machine sounds old and/or poorly maintained the way you describe it. If its more than 5 years old your company is just cheap.

I’m all for griping about Windows but this seems off to me.

I think you put too much weight on everything, including your opinion. I am not trying to be insulting, just realistic.

I can equally say that I hate how so many people say, “just switch to Linux, its easy and does everything.” Neither of those is the case because it doesn’t factor in the learning curve nor does Linux do everything.

So if you want more Linux users, focus more on being helpful. Ask what their specific concerns are, or what apps they must have vs would be nice to have. Point people to distros that would fit their use case (it’s mind boggling as a non Linux user to just look up what distro to get). Then point them towards how to find answers to their questions and troubleshooting steps.

Nuture the seeds you plant and they will grow. Yelling at them that they aren’t growing isn’t going to help.

This is the true answer, especially for such a broad question.

You dont need to be fancy about it either. When I started I downloaded a years worth of credit card transactions and put them in a spreadsheet. I took the time to go line by line and assign a category for it.

Then I made a chart and could visually see where my money was going. On top of that I then calculated each category as percentage of my annual salary.

It’s very eye opening. Even things that aren’t an issue at least I now know that so don’t need to feel worried/guilty about it.

I’ve worked the video game industry and I’ll point out a few things.

Trump was president before, and imposed this tariff before. Console and peripheral prices did not go up. There were specific meetings discussing this, and nobody raised prices.

Not that it necessarily will be the same thing this time around, but look at the current prices of things like PS+ and the PS Pro - before tariff increases - and realize if they want to increase prices on you they just will. They aren’t looking for an excuse.

Additiinally, the amount of shenanigans that transpires with the video game industry is crazy. The amount of PS4 consoles sold in Canada would mean every single household would have 3.5 consoles in it. Spoiler, they don’t, all the consoles were sold into the US at cheaper prices because of the dollar conversion rate. They Gray market is the step child nobody wants to talk about, but they love the added sales numbers. It will continue to exist and balance out the market.

Print out and laminate this entire post.

Plus references that it leads to the answer to the super secret nobody would believe, and untraceable riches to boot.

I remember when the EGAs came about. Damn, it was like stepping into the future. But I didn’t have a color monitor so it didn’t matter. I was probably more envious than your friend.

I’m interested to see how they handle customer service. The article points out shipping as a big part of Amazon’s success but customer service and return have been too. Point being, I’d rather order some random no name brand shirt from amazon because I know I can easily return it if the fit isn’t right. Will amazon push this service on the vendor? Sort of like the eBay model.

I tried a handful, and the one I liked best is Thunder. There were aspects I liked about Voyager too, but Thunder was set up better in my opinion.

Flossing! I floss frequently. I floss more than I brush my teeth (yuck) but it works. Logic behind the lack of brushing is that in the morning I’m drinking coffee and running out the door. At night, sometimes I fall asleep before I brush. But I have floss on my desk at work and in my coffee table at home (as well as obviously in the bathroom with my toothbrush). My dentist can’t even tell I miss brushing at times. But can definitely tell I floss regularly.

You don’t have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep.

I mean, I’m sure you’re right but it’s buggy as shit on Windows too.

The problem with YouTube is there isn’t an alternative.

Anytime I think it’s morphed to a state where people will leave for the next great thing, they don’t.

The content is there, and alternatives don’t have that backing them so it’s too inconvenient to move on. Once people have that pain point, they go back.