TejanoTrackie 

Polaris OBark

Install Linux.

ahsposo 

That's what the dude sees as the problem. Did you watch any of that?

Polaris OBark

No.

TejanoTrackie 

Microsoft loves you.

Polaris OBark

It isn't so much that I like Microsoft. I hate Youtube.

I gather the problem is with laptops that come with Microsoft pre-installed, preventing the user from installing whatever they want for an OS. But can they actually prevent you from wiping the disk, reformatting, and installing Linux from scratch?

There are workarounds to UEFI.

TejanoTrackie 

Well, it affects any computer, laptop or desktop with Windows 11 that has encrypted the TPM, which is separate from the hard or solid disk drive. You can re-format the hard drive, but you won't be able to access the boot track w/o permission from the TPM that is accessed by the BIOS during the initial POST when you power on your computer. My understanding is that you can't even disable secure boot in the BIOS w/o permission from the TPM. In essence, when Windows 11 is activated, it locks your computer hardware from ever installing any alternative OS.

Darth Lefty 

If you’re doing Linux you’re not buying that computer anyway.

Polaris OBark

I didn't realize you couldn't de-activate the safe boot. That is evil. I watched the video BTW, and took his suggestion to speed up the audio.

I'll give him credit for saying "Richard Stallman;" the PC PC police wouldn't approve.

Polaris OBark

Yeah, but you should be able to buy any computer hardware you feel like and install your favorite operating system. You can't exactly pop into Costco and get a laptop with no OS or Linux or FreeBSD or whatever pre-installed.

Zinger

Thanks for that heads up. That's good information to have.

Neither of my 2012 model Dells seem to have a tpm.msc

So I can't even load windows 11 and now I don't want to.

Polaris OBark

It's a fairly recent thing, I gather. Apple has a T2 chip, that essentially kills right to repair. They also make it much harder to install other stuff, but at least you can disable SIP, if you aren't afraid of rebooting into single-user mode and issuing a couple of unix commands, but it is still a real PITA.

Hondo Gravel

I’m still on Windows 95.

TejanoTrackie 

I'll bet you still have a rotary dial telephone as well.

Hondo Gravel

crank calling was fun back then.

Zinger

I used to keep the CAB files on a Fat32 drive. If I got a virus from some bad website I'd just format and spring 'em. I used to keep a drive of 95B and another of a MS2000 Beta called NT5. The beta OS had no drivers for much yet. I did that for awhile until I broke down and bought some XP.

genec

Well actually... he is complaining about the stranglehold MS has on the industry and that said stranglehold conflicts with "other OSs" such as Linux et. al. He has a point... and now Win 11 also requires that TPM module. Thus there is a constant "churn" to buy new hardware, influenced by this one key player in the software market. And frankly, that constant churn, it is a an expensive PITA...

He also makes the point right at the beginning that "the cloud" doesn't exist, and in fact is simply someone else's hackable computer.

Yup, hacks, safety, OSs and privacy... what a mix-up of crap. Want privacy and safety... get off the internet. It really sucks (all your data...)

Polaris OBark

Encrypt everything important, and have multiple independent backups, including off-site.

Stadjer

I hung on to XP for very long. I had an old desktop I kept upgrading for so long hardly any of the original parts. Out of boredom I guess I blew the processor overclocking it, and I could only just get a new one that fitted, this far at the end of the production series this type was. Also was the RAM, so both were extremely powerful and quick for the OS. Absolutely loved it, it was snappy, extremely responsive and fast. Had two 22 inch Illayama CRTs to dual screen and heat the room at the same time like a fireplace. Never like a computer more than that old one with the outdated OS.

RubeRad

My laptop came to me with Win10, and I dual-booted Ubuntu linux onto it, which I use almost exclusively. I boot into windoze once maybe every month or two, and let it spend time installing updates. I'm keeping a sharp eye out though so I can break my mouse button clicking NO as hard as possible if it asks for permission to upgrade to Win11

When I have to get my next laptop (hopefully not for 5 or more years), convenient linux-installation will be a dealbreaker criterion. Hopefully the marketplace/open-source resistance, will have fought through this problem by then!

Juan Foote

Pics or shens.

Personally don't think that a PC on W95 would still have ability to be on the internet. It's browsers are not supported and anything you downloaded on a more modern machine wouldn't be recognized anyway.

Hondo Gravel

I haven’t used a desktop in years. Everything is I pad I phone these days.

Juan Foote

My son defaulted on his payments for a bunch of Apple stuff...phone, pad, watch back sometime last year or so. I paid the items off, cancelled his part of the plan, and "repo" the devices. I gave him the phone back almost straight away as I really didn't have a use for it but did try to use the iPad for a while. It was a very powerful and interesting device, but at this point I am just too well versed and invested into the PC world and format. I had to do searches to show me how to do simple things so opted to sell it back to him (cheaper than the payoff) a couple of months ago where it is being used to potential again.

I-Like-To-Bike

Don't know about W95 but I keep a desktop with XP available when I want to work on Excel or Word documents with Office 2000 (no dang ribbon but real honest to gosh menu system) which I like much better than newer versions which offer me few benefits and for which I have many macros that do just what I want. The XP machine is also useful for working with older WordPerfect documents and documents written with older programs such as WordStar and other relics of a bygone day. Firefox still works and some sites are still functional such as the The Internet Archive; others like YouTube not at all. AVG anti virus program still updates its definitions for XP. I don't use the XP machine for Internet browsing though since I have W7 and W10 machines which like the Internet much better than XP.

BTW what are "shens?"

RubeRad

Not sure, but my guess was, shens="I call shenanigans"?