Do You Control Your Computer or does Microsoft?

In this video, I recently revisited Windows 10 and ask myself this question. Do You Control your computer or does Microsoft? .

[gwgux]

It's funny, I can relate to 20+ years of using Windows as well and at work we have a new sys admin that's about 10 years younger than I am and didn't even know what a ROM chip was, but he's an adamant Windows fan. He sits at his desk working on power shell scripts and then still looks a Linux server like "what am I supposed to do without a GUI?". Hypocrisy aside, I can tell he's slowly dying inside and he refuses to acknowledge it. Every time another update comes out I can see it in his eyes that he feels stuck like he's wasting hours of his life keeping up with all the things Microsoft keeps breaking while they "fix" things. It's like going through the 5 stages of grief and he's at about stage 2 or 3 right now.

It's sad really. He has more talent in him than he knows and has the ability to catapult himself into much better jobs if he could break out of the shackles of Microsoft. In another 10 years we'll see if he finally breaks out of it when he finally reaches the fifth stage of grief. So not only does Microsoft hold the average user back from being more efficient and having a more enjoyable experience, it also holds many IT workers back from really learning how a computer can be used and freeing up their minds to better develop their skill sets. Learning Linux and then going back to Windows can spark more creativity in how one uses Windows to make it less of a burden.

[derektata]

"I'm dead on the inside from using Windows"

I couldn't agree more with this sentiment.

[drumpfall]

I was a windows guy for so long since I came from the enterprise. Linux has opened so many doors for me both professionally and personally. It's incredibly hard to learn but once you get it your woke.

[musicalneptunian]

One month ago I went 100% Linux for all of the reasons in this video. I had also used Windows only for about 20 years. No going back! Two benefits that I had never expected:
[1] I am saving money. I don't buy software that much anymore. There's often a script or tool that does what I used to pay for on Windows.

[2] As in the video my computer is not grinding anymore. That has also to be [1].

[TheBn]

This is exactly how I felt, when I finally broke the wall and switched 100% to Linux. Linux brings you freedom, although being free is something diffucult if you were slave or prisoner entire life

[mullity]

@Chris Titus Tech
You were more animated in this vid than you were in your earlier vids.
I concur with you about Vindows. I have known about Linux since it came on to the scene but due to it at that time, being more a CLI interface to the system, put me off at the time but the years have rolled by since then. A computer to me has always been a tool and like any tradesman worth his salt, knows how his tools work and how to maintain them and also modify them to meet a certain situation to get the work completed. But since Linux has gone from pure CLI to GUI desktop plus CLI has helped this tradie come to a better understanding of his tool, how to maintain it and modify it to meet a certain situation to get the work completed. Something that Vindows nor Mac cannot offer as a system that you can tailor made to suit your needs and requirements.
I maybe new to the World of Linux, though long in the tooth still willing to learn the ins and outs of the Linux World.

[davidanderson]

I got the HTC Vive. I play Beat Saber all the time. Running Debian 10. Loving It!

[DaveSomething]

Microshaft is watching (and listening to you)... but so is Gewg, and Amazern!

[jalopyjones]

Windows 10 For Seniors For Dummies, 3rd Edition = $15.00, Macs All-in-One For Dummies = $25.25, Linux OS = $ Free, CTT rant = PRICELESS

[josevillalba]

Welcome to Linux
I use Linux only for last 13 years, since ubuntu 06.10.
I used to ask Canonical for the cds and they sent me for free, was so exciting reciving the mail with the cd and ubuntu stickers.
It was not an easy way, so much to learn but I was so proud of my little steps.
You made me remember that feelings, thank you so much.
You do a very good job, thank you.

[MrEmperorApples]

My first ever distro was Backtrack KDE v. 4.? It was so hard to use because my hacked friend just gave me a disc to install and left me with a search engine as my only support. So when that bricked my old Lenovo, I stuck with windows for a decade thinking all Linux was as user unfriendly as Backtrack was before it became kali. But I recently put Mint on my most recent old laptop. I'm amazed at how easy it's becoming for novices to make the switch. I'm learning the terminal in mint before I make the permanent switch on my new HP laptop. Thanks for your continued advice and mental stimulation Señor Titus!

[NotMe-tuhp]

I agree, I think you can do almost everything with linux desktop

[TheRosswise]

Unshackling yourself from something is always a terrifying experience. And it takes a long time to fully appreciate the freedom you have once you leave. But damn is it a great feeling when it dawns on you how easy you breathe now.

[sysghost]

"Wow! Amazing that I can use a computer like this!" <-- That experience I had back in around(ish) 1994 -1995.

Back then, I switched from DOS 6.22 / Windows 3.1 to Slackware Linux. (I did use Linux even before that, but this was the point I made my full conversion and left Microsoft in the dust for real)


However... I have to confess that I actually never fully and truly left DOS/Windows behind. Games back then were still something only possible to run under a Microsoft controlled environment.
But I made my true and 100% step over to Linux just a few years ago, when Valve announced the proton project under steam. This was the moment where I removed my last windows remnants and reclaimed the space on the hard drive to my now fully-fledged Linux install. On both my primary laptop and stationary computer.
The only times I touch windows nowadays is when I help colleagues, friends and family with their computers. But some of them are slowly converting as well. Some even fully.

[NapkinNexter]

7:15, i played subbautica on linux with WINE and it was designed for windows and mac only, but it had a high FPS, but since i was on a simple laptop, some of the creatures were invisible due to graphics system

[Leha__]

I love Linux also for the feeling it gives. That me myself is controlling the whole thing and making it my way.

[terry.chootiyaa]

*Chris Linux in Business series ...when ?* 😐

[fubaralakbar]

A few things to say here...all of which are in complete agreement with you.

I know I've said this before: the really cool thing about Linux is how modular it is. And there is much MUCH more packed into that statement than it sounds like.

Consider what you said about your operating system being just one thing under the hood--it was what it was, and you couldn't really change it. Well, in the 80s, hardware was like that. Sure, there were like twelve dozen different hardware architectures, so it KIND OF gave you some choice--but your choices were limited by how much money you had. And sure, there were the tinkerers, but the things they did with their computers were like the things you can do with Windows now. You could add on some things, take away some things...but you could never change how the system really worked. That applied whether you had a Commodore, an Atari, a Mac, anything.

Then the IBM PC came along, and now your computer consisted of large, removable pieces inside. You could rip out your graphics card and put in a new one, rip out your sound card and put in a new one...hell, once hard drives came along, you could even rip out your operating system and put in a new one. This kind of modularity gave people, for the first time, a REAL CHOICE regarding their computers. It revolutionized the industry so much that, except for Mac, everything else just kind of went away. The PC architecture became the absolute standard. It was what everybody and their brother had.

Linux, although this idea really hasn't sunk in for the majority of computer users yet, does the exact same thing for your software. Your operating system is now as modular as your computer is. You can rip out your kernel and put in a new one, rip out your boot loader and put in a new one...you can even rip out your desktop environment and put in a new one. Linux is the PC of operating systems! It actually complements the PC standard to give you the complete picture of freedom that you never had before. Windows, meanwhile, remains the Atari 800XL of operating systems: you can do what they designed it to do, and you can kind of pick how it's going to go about it, but you can never get out of that box.

This brings me to another point you made, regarding how with Windows, you really don't get to decide how you can use your computer. Well, using a Windows machine is not so different from driving your car. Think about it: can we really do anything we want with our vehicles? Sure--regarding changes to the vehicle itself. And there are some laws limiting that. But while you can drive your car to any destination you want, you can't just drive your car any way you want. There are strict laws regarding how you drive, and harsh penalties for breaking them--oh, and you have to be LICENSED to drive your car. The obvious difference is twofold: 1) Those laws exist for public safety, and 2) they are made by elected officials who have the authority to make them. But the legislation is so intense and complicated that it begs the question: do we really own our vehicles, or are we just stewards of them?

Microsoft's behavior raises that very question regarding our computers--and this is something that should NEVER have happened. My computer is not a public danger, and I should not have to be licensed to use it, any more than I should be licensed to use my toaster or my wrist watch. As in driving, there do need to be some laws regulating what you do on your computer, like banning child porn, identity theft, and hacking into the Pentagon and launching nuclear missiles...and those laws do exist, and they are put in place with good reason by people who have the authority to do so.

Microsoft has no such authority, and the purpose of their regulations is not nearly so prosaic. If they were only trying to stop piracy, well, copyright laws already exist, and Microsoft's license terms go WAY beyond just "You can't make copies of this and give them to your friends".

Linux, and FOSS in general, actually respect your ownership of your hardware AND software. For that reason, I think that ultimately we will see Linux replace Windows on the desktop, although there is no telling how long it will take or whether I will be alive to see it happen.

Apologies for the wall of text--I know you are busy and can't read every comment. But these are some things I have really wanted to say, and I appreciate that channels like yours give people a space to get this stuff off their chests.

[DropeStein]

I f*cking loved this video. That came from the heart and I, that I'm not even a CS, compleeetely understand that feeling. After years using Linux I can't even DARE to think about using Windows again, it feels almost humilliating. I'd wish that one could send a big nice and cold pint of beer through the interrrwebs; you deserve one tech guy.

[MysteryMan]

The dread of booting up a machine that hasn’t been turned on a while is a real thing ... I still run a windows box just in case I need it and I remote in to make sure that doesn’t happen lol.