I replaced windows with raspberry pi os on my mother in law's machine. No issues for 2 years.
this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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I basically cut Microsoft out in 2001 when I first installed Mandrake Linux, though continued to dual boot until 2006. I had found myself rebooting to Microsoft fairly rarely, so when I had issues with my NTFS partition, I simply didn't bother to reinstall, and have only ever single booted my desktop since.
I bought a MacBook around 2005, with Mac OS 10.04 (Tiger). Apple wanted to charge me for upgrades, so once support for that finished (I forget when that was) I put Ubuntu on it as a dual boot. Back then the Unity interface of Ubuntu was very similar to that of MacOS. And with the greater freedom that Linux offered me I then ditched MacOS too.
From that time the only Microsoft operating system I've ever owned was Windows CE on the MediaNav of the two Dacias I owned. I can tell you once I found out they were running Microsoft it was almost a deal breaker π
I don't have Windows 10 on my personal laptop, it's all Linux Debian. Surprisingly on my work laptop, Windows 11 is usable and hasn't been as annoying.
The bigger trouble would be decoupling from OneDrive and Office Online. Yeah. I also want to decouple from Google Docs.
Cut Microsoft out of my life completely back in 2005. Went full Apple at that time. I'm now using Linux Mint on all of my computers (including a number of Macs) and am really happy with the choice. Switched over to using Linux last year (started with Ubuntu). Still have an iPhone and iPad, which I use for a few things. But I think most of my time is now spent on my laptop.
My wife has a job that ties her to Windows, unfortunately. Mostly Excel. I keep trying to convince her to switch over and use Wine, at least on her personal machine.
Tried to Install Linux Mint in my sisters laptop. Ext4 cannot be created. Its an onboard ssd.
Will try to Tinker around with Ubuntu and enroll MOK through that, before setting Up Mint. But I'm unsure since I've read more Problems than solution to this model.
I have cut microsoft out in 2020. Had enough, I can't believe some people still put up with their bs. I know some people have no choice when it comes to work, but in personal life it should be a no brainer. I wonder how many people is on windows just because they have never installed any OS and they just don't know how to. Won't be a small number I guess.
I have cut microsoft out in 2020. Had enough, I canβt believe some people still put up with their bs.
Some of us couldn't believe it in 2015 or even 2005.
Fair point π
Let's be real. Microsoft hasn't given a fuck about consumers in decades. They were useful as long as they were buying cheap ass laptops en masse so the big M could strangle manufacturers with anticompetitive mass licence deals.
Consumers don't buy software, consumers don't buy licences. Companies do. Companies buy Office licences and pro windows licences that get more expensive for each enshittified "feature" removed from the consumer version, and more importantly Azure compute and storage. Cloud computing has been the sole driver of growth for the last 5-10 years, and everybody there are just hoping their massive gamble on AI will magically pay off.
Consumers don't give a fuck about AI. Our corporate overlords pray every night that it will succeed so they can churn slop with a skeleton crew of developers, just as the almighty cloud allowed them to layoff an entire ops department. All in the name of our Lord and Savior Profits for the Blessed Shareholders
Microsoft hasn't given a fuck about consumers ~~for decades~~ since it's founding
FTFY
Nah, up to the 2000s Microsoft actually had a product people wanted. A platform to work and play on, biggest range of programs, open hardware standards companies could develop products for and mass market adoption to pull software developers in. The developers at MS designed software they wanted and needed, and most professional MS products I worked with hat an awesome documentation that explained features well and encouraged you to try it out with short and relatable examples.
Apple was expensive and mostly incompatible hardware and low market share. Amiga had better graphics, but was mostly a gaming system and had a lower market share. PC was a something people already knew from work, and everyone was pirating programs and games, so the "cost" of buying into the PC was relatively low for the consumer.
However today Windows sales are a small part of Microsoft profits. The bigger share is cloud computing or office subscriptions. That's why they push Copilot into everything, and they annoy you to use a Microsoft account for everything so they can push you into their subscriptios.
My home computers all run Linux (except for an old MBP I still have laying around somewhere). It works fine and I have no reason to want to switch back.
At work I use a Windows 10 thin client to connect to a Windows 11 AVD session so I can remote into a Windows Server 2022 VM. The company is currently investigating ways to chain itself to Microsoft even harder.
The company is currently investigating ways to chain itself to Microsoft even harder.
I've seen this, as well.
It takes a special kind of leader to see what is happening and lead the charge right into the teeth.
Did you manage to cut or phase Microsoft out?
I cut Apple out of mine, never was much into Microsoft but I have been an Apple user since the early 80s. But, yeah I cut it out (to regain my privacy and stop wasting perfectly fine device because of forced upgrade cycles), and I do not miss Apple the slightest. That was 6 years ago, maybe a little more.
Huh, is the cloud really just someone else's computer?
And yes, I've managed to cut out Microsoft of my personal life entirely. I mean what would I need them for? I'll click on a Teams invitation... But I don't really rely on that, or send them out myself. Other than that I have enough other operating systems, storage devices, Office suites...
Privately, I havenβt managed fully, unfortunately. I am still dual booting atm for my online sim racing & other multiplayer games. Other than that, yes. π€
At work though⦠We are fist deep in MS. Office, Teams, Co-pilot junk. My org even block all search engines other than Bing (& Google).
I asked an IT manager why they are so focused on MS office. He said that it is simply the best and is necessary to stay competitive, and that the business departments wouldn't accept anything else.
Sad reality for most
Did you manage to cut or phase Microsoft out?
On my personal devices, yes. My main computer has been running on Linux since 2024 and that was a pleasant experience. Everything works. I also do my gaming on the SteamDeck, which also is awesome and does work without any bigger issues. I played some games that were published by publishers that since have been bought by Microsoft. I have no personal Microsoft account , no OneDrive, nothing.
Except for a LinkedIn account (which I currently have disabled) I haven't used any Microsoft products for probably over a decade.
I am not as lucky at work though since that is unfortunately all in on Microsoft (Teams, Office, Azure, Windows etc).
Not much I can do about that since the company develops a system used by municipalities in my country and they continue to be heavily reliant on Microsofts services in every way possible.
I don't own a Windows computer anymore. I'm self hosting the services I need (and have for a long time). Some subscriptions remain, but not to Microsoft, which I've never had.
My parents are still on Windows, as they are too old to switch. But they also don't actively use anything from Microsoft, let alone cloud services. I could switch them, but I also don't quite see the point. It's just a lot of time and effort on my part, for no actual benefit.
My parents are still on Windows, as they are too old to switch. But they also don't actively use anything from Microsoft, let alone cloud services. I could switch them, but I also don't quite see the point. It's just a lot of time and effort on my part, for no actual benefit.
I've been saying since ms rolled out recall that any banking or other important tasks should not be done on windows anymore since it is insanely poorly disguised spyware, but if that is not reason enough, I now hold my opinion even more strongly since every update this year and a couple from prior years has proven that ms is vibe coding the os to the point that the old stability that made windows viable is quickly being destroyed.
I agree that Windows is bad, and getting worse. But for them it works well enough. Idealistically, I'd like to move them over, but in practice there's barely any benefit in it for an incredible amount of effort and (limited) time spent for anyone involved.
Recall isn't a reason either, especially not with the banking argument: if they want to transfer money, they fill out a piece of paper, go to the bank and put it in a mailbox for those. They don't do online banking. All they do is email, and one of them edits a couple of photos. They are used to the software that's Windows-only. They know where on the screen to click. That's it. It doesn't matter if it's Windows or not. I also have no argument they care about to convince them.
If i wasn't on my phone I could write much more detailed explanation, but I am, so this will have to do.