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Imagine a new version of Windows being released called "Windows Optimal" In addition to Home, Professional and Pro you get to buy Optimal. The catch is that it
by vivzkestrel 1y ago
Imagine a new version of Windows being released called "Windows Optimal" In addition to Home, Professional and Pro you get to buy Optimal. The catch is that it is priced 4x the home version. You wonder why? Optimal is exactly what you think it is. A ground up 0 bloatware, 0 telemetry, 100% easily tweakable privacy and performance settings from a single screen with 0 AI features, 0 Edge and 0 games. Imagine getting your hands on this OS and then running your favorite programs on it. It is so minimal that you literally have to install notepad on it if you want to or you can always install notepad++. Dear employees and managers of Microsoft reading this comment, can you greenlight something of this caliber? like for once?
- smallstepforman 1y agoIt already exists (any Open Source OS).
- frfl 1y agoYou're just describing a Linux distribution[1]. With the added benefit of being 0x the price. [1]: Assuming you're not married to some Windows only software that you can't get working using Proton/Wine, or don't want to run a Windows VM.
- vivzkestrel 1y agoprimary use case: gaming. needs to support everything from 90s to cutting edge modern games without hiccups
- frfl 1y agoWell, guess you're married to Windows if those are your requirements. Proton runs most games these days[1] (but not all). Apparently older Windows app/games run better on Proton/Wine than Windows (better citation needed) [2]. [1]: https://www.protondb.com/explore https://www.protondb.com/explore [2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1kjib0y/is_there_a_list_of_games_that_run_as_good_if_not/ https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1kjib0y/is_th...
- krige 1y agoIt doesn't. Case in point is my spare late 00's laptop running mint and early 00's / late 90's games. Some (Age of Wonders 1) don't work at all under wine/proton. Others (Age of Wonders SM, dosbox games, Majesty) technically work but keep hitting snags like midi just flat out not working, display resolution being read and set incorrectly, visual artifacts. Everything tested worked perfectly fine under Win7 and Win10.
- int_19h 1y agoAge of Wonders 1 used to work. That patch that you need to get it running on Win10+ was originally made for Wine: https://aow.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=st&fn=1&tn=4694 https://aow.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?actio... Is that not sufficient these days? I might take another look; this is one of those games that I intend to keep running one way or another until I die.
- krige 11mo agoIt isn't I'm afraid. I'll see if I get any crash log or report that could help later in the evening.
- krige 11mo agoAight so when using Wine, AoW1 just instantly fails silently upon launch, no error message to see. When using proton it technically works - clicking randomly I launched the tutorial, judging by the sounds - but the screen is black all the time and shutting down alt-f4 it throws an error: Exception EWin32Error in module VCL30.dpl at 00010E4F Win32 Error. Code 1400. Invalid window handle.
- anhner 11mo agoThey can just run a windows VM which shouldn't require too much memories for the kinds of games they want to play.
- Anamon 11mo ago
- tapoxi 1y agohttps://bazzite.gg/ https://bazzite.gg/ Should work out of the box, no configuration needed. The only caveat is games with kernel based anti-cheat, but I don't play many of those. Arc Raiders works just fine, for example.
- krige 1y agoI'm sorry but linux gaming absolutely does not support "support everything from 90s to cutting edge modern games without hiccups" I'm sure for some users it's acceptable, solid even, but I know several people, including myself, that keep hitting edge cases and invisible walls when on Windows these games "just work". And no, it's not about kernel anti-cheats or any other DRM.
- tpxl 1y ago> I'm sorry but linux gaming absolutely does not support "support everything from 90s to cutting edge modern games without hiccups" Neither does Windows. W11 (or was it W10) famously broke a bunch of old games. Running Windows games from the 90s is easier on linux than on Windows at this point.
- krige 1y agoThat's really nice but that still doesn't make Linux the better option, or even "easier" when PCGW has everything covered for Win. And most Windows issues is just slapping dgVoodoo or nGlide in and it's done anyway when solving a linux problem might be anything from picking a specific (arcanely divined) proton version to elaborate hacks and batches.
- drooopy 1y agoI use crossover and/or Lutris on Linux in order to run most of my 90s Windows games as it's a complete pain in the ass to get them working under Windows 11.
- dombili 1y agoAgreed and it's frustrating that people don't admit this. I recently started dual booting Linux again and tried both Arch and CachyOS. Former with Hyprland, the latter with Gnome just to see how well the games run. I knew going in that tiling window managers don't behave well with games and that was indeed the case. With Gnome, even some native games made by Valve had terrible performance issues where I have none on Windows. There are also cases, and I wouldn't even describe them as edge cases, that you have to tinker to get things to work properly. I have a very basic dual monitor setup, but yesterday I spent an hour trying to fix a problem where my cursor would escape the game's window into the second monitor. The obvious solutions (gamescope) didn't work for some reason. Did I end up fixing it? Yes. But that's only because I know my way around Linux. That's an hour I'm never getting back. I'm not making an argument for Windows, I very much dislike using it but Linux folks need to accept reality. A reality which isn't fair, but reality nonetheless. That's when you start to make progress. (Which, to be fair, they have. Tremendously so. But there's still a long road ahead!)
- Zardoz84 1y agoShould work without issues, except when an "anti-cheat" rootkit is needed by the game. Source: Someone using Debian to play games from the 90's (Master of Orion 2, HoMM 2&3, etc) to recent games like Helldivers 2
- m4rtink 11mo agoSo not modern Windows, right ? ;-)
- mal10c 1y agoHonestly, if it ran Affinity photo and SilverFast, I'd be happy to pay that. Same goes for Linux, whatever can run those!
- ClaraForm 11mo agoI've been running Affinity Photo on Fedora for a while by running this installation script[1]. Works flawlessly and they recently upgraded the script to install Affinity 3.0. I haven't encountered/solved your second use-case, but I'm /sure/ someone has. [1] https://github.com/ryzendew/AffinityOnLinux https://github.com/ryzendew/AffinityOnLinux
- jwitthuhn 1y agoYou are describing Windows 11 LTSC which is a product that exists because Microsoft knows people want to turn this crap off. It is of course only available in volume licensing to keep it away from normal users. Only businesses get to control their computers.
- testartr 1y agowhich shows that only businesses care about that stuff. normal people don't give a fuck, they actually like the things HN bitches about - online account, data storage and services
- hooskerdu 1y agoWord on the ground is this is turning around
- xboxnolifes 1y agoIt shows nothing. Normal users dont even get the option. They probably dont give a fuck, based on a ton of other things, but there is no option to even choose the no bloat option.
- int_19h 1y agoNormal people don't want a Microsoft account (indeed, many don't have one), nor do they want ads in the Start menu.
- Hard_Space 1y agoI moved all my home LAN Windows machines to LTSC IoT in February; cost me about 90 euros for each license. You can buy individual licenses from online stores that will connect to MS and validate correctly. You'll have to install the MS app store from GitHub (!), and there are some other issues, but at least you're years away from what hit everyone else this October.
- pndy 1y agoDoes LTSC comes with respectable default settings or that's still a matter of setting up system?
- BikiniPrince 1y agoWell you can get closer with custom build tools and tools to gut features. Ms is acutely aware of these third party efforts and they are working diligently to stop them from working in each release. They are not interested in making a prosumer release, but harvesting the customer. One of you is the matrix and the other is the human battery. I leave it to the reader to determine where they fall in those categories.
- userbinator 1y agoYou can try playing with WinPE.
- xeonmc 11mo agoYou have just described Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC Edition. See the MAS website for more info.
- devnullbrain 11mo agoThis is a great idea. However, roughly 10 seconds after the first reports showing market penetration, a PM will suggest 'further monetisation'.