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Discussion on: Why I'm sort of leaving Linux

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

I'm not sure which distro you use, but slowdowns aren't something most DEs are free from.

Yes, but the worst Linux-based slowdowns I've seen are in the ballpark of 5-30 seconds. The average Windows-based slowdowns I've seen are in the ballpark of 1-3 minutes.

On Windows Update, yeah, it tends to be a bit inconvenient. However, it never caused me to reinstall.

You've seldom/never hard-booted out of an upgrade then. I've fixed at least four computers, IIRC, where that had happened, and the system had bricked.

AFAIR you can set it to manual or to ask for confirmation, just as your regular Linux.

That's the promise on the box, but it will eventually force your hand. Turning on or off (including hibernating) the computer will also "manually" trigger updates that have already been downloaded. I've known people who have been late to things because they couldn't move their laptops.

Linux, by contrast, never forces your hand. It will wait indefinitely, as my aunt discovered when she neglected to install updates for three years, and then discovered that her web browser was too out-of-date to do anything.

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heytimapple profile image
Tim Apple

I really don’t see the update thing as a big deal. It’s occasional and you can control it these days.

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philipstarkey profile image
Phil Starkey • Edited

Jason: Proper hibernating never triggers updates. I've delayed updates by months and months by hibernating repeatedly. And as Tim says, the controls for updates have improved a lot since the first couple of windows 10 releases.

I also have a windows desktop with a NVME SSD. Haven't seen any slowdown in the last 18 months of use. Certainly nothing on the order of minutes. In my experience such slow downs are usually caused by specific apps that are not well developed, often consuming excess resources on system startup. Things like proprietary scanner/printer/camera software are often the culprit.

I get you've seen bad things, but please be open to the fact that it's also possible to have a good experience with Windows too!

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

...as Tim says, the controls for updates have improved a lot since the first couple of windows 10 releases.

Well, at least they've fixed it, apparently. As of a year ago, it was still a problem.

I also have a windows desktop with a NVME SSD. Haven't seen any slowdown in the last 18 months of use.

That's certainly interesting! I'll have to investigate that more for clients. Like I said originally about that, I have no experience with NVME SSDs specifically, so I wouldn't speak to it.

In my experience such slow downs are usually caused by specific apps that are not well developed, often consuming excess resources on system startup.

In many cases, I've seen it occurring with system-default apps only, and nothing added to startup. I made sure of that, because startup apps certainly can make the issue worse!

Things like proprietary scanner/printer/camera software are often the culprit.

Or, if you remember this one, Roxio EasyWrite (or whatever that was called?)

I get you've seen bad things, but please be open to the fact that it's also possible to have a good experience with Windows too!

You'll have to excuse me. It's a brand new possibility. ;)

I also didn't appreciate one person's insinuation that problems are only ever the result of not knowing what you're doing. Every technician I've ever known would laugh at that. As to everyone else's responses, it's been a constructive back-and-forth, really.