Long story short here: I tried making Linux my main OS on my PC. I had it dual booted with Win 11 on a separate SSD. Win 11 was going to be solely for work purposes since it was crucial.
However I noticed that I had begun to migrate slowly back to Win 11 because I’m a gamer and Linux just doesn’t get along with my graphics card, so games are almost impossible to play well.
I’ve succumbed to the idea that my PC will just solely run on Win 11. (I do use Linux on a laptop tho). So I got some debloat tools to shut off most of Microsoft’s annoying spy shit and manually uninstalled the rest like Cortana. I also have pihole running on my raspi5 so my PC is connected to that, plus I use ProtonVPN. I use Firefox with plugins like ublock, privacy badger, etc.
I want to try to make Windows as private and away from Microsoft’s prying eyes as much as possible. Got any other recommendations?
I use Atlas OS + Simplewall.
Sell your GPU/laptop and get one that is well known to be supported. Honestly its surprising because NVIDIA/AMD do work well so maybe you have specific features which aren’t yet well supported?
Anyway my point is that changing hardware seems overkill right now yet if you spend a lot of time, say dozens of hours, to “fix” problems intrensic to Windows that will probably keep on worsening, you would otherwise work or play, then it is probably economically viable to switch now rather than wait for your next purchase if you do assume you will give up on Windows for decades to come, especially ad you already use Linux on your laptop
TL;DR: get properly supported hardware, today or later.
Win 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is what you want. It comes with a grand total of zero drivers, so you’ll need to download them to a USB drive before installing, otherwise you won’t even be able to get online because there’s no driver for the ethernet or WiFi. You can even uninstall Edge! (Which you should definitely do.) I think that massgrave.dev is considered reputable for downloading and activating, which is done by shell scripts. You should be able to turn off pretty much all telemetry on it.
When I’m forced to use windows it’s the LTSC IOT version with telemetry disabled via group policy and a local account. I run O&O shut up after that, then install portmaster. I don’t run it as a daily OS but I think that’s private enough for my limited use case. My only other random recommendations are using either scoop or winget for package management, and komorebi with whkd for tiling window management.
The problem with using those debloat tools is that Windows will quietly re-enable things with Windows Update.
Nuke windows, use Linux, post your problems in the Linux community and we’ll get you operational.
I have heard of this happening, it will probably be something that I’ll have to keep in mind actively while I use Windows for now. But yes, the ultimate goal is to make the huge switch to Linux when I can get my hands on a better graphics card. Linux hated my Nvidia :(
If you want, you can install Linux but put the boot loader on a USB so Windows can’t access it. That’s what I did when I was still trying to duel boot.
Nvidia
For the time being it looks like you have to stay on Windows. But for the future, unless things change from Nvidia, consider an AMD build.
Good luck
So most people I know do not get rid of their old laptop when they get a new one. If this is you then put linux on the old laptop. I recommend it for anyone looking to switch because when your old machine performs better than your newer one it is pretty impressive. This way at least your browsing is a bit more private.
Generally too one should not be using same hardware for work and personal use anyway for so many reasons.
Plus it kind of goes without saying, choose the OS based on the apps and the hardware based on the OS.
Honestly for me I have just been lazy about getting to anything passed low hanging fruit. A bit about not wanting to rock the boat to. Once, hopefully, im working again Im going to get a new drive and make more of a push to transition the harder part over.
Maybe call it your gaming console and don’t use it for anything else, so Microsoft can’t see anything that matters to you.
what card are you running that linux has problems with?
I would still keep 11 for work if it truly needs to be 11 and dual boot 10 IoT LTSC for games. it sounds like you’re already doing everything I would suggest to harden it besides only running a local user account.
Good starting point would be looking through privacy.sexy
I have Windows for work stuff on a separate, weaker laptop so there’s no temptation to game on it. In your case, would you consider a more gaming-focused distro like Bazzite? If not, using Windows LTSC might help since the semi-annual major updates on Home/Pro tend to undo your hard work with debloat tools and scripts.
I will look into that thank you!
I think I looked at Bazzite and I can’t remember fully why, but I am pretty sure there were some things about it that I wasnt a fan of. But I can definitely give it a revisit.
What hardware, what Linux OS and are you using steam?
Your gaming experience can vary wildly depending on what you play.
If you haven’t already, I would try a different distribution and desktop environment. In my experience this made significant a difference. If privacy is important to you I would not give up on Linux.
Other than that. Do not login with a MS account, debloat the heck out of it, etc. I can’t help you for any advanced configurations, however, with some basic searching on the internet I found some articles that gave good tips. Do some research on that, you might learn a few things.
If you want to take things a step further you might also look into changing browser, search engine etc. But that’s a whole different topic.
You can use an XML file with the Windows installer to disable/uninstall most of the bloat and spyware. It’ll also automatically configure local accounts for you so you don’t have to manually bypass the Windows account install step.
This site will generate the file you need based on the options you select: https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/
And this video might help you if you get stuck: https://youtu.be/h9SpKVEc_Yo
Thank you for all of the information and resources! I’ll take some time to check everything out and add them to my growing arsenal
If you’re gong to stick with windows that is a really good way to do it, and super simple to install.
Thank you! I am definitely planning to look into that, I appreciate the recommendation!
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Get a new graphics card and install Linux on it.
Assuming I had the money for it, which graphics card would you recommend? Edit: This is a very viable option that I am willing to try
I have a 4060 that shreds anything I’ve thrown at it. Linux doesn’t have a problem with anything Nvidia at the moment.
Yup, I’m using a 3080 with no problems.
It sucked with gamescope, but with GE-Proton10, we can use Wayland for HDR, like Linus intended.
AMD no question. Avoid nvidia drivers And markup, and drivers get better with age. 6700xt best budget go up from there.
As a former nVidia user, I cannot stress enough how much better gaming is on Linux once you’ve switched to AMD. My experience with gaming on Linux with nVidia was stressful, annoying and frustrating. And most of the problems stemmed from their shitty Linux drivers. Heck, from December 2024 until recently even their WINDOWS drivers were ass.
I am not touching anything nVidia until the open-source drivers are up to par with AMD’s and it looks like that’s going to take a long, long time indeed, if ever.
Preach.
9060XT
Any AMD card should be fine.
Install Win10 LTSC, install explorer7, disable all the telemetry bs (services/policies)
Thank you I’ll look into that!
