Some Thoughts About Alternative (Computing) Lifestyles ⭐

Today, we are able to successfully de-enshittify Windows 11 and take away its worst behaviors. But what if that adjustments? What then?

I write this wanting over at my MacEbook Air M3, now almost two years outdated, which is a perfect laptop computer in so some ways and but, to me, a lot lower than perfect.

I’ve a number of laptops right here on which I can set up no matter flavors of Linux I need, or no less than attempt to, given the complexities.

And simply yesterday my thoughts drifted again to the truth that one factor I don’t have right here in Mexico is a Chromebook of any variety; I used to be simply going to begin seeing whether or not I may purchase one thing cheap regionally or on-line when it occurred to me that I ought to no less than attempt Chrome OS Flex first.

There is cell to think about now, too.

Last yr, I described the iPad—when mixed with a Magic Keyboard or comparable add-on—as maybe the proper laptop computer for most individuals, and, individually, the proper pc total, due to the beneficial properties in iPadOS 26.

And whereas Android is lagging on this regard, kind of, I do have a Pixel 10 Pro Fold that may operate as a DIY laptop computer of types with a transportable keyboard and mouse, each of which I did deliver to Mexico for that motive. And Aluminum is on the way in which, the Androidification of Chrome OS that will or could not rework that platform right into a contender, much like the iPad and iPadOS 26.

Put extra merely, we aren’t missing for decisions if an alternate is the place your mind is at, now or sooner or later. But these alternate options are all problematic in some methods, a transparent instance of “the grass is always greener” that I attempt to bear in mind each time I see some shitty new habits in Windows 11 that I immediately need to exorcise from the system. Depending on how you employ a pc, and which apps and providers that you must be productive, you’ll doubtless end up buying and selling one set of issues for one more in switching platforms. For me, no less than, these new issues are much more problematic than the issues I face every day utilizing Windows.

And that’s the crux of this drawback. Anyone studying that is good sufficient to determine a means ahead if the selection turns into leaving Windows. Most studying this have PCs or different gadgets on which they’ll, for now, experiment with no less than a few of these alternate options and see for themselves if any make sense to them. Where you land will rely on, effectively, you. You and your wants. You and your workflows. You and your capacity to alter. It’s all on you.

This yr, I’m attempting to have a giant image matter focus every month. In January, it was safety. February was de-enshittifying Windows 11, and as I write these phrases, my subsequent guide, the imaginatively titled De-Enshittify Windows 11, isn’t in any means full however is shut sufficient that I can publish it publicly on Leanpub quickly, and afterward Amazon, so actual folks should buy it. March and April will likely be vibe coding with AI and Windows alternate options, although I’m unsure which will likely be first.

Which is a part of the purpose of all this. I can’t cleanly transfer from matter to matter on a month-to-month foundation, not likely. I’m not carried out with the security-related subjects I began writing in January, and I’ll end that, however I’ve been properly obsessed by the February matter, so I need to get that carried out shortly. And I wish to be versatile. If it is sensible to write down about Windows alternate options for March and push vibe coding again but once more—it was initially my concept for February—then so be it.

But I additionally don’t watch for no matter month to start engaged on no matter subjects. I’ve been utilizing AI, principally Anthropic, for coding functions for over a month now, for instance, although not likely each day. I’ve been experimenting with completely different Linux distributions, and never simply the few I usually desire, like Elementary OS and Zorin OS, but in addition some outliers (for me) like Debian and AnduinOS, the latter of which is (controversially) made by a Microsoft engineer and is surprisingly good. These issues all happen as they happen, intertwined and out of order. Because there is no such thing as a order, regardless of my makes an attempt to stay to a month-to-month schedule.

I’ve been occupied with Windows alternate options loads recently. I can’t appear to assist it.

To my thoughts, anybody can successfully de-enshittify Windows 11 proper now, utilizing free instruments and/or controls constructed into the system itself. And that’s true irrespective of the place you land on this spectrum of extremes. Those who simply need to take away just a few annoyances can achieve this simply. Those who want to tear the center out of the factor, whether or not it’s Copilot and AI, Microsoft Edge, or no matter else that drives you loopy, can likewise achieve this too.

But in writing De-Enshittify Windows 11, two ideas hold recurring. First, this will likely be a brief guide, the place the Windows 11 Field Guide is a strong 1100+ pages of writing, this one is at the moment slightly below 100 pages, and it’ll by no means exceed 150 pages. That’s good, particularly for me, however I additionally hold questioning what any regular particular person would take into consideration this. Why does it require this a lot clarification, this a lot work, to repair Windows 11? Would they simply be higher off … leaving?

I don’t know. I do know that even a brief foray into most of those alternate options will likely be sufficient to trigger most to surrender fairly shortly. Not at all times. Sometimes a factor simply clicks. If you’re already utilizing an iPhone and an Apple Watch, or no matter, chances are you’ll discover the addition of a Mac and even an iPad with no matter keyboard cowl to be a pure and even fascinating transition. That hasn’t been the case for me, however we’re all completely different. You gained’t know except you attempt.

I hold attempting. And with the understanding that this may doubtless be a subject for March or April, I’ve just a few observations from the experimentation that I’ve carried out up to now over the previous two months that, for no matter motive, I really feel the necessity to specific now.

Like a lot of you, I’ve spare PCs. OK, I’ve plenty of spare PCs due to the character of my work, each right here and in Pennsylvania. I usually use them to check no matter Windows 11 points, whether or not it’s for the brand new guide or anything, as one in every of my necessities is that something I doc is repeatable. But I can even use these PCs for different issues. Installing Linux, for instance.

If you do have a number of spare PCs, you are able to do this your self. But let me prep you for the annoyances that got here with doing this. It’s not heartbreak per se. But when you like consistency and issues that simply work, Linux more than likely will likely be problematic. You should create bootable USB set up media that will or could not boot on whichever spare PC(s) you select. Sometimes it should work from one USB port however not one other. Sometimes Secure Boot will get in the way in which however generally, oddly, it doesn’t. If you do get Linux up and operating, sometimes in a dwell atmosphere that doesn’t affect the underlying PC, chances are you’ll be emboldened sufficient to truly set up the factor, wherein case chances are you’ll or could not then discover out that it’s not truly suitable with a few of your PC’s {hardware}.

It’s a crapshoot, principally, however you (or is not going to) push ahead. Either with a distinct distribution or perhaps a completely different PC. And you’ll have blended outcomes. You could get fortunate. If so, God love you. And God aid you if and when one thing goes unsuitable. There is loads to be taught right here. I’m not afraid of command traces, if something I discover myself leaning on them increasingly more as I become old. But Linux is completely different, and arcane. You might want to be taught. You should embrace this.

You additionally should embrace issues not working. The apps you want. The providers you depend on. One of the points of interest of the Mac is that Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and even Synology Drive all work precisely as they do on Windows, with information on demand and seamless offline utilization capabilities. But none of them work like that on any Linux, and so you will want to adapt. Either by lessening your expectations fully or by discovering a third-party utility that will get you partway there. Either means, it’s on you. If my expertise is any information, you’ll fail greater than you succeed.

But the attraction of Linux stays. It’s free. Some model of it should doubtless work on some further PC you already personal. It doesn’t damage to attempt. I imply, it does damage within the sense that you may be annoyed many times. You will fail generally. But when you consider that these experiences will no less than be instructive, you’ll be OK. (The notion that “that which does not kill you makes you stronger” is likely one of the dumbest issues I’ve ever heard. More correct: That which doesn’t kill you virtually kills you and infrequently leaves you weaker for the remainder of what’s now a shortened life. But that’s not what that is.)

So you’ll persevere or you’ll not. I used to be busy not persevering the opposite day when it occurred to me that I wasn’t fixing the issue. There are so many distributions on the market, too many, all with their very own show managers, GUI shells, app packaging schemes, and no matter else, and one may simply spend chunk of your life obsessing over all or any of that. That’s what fanatics do, I assume.

Anyway, failing to deliver up no matter Linux installer on no matter laptop computer the opposite day, I mentally took a step again and thought to myself, what’s it that I’m attempting to realize right here? Yes, efficiently deliver up this Linux on some {hardware}, sure, after all. But what occurs if that works? What’s subsequent? Why am I doing this?

And so I believed in regards to the level of all this. Which, at some imprecise degree, is to realize some semblance of the expertise I’ve on Windows. That is, a well-recognized system that gives me with dwell entry to my paperwork and different information and has the apps, or one thing like them, that I must get work carried out.

More particularly, I want this factor to work with some cloud service, which means Google Drive, OneDrive, or Synology Drive, ideally in some native absolutely practical means, but in addition maybe utilizing some quirky third-party sync service that will get me to place. I want an internet browser, which is not going to be a difficulty on any platform, Typora or another Markdown editor, Visual Studio Code or another fundamental developer editor/IDE, some option to edit images and pictures, and some different apps, like Notion.

This feels potential with Linux, however the cloud storage service want is an issue. It’s a solvable drawback, assuming I don’t thoughts workarounds. But I hold considering how good it will be if any of the providers I do use simply labored on Linux. If solely there have been a means.

That’s when my thoughts drifted to Chromebooks after which Chrome OS Flex, which may kind of run on any pc, however actually solely works correctly on a spread of certified PC models, none of which I’ve with me right here in Mexico. I do know that Chrome OS Flex doesn’t assist Android apps, and whereas that was as soon as a priority I discover myself caring much less about that over time. But I couldn’t recall whether or not it supported the non-compulsory Linux atmosphere that gives entry to a command line and to GUI apps.

It does, after all, as I rediscovered after I appeared it up. But what about Google Drive? I had some reminiscence of that working in Chrome OS, that one may mark information and folders to be out there for offline use, equally to Windows and the Mac. What if … hm.

What if I may deliver up Chrome OS Flex on a laptop computer? What if I may use my Google Drive storage on that laptop computer and make the folders I want out there offline? And what if I may additionally set up Linux after which use that to entry some key apps, like Typora and Visual Studio Code?

Well, that does work. I didn’t get Chrome OS Flex efficiently put in on the primary laptop computer I attempted, however it did work, and absolutely, it appears, on the second I attempted. So, the identical challenge with Linux there. But I can sync sure folders in Google Drive into the native file system and entry them from the Files app. And I can allow the Linux atmosphere and set up and run the few apps I actually need. This is all good.

This isn’t information, both. I wrote about doing simply this virtually two years in the past. This is what it’s prefer to be me. I write an excessive amount of to recollect all of it, and if I don’t repeatedly do one thing often, I’ve to go looking my very own web site, many occasions, to remind myself of how that factor works. Ah effectively. But prior to now two years, not a lot has modified concerning Chrome OS Flex, Linux, and Google Drive. And although that is itself surmountable, there’s one little catch to this scheme: Linux apps like Typora can’t “see” the Chrome OS file system. So there’s that.

But there’s additionally an aesthetic right here that I discover engaging, a simplicity that’s maybe missing in lots of Linux distributions, even the mainstream ones. Chrome OS Flex, on this case, gives what I’ll name an internet browser-first UI, which is nice for lots of what many people do every day. And the Linux atmosphere might help fill within the gaps in methods the Android app compatibility in Chrome OS doesn’t, no less than for me. This is vaguely attention-grabbing to me. Aesthetics do matter.

This additionally makes the iPad intriguing, although my 11-inch iPad Air is simply too small for day-to-day work, no less than to my outdated eyes,and its Magic Keyboard is simply too small for my large fingers. A much bigger iPad of any variety can be higher for that work, and Apple doesn’t even make the iPad I actually need, one with a 14-inch and even 16-inch show. I don’t see that occuring. But I do have a 15-inch MacEbook Air, and that ought to kind of fulfill my wants. It doesn’t, however I lastly reinstalled Parallels Workstation so I may entry a handful of Windows apps. And just a few utilities that make macOS multitasking much less tedious and illogical.

And I don’t know. I nonetheless desire Windows, a sentence that sounds dumber and dumber each time I utter it. But I do. And I hold attempting with these alternate options. I’ve the imprecise notion that in the future, one thing will simply click on. And then we’ll see what occurs. But in the meantime, all I can do is attempt. And I’ll get extra particular when this focus month does kick in. Either in March or April. Probably.