Windows No More

Tagged with linux, windows on February 26, 2025

Although I’ve mentioned Windows several times in the past, I didn’t start with Windows. In fact, the first computer I used in 1987, while I was stationed on the island of Okinawa in Japan, ran MS-DOS. Every computer I used until sometime in 1994 ran MS-DOS. I bought my first Windows computer in 1994. It was an expensive piece of junk, yet state of the art when I bought it.

It wasn’t really a “Windows computer” in that it ran Windows on top of MS-DOS. Windows stopped relying on MS-DOS with Windows 95. I bought more desktop computers over the years and my first laptop computer in 2006, just before moving to the Philippines. I’ve had other desktop and laptop computers since then, and I made Windows a second class citizen on my computers in 2007.

Linux as a First Class Citizen

I bought a white box computer system at a computer store at the SM City San Fernando mall in 2007. I installed the latest Ubuntu distribution on it. In 2009, I bought a netbook with Windows XP on it, which I replaced with Lubuntu (a lightweight Ubuntu “flavor”) before giving it away. I bought another white box computer system at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in 2011. Again, I installed the latest Ubuntu distribution on it.

From sometime in 2013 to sometime in 2024, I either ran Linux Mint alongside Windows or relegated it to a virtual machine on all the desktop and laptop computers I owned. After doing nothing more than keeping Windows updated for years, I finally decided to abandon Windows altogether. While some people hang onto Windows due to the proprietary software they need to use, there is absolutely nothing proprietary that I’ve used in over 10 years.

Windows Is For Other People

Many employees are required to use Windows for one reason or another. Unless they work at home, they have to use whatever the employers provide for them. It doesn’t even matter if they’re not required to use proprietary software.

My older son is a civil service employee. As far as I know, all civil service employees are required to use Windows. My younger son is in the Army. He uses his Common Access Card for identification and to access military websites. And it only works on Windows. I’m sure my older daughter-in-law, who’s in the Air Force, is in the same situation. My younger daughter-in-law is a stay-at-home mother.

Other people, those with choices, use Windows for various reasons. Some prefer it over anything else, and some don’t know any better. If there isn’t anyone technically inclined in the immediate family, and no accessible relatives technically inclined, they may never know anything beyond what’s being advertised or displayed.

There are more choices today than ever: ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex by Google, macOS by Apple, BSD descendants, and Linux distributions. There’s even another commercial operating system called ArcaOS, based on IBM’s abandoned OS/2 Warp. While I may choose something other than what I’m using today, it will never again be Windows. Too much has already gone wrong with that operating system.