Same here. Right when I get comfortable with Windows a new version comes out, and makes me furious why for the love of God they had to change so many things that worked well in the previous version. Maybe I´m just getting old 
I was thinking about using some Linux OS version for years, as having only one OS and ecosystem except iOS, which is Apple exclusive is a bit frustrating. And all my programs I´m using for my work, are Windows exclusive. Probably will make a dual boot Windows/Linux and experiment in my free time. Will be interesting to learn something new.
I’ve recently been very impressed by the integration between Android and Linux using KdeConnect. It pauses media on my desktop when called, syncs notifications and clipboard and has many other nice things. Something to watch out for if you do make the switch :)
Also, you should probably use KDE Plasma if you switch to Linux, as that’s what’ll be most similar to how windows looks/behaves.
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Thank you for the hints. Much appreciated.
Let me know if you need any help when you actually pull the trigger.
Just another FYI: There is not a direct Plasma download, it’s part of a Linux distro.
Right now I’d recommend KDE Neon, as that’s based on Ubuntu and therefore most guides online apply to it, while it also ships the new 6.0 release that came out after 10 years of Plasma 5. It’s mostly the same, just better/more modern. It should be very stable on the FL16, I think.
Thanks. I will play around with Linux/Ubuntu/Fedora etc. When I order my FW16 at the end of this year. My country is still not listed, so have to wait. And I am not very comfortable with freight forwarding and wanted to buy the laptop thru my LTD. business. They ship to Austria which is next door but… A lot of batches to be shipped right so there is no hurry. What do you recommend for an absolute beginner (sites here and others)? At least I will gather some information in the mean time.
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I highly recommend it. You have Windows for when you need it, and Linux for when you don’t. I first tried out Linux by dual-booting Windows and Manjaro on a little Dell laptop. It took some time to get comfortable, but I now prefer Manjaro on there and I expect to feel the same way about Fedora on my Framework once I get acquainted. I still need Windows for some things though, and it’s nice to have it there when I need it.
I’ll probably be dual/multi-booting on all my future computers from now on, even if it’s just multiple distros of Linux!
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I will not be on a platform that no longer has security patches on it. YMMV on that opinion but as someone who deals with security at work I can see what happens on a daily basis when you don’t keep your system patched for security holes. So if MS does EOL Windows 10 in 2025…Well.
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What about using an EOL platform that already has security patches.
I refuse to upgrade to Windows 11 simply because I cannot move the taskbar from the bottom of the screen. I cannot comprehend why Microsoft took away the ability to move it when it was such a simple thing. There are numerous other things that they changed but that is the biggest for me. That and making sure all telemetry is disabled after every update is just an unnecessary chore. The Windows 10 IoT long term support option mentioned earlier is an interesting option. My only concern there would be another case like Valve dropping Steam support for Windows 10 a few years after the end of service date like they did for Windows 7.
If you think all holes in Win 10 are fixed, than you’re wrong.
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It seems like companies all try to emulate the worst things about Apple, in the hopes of emulating their success. Though, I think the little icon row can be put on the sides on Mac OS, so this isn’t the perfect comparison, lol. But in general, Mac OS and iOS have always been more locked down and less configurable than Windows/Linux/Android. They have things they do and you can’t change it. Would it be easy to make it an option? Sure. But with Apple, it’s their way or the highway.
It almost seems like Microsoft, rather than playing to their strengths and advertising that they offer user control, user choice, and user configurable options, they instead just try to be like, “Look, we’re simple and locked down too! See how streamlined our new interface is! All we had to do was remove all the options to customize it and hide or remove all the control panels and options that used to be readily available.” To me, all that does is give even more market share to Apple because you’re just becoming the same thing, while also being late to the party.
Again, I know this isn’t exactly how it is. But it seems like Windows is slowly, but surely, trying to become more like Apple. Just like after Apple went with a more flat, lower detail design aesthetic with no shading or anything (flat icons, no gradients or shading, etc.), Windows did the same thing, and for me, it’s objectively worse. There are times when two windows are overlapping slightly, and there is literally no indication of where one stops and the next starts. There used to be shaded borders that almost gave windows a look of having slight depth and it differentiated them. Icons too, had shading and detail and a look of depth. Now everything just has a flat look, solid colors, no borders, or maybe a single-pixel wide frame of a slightly different shade.
As for the topic at hand, I will likely go with Windows 11 moving forward (in the cases where I need to use Windows at all) just for the sake of having the newest drivers and updates, etc. I prefer 10, but it’s not like 10 was appreciated when it came out either. Everyone hated it and wanted to stick with 7, or even 8 (I actually liked the fully updated 8.1 that allowed for a “classic” desktop instead of the tiles). Now they hate 11 and want to stick with 10. It’s all a big bag of suck at this point, so I might as well go with the one that will receive updates for longer and for which the latest drivers for the latest hardware will be the most available. 
I can overall agree with that assessment. For me I decided that the Framework 16 was going to be the first device where I will only use Linux on it unless Microsoft takes some radical departure from the direction they’re headed in. After playing with a few distros on my current laptop and I have settled on Fedora with KDE Plasma for the time being for the official support from Framework and with Plasma being far more customizable of an interface than I have used before. So far I really like it. Wine took some getting used to and some MMOs have been a bit of a pain to get to launch, but I think I am ready to commit to it for my FW16 when it comes in. Hopefully I will be past the growing pains by then. I can at least keep my right-sided taskbar.
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That’s not how exploits and patches work.
New exploits / vulnerabilities will always be discovered, which, of course, you will not get security patches for once it’s EOL. This applies to any EOL operating system. Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS.
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I think dual boot is the best solution as some software is windows only - I guess I could have a win VM but seems overkill for one OS
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If you do ever decide you want a Windows VM inside Linux, it’s very quick to set up.
You can use this package called Quick Emu:
It automates the process of downloading and installing the Windows VM for you, and you can choose either Windows 10 or Windows 11.
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I’ll take a look thanks
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I suspect that Microsoft won’t drop support prior to their expected timeline, as the IoT edition is intended for exactly what it’s name suggests: IoT devices.
While Win10 IoT runs perfectly fine on typical consumer hardware (better than Win10 Home, Pro, or Enterprise, in my observations), its core use case is for infrastructure devices and IoT devices.
While Microsoft is perfectly happy to screw over the average consumer, I think they would be more hesitant to underdeliver to their business clients who would be more likely to use Windows IoT LTSC, when the entire point of IoT LTSC is intended for Long Term Support with few feature updates, just security patches.
I want to have my FW16 on Windows 10 as well, my only worry is the driver pack that is only for Windows 11. Let us know about any issues you run into with that. Thanks!
Only issue is the TPM module isnt recognised works great otherwise. I upgraded to win 11 anyway as I’ve got to get used to it!
I’ve been running Windows 11 Pro since I got my FW16 last week, and… it’s been okay. Not that much worse than 10, but not really better either (unless there is something great about 11 I’m not thinking about).
I think it’s better now than when it first released in 2021 (has it really been that long?), but I don’t think I’d upgrade an existing W10 PC to it. For a new PC, sure.
For example there were a couple of things that bothered me with W11 that had since been fixed:
- Centered Start button. I don’t care what the justification is for this, it just seems… wrong. Thankfully, it can now be moved to the left.
- Difficulty in changing default browser. They really want to force you to use Edge, and it used to be rather difficult to change your default. It’s better… but still have to manually set for multiple file types and protocols… wheras changing back to Edge for the default is one button.
Moreover to the taskbar, still a couple of things I think need to be fixed with it:
- Can’t make taskbar icons small. I find this less of an issue with a 16:10 screen than a 16:9 screen, but I still like to have more screen space not cluttered with UI.
- Can’t move the taskbar to the sides or top of screen. Not an issue for me since I’ve always kept it on the bottom, but I know a lot of people prefer it on the top or sides.
There are third-party programs to fix those… but feels obnoxious to fix something that should just already be there, as it has been in previous versions of Windows.
[EDIT] Oh, and I recall reading advice to install as International English instead of US English (that is, if you use American English). This apparently stops a bunch of junk from being installed (and you can then switch to US English afterwards without a problem).
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