Some Windows 10 Pro Users Say Their PCs Are No Longer Activated And Are Been Prompted To Downgrade To Windows 10 Home (betanews.com) 271
If you're having trouble activating your Windows 10 Pro computer today, you're not alone. Forums and social media networks are getting flooded with complaints from users who say their machines have automatically become deactivated. Users say they are having trouble connecting with Microsoft's activation servers, with some saying they are being prompted to downgrade to Windows 10 Home. According to Microsoft Answers, the company is working to resolve the issue. Only users who had upgraded their computers to Windows 10 by using product keys of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 appear to be impacted.
License Fees... (Score:3)
Apparently Microsoft needs more of them.. Pay up or go to Home!
It's even worse (Score:5, Funny)
Windows 10 Pro.... being prompted to downgrade to Windows 10 Home
It gets even worse... just the other day, my Debian box prompted me to downgrade it to Windows 10 Pro.
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Damn systemd, Poetering being lazy and trying to cut corners.
I saw this on a customer's PC (Score:5, Interesting)
On Monday I was at their office fixing an unrelated issue when I noticed the desktop graffiti/banner saying they weren't activated. Weird. I plugged in the Win10 product key on the case sticker and it activated again. I just summed it up to another M$ fuck-up, didn't know it was as widespread as it is.
I'm so glad I use Linux at home =D
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On Monday I was at their office fixing an unrelated issue when I noticed the desktop graffiti/banner saying they weren't activated. Weird. I plugged in the Win10 product key on the case sticker and it activated again. I just summed it up to another M$ fuck-up, didn't know it was as widespread as it is.
I'm so glad I use Linux at home =D
Since when do you get product keys on case stickers anymore? OEMs haven't done that since Win 8.
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*shrug* It was a refurb, the license key notated that it was too. Was a Win10 sticker, not any other version.
they know .... (Score:4, Interesting)
https://answers.microsoft.com/... [microsoft.com]
but it's causing chaos in some places -
watermarks all over ... damn you
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Re:they know .... (Score:4, Insightful)
Their QA is outsourced to their victi... customers. They're officially producing bananaware now.
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It is not just MS too. Many companies are doing this, and we get crappy products and services.
Re:they know .... (Score:5, Insightful)
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What you are seeing is failed updates to internal infrastructure. That internal infrastructure, how to kill customers computers, for what ever reason they deem appropriate. Windows anal probe 10, make no mistake, install it and M$ owns your computer and your data. A pack of shit stains with absolutely no respect for their customers.
Is Windows still viable as a development plaform? (Score:5, Interesting)
I see stories like this and I have to ask myself, "Is Windows still viable as a development platform? Will it continue to be viable as a development platform in the future?"
I develop exclusively on Linux (some libraries in C/C++, some Python applications, Java server and desktop stuff, occasionally dabble in mobile, etc.). I have some colleagues who use Mac OS X as their platform and are happy with that. I do know a small number of developers working on Windows, but as far as I can tell they don't particularly like Windows as a development platform, especially those who have had to move to Windows 10 (precisely because they no longer control the updates and stuff can just randomly break).
I guess, all I can say is, "wow."
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On the home side, Linux is scary and doesn't run the right games.
Really?
https://www.protondb.com/ [protondb.com]
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Re: Is Windows still viable as a development plafo (Score:4, Insightful)
Those "cry babies" you refer to? They are more accurately known as irate customers who paid for a professional-grade product, and damn sure have the right to be mad when shit like this happens.
Interesting... (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if these issues are related.
(Also interesting that even if you've successfully downloaded and installed the game on their closed system they're constantly re-validating you)
Re: Interesting... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Interesting... (Score:5, Interesting)
"Rights management" software is intrinsically bad software.
Good software is designed in such a way that it runs if at all possible. If a file is missing and it can still do something useful, it still runs. If a permission is wrong, gives the user a chance to change it or save the file somewhere else. If a non-fatal error comes up, keep going. Where possible, re-try. If something isn't ready, sleep for a bit and try again.
Rights management is the opposite of that. It has failure on a hair trigger. It looks for the slightest excuse to fail if anything at all isn't exactly right. It checks for things that aren't necessary to run. It is by it's very nature BAD software.
Re: Interesting... (Score:4, Interesting)
However, the market has decided that it's easier to fund the development of bad software than good software. How could one go about changing that?
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Given the crazy amount of vendor tie-ins, it can be a hard problem. But in general, the only readily available answer is reject DRMed software whenever it's vaguely feasible to do so. Keep in mind that DRM means they have already decided you are a dirty crook before you've even paid for the software. Consider what that means for the chances at a cordial; business relationship.
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Tell me about it. My cracked Windows 10 Pro didn't skip a beat. I also not to fondly remember cracking one of the earlier Assassins Creed games because of the stupid online requirement and my frail internet connection.
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"Also interesting that even if you've successfully downloaded and installed the game on their closed system they're constantly re-validating you"
This is just in case they change their mind ...
The activation servers were acting up yesterday. (Score:3, Interesting)
It took several attempts for me to activate 10 Pro for Workstations last night, first attempt accepted the key then promptly reverted back to before I entered it. Next attempt accepted the key and stored it, but refused to activate "Server refused the connection attempt." Called in, the new call-in process is the stupidest thing ever - hand holding through putting in the product key (never mind that you would have already been staring at the screen with a activation challenge just to get the product activation phone number...) Gave up after having to confirm every. bloody. step. of. the. way that I knew what I was doing and had a product key and entered it correctly... Tried online activation again, NXDOMAIN response for the activation servers. Waited 10 minutes, server refused connection attempt. 10 more minutes and it auto-activated, followed by an error saying the server couldn't be resolved (?)
It doesn't help that they discontinued the awesome self-help "mobile" website for activation earlier this year - where you could copy and paste the challenge and response between your web browser and the phone-in activation window.
So, this OS will stop working on it's own? (Score:3, Insightful)
Nice to know that the OS has a dependency on other people over the interwebs not f*cking up, and still existing so you can simply turn your computer on and use it.
I for one, am glad I don't use an OS with such a f*cked up dependency.
Linux, internet or no internet, it still works. kernel.org goes away? Still works. Botched kernel upgrade? Roll back to previous version (in the time it takes to press reset and press an arrow key to select the older kernel), still works.
Microsoft - Activate or die. Looks like you don't even stay activated if things don't work out at their end. Good to know.
Only upgrades (Score:4, Interesting)
I bought a Win 10 Pro non-upgrade key. Was activated. Today I am not activated. Worth reporting to MS?
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In any case, this is clear
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Worth reporting to MS?
No it's not. They don't listen.
I wish I was saying this as some snide remarks but you just need to look at some of the big bugs identified by insiders which none the less make it into final releases months later.
Cheap Windows 10 Pro licences (Score:4, Interesting)
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I don't see why we can't resell used used licences too. In any case, no-one buys a new Windows licence when they buy a second hand PC.
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Microsoft claims that the license is "owned" by the computer and is non-transferrable. This argument is ridiculous as it is in conflict with the bill of first sale, but they've convinced enough regulators that it's difficult to sell oem licenses is most of the usual places.
Brand New PC with Pro Installed (Score:4, Informative)
So this is how they want to make it come true? (Score:2)
"Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows. Ever"
Remember that? I was wondering how they want to make it come true, but this is how it's done: By eventually making using it SO uncomfortable that even the most die-hard fan eventually switches to something else.
Hey, it worked for advertisers trying harder and harder to convince everyone to use adblockers, and lo and behold, they succeeded too eventually.
New Microsoft's Slogan (Score:3)
They like the abuse! (Score:3)
It's truly amazing how much abuse some users are willing to take just to use Windows. The only explanation that makes any sense at this point is that they like the abuse.
Re:They like the abuse! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's truly amazing how much abuse some users are willing to take just to use Windows. The only explanation that makes any sense at this point is that they like the abuse.
I am pretty sure that I have said this before, but for home users the issue is not that they like the abuse. At least, that seems to be the case with the family and other folks who I know who come to me for tech support. Rather, the situation exhibits the classic signs of co-dependency: the person remains in the abusive relationship because they fear that things will actually be worse if they leave the abusive the relationship.
In fact, I recall one friend, who had a history of tech support problems, who was considering getting a new system and who came to me for advice. About the only thing this person used the computer for was web, email, Facbook, and photos. I recommended a Mac for them instead of a Windows machine and the look on their face was practically terrified. As bad as the problems were they had experienced with Windows, they were yet more afraid of something different.
Of course, for businesses the situation is really all about institutional inertia.
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Microsoft customers don't like the abuse. They like the infrastructure.
Look back to the 80's and see how many computer companies there were. Most of them beat the snot out of the laughably bad IBM PC and its horrible Intel processor and garbage Microsoft OS. They all died because they were incompatible, refused to work together, and didn't cultivate their communities effectively. Even Apple was always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy until they decided to quit making computers and start making gadget
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Or put another way, they are scared by something far far worse. People know about apple at this point in the game, trust me on that. Vendor lockin - they wrote the book. Good luck getting software without an apple ID. Pioneered always on, always tracking, always cloud, computing. The
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It's funny, Apple could (perhaps) be really cleaning up right now because of things like Microsoft's Windows 10 strategy and execution... but because Apple has chosen to go their own high $$$ route with hardware, Microsoft's issues don't translate into mass switching to Apple.
I tend to prefer Apple hardware and O/S (I'm typing this on a 2013 iMac, and I have a 2015 MacBook Pro 15 inch), but it was tough finding my last MacBook Pro at a price that I was wiling to pay (ended up buying used through the Inter
Re:They like the abuse! (Score:4, Insightful)
They don't realise that alternatives exist, or are only aware of Apple but don't have the budget for it...
Indeed the common perception is that computers are inherently unreliable and insecure and that's just the way it is. This perception is entirely down to microsoft being both ubiquitous and such poor quality for all these years.
Look at all the tv shows with characters which can trivially hack into any system, or computers which are constantly failing to work correctly - this is the perception that microsoft has generated.
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It's truly amazing how much abuse some users are willing to take just to use Windows. The only explanation that makes any sense at this point is that they like the abuse.
Because, apparently, I have to explain this regularly to the Slashdot crowd...
First off, there is a whole lot of dependency not on Windows, but on Windows applications. I depend on Serato to DJ weddings. I depend on Adobe Production Studio to edit videos. I depend on CompuShow to run my intelligent lights. I depend on Sound Forge and Acronis and Active@ and the fact that if I run into a bizarre corner case I can find a random application on Softpedia, like when I used Remo Repair AVI to, well, repair an AVI
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Oh yes, I know all the justifications but what it really amounts to is laziness. You are unwilling to find an analog or do any leg work to actually get away from Windows. Whenever you invest in something new, you should consider if it will tie you down to Windows. However, no, that's not your plan because you are the lazy user who rather be abused than put in the effort. So yeah, you like the abuse.
Don't believe me? How long have you dual booted so that you only have to deal with Windows for the amount
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i don't know how Apple could make it any easier.
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You say 'you're too lazy to find something 'good enough' or to make your own tool to do what you want, I say 'it's more efficient to just use the tool that already works.'
Do you suggest that people who need to nail two pieces of wood together learn blacksmithing so they can forge a hammer and nails?
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Oh come on, macOS isn't complicated and has plenty of software for it.
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Stockholm syndrome...
Does Win 10 Pro call home on every boot up? (Score:3)
This problem and the bricking of some PCs that updated to 1809 makes me wonder about ever updating to Win 10. That version has apparently been pulled. Microsoft's QC army, read end users, reported this problem to the development team and it was ignored. A second group of Windows developers is working on 1903, or whatever it's called, presumably for a spring, 2019, update. What surprises will that version have? We should be excited to learn about new problems.
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Another Windows 7 user here. I have made the firm decision that i won't run Windows 10 at home, nor will do so any our family member. I will also try to avoid using it at work by all means except losing my job.
Windows 7 is the last Windows I will use privately. After it becomes completely useless (will take a long time since most applications now are good enough), I'll switch to a Linux distro I don't dislike, like Devuan or maybe FreeBSD.
Seriously - who proofreads these submissions? (Score:2)
How long does it take to make sure that the story heading is grammatically correct?
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They were going to fix it but then this Windows Activation prompt popped up for some reason...
Reminder that ReactOS dosen't have activation. (Score:4, Interesting)
Activating... (Score:2)
The whole idea that i need to depend on a outside party whom i lease my software from , so that I own nothing and have no control over my own computing environment does not sit well with me. It seems it should not sit well with anyone, but perhaps I'm just getting to be an old foggie.
Training for Subscription OS? (Score:2)
Candy Crush (Score:2)
Assumed our company key got disabled, wasted morn (Score:5, Interesting)
I wasted a few hours on this insanity this morning.
My final solution (tried many options) was to use some tools from Ratborus.
KMS Clean to remove my existing key, and then W10 Digital Activation with KMS38 option.
It now says:
Windows(R), Professional edition:
Volume activation will expire 1/18/2038
Now where do I send an Invoice to Microsoft for wasting my morning on this BS?
If you need a copy of KMS Tools Portable, it's here
https://www.solidfiles.com/fol... [solidfiles.com]
The password is part of the filename, so for the latest version:
KMS_Tools_Portable_01.11.2018_password_1234567890987654321.7z
The password is 1234567890987654321
That's the way to do it. (Score:2)
I see no reason to activate Windows conventionally and haven't in many years. I don't need to give MSFT access to my installs so I don't.
You got a peek at what's to come (Score:2, Insightful)
M$ is working on making you PAY for Windows every 6 months to one year. The software that controls this hiccuped and deactivated Windows. Soon you will be getting warnings that your PC is about to become deactivated unless you update (Pay) your subscription. Yeah, Fuck M$. Already made the move from Win7 to Mint. Enough of this horse shit.
Fixed at around 4:30 PM (US/Eastern) (Score:2)
Use MS to play computer games (Score:2)
Do work on real OS.
Activators and VMs (Score:2)
Clean activation has been a thing for MANY years. Forget whatever you imagine to be so and visit appropriate fora like MDL. .isos (checksums, what are they?) over the years and activated with no problems. If in doubt, take a clean snapshot before activating so you can revert. Remember MSFT and AV companies flag activators as malware. Know what you are doing and that's no worr
Windows has its uses so most of my installs live in VMs on Linux hosts which don't connect to the internet. I've downloaded many clean
Re:I haven't noticed... (Score:5, Funny)
Mine was 3.0 -> 3.1 -> 95 -> 98 -> XP - Win7 Pro - > Win10 Pro - Linux Mint.
Problem solved.
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+1 for having a long enough upgrade path that you can't see the joke right away.
Re:I haven't noticed... (Score:5, Funny)
o MSDOS
| Win 3.0
| Win 3.11
| WinNT 4.0
| Win 2000
| WinXP
v---+-> Win 7 Pro
+-> Linux
+-> OSX
+-> FreeBSD
I see no need to run MS's latest spyware that constantly breaks.
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Atari DOS 2.0s -> Atari DOS 2.5 -> MyDOS 4.5 -> SpartaDOS 4.1 -> TOS/GEM 1.0 -> TOS/GEM 1.04 -> System 6.08 -> System 7 -> System 7.5 -> MINIX 1.7 -> Linux 1.12 -> NetBSD 1.2 -> FreeBSD 2.8 -> MacOS X
I have never experienced these problems at all.
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MS-DOS 2.1 -> 5 -> 6-> Win 3.1 -> Win 95 -> OS/2 Warp -> Win 98 -> Red Hat -> Debian+Ubuntu+Mint -> Fedora
With significant overlaps (eg now Debian and Fedora happily co-existing).
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Basic --> CP-642Bravo (Assembly) --> AN/UYK7&AN/UYK43 (Using CMS-2Y) --> VAX VMS --> Unix --> Minux --> DOS 3.0 --> DOS 3.1 --> DOS 4.0 --> DOS 4.01 --> DOS 5 --> Win 3.0 --> Win3.1 --> Win95 --> Win NT3.5 --> Win98 --> Win2000 --> WinXP --> Win Vista --> Win 7 --> Win 8.0 --> Win8.1 --> Win10
(And most variants of Suse, RedHat, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and BSD)
I prefer Win98
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Ah... I remember AN/UYK-7. I also was part of the development team for the AN/PYC-1 and AN/PSC-2 for the LTACFIRE system.
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I used to work with the 7 & 43 at FCDSSA Dam Neck maintaining the systems for the Navy.
Was a fun place to work, and I could go fishing at lunchtime since the beach was only about 150 ft away.
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- CP-642Bravo (Assembly)
- AN/UYK7&AN/UYK43 (Using CMS-2Y)
+ CP/M
+ Windows 2.11
+ OS/2 2.0
+ OS/2 3.0
+ Windows NT 4.0
I prefer Ubuntu or Mint
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You didn't jump onto the Windows ME bandwagon?
I was saving up for Vista ;)
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Parallel tracks for some of us.
Dos 3.3 (apple ][) -> System 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, MacOS 7.5, MacOS 8, MacOS 9,--> MacOS X.
SunOS BSD --> Aegis --> SunOS SysV --> Linux (too many to list)
OS9 --> Vrtx
All the DOS --> Windows variants.
Plan 9 --> Inferno --> Plan 9. (Still my favorite for programming)
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Probably because my upgrade path was Win7 -> Win8 -> Win10 -> Win10 Pro.
Mine was Win 95 -> Win XP -> Win Vista -> OS X. Haven't looked back since.
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Yes, but it wasn't the entire bloody user base. Those people were choosing to do be beta testers, the people affected by this most certainly did not.
MS is now literally deciding that everyone is a beta tester whether they like it or not, and seem to be consistently putting out stuff that is nowhere near tested enough.
Microsoft is releasing lower quality stuff, relying on their telemetry to tell them what went wrong, and then if users are lucky Microsoft will fix
Re:lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:5, Informative)
Get out of the MS mindframe. In Linux, if you don't like the UI, choose another one.
Agreed about Gnome 3, that's why I don't use it.
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Same here.
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It's not an MS mindframe. It's a "I'm just a computer user who just wants it to work without bullshit" mindframe. Maybe you and I have no qualms about ripping out a GUI we hate and putting in a different one, but it wouldn't even occur to the average user to do that, let alone know HOW to do that.
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Nothing to rip out, just install the wanted GUI and select it when logging in.
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just install the wanted GUI
That little snippet is missing a LOT of details. First of all, it assumes that they even know what GUI they want. KDE? XFCE? FVWM? Cinnamon? Enlightenment?
The average user is not going to have any idea. They will have to spend time learning the pros and cons between each one, possibly experiment to see what they like most.
I can tell you right now that the average user is going to throw their hands up in the air and say "Screw that" before you've managed to finish saying the letter K D.
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How do these imaginary users manage to get to work? All those dizzying breakfast options, eggs, cereal, OJ, coffee, butter, jam, or both on the toast choosing which clothes to wear, picking a station on the car radio, it' just too much!
Those poor people shivering naked in their childhood bedrooms unable to choose clothes, bedding, a setting on the thermostat, a house, a car, what they want to be when they grow up or even which free GUI they want on their Linux box.
Re:lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:5, Insightful)
Sadly Gnome 3 sucks more than Windows Vista
Sounds like a good reason to use KDE. :)
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Sounds like a good reason to use KDE. :)
Not in Red Hat. Deprecated.
Re:lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:5, Insightful)
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I usually get kernel panic before anything else :)
Re:lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:5, Informative)
Actually be productive.
Reboot when YOU want...
Re:lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:5, Interesting)
Things I have done and/or still do with Linux:
- Embedded software development (MP-LAB for Microchip's PIC microcontrollers)
- Schematic capture and PCB layout
- Monitor / maintain my finances
- Wrote and published a book
- Developed cover art for said book
- Have started writing / editing a second book
- Download & manage photos from my camera
- Play games
- Ran an emulator to relive my Tandy CoCo days
- Development of my web sites
Things I do when I'm at work and my employer forces me to use Windows 10:
- Wonder why people put up with this crap
- Curse a hell of a lot more than I normally like to do during peacetime.
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Re: lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:3)
Re: lol why do you people put up with this shit (Score:4, Insightful)
And, you know, more or less run the Internet.
Not only 96.5% of web servers and 85% of cloud services, but also > 85% of all phones.
But not desktop computers though. Which account for what, 45% of web browsing activity, wher Linux has approx 1.5% of the market.
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Other productive things I've done using Xubuntu, a GNU/Linux distribution:
- Develop the menu system for a multiple game cartridge showcasing entries to an NES game programming competition
- Develop a few entries for said competition
- Program the video games Haunted: Halloween '85 (2015) and its sequel Haunted: Halloween '86 (The Curse of Possum Hollow) (2016) and their asset pipelines for Retrotainment Games
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things you can do with linux: - open a browser
That's probably enough for a majority of users.
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I explained why some people put up with this shit and your reply is that you don't play games.
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Wine is making a lot of headway with games like overwatch. Now with the help of steam it's getting even better. You can play overwatch on Linux but until some more bugs get worked out it may crash or it may run just fine for hours. I recently tested Rust with steam play and other than not being able to open steam friends once you're in game it runs rather flawlessly occasionally I get runaway ram and have to cycle the game but in 2 days game play(lots of hours last weekend) it only happened twice.
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Saying that Linux has games via Wine/etc is like saying that my Mac is compatible with the Nintendo GameBoy because of emulators.
Yes there is more games than ever compatible with Linux, I see that every time I look at game listings on Steam. But Overwatch is not "Linux compatible".
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It's actually perfectly reasonable to use hardware acceleration by default when the hardware claims to support it, the problem there is shoddy hardware making false claims.
This is also caused by black box security products, they claim to do something (encrypt your data) but don't disclose enough about how and just expect you to trust them.. How many more vendors are hiding crap like this that just hasn't been discovered yet?
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Right now, for Retail and OEM Windows installs, the license for Windows lasts as long as your computer HWID stays the same. However, changing enough of your hardware generates a new HWID and you have to call