LibreOffice Explains 'Real Costs' of Upgrading to Microsoft's Windows 11, Urges Taking Control with Linux (documentfoundation.org) 164
KDE isn't the only organization reaching out to " as Microsoft prepares to end support for Windows 10.
"Now, The Document Foundation, maker of LibreOffice, has also joined in to support the Endof10 initiative," reports the tech blog Neowin: The foundation writes: "You don't have to follow Microsoft's upgrade path. There is a better option that puts control back in the hands of users, institutions, and public bodies: Linux and LibreOffice. Together, these two programmes offer a powerful, privacy-friendly and future-proof alternative to the Windows + Microsoft 365 ecosystem."
It further adds the "real costs" of upgrading to Windows 11 as it writes:
"The move to Windows 11 isn't just about security updates. It increases dependence on Microsoft through aggressive cloud integration, forcing users to adopt Microsoft accounts and services. It also leads to higher costs due to subscription and licensing models, and reduces control over how your computer works and how your data is managed. Furthermore, new hardware requirements will render millions of perfectly good PCs obsolete.... The end of Windows 10 does not mark the end of choice, but the beginning of a new era. If you are tired of mandatory updates, invasive changes, and being bound by the commercial choices of a single supplier, it is time for a change. Linux and LibreOffice are ready — 2025 is the right year to choose digital freedom!"
The first words on LibreOffice's announcement? "The countdown has begun...."
"Now, The Document Foundation, maker of LibreOffice, has also joined in to support the Endof10 initiative," reports the tech blog Neowin: The foundation writes: "You don't have to follow Microsoft's upgrade path. There is a better option that puts control back in the hands of users, institutions, and public bodies: Linux and LibreOffice. Together, these two programmes offer a powerful, privacy-friendly and future-proof alternative to the Windows + Microsoft 365 ecosystem."
It further adds the "real costs" of upgrading to Windows 11 as it writes:
"The move to Windows 11 isn't just about security updates. It increases dependence on Microsoft through aggressive cloud integration, forcing users to adopt Microsoft accounts and services. It also leads to higher costs due to subscription and licensing models, and reduces control over how your computer works and how your data is managed. Furthermore, new hardware requirements will render millions of perfectly good PCs obsolete.... The end of Windows 10 does not mark the end of choice, but the beginning of a new era. If you are tired of mandatory updates, invasive changes, and being bound by the commercial choices of a single supplier, it is time for a change. Linux and LibreOffice are ready — 2025 is the right year to choose digital freedom!"
The first words on LibreOffice's announcement? "The countdown has begun...."
same same. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: same same. (Score:2)
Re: same same. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: same same. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Huh, I thought the distro-wars ended when they abandoned Unity. Every IT department diverging from Windows that I've experienced seems to have standardized on Ubuntu. Well known, you can Google the answers, and any Gnome-hater such as myself knows about how to select a desktop environment from the xDM menu.
[ That is unless your hosting mandates something from Red Hat land ... ]
Re: same same. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: same same. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
This is exciting why I have never tried anything Linux. Read for years about Linux on this site and Linux users don't even agree what is best. Probably 99.9% of people want an OS that works w/o twiddling with it.
Which version of Windows do you use?
Windows 7 10, or 11, Basic, Home, Pro, or Enterprise? I don't think that the "I don't know what to install!" argument works all that well.
We're all smart people here. If you are starting, install Mint flavored Ubuntu. If you find yourself needing something different, then you can change distros. Or you can even download the parts you need.
An example is some years back I had some tracking software to install that Mint didn't have components needed in its install
Re: same same. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I use a Mac......Mac OS. It works !!!
So do I my friend. Depending on deeply you want to dive into the OS, you'll find that MacOS and Linux are brothers under the hood. MacOS is UNIX and Linux is UNIX-y.
Re: (Score:2)
One of the reasons I moved to Mac in the first place was because it's Unix under the hood - it plays nicely with the Linux servers and workstations I manage on a daily basis, but still gives me access to the tools my department insists we all use (w/out futzing with wine).
That said - I keep Mint around and could almost certainly use it as my daily driver, if I only had to think about what I wanted. I think it's the best of the desktop distros.
Re: (Score:3)
*BSD is UNIX. MacOS and Linux are UNIX-y.
All versions of MacOS between Leopard and MacOS 15 Sequoia other than Lion are Unix3.0 Certified. Tahoe will be the same when it is released.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org].
A big reason why I use Macs.
Re: (Score:2)
I use a Mac......Mac OS. It works ^(TM)^(TM)^(TM)
FTFY
Re: (Score:2)
Which version of Windows do you use?
Windows 7 10, or 11, Basic, Home, Pro, or Enterprise? I don't think that the "I don't know what to install!" argument works all that well.
Ridiculous point. People buy what they want to spend the money on. And, for most people, it just works no matter which one they install.
And really, the only choices for purchase are 11 Basic, home, pro or enterprise. And most people are fine with Basic or Home so it's really only two.
I'm sticking with Windows on my custom machine because Apple sucks for customizing and Linux doesn't support most of the software I use and there aren't any 'real' alternatives that don't require significant effort to g
Re: (Score:2)
Understandable. Problem is there are no doubt multiple linuxes that do fit your bill but people who talk about Linux usually don't know what they are.
Way back in the day I installed something called Mandrake which is discontinued now but it was like 2001 and is still one of the smoothest installs of any OS I've encountered to date.
https://www.openmandriva.org/ [openmandriva.org]
This is supposed to be a fork, don't know if its good or not 20 years later. Someone else suggested Manjaro, maybe that's good?
All this aside Windo
Re: (Score:2)
The thing is that once you try something like your own install, and it works, then you may be encouraged to distro hop a bit. Once you have some success and realize it's not all that hard to do, you might want to try something else.
I've done all the disto hopping and arrived at what I think is ideal. I use Devuan/Xfce... the Devuan fork is a tiny bit more hands on than Debian, which is why I say use
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
My Android phones look and act as if they have totally different operating systems.
My (non-Wi-Fi) router has a certain OS flavor on it. My Wireless APs (same brand) have a different OS flavor. My switches have yet other flavors on them, or the interfaces look totally different from each other.
You're basically saying all ICE cars are the same, because all of them have ICE engines.
Re: (Score:2)
Wankel rotray engine.
#ItSoundsSoDirty
Re: (Score:3)
I am not afraid of Linux, mate. More than half of my PCs and laptops run Linux, some are dedicated servers, some have specialized tasks, some are old enough that only Linux works on them.
I was merely debating an over-generalizing argument.
Also, Linux is only free as far as monetary expense goes. Most often, that is the smallest cost.
Re: (Score:2)
You've touched on why the average user isn't switching. The is no Linux operating system. There are over 600 different distros, according to a quick search, and the typical advice is to try several to figure out what you like. That's not going to fly with someone who doesn't enjoy playing with operating systems.
To be precise, it's the same operating system with some different options.
This is perhaps not all that different from Microsoft having different versions of its OS, think basic, home, pro, enterprise.
A person can roll their own version of Linux! It's the same OS, you'll just have to install some parts if you want to do something not already in your distro. And there, we depart from Microsoft - you get to pay if you want to go from home to pro.
But the advice of what to install is pretty much Min
Re: (Score:2)
You've touched on why the average user isn't switching.
control comes at a price. if "average users" don't want to take responsibility of their own system then they are free to choke on ms and apple products and cry rivers afterwards. that's not really a problem ...
until some linux distros and providers start doing weird and stupid things in trying to appeal precisely to that type of users, which is not only a lost battle but the wrong war to fight. well, just stay away of those.
Re: (Score:3)
You've touched on why the average user isn't switching. The is no Linux operating system. There are over 600 different distros, according to a quick search, and the typical advice is to try several to figure out what you like.
No, that's not it. Let's pretend that we're a person who attempts to move their computer to Linux...
For starters, we'll assume that this person has a friend to get them over the hurdles of creating install media, dealing with Secure Boot, and backing up whatever documents they had stored locally, and then moved it over to their fresh install of Mint or Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS, the three most common 'starter distros' in my experience. For added niceness, we'll assume that any and all documents made in Word or Ex
Re:same same. (Score:5, Insightful)
Support for the OS version may only be 5 years, but support for the underlying hardware will last a LOT longer and the new version is free, so you can update to the new version without having to buy new hardware.
Plus Linux distros generally aren't designed to tie you in to other services provided only by the distributor.
Re:same same. (Score:5, Informative)
Plus Linux distros generally aren't designed to tie you in to other services provided only by the distributor.
Except the most popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu, with snap. They're the only source of snaps.
Re: (Score:2)
What LTS editions only do 5 years? I just checked SUSE, Ubuntu, and RHEL.
RedHat is up to 13 years, with the the first 5 years being "full" including releasing for brand new hardware and backporting as needed with another 5 years of "you can keep running it on the hardware you have, but we aren't promising support for new hardware" and another available 3 years of paid extension. Note that Windows 10 pretty much went "maintenance" with the release of Windows 11, so the RHEL lifecycle largely imitates the Wi
Re: (Score:2)
Ubuntu LTS is only five years, and Linux Mint tracks that. I wouldn't really recommend RHEL or Alma or Rocky to a new user for a desktop distribution, and wouldn't generally use it myself. I can't comment on OpenSUSE.
I use Fedora, but that requires an annual upgrade, which isn't really that difficult to do, but it's not something a new user would find easy to do. Certainly the people I know that I've installed Linux for wouldn't.
Re: (Score:2)
Ubuntu LTS has "Pro" offerings that take it out that far, and Windows isn't free, so it seems fair to include their paid expanded support.
The reason I wouldn't use the RHEL/Alma/Rocky is that I am impatient for new features, but if I was a "I don't care I want to run this for 10 years", then I'd run it on my desktop. I think this is mostly the reason enthusiasts dislike them, which is an opposed concern to "not supported long enough". RHEL10 recently released based on Fedora 40, where desktop enthusiasts
Re: same same. (Score:2)
The real question is how many companies are still running old hardware that haven't followed a normal upgrade process? Hardware ages out in the business world more so than at home. Even still, you still ended up with most equipment in last 4 or 5 years able to run win11 without issues.
Re: (Score:3)
We are still using a lot of win10 where I work, and only a small minority of it is because the hardware won't support win11. Mostly it's because win11 improves literally nothing whatsoever for our use case. Therefore there's no reason to "upgrade" us until there's some Microsoft-created problem which demands it. Every "feature" Microsoft has added to 11 is a detriment, in many cases because it's a potential security nightmare and all we do all day is handle protected information, so it all has to be disable
Re:same same. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: same same. (Score:5, Interesting)
Just a home user, but i have never had a successful Ubuntu LTS upgrade. From 16 to 18 to 20 to 22, every single time required full reinstall. Things just weren't migrated properly. In many cases, it didn't boot. Or various things like display and power management were broken. VNC broken every single time. Samba too. It's been a nightmare.
My recent attempt to upgrade to 24 was no exception. I just could not get VNC to work in an xfce4 secondary session. I had to downgrade back to 22
I will probably keep it the whole 5 years. The machine has a Skylake 6600k CPU that is no bueno for Win11, also.
Re: (Score:3)
Just a home user, but i have never had a successful Ubuntu LTS upgrade. From 16 to 18 to 20 to 22, every single time required full reinstall. Things just weren't migrated properly. In many cases, it didn't boot. Or various things like display and power management were broken. VNC broken every single time. Samba too. It's been a nightmare.
My recent attempt to upgrade to 24 was no exception. I just could not get VNC to work in an xfce4 secondary session. I had to downgrade back to 22 I will probably keep it the whole 5 years. The machine has a Skylake 6600k CPU that is no bueno for Win11, also.
Interesting - I'm not certain what is causing that. I've been upgrading successfully for several years now. Bummer at any rate.
I know - I'm lame for the "works for me" post, but I'm not trying to contradict you.
Re: (Score:3)
I have used the same migration strategy since the 90s. I'm sure they've made it "easier" but I just install linux to some partitions and then keep /home and optionally /var/local. Also not always, but usually I do not use the desktop version of ubuntu but instead install X on the server version.
I'm not saying nobody should use the desktop version of Ubuntu but if you think you can convert a server version to a desktop experience right now without checking google or a manual then it's probably a good sign
Re: same same. (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the whole point, actually: if you can't do that using click - next - next - pick some option - next - next - done, then Linux distros are not ready to become regular desktop user OSs.
Re: (Score:3)
That's the whole point, actually: if you can't do that using click - next - next - pick some option - next - next - done, then Linux distros are not ready to become regular desktop user OSs.
I've had many Windows upgrades fail. Some of them resulted in an unusable system, others reverted themselves and only wasted hours of my time. And for that matter, just running Windows Update without an upgrade to a new Windows version very frequently breaks Windows Update so that it will not work, and on a few occasions has resulted in an unbootable Windows system. In fact even my work machine has rendered itself unbootable with a Windows Update, and I work remotely... I had to go in to the office to have
Re: (Score:3)
Keeping the home directories in another tree has been a thing for a very long time. I was working with Xenix in the early 1990s with a second hard drive, and kept all the home directories on the external hard drive. When I needed to do an OS reinstall, it just a matter of mounting the external file system on the path. Same would apply if you're using NFS or any other network file system.
Re: (Score:3)
From 16 to 18 to 20 to 22, every single time required full reinstall. Things just weren't migrated properly. In many cases, it didn't boot. Or various things like display and power management were broken. VNC broken every single time. Samba too. It's been a nightmare.
99% of the time these issues are caused by doing something that wasn't intended by the package maintainer. I can't say I've ever had to reinstall or had a system unbootable, but the reality is something like Samba breaking is the result of major version changes requiring configuration updates, and VNC breaking is likely due to structural changes in the window management system (e.g. 25.10 will drop support for X11 completely, expect your config files to fundamentally change).
If you've never had to edit a co
Re: same same. (Score:4, Interesting)
99% of the time these issues are caused by doing something that wasn't intended by the package maintainer.
And that's a problem. Too many things require you to read the mind of the package maintainer so you can not do things that they didn't want you to do (but never documented "don't do this, it works fine in this version but it won't work when we upgrade to another version".)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
There are only a few circumstances I can imagine where LTS support over three or four years would even be desirable, and most of those are pretty niche use cases dealing with specialized equipment or legacy systems. In general, whether it's Linux, BSD, Windows or even MacOS, it's always better to do a full reinstall with the new OS. Heck, by the time Windows Server 2003 went mainstream, only madmen were doing in-place upgrades on domain controllers. The better solution was always to build a new DC and then
Yeah but... (Score:2)
Re:Yeah but... (Score:5, Informative)
full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain.
This has to be a hardware issue. Check the system logs upon restart. Check for bad RAM.
You also say that "It crashes more than windows/office". Windows/office isn't supposed to crash like it was in the 90s. If both Fedora and Windows crash, even if one less frequently than the other, you have a hardware problem.
Libreoffce crashes on me occasionally (I can't remember last time, maybe some months ago) but as I'm working with pre-releases I expect that.
Re: (Score:3)
Yep. The only time my windows box ever crashes , its 99.999% of the time a Nvidia driver issue from me trying to stuff 10 billion polygons into a hole that only accepts 9.
Regular office app useage should never venter into these blacker waters.
Re: Yeah but... (Score:2)
. Windows wasn't crashing on this hardware, only Linux (and Ubuntu is worse). i can boot into windows and use it for months without a crash. Linux crashes often. Just a fact on this syst
Re: Yeah but... (Score:5, Insightful)
I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.
Fedora is probably the most popular linux desktop for software developers right now, and we don't hear it crashes. If you don't have time or will to solve it, that's fine, just keep using what works for you. But don't think this is what keeps users on windows. There are many reasons users stay on windows; stability has never been one of them.
Re: (Score:2)
It is helpful to first research for hardware that is known to work well with Linux based operating systems. In particular, the graphical hardware can be a problem area due to the need for proprietary or closed source drivers. Meaning, that a successful installation and a crash free experience of a Linux distribution is dependent on avoiding certain hardware.
Linux based operating systems are a best effort solution and so there will be some hardware configurations that give trouble in being unreliable. Window
Re: (Score:2)
Your hardware probably has buggy ACPI tables. This is a frequent issue with laptops (especially the cheaper ones). Windows functions fine, because it is designed expecting these ACPI issues. Linux, which adheres perfectly to the standards, crashes because it finds something it can't deal with.
There might also be unsupported chips, chips which might be crucial to sensors and/or fans.
Anyway, either you have hardware which is buggy by design or (deliberately) unsupported hardware - by the manufacturer that is,
Re: (Score:2)
Your hardware probably has buggy ACPI tables.
This is the most likely cause. Windows being more stable than Linux is laughable at best. While Windows doesn't crash as often as it used to, it still crashes from time to time; and that's even with every software and hardware vendor in the world supporting it.
The last time Linux had a crashing problem was in 2008 when Foxconn intentionally programmed their motherboards' ACPI tables to detect and crash Linux. They denied it, but a deep dive into the ACPI tables strongly supported the notion of intentional s
Re: (Score:2)
This is exactly the problem - Linux crashes often and the average user sees the crash and says "hmm, that's unstable", not "hmm, let me go spelunk some cryptic logs". I'm a veteran tech and have no interest in even attempting to resolve this as I might have 25 years ago - I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.
What kind of veteran tech person has a one off problem and it becomes universal? Not sayin, just sayin.
I've put lots of grandmas onto linux, and they are merrily rolling along, doing their email, web surfing, printing whatever they want to do. They haven't looked back.
But there's the thing somewhere in here, These grannies just do their thing sans issues, and it sounds like your setup is unusable on Linux, yet runs flawlessly on Windows.
If I might note, I have software that uses a lot of sound driver
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Yeah but... (Score:5, Informative)
Do you have a modern (11th, 12th gen) Intel CPU? They have a hardware design fault that makes them crash often - mostly in heavy calculations (e.g. unpacking video game textures) - there is a tool online you can run to see if your CPU is affected and you may even be able to RMA it if so.
And Windows doesn't save data on the fly so it would be affected similarly (though they are changing this - Notepad saves on the fly now - the youth are used to phones and think having to File - Save As every time is laughably crude)
Re: (Score:2)
I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable.
It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.
This is called a Hasty generalization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3)
I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable. I mean full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain - reboot required for entering text into a browser text area or editing a spreadsheet, all unsaved data lost, start over like you're using floppies. It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.
You are using your use case to declare that Linux doesn't work?
I have a legally punched from Microsoft Windows 11 Os that refuses to validate, Microsoft knows I bought it, I have the receipts, but it will not validate. Spent a lot of time with support, and they gave up, my usual experience of Windows support being worthless.
To use your logic, I can now authoritatively state that Windows does not work. (of course it does)
Anyhow, consider that millions use Linux, and do not share your problem.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
CTRL_ALT_F2
Login
top or ps -e -f | grep [program name] to find the offending program
kill -9 [procID of offending program]
exit
CTRL_ALT_[usually one of F5 F6 F7 or F8] to get back to GUI.
Computer is happy.
Yes, this is more intimidating than "reboot computer".
But it does show you can fix problems in Linux without rebooting.
And if the above doesn't work, it's almost guaranteed to be a hardware problem (so stop blaming Linux for faulty hardware).
Re: (Score:2)
Recently, I find that Firefox sometimes suddenly uses large amounts of memory, effectively locking up my Linux system. However, looking at "about:power", it's the tabs open on Microsoft pages that are taking more memory than any others.
If I hit quickly enough I can usually kill some tasks to recover.
Re: (Score:2)
I've read here that Fedora is now the default desktop for RedHat employees, because it updates faster than RHEL. If it crashed they would know it, and we would as well through news on this website.
The poster also says computer crashes for no apparent reason. It's different from "unstable" in the sense of a distro, in the sense of: updatesto latest user software, and maybe LibreOffice crashes when calling one of the new functionalities. The kernel of a Fedora is going to be as stable as any other distro. A l
Re: (Score:2)
I've read here that Fedora is now the default desktop for RedHat employees, because it updates faster than RHEL. If it crashed they would know it, and we would as well through news on this website.
The poster also says computer crashes for no apparent reason. It's different from "unstable" in the sense of a distro, in the sense of: updatesto latest user software, and maybe LibreOffice crashes when calling one of the new functionalities. The kernel of a Fedora is going to be as stable as any other distro. A linux system in 2025 doesn't crash for no apparent reason.
I agree - I have less trouble with my Linux installs than my Windows ones. Same goes for the people I've placed on Linux (Mint variety or the occasional Ubuntu Mate)
Re: (Score:2)
As a Fedora user, sometimes you have a period of software instability when they push something not yet baked. It may be for a reason, but that reason may be nearly impossible to discern.
It's not news because the community is broadly used to it and they generally accept it as the cost of getting stuff faster.
Fedora is not as bad as it used to be, but they are really aggressive and inflict oddities from time to time.
If I were really bothered, I could go run something extra conservative, like Debian Stable or
Re: Yeah but... (Score:2)
Or Arch. I've on Arch for over 10 years now. Can't remember the last time it crashed.
Re: Yeah but... (Score:3)
Can confirm... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Can confirm... (Score:2)
I'm on windows 11, no subscription messages, no ads, never seen them.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm assuming that you're using the Enterprise version. The Home version is an ad filled mess.
Re: (Score:3)
After switching to Linux you're getting Win11 subscription nagging and reconfiguration? What Linux version are you using?
LibreOffice improved (Score:5, Informative)
These days, LibreOffice is completely usable and can serve as a replacement for MS Office (even if its design isn't always as slick). It also takes a little time to get used to.
Re: (Score:2)
I find there are still issues with Word documents people send me not rendering right, and not being able to fill in forms in that format.
The bigger issue is who do they think is going to provide the tech support for Linux? Are there even any distros that help you migrate your Windows files and apps?
Re: LibreOffice improved (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, an even bigger issue is that many times people send you a word-like document when a txt file would suffice.
Re: (Score:2)
The annoying thing is that Word can save in ODF format and that is usually fine. It's typically ancient Word documents that were made 15 years ago and have been hacked up repeatedly that cause issues.
Microsoft could have some code that cleans things up, but there is no motivation for them to do so. It probably needs some regulatory pressure.
Re: LibreOffice improved (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, an even bigger issue is that many times people send you a word-like document when a txt file would suffice.
Or even just include the information in the plain text of the email message.
"See attached document for the time and place of the meeting."
Re: (Score:3)
If a large organization gets a SLA from companies like Red Hat, Suse, or Ubuntu (or from their network), they will be more than happy to oblige.
Now, for smaller organizations or individuals, which cannot afford a SLA, it's a different matter altogether, but even in these cases there's more than likely paid support available as well.
Otherwise, there's a myriad of support options available which are completely free. Think of irc, forums, bug trackers, documentation, the various project sites, etc.
Please don't
Re: (Score:2)
How good is their support though? Microsoft's is crap. We had an issue where Portuguese language was broken in the OS. Microsoft said "yeah, we know, we aren't going to fix it, have a free support ticket credit."
Re: (Score:2)
> Otherwise, there's a myriad of support options available which are completely free. Think of irc, forums, bug trackers, documentation, the various project sites, etc.
Insufficient. From home user through the 'mom & pop', all the way to the upper end of the small business... the users have to be able to pick up a phone and get support - including on site - or it's too much risk for them.
Re: (Score:3)
Well, those can do with their local relative or local pc store for support. There's probably also some service line which will send over a student to fix their problems.
What's that? You expect actual professionals? On site?
Well, I'm sure their pockets are overflowing with money.
Re: (Score:2)
I find there are still issues with Word documents people send me not rendering right, and not being able to fill in forms in that format.
I have similar issues going from Microsoft to Microsoft.
Re: (Score:3)
The computer manufacturer and the shop provide tech support. If you buy a computer from say Dell, they supply it with all the drivers and hopefully mostly working hardware. If you then install Linux and find that your laptop won't wake from sleep, or the webcam look terrible, you can't really expect Dell to tell you anything other than "restore to factory condition", i.e. reinstall Windows.
Some do offer Linux support. Lenovo, for example. It's not free, if you spec the machine with Ubuntu to get the support
Re:LibreOffice improved (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
As October approaches, I'm starting to feel that maybe this is the time to switch the bulk of our gear to Linux. In the past, the hesitancy to upgrade to the next M$OS was mostly about defects and transition costs, but this year, there is an insidious feeling of anxiety that to continue with Microsoft will be a mistake. W
Re: (Score:2)
Programs, not programmes! (Score:2)
You need better autocorrect LibreOffice!
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Nah, I'm British and I've always been taught that "programs" refers to computer software, "programmes" refers to agendas. Or am I just not old enough to remember?
Why not test LibreOffice on Windows first? (Score:5, Insightful)
LibreOffice seem to want Windows users to go via the most difficult route first - install Linux in a dual boot scenario to test LibreOffice in Linux. Surely, a Windows user should downlooad and install LibreOffice for Windows first and see if their existing MS Office documents work fine with it (writing in one suite and reading it back in the other and vice versa). Only if Windows LibreOffice is compatible and usable enough for them, should they then consider Linux and its LibreOffice version surely?
Re: (Score:2)
The article is really about the end of Win 10 and the forced hardware change for Win 11. The LibreOffice part is auxiliary.
Re: Why not test LibreOffice on Windows first? (Score:2)
True but the poster has a good suggestion
Hardware is not obsolete (Score:5, Interesting)
Furthermore, new hardware requirements will render millions of perfectly good PCs obsolete....
The hardware isn't obsolete, Microsoft just decided that it was the easiest way to end backwards compatibility. Isn't it strange that an emulated TPM is good enough for a cloud VM but not for a personal desktop? I wonder if we will see this again if TPM 2.0 breaks and newer hardware is once again "required"
Re: (Score:2)
Isn't it strange that an emulated TPM is good enough for a cloud VM but not for a personal desktop?
FWIW, which I know isn't much, I have Windows 11 in a VM with an emulated TPM right now. It doesn't know the difference.
Anyway a lot of motherboards have a TPM port, but Windows 11 will still refuse to run on some fairly modern CPUs even if you have an addin TPM, won't it?
Re: (Score:2)
The hardware isn't obsolete
You're misusing the term. All current manufactured hardware supports Windows 11. If it's not currently manufactured it is obsolete. That's the definition. How long you think hardware should last doesn't come into it. If your hardware doesn't run Windows 11 it is objectively obsolete, the fact that it still works and can run Linux not withstanding.
Preaching to deaf ears (Score:2)
Things such as dependence and integration with cloud and other products isn't seen as a downside for many customers, it's seen as a value added feature. This entire message is going to fall on deaf ears. Except for the cost piece, that may resonate with some.
Love LibreOffice, but Stay on Target (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
What do you do when the workaround stops working? Even when there is a new workaround two weeks later, you're having an huge issue if you installed Win11 on all computers of your company.
Very recently had to do this. (Score:3)
The workaround he's talking about only applies during install time.
After that I still had to run a debloater script.
I did this to the education enterprise version of windows 11 which supposedly already has a lot of anti consumer features turned off.
I still had every corner of the OS begging me like HAL9000 getting unplugged. Please keep bing! You know edge is really good? Hey heres OneDrive, your new BFF for saving things anywhere!
So there was still some manual nonsense and artificial barriers to overco
Re: (Score:2)
People let them get away with Windows 10, so Windows 11 is the experiment to see if they can get away with even more. I wonder when they reach the limit that normal users are willing to accept, and if they then know when to stop or really drive people to Linux.
Re: (Score:3)
What distort? We're running Ubuntu LTS on workstations, and we keep the updates rolling, and have no significant issues. Generally when we want to do feature updates, we don't do in-place upgrades at all, we just build a new image and roll it out. We want complete control over new feature rollouts, including any major new upgrades of key software like LibreOffice.
And honestly, that's pretty much how we were managing Windows prior to beginning the migration. Updates in general are always a risky business, an
Re: (Score:2)
Please note: when you bypass those hardware requirements, your install is unsupported and may break with any update.
Re: Linux: the neckbeards' albatross (Score:2)
You are correct and why I've stayed away from any nix distro. I've tried multiple times over the years to switch over and I find myself back to Windows. It isn't perfect but runs everything I need it to. With win11 I'm not having any major issues outside of trying to play older games but are obviously solutions for that too.
I used to work for company whose software product was designed to run on Linux specifically. In house, we ran Microsoft for everything. Linux just couldn't cut it for everyone's office n
Re: (Score:2)
if only they could make their iODBC junkware work outside of Windows so that people could access ODBC data sources and services from their LibreOffice apps on Linux and macOS.
ODBC isn't a kind of data source or service, it's a way to specify connection details for those services, and a type of driver for accessing them. You can generally access the same data sources on Linux systems without ODBC, although you need to specify connection details in some other way, and to provide different software to make the connection. With that said, there are in fact ODBC solutions for OpenOffice on Linux.