LOL!

Proton VPN is definitely way ahead of every other VPN, in every respect. Sadly, the Linux version is a little behind the Win and mac ones, but with a bit of luck not for too much longer. I'm really getting to like the Mullvad Browser though - especially for one of my Ubuntu VMs which still runs Ubuntu 1804 LTS and for which there are no more Firefox updates.

Can't say I've ever been much impressed by Mint. It's one of the most arch conservative, backward-looking distros around. Not at all what Linux needs.

Bugger! And here was I thinking all those images of me had been destroyed!

Sorry but one leaked out to the dark web and now it will live for ever!

I tell you setting up Ubuntu is getting to be a pain so many options so many settings so little time! But it is still better than de-bloating and disabling all the telemetry (that you can) in Windows not to mention windows updates, that rabbit hole runs deep! I still say we need a Linux version of Winstep it would be like the cherry on top of the cake!

Ok, I think I got the desktop finally dialed in for my Ubuntu install LOL



Like I said so many tweeks you can make uggg! I will try them all LOL not to much like my Windows 11 desk top with Winstep! LOL

(LOL!) Damn and double damn! Dark Web be damned!

Seems odd. Never taken me very long to set up Ubuntu. Or maybe we're not talking about the same flavour? I've only ever used plain vanilla Ubuntu and dabbled with Ubuntu Mate. Takes me maybe an hour or so. Compared to Windblows 10 taking a week or more. :/

Winstep for Linux - argh! Aside from that it'll never happen, no, IMO that's about the last thing Linux needs. (Might be 'fun' for fans of distros like Mint though, backward-looking as they are.) Winstep is absolutely great for Windows, no two ways about that. But for Linux, that would be making it even more Windows-like than it already is. No, the way I see it, Linux needs something way radical and new. A complete overhaul really. A complete new window manager and other GUI subsystems, all fully integrated with a totally new Desktop Environment based on new metaphors and even paradigms. A new GFX subsystem to replace GTK and qt. And a whole lot more. All of this of course within the context of a 'Unified Linux' (which in a way of course originally was part of the idea behind Ubuntu) shared among the major distros, i.e., Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, and OpenSuse.

Until such a time comes (if ever!) the standard vanilla Ubuntu interface works fine for me. The deskbar - with extensions - and the perfectly workable scrolling dock are just fine for now. OK, the Dash is a PITA, granted, but I never use it. Basically, the current Ubuntu DE is a kind of emulation, using GNOME 3.x, of the original 'Unity' one and as such is fine by me. I grant you, it may not be everybody's idea of 'pretty eye candy' but that is of very minor interest especially nowadays. I really wouldn't like to see the kind of near-limitless possibilities of Winstep for users tinkering with the looks of things. So, Ubuntu as is is fine for now for me.

Yes, What i mean is Ubuntu (or Linux distros in general) have so many gnome extensions, Themes, and options that I end up (not because it is necessary) trying them all LOL ok maybe not all but damn near! The Vanilla desktop is the one thing I don't care for in Ubuntu personally. Windows sucks for so many reasons! I can not count them all. Yet they get some things right, and latter they will fuck them up too LOL For me I like the Windows Xp start menu and the Windows 10 start menu minus the live tiles. They fucked the start menu up in windows 11, It is why one of the first things I do to my Windows 11 installs is restore the windows 10 Start menu, and disable live tiles. "I also strip out Edge before install and that also kills ads in start menu and search". So having that in Ubuntu now but open-source and clean I am As happy as a clam at high water. And yeah I get Winstep will never be a thing for Linux, I just wonder what it would look like if it did. But Paid software is not much of thing for most Linux users. I do not see George going open source! Dealing with us picky users that ask for a crumb but eat the cake LOL Cheers mate! I know It is a sin to make Ubuntu look like Windows, but windows has good Ideas. The problem is then they have to add shit to it to collect more data and advertise you out of every cent they can! Bastards!!

@Williamsson - hope you don't mind, moved the purely Linux-related posts to their own topic.

Ah yes, those myriad extensions, especially in distros whose DE is rooted in Gnome 3.x. Trouble is, a lot of these duplicate each other or at least are very similar. There are just too many of them. There needs to be a mechanism of some sort to prevent dupes etc. getting onto repositories, or for having some sort of approval mechanism.

Anyway, yes, themes and extensions can be wonderful timewasters. I use about 10 extensions in Ubuntu and also Fedora, and never any themes. (Mostly darn ugly anyway.) So I know exactly what I want/need, and that's it, no time spent on anything unnecessarily.

Yes, up till XP the Win Start Menu was quite decent and very easily and simply configurable. Didn't like the way it was messed up thereafter, and though I skipped Win 8 and 8.1, Win 10 Start MEnu really sucks already. So I really dread to think of how they fucked it up even more.

I got rid of Edge some years ago but have completely forgotten how. Damn annoying. So how do you manage it?

Paid software in the Linux universe isn't entirely unheard of and there is more coming along if slowly. But actually, even most 'free-of-cost to the end user' apps generally are paid for in other ways, through donations, sponsorship, etc. (And it's quite possible for a developer to gain a better income that way than by going down the commercial route.) However, what is pretty much a de rigeur must for Linux universe software is open source, and that is a most excellent thing. At the very least it allows for independent auditing and checking that there's no mischief like data harvesting and the like. Moving Winstep to Linux - even if Jorge were willing to do it - would be one hell of an undertaking, requiring a whole number of different versions because of the huge variations in dependencies among different distros, and you might as well go the whole hog and make it a complete DE replacement. But in any case, I'm not sure the greater Linux community would really be keen on a 'Linstep'. Bear in mind, the skinning scene is,for all intents and purposes, as dead as a dodo now. Few are interested still. Even customisation is pretty close to extinction. So all in all, the 'market' for a 'Linstep' most likely would be tiny.

All that said, I also would think that a Linux version of Winstep would probably be quite different and even look quite different.

You said you don't like the vanilla desktop in Ubuntu, but look at it this way. It's as clsoe to Winstep as you'll find in the Linux universe. The dock is excellent and has the advantage of scrolling, acting as both app launcher and tasklist. And the deskbar, with the various extensions, becomes a very versatile tool with also a very configurable start menu if you choose, though that whole thing doesn't really have a proper analog in Winstep. All in all, it's a flexible and versatile environment.

Err, Windows, good ideas? Yeah, other people's. The whole Windows "DE" starting with 'Chicago'/Win95 and NT4 and since then is essentially a rip off of the Nextstep/Openstep GUI. Bill eventually settled the matter amicably with his pal St. Steve.

Can't say I've ever seen a single ad coming through in the Win start menu etc. And since Proton VPN came along, that's also added yet another layer of ad and malware etc. protection.

Well how I do it is with a paid app called "NT Lite". I download the latest ISO of Windows 10 or 11 and with NT Lite I build a custom ISO. NT lite lets me customize the ISO striping out telemetry, bloatware and Edge ect.. NT Lite can be a pain, it is easy to strip to much out and break windows so I do not go to crazy with it. A easy way to remove Edge post windows install is to use Chris Titus Windows Utility (open source). It is a tool you run from power shell and it has a tweaks section that will remove edge completely. It also can add it back. His tool is updated regularly and works both on windows 10 and 11. It has a lot of tweaks as well as other tools a good product. https://christitus.com/windows-tool/ .
Funny thing is I made the comment above about windows having good ideas then fucking them up, and referred to the Start Menu.. After I posted that I saw a talk with one of Microsoft lead developers and they have announced they are looking to end the Start Menu altogether in Windows 12 and replacing it with Windows Copilot. The AI will decide what app you want to launch LOL
This is why I am looking at Linux. I have a lot to learn though as I already fucked up my Ubuntu install up. I tried to add the extended Media Codecs and it seemed to work in terminal but then a ELU agreement page opened up and it will not let me click on OK to go past it. Now every time I try to use terminal and install something that page will pop up over the terminal window and get stuck the system becomes slow and unresponsive. I try to uninstall the extended codecs and the window pops up blocking terminal and again I have to reboot Ubuntu... UGGGGGGGGGGGGG I have no idea how to fix it at this point.
Anyway I just need to stick to Ubuntu and learn it as Windows of the future is also looking to go to a monthly paid subscription serves as well as a cloud hosted OS after windows 12.
Just when you think Microsoft could not fuck things up more they top themselves! Cheers Mate!


Oh and as a extra It looks like they also will not be giving a free upgrade to windows 12 like they been doing since windows 7. Rumored price for Windows 12 pro is $249.99 Just for the purpose of making yourself a Microsoft product! Think of all that telemetry you can give them for only $249.99 and all the adds you will get for your money! A bargain I say!

Thanks for the info re: Edge, etc. NT Lite sounds like just the ticket for next time I have to do a reinstall (which I hope won't be needing to do for a good long while though as it will mean also having to reinstall my Linux partitions as installing Windblows on the same system totally fucks up not only Grub but also Linux partitions sometimes.

As for Copilot - AI? There's no such thing (yet, anyway), so surely you mean AS, Artificial Stupidity. It's just dumb autonomous learning algorithms. Real AI could never exist on a conventional Turing computer. Even current quantum computers wouldn't support it. That's according to the leading researchers in the area - bit more cred than two-bit tech giants. Anyway, abolition of Start Menu doesn't worry me as there's no chance I'll ever venture beyond Win 10. But yeah, the 'AI' will not only decide which app you want to launch but also whether you *really* want to do that. It will also instruct the TPM as to what OS and which apps will be allowed on your computer.

As for monthly subscription OS and Cloud-based OS - MS can go and keep sticking their heads so far up their own arses until they come out of their own mouths again. But alas, the masses, the 'great unwashed', will go along with anything probably. Never underestimate the gross stupidity of the human race!

LOL! Yeah, 200-odd Dollars *is* a real bargain for being allowed the privilege of feeding Merkosoft loads and loads of your data and getting millions of ads! ROFL!

Ah yes, media codecs can be a bit problematic to put it mildly. Alas, from what I glean there I'm afraid I've no idea how to fix that. Most likely you'll have to boot from an install stick and use the Terminal from there perhaps.

Yeah, I do not even think i needed them for what I got. I reinstalled Ubuntu lol easier than the help I was finding online. I also added Kubuntu I kinda like plasma however I will dump it as learning Ubuntu (for me) is already a handful1 lol

LOL! Yeah, reinstalling Ubuntu's a doddle. Quick, and painless.

Hmm, Kubuntu probably is the furthest removed from Ubuntu ethos and standard. Must admit I absolutely hated KDE from its very beginnings back in the '90s. But, one man's meat, and all that.

The one flavour of Ubuntu I'm also running is Ubuntu Mate. And for the life of me, I can't see the point of something so backward-looking and conservative, sticking to old Gnome 2.x. And its default colour scheme is about the ugliest there is.

Yes its pretty good, plus you get to skip the step of removing all the bloat!

Blergh! Yeah, good that, isn't it!

Then again windows has a charm all its own.

Where else can you fail so successfully! MicroSlops new Mission Statement!

LOL! Ah yes it does indeed! Loads of charm, XP, and better than 10/11 - alas, the culmination of Merkosoft's said Mission Statement!

To be fair I got this myself in Linux before:

Glad I did not try to print to my toaster lol