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Comment by hatthew | Hacker News Reader

When I install windows on my gaming PC, I spend 15 minutes to disable web search in the start menu, uninstall random games, change what's on my taskbar, etc. It usually lasts multiple years without me seeing any random software I don't want. I can then run literally every single game I have ever wanted to play with no issues.

I would enjoy it if all games had first party linux support and I could switch to it permanently, but at the moment gaming on windows has several pros and negligible cons compared to gaming on linux. Not sure how you're coming to the conclusion that linux is far superior for gaming.

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I've gone back and forth on this over the years.

I'm glad 15 minutes has been your experience. For me, who does not use Windows at all for other purposes, it has taken considerably longer than 15 minutes to figure out where all the settings are to disable and uninstall annoyances. As somebody who stopped using Windows in the XP era, none of the settings are where I remember them being more than a decade ago when I last seriously used that OS for anything.

Since I'd only use Windows for gaming, there's also a non-trivial amount of time spent rebooting into Windows, and the slight annoyance of having to either keep a remote desktop tool open or a laptop nearby if I wanted to do something else on the computer other than launch a game.

And since my gaming computer is custom built, there's also a non-trivial expense of purchasing a Windows license.

The one compromise I have considered is keeping a dedicated Windows gaming PC in a closet and using Steam Link so I can actually play the games on my preferred device, whether it's at my desk or on the TV. It doesn't solve everything I mentioned above but at least it gets closer to the set-it-and-forget-it approach you've taken.

What OS doesn’t have this problem? Linux and Mac have both had major changes and move things around. Mac completely redid System Preferences to Settings and Linux changes frequently and even by distribution.

I never claimed any other OS was any different in that people who are particular will need to configure them, I'm just pointing out that as someone who never uses Windows for anything else except gaming, the cost of fixing the annoyances instead of using Wine for playing games is higher than 15 minutes.

That said, I'm generally more comfortable adapting to whatever random version of a window manager and desktop a Linux distribution ships with than putting up with the "everything is AI now!" "now with more ads!" "find things only via search!" type things that show up in the Windows UX.

macOS changed the visual looks of preferences and rearranged things, but if you had a bash script that just did a bunch of "defaults write", it would still work for the most part.

The 100 ways to do something in windows is still usually there via the command line as well.

> I'm glad 15 minutes has been your experience. For me, who does not use Windows at all for other purposes, it has taken considerably longer than 15 minutes to figure out where all the settings are to disable and uninstall annoyances.

Use something like Shutup10 and Chris Titus' utility.

Not OP, but probably because I don't have to waste 15 mins, and I haven't had a game fail me.

And I don't have to worry about Windows updates reverting the "15 min changes", or deciding that I need credits to use notepad.

Forgot about the updates, good point

> I need credits to use notepad

What does this mean?

It's a tongue in cheek response to Microsoft's increasingly numerous attempts to further monetize the Windows platform.

They're not charging for notepad today, but you never know.

It's probably a reference to Notepad getting AI features in Windows 11

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/9/24032117/microsoft-windows...

Me experience is that the average windows install has a year long lifespan and then it needs a reinstall. It just feels slower at that point.

Beyond that it’s a matter of principle. Why would I use an OS where the company wants to farm me for ad revenue. I am not livestock. If I pay for it, that’s an even bigger slap in the face.

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