Re:Windows 11: Just say no
by 1vuio0pswjnm7 on Thursday September 16, 2021 @11:30PM
(#28560880)
"Just say no."
For home computers, I said no many years ago and never looked back.
However I sometimes wonder, since strides have been made in booting Windows from USB and with introduction of WinPE, could we have a smaller, limited purpose Windows, bootable from USB drive. We could boot into this to edit Word documents or Excel spreadsheets or some other Office task, then power off.^1 It could boot to RAM so the HDD is never touched. Portable Windows. Normally, WinPE and Windows "boot disks" are used by Windows sysadmins, but there is nothing to limit usage to only Windows sysadmin stuff. A hypothetical Windows sysadmin and/or full-blown Windows-loving reader, who has succumbed to Redmond's propaganda, might think, "What could you even do with that. It would be useless." Yet Microsoft itself anticipates that someone might see the utility and they actively try to prevent such persons from using a fast, unbloated, telemetry and ad-free Windows.^2 Its one thing to require enterprise customers who pay annual fees to use bloated Windows N+1 but what about non-enterprise users. (Perhaps they dont count. They are just sources of data collection.)
Personally, I dont need Microsoft to tell me what is and what is not a "general purpose operating system". I will make that call and I will decide how I want to use it. This brazen disrespect for free-thinking users is why I dont use Windows (at home).
"Windows PE is not a general-purpose operating system. It may not be used for any purpose other than deployment and recovery. It should not be used as a thin client or an embedded operating system. There are other Microsoft products, such as Windows Embedded CE, which may be used for these purposes.
To prevent its use as a production operating system, Windows PE automatically stops running the shell and restarts after 72 hours of continuous use. This period is not configurable."
For home computers, I said no many years ago and never looked back.
However I sometimes wonder, since strides have been made in booting Windows from USB and with introduction of WinPE, could we have a smaller, limited purpose Windows, bootable from USB drive. We could boot into this to edit Word documents or Excel spreadsheets or some other Office task, then power off.^1 It could boot to RAM so the HDD is never touched. Portable Windows. Normally, WinPE and Windows "boot disks" are used by Windows sysadmins, but there is nothing to limit usage to only Windows sysadmin stuff. A hypothetical Windows sysadmin and/or full-blown Windows-loving reader, who has succumbed to Redmond's propaganda, might think, "What could you even do with that. It would be useless." Yet Microsoft itself anticipates that someone might see the utility and they actively try to prevent such persons from using a fast, unbloated, telemetry and ad-free Windows.^2 Its one thing to require enterprise customers who pay annual fees to use bloated Windows N+1 but what about non-enterprise users. (Perhaps they dont count. They are just sources of data collection.)
Personally, I dont need Microsoft to tell me what is and what is not a "general purpose operating system". I will make that call and I will decide how I want to use it. This brazen disrespect for free-thinking users is why I dont use Windows (at home).
1.
https://www.hirensbootcd.org/
2.
"Windows PE is not a general-purpose operating system. It may not be used for any purpose other than deployment and recovery. It should not be used as a thin client or an embedded operating system. There are other Microsoft products, such as Windows Embedded CE, which may be used for these purposes.
To prevent its use as a production operating system, Windows PE automatically stops running the shell and restarts after 72 hours of continuous use. This period is not configurable."
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufactur...