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> I can use Linux but I have decades of Windows muscle memory and I do a bunch of DirectX programming.

I see a likely inversion of motives here: you earn your living coding or otherwise are deeply vested in Windows, so you are committed for survival to Windows and to fixing the absurd account problem that MSFT has inflicted on you.

The expression "muscle memory" here just means the cognitive load of working with a technology. MSFT has added a hard-blocking piece of stupidity to your cognitive load.

I am sure this is not the first time! Registry problems, update problems, and now for pity's sake account problems.

As a long-time user of both Linux and Windows, I'd say my OS cognitive load with Linux is almost entirely related to efficient actions, whereas with Windows I have a quiver of stupid arrows to shoot at all the problems that MSFT inflicts.

When people advise you to switch to Linux if you can, they are giving solid advice.

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Also years of Windows muscle memory here, especially the keyboard shortcuts. I’ve used Windows since 1997. I’ve decided I’m done. A new PC arrives in a month. It’ll be running Ubuntu. I’m done.

Maybe there is a Linux language similar to DirectX you might transition to? Maybe test code in a VM? (Although that gets you right back into Win11.)

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> Maybe there is a Linux language similar to DirectX you might transition to?

Yes: DirectX. Just make sure that it runs in Wine or Proton.

Nit: DirectX is a bunch of APIs and libraries, not a language. Same for Wine and Proton.

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DXVK works great for DirectX 11. However, it's rather annoying to debug through this intermediate layer. I wouldn't recommend this for development.
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Ubuntu will also introduce AI. Why not use pure Debian? (and the distribution flame war starts)
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I have no problem using Debian (I’m actually a Linux sysadmin by profession) so I have no problems later switching distros. But as of today, I’m happy with Ubuntu on my road laptop and I would no doubt be happy switching the home PC, too. (Actually the road lap is Lubuntu and it currently has zero visible AI influence.)
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they want to start with 26.10, will be interesting if they include it with a long term release
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Same. I used to develop Windows apps with Borland C++ once, that's how old I am. Last year, I finally installed a second Linux Mint boot - for Windows games!

The level of disregard for quality from MS is just obnoxious. We are really crossing some kind of line here, I think, where taking the pain of migrating once seems easier than dealing with all this nonsense.

(I had to clean install Windows after that infamous update with system check infinite loop at boot time).

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These suggestions are like telling someone that that is being harassed to maybe wear something different.

While it would, yes, likely avoid the problem happening again, it shifts the responsibility to the party that should not be at fault.

Meanwhile the harasser is like “what’s wrong? I took an anti-harassment class?”

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> These suggestions are like telling someone that that is being harassed to maybe wear something different.

Weird analogy - it's telling someone who is paying to be abused to simply stop paying...

If Windows was actually free, as in download a copy and use it as you wish, then sure, maybe you might have a (very tiny) point, but it's not like that at all.

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Many legit users have a license applied to their Microsoft account that predates the current situation. That is to say, a license carried over from windows 10 and possibly as far back as windows 7, since there was a time where Microsoft was offering free license transfers. Many people see windows 7 as being not shitty and abusive.
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> there was a time where Microsoft was offering free license transfers

I don't think they ever stopped. Maybe they ceased advertising it, but installing Windows 10 over 7 or 8 would silently inherit the license far past the original terms. The time-limited offer was just a FOMO-inducing marketing scam.

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You don't choose to use Windows. You have to. Because it's the only OS that supports whatever tool you need for your work. Windows is mandatory in many situations, which is why it can afford being obnoxious.
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It's more like telling someone in an abusive relationship to leave the abusive relationship.
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Do both. Insist that the authorities reform the abuser AND leave the relationship.

In a real life abusive relationship that would look like both calling the cops and leaving. In the case of software, demand reform and also switch OSes.

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your analogy would be fitting for a jurisdiction that had no sexual assault laws or way for victims to defend themselves. In which case "Don't provoke an attack" is sound advice.

in other industries, you can sue product manufacturers if their defects cause you inordinate grief, lost wages, or excessive repair costs.

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> Edit: yes, I can use Linux but I have decades of Windows muscle memory and I do a bunch of DirectX programming. I shouldn't have to switch :)

Understood. However, your choices are:

1. Keep complaining while paying $$$ for the privilege of complaining.

2. Switch to something else.

My tolerance level is much lower than yours (I switched my daily driver around 1998), obviously...

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  paying $$$
There arrr the ways (depending on one's moral compass)
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As Windows more and more difficult to use at very basic, after passing certain threshold, just developing on Linux is more practical. Even for DirectX.
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Have you considered Linux on bare metal and a Windows VM for your coding? Two monitor setup and you can have Windows on one side when working then all your other daily stuff is in Linux. Shared drives and clipboards make things pretty easy.

Also just debloat the Windows install, why are you suffering with Co-Pilot? I have a VM running on Proxmox and I rdp to it from Linux when needed, but daily use, no way and honestly there really is no reason to put all your eggs in the Windows basket in this day and age.

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Hello fellow DirectX programmer! I gave up and got a Mac. I made myself get used to the defaults. I can't go back. I tried putting together a gaming pc a couple years ago and Windows annoyed me too much. It's better here!

And yeah - I gave up on DirectX programming to do it. I do like Metal...

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The day I can’t make a local-only account on windows (for personal use, work is a different matter unfortunately) is the day I stop using windows.

It’s irritating enough that new linux installs want me to add accounts. I can skip it, which is nice, but just don’t show the screen. If you’re installing linux you either know what you’re doing or you don’t: if you do you know it’s possible and don’t need it jammed in your face, and if you don’t you’re probably not quite tall enough to understand it isn’t needed and you probably don’t want it anyways.

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I don't even want a local account, I just want to be able to set a custom username for my account instead of some autogenerated jumble of letters.

My Microsoft Account email is "contact@<my-domain-name>". If I set up a new Windows 11 computer using this account, Windows picks the first 4 letters of my email address and sets that as the username. So my username becomes "conta", and the path to my user directory becomes "C:\Users\conta".

I know this is a really small thing, but I find it incredibly irritating. I can't be typing that into the terminal all day long! It's not the end of the world, but it speaks to a lack of polish and care across the whole product, not to mention a disrespect for their users' intelligence.

I'm not a Windows user—I only use it for gaming—so I don't really know how to get around this issue. Maybe there's a secret keycombo I can press during install? Or some unrelated checkbox that I can toggle that will do the magic? I just know that I login via my iCloud account on all my Macs, and Apple has always allowed me to choose my own username and home directory.

I don't think this is high on their list of issues to fix so I'm not very hopeful that this will ever get addressed. Maybe I should just change my legal name to Conta?

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> It’s irritating enough that new linux installs want me to add accounts.

I don't quite understand what you are saying here. If you're talking about setting up an account to use the system, it's the same idea as setting up a local account on Windows.

If you're talking about online accounts, I believe you are referring to a convenience feature offered during setup. Ironically, it was put there to guide people who are coming to Linux from Windows.

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What are you suggesting here? Everyone who runs linux should log in and run everything as root all the time?
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