Just wanted to remind DUer's that Windows 10 free upgrade from 7, 8.1 still works.

[hunter]

8. I haven't touched my Windows laptop since the middle of March.

Thanks, covid!



Years ago I decided I wouldn't touch Windows machines unless someone was paying me.

My home computers run Debian. Those are home-built, often from parts diverted from the e-waste stream.

I also have an inexpensive Chromebook, and two Raspberry Pis.

I recently upgraded my Debian desktop to a new terabyte SSD drive, not for any speed advantage really, but because I don't like the noise spinning hard drives make.

Linux upgrades are easy in comparison to Windows because there's no fiddling around with licenses or registration, no hacking through discontinued file formats, activation codes, etc.

The last Windows version I used on my home machines was 98SE.

For less than $100 the Raspberry Pi can be a way to gain some confidence building computers and using Open Source software. Installing some Linux version like Mint or Raspberry Pi Debian on an older abandoned machine is another way.

I've been building and using computers since the 'seventies. I'm still a huge fan of Atari 8 bit machines and BSD Unix and its derivatives.( As an undergraduate student I practically lived in the computer labs.)

When it comes to getting things done I learned a long time ago to keep it simple. Proprietary software only complicates my life, usually with no real benefits.