I am wrapping up my shift from Windows to Linux. I will have a linux box to replace my Win7Pro/Win10Pro install on an old Dell workstation. I will also be migrating one of my older relative's pc's to an identical linux box to replace their 2008 model ASUS machine running Win10.
Once I have that all comfortably running I am walking away from iOS on the iPhone. I'm a bit tired of lock-in and in a position now where I have free time to manage the various things that interest me and to sort through any issues with data or software compatibility between the old/new OSes.
I've been a pc user since the early 1980's with DOS and my first pc was a 128k MAC which I still have. I won't have any more Microsoft or Apple stuff in a couple of months if all goes well. Wish me luck.
>Win7Pro
I have multiple systems set up, but my second-favorite is still my Win7Pro Core2Duo with 4GB RAM. It sits next to one of my typewriters, and still handles official/govt/tax forms quite well. It is my only machine that I allow access to Google services, all others being heavily PiHoled.
But this year I did finally convert an older dual core Xeon into a Linux-only box, which runs local Ollama quite well for predating ChatGPT by a decade+ .
Lastly, I sold all of my MSFT over this past year. I had only bought in, late 2022, because I had high-hopes for their integration of AI assistants... boy did they fumble that...
>walking away from iOS on the iPhone
Have you considered walking entirely away from smart phones? I don't even carry a cell phone, anymore (it is heavenly), but voice/text-only flip phones could be a sobering life experience for you.
I am on my last smart phone now. I almost "upgraded" to a flip phone when I got this one but I decided at the last minute to keep an iphone so that I could get regular photo updates from the kids. I don't see this as important any more. Real cameras take better photos.
Funny enough, my workstation here that I am ditching is a 2006 Xeon dual core with 32 - 8 GB of RAM and a nice NVidia GPU (can't remember which one). The "-8" is because a couple of RAM slots are dead, LOL. It has three dead caps that I can see but still boots if you're extremely patient and lucky. The main HD also has some boot sector issues that nearly prevent a Win7Pro boot but with the right combo of disk repair tools I can boot on the 10th or 12th attempt. That's the main reason I am moving on. I have a brand new NZXT machine with PopOS that I bought several years ago that is just sitting here waiting for someone to power it up and I bought a high spec mini-pc to see what that world offers.
I ditched MSFT stock a few years ago in favor of AMD. That's worked out pretty good so far. I'm no fan of AI. I'm sure there's a legitimate use case but today most of the players seem to be on a cash grab and I hate thieves and liars so I have a natural disinclination to support that shit.
>I ditched MSFT stock a few years ago in favor of AMD
I bought equal amounts of MSFT and AMD, about four years ago. Haven't touched any of the AMD, yet... and was thinking maybe I should sell it all (also don't like AI-integrated things, fellow Old Man)... but now that GPUs are getting even more expensive I haven't sold, yet. Until a few months ago, AMD had been break-even for my then-three-years of holding.
>I am ditching is a 2006 Xeon dual core
Mine is a 2009 (24GB RAM), and is figuratively held together with patches & glue. Also very stable after boot-up, but boots are becoming 50/50. With a VEGA64 GPU, this thing can easily pull 600W+ (idles @160W, compared to Apple Silicon @15W~).
I migrated off of Xeons (as my main machine) Jan 2023, when Apple released their M2Pro "Silicon" mini models. I also got a 15" M3 Macbook Air. Both machines make great internet browsers. I hate modern macOS, but it is usable when you block apple/icloud (entirely), at the host level. No update nags, no cloud storage BS, no problems.
>my first pc was a 128k MAC
Mine was a 68k Quadra 605 (which I also still have). The day I got 10mb ethernet was a BIG deal (upgrade from localTalk/dialup).
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All my serious writing/paperwork happens offline, on quite antiquated equipment (oldest being my Smith Corona c~1946). For copyediting, I still love my 24" iMac Core2Duo — it IS literally held together with tape.
Very happily awaiting the return of in-person meetups, as generative AI video begins encouraging such authentic connection(s).
I wish you luck!
Tangent: Containerizing one's digital life feels smart - isolating apps and data from exploitation and unhelpful constraints of the underlying systems seems to be more and more necessary. E.g. can't launch my video-conferencing camera on Windows because the camera provider has a conflict with my recent OS updates. I do not want to pay money / attention / energy into the lagging software maintenance of a collection of finger-pointing ("not my fault") companies.
So, if I could bundle up the dependencies, and re-learn my own ability to trust (not "digital trust", genuine trust!), then that would be the future I'd potentially enjoy, using computers.
Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox, .. these consoles achieve long term stability for their games because they put effort into making THAT possible. Old games do NOT need updates to run on newer Playstation/Xbox OS updates because the old games can rely upon their APIs working the way they did when the game originally shipped.
Sailing the seas of "my PC supplier wanted to release AI Copilot Online Storage Face Prettifier app 2028 and it broke my camera" is kinda an inhumane way to live.
Thanks. I sympathize with you here and hope to rid myself of all the subscription-based horseshit in favor of things I already own or those that I can easily compartmentalize. The hardest part of regaining control is getting everyone else close to you on board since some may actively use the things that regularly extract but never provide real value for the "service".