Published: Fri 17 October 2025
By Jessica
In Personal .
tags: windows linux debian
I have decided to abandon Windows. Again.
The first time I ditched Windows was right after I graduated with my Associates. I was heading into a career in compsci, and everything I needed was more easily accessible via Ubuntu anyway. I spent six years with Ubuntu as my daily driver, only using Windows when I wanted to play Heroes of Might and Magic V or punch in customer orders at McDonald's.
I switched to Debian for a while, but I needed my computer to do things that I was not quite ready to do the way Debian needed me to. I started working tech support in a Windows-exclusive ecosystem, and when my laptop died I never bothered to upgrade the surplus computer I replaced it with. My schoolwork required me to use Windows, my job didn't require any Linux skills, and the Year of the Linux Desktop was far away.
I started moving back to using primarily Linux in 2020. I had a few cheap surplus machines (Dell Optiplex 390) which ran Windows like absolute hot garbage.
And we're back, baby! Microsoft nerfed their market share by refusing to allow older systems to upgrade to Windows 11 and sending Windows 10 to the farm upstate. I was already using Debian 12 on my desktop and server, so deciding to skip the upgrade from Win10 to Win11 was easy for my laptop.
I'll admit, I'm not 100% switched over. I have a PC that my Jellyfin server
I'm super happy with the switch, and honestly KDE Plasma has a lot to do with it. Maybe I'll show off my setup. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's so much more fun than Windows.
Signing off,
Jessica