Long story short here: I tried making Linux my main OS on my PC. I had it dual booted with Win 11 on a separate SSD. Win 11 was going to be solely for work purposes since it was crucial.
However I noticed that I had begun to migrate slowly back to Win 11 because I’m a gamer and Linux just doesn’t get along with my graphics card, so games are almost impossible to play well.
I’ve succumbed to the idea that my PC will just solely run on Win 11. (I do use Linux on a laptop tho). So I got some debloat tools to shut off most of Microsoft’s annoying spy shit and manually uninstalled the rest like Cortana. I also have pihole running on my raspi5 so my PC is connected to that, plus I use ProtonVPN. I use Firefox with plugins like ublock, privacy badger, etc.
I want to try to make Windows as private and away from Microsoft’s prying eyes as much as possible. Got any other recommendations?
So most people I know do not get rid of their old laptop when they get a new one. If this is you then put linux on the old laptop. I recommend it for anyone looking to switch because when your old machine performs better than your newer one it is pretty impressive. This way at least your browsing is a bit more private.
The problem with using those debloat tools is that Windows will quietly re-enable things with Windows Update.
Nuke windows, use Linux, post your problems in the Linux community and we’ll get you operational.
Maybe call it your gaming console and don’t use it for anything else, so Microsoft can’t see anything that matters to you.
what card are you running that linux has problems with?
I would still keep 11 for work if it truly needs to be 11 and dual boot 10 IoT LTSC for games. it sounds like you’re already doing everything I would suggest to harden it besides only running a local user account.
If you haven’t already, I would try a different distribution and desktop environment. In my experience this made significant a difference. If privacy is important to you I would not give up on Linux.
Other than that. Do not login with a MS account, debloat the heck out of it, etc. I can’t help you for any advanced configurations, however, with some basic searching on the internet I found some articles that gave good tips. Do some research on that, you might learn a few things.
If you want to take things a step further you might also look into changing browser, search engine etc. But that’s a whole different topic.
Get a new graphics card and install Linux on it.
Assuming I had the money for it, which graphics card would you recommend? Edit: This is a very viable option that I am willing to try
I have a 4060 that shreds anything I’ve thrown at it. Linux doesn’t have a problem with anything Nvidia at the moment.
Yup, I’m using a 3080 with no problems.
It sucked with gamescope, but with GE-Proton10, we can use Wayland for HDR, like Linus intended.
9060XT
AMD no question. Avoid nvidia drivers And markup, and drivers get better with age. 6700xt best budget go up from there.
Good starting point would be looking through privacy.sexy
I have Windows for work stuff on a separate, weaker laptop so there’s no temptation to game on it. In your case, would you consider a more gaming-focused distro like Bazzite? If not, using Windows LTSC might help since the semi-annual major updates on Home/Pro tend to undo your hard work with debloat tools and scripts.
If you’re gong to stick with windows that is a really good way to do it, and super simple to install.
get a <$80 old laptop and put linux on it to tinker around, bonus points if it’s a librebootable thinkpad
My advice (even if you do decide to use a separate device for gaming) is to get rid of anything that does telemetry, tracking, ad service, or AI. If you have a pro version or enterprise version of windows 11 you can use Group Policy Editor to remove or disable a lot of stuff and what is left is usually taken care of by Registry Editor in the command line. You can find many guides online that will walk you through how to debloat and remove a lot of the stuff MS uses to track you. I recommend this for anyone who uses windows.
There’s also a lot of stuff you can turn off from the setting menu that may help if you’re privacy conscious. It also might not hurt to make your account local rather that one attached to outlook or MS services (I recognize this may not be possible depending on what you use for work).
You may also want to try a different distribution of Linux that’s specifically made for gaming. I don’t know what kind of graphics card you have but the proton compatibility layer has been getting better overtime and so you might give that a shot.
You can use an XML file with the Windows installer to disable/uninstall most of the bloat and spyware. It’ll also automatically configure local accounts for you so you don’t have to manually bypass the Windows account install step.
This site will generate the file you need based on the options you select: https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/
And this video might help you if you get stuck: https://youtu.be/h9SpKVEc_Yo
Install Win10 LTSC, install explorer7, disable all the telemetry bs (services/policies)
