If you really want to freak Microsoft out, switch to Linux. Nothing terrifies them more than the moment you decide to leave.
This weekend. I’ve asked my significant other to check through and backup any files she may need but we’re switching off Microslops ecosystem this coming week. Got it down to Ubuntu or Mint for an ease of use while not jumping in the hole too deep. But we are in agreement at least to turn away.
:: EDIT 17/01/2026 ::
Thanks Everyone. We went with Mint Cinnamon Distro. The hardest part being how to get into the BIOS and turn on the USB boot. Everything that was installed windows wise is now installed mint wise and got the other halfs’ bookmarks up and running in a browser for her (Vivaldi if anyone’s interested). VPNs up and working and so far so good. Didn’t get spammed to death with subscriptions windows which is a major plus.
Avoid Ubuntu - it's made by the Microsoft of the Linux world. If you want an easy transition from Windows specifically, then you really ought to run KDE Plasma as your desktop environment, as that is by far the most similar to Windows in terms of look, layout and workflow, and it is very flexible in what can be changed and adjusted. GNOME is the other big one, but it feels more Mac-like or tablet-like.
It's preferable to pick one of those two, as they support the modern Wayland protocol, whereas other desktop environments still only support X11 or only partially support Wayland - I don't want to infodump on you right now, but suffice to say that Wayland is more secure, and is widely regarded as the future of Linux, while the old X11 has security issues, and is only in maintenance mode now.
Mint, for whatever reason, and unlike almost every other distro, doesn't come with KDE Plasma as an option. I would recommend Fedora - it's very solid and well developed, an all purposes workhorse that can do anything you need it to, and it's a first class citizen anywhere, since it is one of the most commonly used distros by far. My runner-up would be OpenSUSE. If you're dead set on something Ubuntu-based, then I would take a look at Tuxedo OS, or perhaps just going back to the roots, and install Debian.
Second vote for Fedora. I set up my wife's laptop with Fedora KDE, and she uses it with no issues. She gets easily frustrated by tech hiccups, and Fedora KDE just works for her.
Go with Mint, Pop!_Os, or Bazzite.
Ubuntu is only really a good choice if you want corporate/business level support. And even then there are other options.
Everybody always goes on and on about how great linux is for gaming pcs these days. I recently poked around online to see if my rtx5070ti would be supported and found a bunch of people facing issues, and that Mint and Ubuntu weren't recommended.
I dont want the AI nonsense, and Windows/Microslop blows, but I want my new gaming laptop to work correctly for several years given the money I spent on it. I can't see making the switch when the gpu support is so convoluted.
Ive had many Linux machines in the past, so that bums me out.
Edit: someone should make a webpage that automatically reads the hardware and specs of your windows machine and then creates a table of suggested distros. That table should also include "what you'll lose" that shows which features will become lost or finicky. And it should also include direct download links.
If the goal is to have morons like myself adopt it, it needs to be basically fool proof and easy. Linux is much better and easier than it was in 2003, but that doesn't mean it's two-click easy.
I tried looking it up myself just now, but I'm not really able to find anything that would indicate you'd have a bad time on Mint with your 5070 TI. There was one guy on the Nvidia forum that said he was having a bunch of problems, but turned out his BIOS was the culprit. Another person who reported a problem on the mint forums discovered that his card was outputting to his secondary monitor which happened to be off.
Support for the 5070ti was added in the 6.1 Linux kernel, while the latest version of Mint defaults to 6.12 now. You should be able to install it and then install the latest 580 Nvidia driver from the Driver Installer tool and be off to the races without any real trouble, at least from what I read.
System 76 (Linux laptop maker) now ships a laptop with a 5070 Ti, so I'd be quite surprised if you encountered significant issues.
I recently poked around online to see if my rtx5070ti would be supported and found a bunch of people facing issues, and that Mint and Ubuntu weren't recommended.
No idea what you could have been reading, but by and large, there's very little difference between distros when it comes to GPU drivers.
However, if you want the smoothest experience, then just use a distro that comes with drivers that install with the OS. Best one I can recommend is Bazzite. You won't have to mess around with GPU drivers at all and it doesn't matter which Nvidia card you have, they all use the exact same drivers.
If you want to make Microsoft's CEO cry then you install Linux and convince all of your friends to do the same.
Using their OS, feeding them telemetry, being opted into their cloud storage but swapping some letters in your browser content is about as useless as mopping a sewer pipe.
They're also suggesting a Chrome extension, as if Chrome doesn't also feed a fascist beast's slop machine.
I can't fault them, their heart is in the right place even if they don't actually know what to do.
Give 'em tips as you can and wait a few years, we were all idiots at one point
How brave, using Google Chrome to protest Microsoft... with an extension that only changes things locally. I promise that Microsoft doesn't care one iota about you renaming things to Microslop with an extension. This is like proudly calling yourself a protester because you hung a sign up in your room where nobody else can see it. I guess it could annoy them a tiny bit if they see it become really popular I guess?
In other news, it's really funny seeing an AI summary at the top of this article.
You can do this in uBlock Origin without having to install another add-on by adding the following to My filters and enabling Allow custom filters requiring trust
*##+js(rpnt, #Text, "Microsoft", "Microslop")
*##+js(rpnt, #Text, "microsoft", "microslop")
*##+js(rpnt, #Text, "MICROSOFT", "MICROSLOP")
This will probably break some things but I'm not sure I care enough to figure out what. Enjoy.
Ublock really seems to be much more powerful than we think. I feel like it alone could replace almost every extension we have. Wish there were some friendly guides for it
Does it also have a regex replace option? I'd vastly prefer that
Probably, but that was more time than I was willing to invest in microslop.
Make Microsoft and Google cry by using Linux and a different web browser
What an idiotic article, from the headline down.
Locally replacing some letters with some other letters is going to make Microsoft's CEO cry? Really?
Also, I'll not be using Chrome, lol.
Chrome
Ugh.
Waiting for the Firefox version of this.
There is!
CADs... we need professional, reliable CADs working on linux. Photoediting is a lost cause. (Imo, of course)
I just grew a pair of balls and installed arch exclusively for gaming. As things are now, temperature monitoring looks easier than I expected and I just tried 7 games, all working like a charm.
Ew, Chrome.
Librewolf, is my response.
Temba, his arms wide.
Um.... If you're still using Chrome, that's on you.
Chrome is not a solution, it is a major part of the problem.
Switch to Firefox, and preferably switch to Firefox on Linux.
Microsoft's CEO won't give even the slightest fuck about you doing this.
Bill doesn't gave a shit either about me religiously repeating that in a world without walls nobody did need Gates or Windows... but it felt better reiterating this mantra.
"Wnat to make a billion dollar company cry? use an even worse billion dollar companies attempt to stranglehold control of the internet!"
Yeah, let's make fun of one slop peddling giant by adding some spyware to another slop peddling giant's product (that's also spyware)
Summary created by Smart Answers AI
Oh you you really ahowed google and Microsoft who's boss, now make sure you enable analytics so that google can legally say you gave them permission to track every interaction you have.
It'll only need a couple more coal power plants and unfettered access to the water table
Microslop should now start referring to themselves as "Micro$oft" to bypass this extension.
Firefox extension here - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/microslop/
Chrome extension link here - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/microsoft-to-microslop/hlkljlkdinjnbfmclionhbefbnefcgll?pli=1
An extension that can read the content of every page you visit as a joke. What could possibly go wrong.
There's no risk you will develop a sense of humour, of that I am sure!
That gave me a chuckle, so there's hope yet!
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
