PC OS List
Last update : 12/6/2023
Introduction
Just a nutshelled list of the PC operating systems I've used.
Sartox & SYXZSZX also has one of these, you can see theirs' here:
Windows (mostly Windows 10)
The default OS any computer & laptop users will encounter & use, unless they're using Linux.
Pros:
- Prebuilt in most PC
When you're buying a PC / laptop, the 1st thing that'll usually be installed there is Windows (unless you're getting one from System76 / Purism / any other PC/laptop with Linux preinstalled by manufacturer / seller).
- Most stuff, such as apps & games, just works
This doesn't count the Visual C++ redists required as a dependency for the programs.
- Consistent usage experience
If you're used to Windows on a PC, you're guaranteed to have no problems with others' Windows-infested PC. This doesn't factor in UI mods such as OpenShell.
- Rolling release
One similarity Windows has with some Linux distros (particularly Arch-based ones) is that once installed, updates will keep on coming. However, in terms of controlling updates, this is where the similarities end. Windows' auto update can't be disabled at all, whereas Manjaro (the only distro I know to implement auto-updates) can be disabled simply by entering Pamac / Software manager & disabling the automatic updates option.
Cons:
- Forced auto updates, can't be disabled
Imagine this scenario : You're playing some PUBG on PC. There's only 2 people left : You & the enemy. As you're 3 bullets away from killing the enemy.... your computer suddenly restarts (or stop your inputs to prompt for the reboot), all because it had to install an update. Obviously, said enemy won since you stopped shooting, sooo...
While wuauserv, BITS, & UsoSvc, can be forcefully disabled with tools like ExecTI (to open taskschd.msc & services.msc), they will somehow enable themselves after some time. The only way to ever fully disable it is to delete all update components.
Here's why I think auto-updates, especially forced ones are bad:
- Waste internet bandwith without consent
- Remove and/or limit user control
- Introduce unwanted features, which could also be backdoors for the spies
- Remove potentially necessary features, including the ones you think are important.
- Updates has a history of breaking stuff. Pretty common on Windows' case.
- DigDeeper's "What's wrong with auto updates?" list (a.k.a. the secondary & stable source of this list)
- Related to the forced auto updates flaw above, Microsoft also had a history of shoving Windows 10 down the throats of Win7 & Win8 users via Windows Update.
- Proprietary / No source code available
- UI inconsistency
For example, Control Panel & Settings.
This flaw is mild compared to Linux's though - GTK vs. qt vs. EFL vs. terminal UI; among many things.
- Bloatware
Upon connecting to the internet for the 1st boot (by 1st boot I mean 1st boot post-setup), it'll randomly install some annoying bloatware, such as Candy Crush, Facebook, Skype, etc. The only good thing about these is that they can be uninstalled.
- Feature paywall
Additional features such as gpedit is blocked unless you spring up some cash for a Windows 10 'Pro' / 'Enterprise' license. 15/6/2023 Update : If Windows is not "activated", no personalization. Dark theme, transparency effects, & theme colors are among those grayed out.
- Privacy concerns
There's so much privacy issues with Windows that it had to be listed down.
- Telemetry enabled by default, no opt-out
Microsoft loves their honeypot OS so much that even disabling the telemetry & getting the Enterprise edition will not stop Windows from sending unsolicited telemetry (archive.org). Sure, telemetry might be useful for bug fixes, but only when the user has something that needs fixing and the developers are actually going to fix it as they make the operating system better.
- Made by Microsoft.
Microsoft saw Windows 10 as the "OS of the future". Well, I'd agree with that, if the definition of future is "when people are chained to big corpos' dis-services".
- Security concerns
Time has proven that Windows is not a secure OS, regardless of its patches & modernity. But then again, this is the OS most normies are consigned to use, no?
- Concerns of taking over Linux
Sartox mentioned this in per's OS article. Whether it's true or not is unconfirmed. However, Microsoft's past Embrace, Extend, Extinguish strategy makes this a valid concern.
- Inbuilt antivirus (Microsoft/Windows Defender)
Here are some of the malicious things Microsoft's antivirus do:
- Cannot be removed / permanently disabled (re-enables itself on boot, even if disabled with gpedit)
- Removes things Microsoft considers a "threat", such as torrent clients (archive.org) & hosts files containing Microsoft servers.
Also see :
A project that aims to deliver a stable, but spyware-free Windows. I am made aware of this by a certain Linus Tech Tips video.
20/6/2023 Update : Ameliorated switched from bash & .bat scripts to its brand-new AME Wizard & Playbook. First impressions aren't good (especially since currently available Playbooks require internet access) & the old bash/batch script-based "installation" still works. They also claimed that the days of custom Windows ISOs are gone, which are complete lies as soon as we see Tiny10/11 & ReviOS still providing their ISOs (and custom ISOs still provide a decent system base if you trust the makers).
Pros:
Cons:
- Windows Update is removed
Considering that Windows Update is one of Microsoft's backdoor, this is a sensible choice. You won't get any further security patches though (at least without either manually patching it yourselves or un-ameliorating the OS).
- Network connectivity issues
On the LTT video linked above, the network indicator claims that it has no internet access, though it could still browse normally. This issue may be related to Windows' NCSI (but I'm not sure since I didn't try it out). 12/6/2023 Update : For what it's worth, there's work done for NCSI replacements (inbuilt lists). Haven't tried them out myself.
31/10/2023 Update : The network issues turn out to be caused by hosts changes done by the official script.
- Requires some knowledge on Linux & comfort of using the command line, as well as live booting Ubuntu (or any Debian-based distros, no word on Arch/Gentoo/RedHat). Only applies to the old scripts.
- Ameliorated hides several Settings menus by default - for example; Accounts and Update & security tend to disappear by default, replaced by scripts.
- Playbook & AME Wizard.
- Requires internet access (at least for Ameliorated & AtlasOS; but you could try making your own Playbook)
- Essentially proprietary (claims to be open source, but linked "source code" on Ameliorated's site corresponds to trusted-uninstaller)
ReviOS
Another project similar to Ameliorated above, but with the added focus of responsiveness & performance (in short, gaming). Also uses Ameliorated's Playbook thing (in addition to their prebuilt ISOs). Haven't used them myself since I find them a bit too suspect in their alleged focus for privacy (maybe just say it's focused on gamers & not on privacy; we'll be more lenient towards ReviOS in that case).
Pros:
- In addition to "focus on privacy", they also focused on gaming. More on the "focus on privacy" on the Cons.
Cons:
- Concerns over "focus of privacy"
Considering the Google reliance above (which no longer applies at the moment of writing - 12/6/2023), I cannot really take their claims regarding privacy seriously. But still - the site requires JS & XHR just to display its download link; and its URL shortening solution for ISO downloads (shrinke.me) is completely trash (requires various JS & XHR, constant pop-ups, recaptcha). Also, they bundled Brave browser & claimed it as privacy-friendly.
- Uses Playbook, which depends on AME Wizard. I literally bashed them above, so read there. Though, for whatever it's worth, ReviOS also provides their own ISO (and locks them behind a trash URL shortener).
Tiny10 / Tiny11
Highly debloated (and somehow still not debloated enough) Windows builds hosted on the Internet Archive. Can be further debloated (probably to the point it's just debloated enough for me) by AME scripts (or even those Playbooks) for what it's worth.
My issues with Tiny10 / Tiny11 : (with emphasis on Tiny10 as I choked on Tiny11)
- Internet Archive hosting
- Downloading Tiny11 requires Internet Archive account (welp, at least using Tiny11 might not require a Microsoft account, but still...). As someone who doesn't have one, I guess here's where I choked on Tiny11 (and the "reviewers" didn't help with the added bit.ly scams).
- Downloading Tiny10 (which doesn't require Internet Archive account for whatever reason) is slow - something like 10ish kbps (which, counting 2.5GB of the 22h2 x64 b2, takes something like 2-3 days). Torrent downloads might make it faster, but let's be honest - when Linux Mint (with the closest mirror to wherever you are) takes minutes to download (as opposed to however long Tiny10 would take), maybe either Tiny10/11 should find a new hoster or Internet Archive should find more mirrors. Do keep in mind that this is my anecdote - others might have faster download speeds. The only reason I could even test Tiny10 in the first place is because Lukas torrented it during his holiday.
- Debloated Windows is nice & all, but updates seem to be re-bloating it, so why bother?
Case example : Tiny10 22H2 comes without Microsoft Store; 23H1 brought it back to allow language installations. 23H1 also brought back Windows Defender which is notorious for randomly deleting files Microsoft doesn't like seeing.
- Inaccurate branding
Tiny10 22H2 x64 b2 is actually 21H2.
- Windows Update is still there. Granted, it is still removable with AME script, but still.
- Tiny10 22H2x64 b2 has a significant lag when entering sign-in options in Settings. Not sure why it happens (probably because I didn't put in a password on initial setup, idk)
- Tiny10 does not come activated (no personalization), requiring either internet access or a KMS activator (preferably downloaded and/or extracted with any non-Windows operating systems).
- No documentations over what's done to produce these debloated Windows builds. So, since AME script exists (in either Ameliorated's git repo (archive.org) or Internet Archive), the only reason to bother with Tiny10 is probably the lack of Windows Security (which means no random deletion of files Microsoft doesn't like), but even that is invalid since it got re-added in 23H1.
Mac OS
Disclaimer : I don't have much to say here since I haven't actually used MacOS.
Apple's proprietary operating system, preinstalled only on Mac "computers".
Pros:
Cons:
- Proprietary / No source code available
- Privacy concerns
This is a proprietary OS built by Apple. While it could be more private than Windows, you're relying on Apple (a big corpo) to keep your data safe.
19/11/2020 update : Starting with Big Sur (the version landmark), the Big Sur (intended typo of "sir"?) Apple has injected a new fancy-ass telemetry that can't be turned off (at least in M1 macs). sneak.berlin has an article regarding this.
- California landmark names tacked on
Starting with 10.9, they've taken names from Californian landmarks, such as Sierra, Catalina, & the most recent Big Sur.
Why the fuck would you name a version after landmarks (other than promoting said landmarks)?
- No official way to install MacOS on any other PC
- Any spyware Apple injects in each update, you're never really going to avoid it.
GNU/Linux
Distro list
Linux is the kernel, while GNU is the operating system. In that respect, I'll be calling it GNU/Linux (if I want to, of course).
Pros:
- Libre software
If you consider "having an available source code with the right license" a criteria for Libre software, well, OK. Guess I'll totally shut up & pretend that I'm not fighting against Libre software to do what I want to do.
Cons:
- Plethora of choices based on stuff such as philosophies, features, etc.
The sheer amount of choice will confuse a new user.
- General inconsistencies
This issue is linked to the one above it.
An example I can offer is Linux's touch support, such as:
- On Chromium-based browsers (used only vanilla Chromium & Ungoogled-Chromium), I can scroll with a single finger on a touchscreen. On the other hand, I'm selecting words on Pale Moon & Firefox.
- Gnome & Budgie are the only DEs that do not show the cursor when using the touch screen.
- Reliant on the big corpos
While most Linux contributors contribute towards Linux development in their spare time, let's face it - big corpos have the resources to actively "contribute" towards Linux development, by making (eventually bad) software that eventually becomes a dependency of other software.
Example of big corpo dependency by DigDeeper
Here are some examples for apps:
- Budgie
Budgie uses gnome-control-center for its settings, which means that in order to gain the full experience of the Budgie DE, you'll have to install the GNOME DE as well. In regards to this context, GNOME is a Red Hat software.
Quoting the Arch Wiki for Budgie:
It's recommended to install its optional dependencies also to get a more complete desktop environment. It's recommended also to install the gnome group, which contains applications required for the standard GNOME experience.
Also see :
ChromeOS
Disclaimer : I don't have much to say here since I haven't actually used any ChromeOS PCs.
A PC OS made by Google. Translation : The Gulag of PC users, built by...Go-ogle.
Pros:
- Compatible with Android apps
Experience varies by hardware, since some Chromebooks lack touchscreen & Android apps are generally made for touch interface.
Cons:
- Proprietary / No source code available
Technically, Chromium OS (Chrome OS without Goolag) are open sourced. It's the Goolag additions that aren't, & said additions are what makes the OS tick.
- Privacy concerns
This is a proprietary OS built by Google, & the default browser is Google Chrome.
- Planned Obsolescence
Once the end of life date for your Chromebook comes along, you straight up don't get any more updates.
In addition to these, a common theme for Chromebooks is that they lack any kind of hardware upgradability. While there are Chromebooks with upgradeable RAM and/or SSD, they may already be obsoleted thanks to the expiry date. No hardware should have an expiry date.
- Questionable installability
There's no documentation to install official Chrome OS, or even Chromium OS for that matter. There is one that unofficially provides ChromeOS builds though, but who knows what issues they might add. 25/12/2020 update : The team providing unofficial ChromeOS builds got bought by Google.
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