Talk me in our out of this: I am struggling to not pick up a cheap used laptop after the discussion about it on
...but not for Linux.
I am happy with my Tuxedo InfinityBook S 15 and have no real need for a new laptop, but I find myself occasionally needing or wanting to use a Windows machine, either for logging into webmail for work without the hassle, or not dealing with wifi captive portals that refuse to work with linux despite hours of tinkering (my solution at some hotels is now Andriod wifi hotspot), or just getting an old game off steam or gog to work.
My spouse is the one that could use a new laptop, but I don't want it to be a "this gift is actually for you, isn't it?" situation.
So, talk me in or out of this...
Edit: I realize after looking at the OS poll that most people are going to pooh-pooh windows, but it has its uses.
Jan 19 · 4 months ago
15 Comments ↓
🛸 zinricky [✍️] · Jan 19 at 16:51:
Pragmatically, a MicroWin installation can be okay for you both, in my opinion
🍀 gritty [OP] · Jan 19 at 17:15:
@zinricky neat, I hadn't seen that before
Never mind. I found out via DDG.
Original comment:What's a MicroWin installation? Sounds interesting.
👻 darkghost · Jan 19 at 20:36:
Here's my abridged Anti-Windows list:
1) Every cheap used laptop I have purchased has come with a bad Windows license. It wasn't obvious until it got on the internet.
2) Local accounts on Windows are getting harder and harder to set up. I fear they day they stop working.
3) Co-pilot.
4) Incessant nagging about using Edge. Hey I see you're using Firefox, have you tried Edge?! It uses less battery!!
5) Carefully make sure your files are stored locally and not snorfed into OneDrive.
6) Bloatware, may not be a problem with a used system though.
I'm making a point of keeping around a newer laptop with WIndows 10 LTS. All things being what they are, I think there are compelling reasons to keep around a Windows hardware install, as long as it's not a daily driver. For business & travel compatability annoyances, an Android tablet with an external keyboard typically works well, or just get an Apple refurb if it's in the budget. Windows has gotten outrageously toxic and can no longer be suffered, but there are still big (primarily artifical) gaps in the ecosystem that make attempting All Linux All the Time not *quite* feasible yet for a lot of non-programming Business & Professional work.
Whenever I get a Windows 12 laptop, I'll just duel boot Linux mint onto it tbh.
won't help you with wifi, but i have windows vms.
to me rebooting is a very painful thing.
i loose my mind, literally: i have terminals and tabs that remind me of what i was doing.
so vms. also win is contained.
i have one vm image of clean just installed windows.
i copy it for new images.
i use an image per task.
one image has pioneer rekordbox installed. i mount to it via virtio my linux directory with music. i need it to prepare flash drives for dj sets. i hope one day i won't need it.
other has delphi development environment installed.
other is reactos with freepascal+lazarus for windows, so i can build same program under windows and test.
@norayr wondering out loud here but i know there's some kind of process for passing physical devices thru to VMs in qemu that i don't understand.. unsure if it's just block devices or what, kinda wonder if you could pass through a wireless interface and have windows wifi drivers get their fingers into it directly, letting a VM solve any wifi weirdness
but why do you need vm to own your wifi devices?
qemu provides you access to the network.
i use virtio to share a linux dir with windows vm.
for that i installed virtio redhat drivers in windows from redhat cd available on the internet.
i have samba on linux, i dont start it. qemu starts it automatically and from windows you search in network, see your samba and map it as drive.
that's the only thing i share with windows vm - a directory.
network it has from qemu, you just need to tell it which virtual network card to use.
i know some chipsets allow vm to access pci devices and gamers access their video cards from vms. but i never needed it.
yes but OP says they can't get their host system to connect to some wifi networks. in that case there would be no network to share with the vm
ah that's what you mean? i dont think using wifi from windows vm in a solution
i dont know much about captive wifi hotspots except that they exist, but it would be interesting to know more, because i am sure in linux you should be able to do anything.
@gritty what captive portals? can you describe the issue?
btw for hotels my friend bought ethernet to usb type-c adapter, connects it to his phone, gets internet via ethernet and shares wia wifi.
i am not sure why he needed it, i remember he said why, but not something he cant do with linux.
🍀 gritty [OP] · Jan 25 at 05:46:
some captive portals work, some don't. I tried most of the tricks I could find online. I agree you can do anything in Linux but I don't know the exact problem so it's hard to find a solution. I'm sure it's a DNS setting buried somewhere in Debian but I haven't found it yet, and I'm not always in the mood to figure out how to get Linux to do something that's seamless in other OSs. sometimes it's fun, sometimes not.
i have an idea.
you can get usb wifi dongle, then your windows vm willl see it.