Making TPM mandatory means probably that BitLocker will be on by default. If it doesn't have a Backdoor already it certainly will get one now lol
Can you provide more information about TPM, what it is, who might have it, and why it's a concern?
I don't want to use Linux, I know it's good and all but the steep learning curve is so annoying.
From someone that has effectively made the switch, I can speak a bit to this a bit. What you are mainly using when you switch over is hands down the convenience. As
@Tamamo mentioned in their post above, what you can do in Windows nearly seamlessly takes a lot more time and work in Linux to accomplish.
I think if you are a normal user with at least moderate technical knowledge, settling into Linux will still take some time but will not be as bad as people make it out to be.
Now, if you need to do anything remotely advanced, then yeah you're likely either going to have to bulk up your knowledge or learn how to scour the web where 95% of the results you find will either be useless or adjacent to your problem but too far to be helpful for your situation. This is certainly a headache, and I have to admit I feel like I waste so much more time just trying to use my system on Linux than I did on Windows.
You have to decide for yourself if the added privacy and inherent functional superiority afforded by using Linux is worth losing the convenience of contemporary Windows. Personally, I think it is, but it does make gaming a hassle. Despite all the people who want to shill about how "GAMING ON LINUX IS HERE!!11!!!1!!!" and keep invoking "Proton" like it was the name of the Lord, they're wrong. Dead wrong. Gaming is not anywhere close to being Windows-equivalent on Linux, and for the older titles as you and
@Tamamo again have mentioned, it could provide an issue. Fortunately, WINE tends to do better with older software anyway, so it's really a gamble at that point.
Even basic shit like setting up typing Japanese (could not get it to work at all).
That's really strange to me, because I was able to get it working on my distro with very little issue (after the first time, at least). I do understand that it is much easier to get the Japanese IME up and running on Windows, though, and everyone's attempts to get something running on Linux can vary dramatically.
I'm not too worried. Windows 10 has a fuckton of tools to beat it into submission. And its not like MS will drop support for 10 overnight when 11 is out.
This is true, and I'm thinking it would be a good idea to have a thread that specifically talks about and shares these tools. There are two issues to consider with them, however:
- Windows updates can at any time implement new issues to address, reroll your settings, or reinstall whatever the fuck it wants, requiring you to constantly keep on top of these tweak utilities and ensure nothing is changed back in the hopes that the updates didn't break it in some way. Thankfully some might have configuration files you can save to make this an easier pursuit, but you also have to worry about the developers themselves updating their software and/or PowerShell scripts with every Windows update. They just don't have the time, resoures, or information about the operating system Microsoft does.
- Microsoft is basically in control of its own operating system and, given that it's closed-source and cannot be openly validated, covertly implement backdoors, rootkits, and all other methods of control that in turn take control away from you. I just never felt entirely confident that the methods I was using to gut the system were entirely functional because there's just no possible way to know for sure unless you autistically monitor all outgoing network connections and properly match them up to Microsoft and determine what the packets were in the first place.
Just don't put too much faith into these tools. I'm not going to outright call them a placebo, but as far as I know, even if you obsess over it, you can't really say for sure if you are gutting the really nasty stuff you're mostly trying to evict when you use them. Everyone has their own threat level. For me personally, I am tired of surveillance and am likely only going to use Windows 10 for gaming and other software I either cannot find an acceptable Linux alternative or just doesn't outright work on Linux.
It hasn't been confirmed hitherto in this thread, but I am also hoping that Windows 11 isn't made a requirement anytime soon. I was honestly thinking they were going to force it as a sort of service pack update to Windows 10, but I suppose that's not the route they're taking?