For me its honestly a ton of my work software (digital forensics), shit is too niche to be replaced by good FOSS options. Cellebrite, Magnet Axiom, etc. Autopsy is great and free and has a linux version but it simply cannot get the same level of data without a pretty nutty level of custom code.
And the biggest side effect of this is FUCKING WINDOWS. God I would replace this nightmare OS in a heartbeat if the aforementioned work software would make linux compatible versions. We have legitimately wasted 10k hours dealing with windows bullshit that would not be a problem in linux. Though im sure linux would take a different 10k for its own problems.
What about you guys? Doesn’t have to be work related, thats just the thorn in my side right now.
If I was the only person using my PC, I’d probably make the jump.
Unfortunately, my wife would end me if I tried that.
I’m in the process of getting my hands on a cheap laptop to at least use Linux so the eventual transition is easier, though.
Old Thinkpads make great Linux laptops with almost all models having all drivers working out of the box. Any model sufficiently new will work much better than any new laptop in the same price category. They also have great ports, replaceble batteries, screen, keyboards, ram, ssd and so on. I have a X250 and my wife have an T440s.
Buy anything newer then this (40 is my recommended minimum) if u want to use them as daily driver:
X440 (the smaller 13 inch laptops start with X)
T440 (14 inch, top of the class performance vs sleekness)
L440 (14 inch, don’t know what’s special here)
W540 (15 inch, workstation)
Some models can end with an S or P, example T440S. S models are thinner, P models are more powerful.
Just search your local marketplaces for “ThinkPad” then look for a picture of the screen and you will see the model number in the bottom left corner. ThinkPads have a red nob on the keyboard, so if the picture don’t have a nob, you can flick past it quicker 😉
You can even get one with the wrong keyboard layout and just replace it, they have so many replacement parts on ebay you can build one from scratch if you wanted. I replaced my keyboard to get backlighting and my screen to get 1920*1080 on a x250 I got for about 125 Dollar.
PS: don’t get a E variant, they are the budget variants with way worse build quality.
Edit: formatting