Windows 8.1 wanted to make me its slave

I can totally relate to your story, and I think it’s great to see someone else making some noise about this issue.

I also use Oneplus One, and will switch to a totally Google-independent OS when something smart comes along. So right now, Google owns my every movement. Which is rather disconcerting. But it’s something I need to sacrifice for reliability in my mobile device.

But when I bought my laptop, I just couldn’t figure out the Windows 8.1 that came preinstalled. The GUI was awful and the system was determined to turn me into a mindless Windows drone with a Microsoft-account. I, of course, declined this rather patronizing offer, and attempted to take control of the OS in my laptop. Things weren’t that easy though.

Apparently Windows 8.1 only works if the user is an idiot and the computer is a touchscreen-pad computer. The more I removed security restraints that prevented me from doing my every day tasks, the more the system seemed to crumble. 6 hours of fighting later, I’d ended up messing up NTFS permissions and broken the File Explorer. Screw this, I thought. Why am I wasting my time on an OS clearly not designed for a power-user?

Then I did some research on modern Linux-distros, and ended up downloading Linux Mint Rebecca 17.1. 30 minutes after installation everything was running perfectly. Never looked back.