lloose

Grab some USB thumbdrives and test drive some. You don't have to install them to boot up a live session and see which one you like. I personally use Pop OS and have been for about a year. Manjaro, Ubuntu, Solus, Elemtary OS, and Linux Mint are all popular distros and are generally very beginner friendly. Be patient with Linux. You won't be able to do everything you could with Windows, but you can do almost all of it with a little bit of effort. Its a small price to pay for peace of mind knowing that you aren't taking part in what Microsoft is trying to change as acceptable practices with Windows.

I agree. Its one thing to not want to use an OS because it collects telemetry, its another to blow it out of proportion and try and make anyone who doesn't agree with you feel stupid for not agreeing. The moment I read "sheeple" the conversation is over and you have lost all accountability.

Its now 2020 and people are still taking pictures of their screen.

Ipad Pro is also an excellent option. I prefer it way more for note taking than any surface I've owned. The latency between the pen and the tablet is much lower making it feel more natural to write on.

Also don't forget that just because it isn't showing ads in the OS doesn't mean its not selling your usage data to give you ads on websites you visit and videos you watch.

With Windows 7 being gone, this will be the year that Microsoft really pushes its users to see how far they can push.

What resolution are you playing at?

Resolution has a lot to do with it too. The 1080ti isn't a whole lot faster than the 1080 when its only display 1920x1080 or less.

I look at certifications as 2 things when we hire: 1 - It shows some amount of effort was put into improving the person's skills. 2 - It shows a level of expertise that goes a little further than not having it. Example. We are actually hiring a senior level help desk analyst right now. I have a small stack of resumes on my desk and anyone with a certification or degree is sitting on top of the pile. There are still people with experience under it, but a bachelors degree is the cutoff. People with a bachelors AND certification are on top of my pile for a call to set up an interview. Almost all of them have some sort of Comptia certification. People talking about how the A+ is a joke, but to me (someone who actually hire's people) it means they took the effort to improve themselves and actually show competency. Everyone says that they can pass the A+ without studying.. and then they see the stupid questions about old tech like ring token networking topology, data rates for ancient tech (think Parallel or Cat2 specifications), or how many pins are on a DB2 connector. People that took the time to study that enough to pass the A+ have an advantage when it comes to me at least giving them the time for an interview. Anyone with an Oracle certification of any kind gets my eternal respect too. Those certs are NO joke.

Microsoft mentality: We can do anything. If someone isn't using Linux already.. they aren't going to switch no matter what we do.

More than likely. Its always safe to install/upgrade to windows 10 first and then partition inside the Ubuntu installer during install.

It all depends on where you work. If you work for a managed IT company, you will probably have to drive around. If you are an in-house IT tech or help desk, you might not need to go anywhere. I started as a tech/sales for a store and didn't go anywhere. I went to working for a VOIP provider doing tier 1 support over the phone and didn't have to commute but it sucked. Once I graduated from college I took a job as help desk and worked my way up. I'm currently the DBA for the same company that hired me as help desk.

I'm mostly tired of having to charge yet another thing every night to use. I wouldn't mind using some of my expensive headphones with my phone too though. I don't mind a dongle as much as others but I'd still be happy with a headphone jack.

I like the design a lot. I think Its a good change over the last generation to differentiate it. What that said, I'll probably never buy one. My Xbox One barely gets touched and when I play anything on consoles, its on my PS4.

Thank you for being self aware and taking care of this. I go to a lot of conventions for work and I think this should be on a LOT of people's 2020 list. Not just antiperspirant, some people (not saying you) need to learn what a tooth brush and shampoo are.

Get GPU-Z and look at the clock speeds compared to the rated stock clock speeds. Honestly though, you can just look at the GPU itself. The overclocked versions usually will say that they are the overclocked or "superclocked" editions.

Pull out all ram except for 1 stick. Disconnect every drive except the one you want to install to. Take a moment to blow the dust out of your cpu cooler. Try again with minimal hardware connected.

Looks like its time to reinstall windows.

AD500x https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-AD500X-Audiophile-Open-Air-Headphones/dp/B009S333U4 I love mine. Much fuller bass and mids than most open air headphones. Very full sound.

The 2 Core 2 Duos will run fine with XP, the i5's and Ryzens are unlikely to. Its mostly due to drivers just not being written for XP. Your best bet is either 7 or 10. 7 is end of life in 2 weeks, so keep that in mind too.

They did. https://www.pcmag.com/review/371306/roku-express-2019 Maybe look at your wifi setup too. Roku's dont have the best wifi, but even our old ones do really well. I'm using a Unifi AP Pro and I never really have issues, even with the access point downstairs and the roku upstairs.

I see the purpose for laptops, but they don't fill the same role for me as desktops. Not to mention that due to power usage, even the fastest hardware in a laptop is still on par with the mid range stuff from a generation (or 2) back.

They updated it in 2019. We got one of the first 2019 releases and its not bad at all. No noticeable lag or anything.

They traded blows with each other with teh 9600gt coming out on top most of the time. https://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_9600_gt/

My 2080ti FE runs hot as hell lol. Even with excellent air flow, I have to crank the fans to keep it at an acceptable temp.