Operating System Independence

[BecauseICanTBH]

Introduction

Do you have way too much experience installing and setting up Windows for one lifetime? I do, and I came up with a new system. If you're like me, you might like it.

 

I call it the Operating System Independence concept. For the highly seasoned users, this might not be new to you. I'm going to explain what I do, and throw in some basic command prompt scripts and folder structures. If you like the idea, it should be sufficient to make your own version of it. 

 

The basic idea here is to make as much of your data (whether it's documents, photos, videos, music, or installed applications) as possible, completely independent from the operating system. The benefit? You can re-install an operating system, or in some cases even switch to a new one, and be set up and settled in extremely fast. A process that usually takes hours to weeks.

 

Part 1: Four Drives

My setup consists of four drives. Yours doesn't necessarily have to, that's just how I prefer to do it. In theory, you could do it with just one and partition it, but that complicates things. These are the drives and letters that I use. As you'll see later on, consistency with drive letters is a key part of this. Mounting the same drives as the same letters when you re-install your OS means everything works smoothly.

 

(A): Storage Drive 1

Hard drive, 2 TB

Primary data storage drive. Open the spoiler to see the folder tree I use - it may or may not be relevant to you. I'm pretty damn specific about organizing my data. You'll get the idea though.

TL;DR = The documents, pictures, music, videos, and downloads folders that Windows creates in the %userprofile% directory on my C:\ drive are symbolically linked to this drive. I use a batch script to do it all in half a second right after I install an OS. See below.

Spoiler

Quote

+---Data Archive
|   +---1.1 Data Organization Standards <--------- These are end-folders, after a file is put into its appropriate folder, it goes into a year folder. This whole root folder "A:\Data Archive\1.1 Data Organization Standards" is entirely for my reference and has no actual files in it.
|   |   \---Years (blank)
|   |       +---1994 (empty)
|   |       +---1995 (empty)
|   |       +---1996 (empty)
|   |       +---1997 (empty)
|   |       +---1998 (empty)
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|   |       +---2098 (empty)
|   |       +---2099 (empty)
|   |       +---[Estimated Date] (empty)
|   |       \---[Undated] (empty)
|   +---1.2 Login Information
|   |   +---1.2.1 Login Information
|   |   |   +---1.2.1.1 Primary
|   |   |   \---1.2.1.2 Archive
|   |   +---1.2.2 Card Information
|   |   +---1.2.3 Documentation
|   |   \---1.2.4 Encryption Rescue
|   +---2.1 Documents
|   |   +---2.1.0 PC <--------- %userprofile%\Documents is symbolically linked to here. See the batch script below.
|   |   +---2.1.1 Text
|   |   |   +---2.1.3.1 Created
|   |   |   \---2.1.3.2 Downloaded
|   |   +---2.1.2 Spreadsheet
|   |   +---2.1.3 PDF
|   |   +---2.1.4 HTML
|   |   +---2.1.5 Social Logs
|   |   |   +---2.1.4.1 Phone
|   |   |   +---2.1.4.2 Facebook
|   |   |   +---2.1.4.3 Skype
|   |   |   +---2.1.4.4 Yahoo
|   |   |   +---2.1.4.5 AIM
|   |   |   \---2.1.4.6 Google
|   |   +---2.1.6 Sketchup
|   |   \---2.1.7 Financial
|   |       +---2.1.7.1 Money
|   |       \---2.1.7.2 Trade
|   +---2.2 Pictures
|   |   +---2.2.0 PC <--------- %userprofile%\Pictures is symbolically linked to here. See the batch script below.
|   |   +---2.2.1 Phones & Cameras
|   |   +---2.2.2 Digital Creations
|   |   +---2.2.3 Writing & Drawing
|   |   |   \---1994
|   |   +---2.2.4 Downloads
|   |   |   +---2.2.4.1 Porn
|   |   |   \---2.2.4.2 Everything Else
|   |   +---2.2.5 Wallpapers & Icons
|   |   +---2.2.6 GIFs
|   |   \---2.2.7 Sketchup
|   +---2.3 Music
|   |   +---2.3.0 PC <--------- %userprofile%\Music is symbolically linked to here. See the batch script below.
|   |   +---2.3.1 Collection
|   |   +---2.3.2 Archive
|   |   \---2.3.3 WAV
|   +---2.4 Videos
|   |   +---2.4.0 PC <--------- %userprofile%\Videos is symbolically linked to here. See the batch script below.
|   |   +---2.4.1 Phones & Cameras
|   |   +---2.4.2 Screen Recordings
|   |   +---2.4.3 Edited Videos
|   |   \---2.4.4 Downloads
|   |       +---2.4.4.1 Porn
|   |       +---2.4.4.2 Youtube
|   |       +---2.4.4.3 Movies & Shows
|   |       |   +---2.4.4.3.1 Movies
|   |       |   \---2.4.4.3.2 Shows
|   |       \---2.4.4.4 Everything Else
|   \---2.5 Software
|       +---2.5.1 Applications
|       |   +---2.5.1.1 Windows
|       |   \---2.5.1.2 Linux
|       +---2.5.2 Operating Systems
|       |   +---2.5.2.1 Windows
|       |   \---2.5.2.2 Linux
|       +---2.5.3 License Keys
|       |   +---2.5.3.1 Windows
|       |   \---2.5.3.2 Linux
|       +---2.5.4 Fonts
|       |   +---2.5.4.1 Windows
|       |   \---2.5.4.2 Linux
|       \---2.5.5 File Packs
|           +---2.5.5.1 Windows
|           \---2.5.5.2 Linux
\---Downloads
    +---Browsers <--------- %userprofile%\Downloads is symbolically linked to here. See the batch script below.
    \---Torrents

 

 

(B): Storage Drive 2

Hard drive, 2 TB (identical to Storage Drive 1)

Redundant data storage drive. I clone Storage Drive 1 to this one every day with software called DSynchronize. It's ancient, but it works perfectly.

TL;DR = You don't need this one. You should have it though.

 

(C): Operating System Drive

NVMe SSD

 

(D): Operating System Independence (OSI) Drive

SATA SSD

Simply put, this is the drive where I keep:

-My desktop

-My browsers, which are 100% self-contained on this drive

-Any applications that will let me install them in a "portable" fashion

My C:\ drive's desktop folder is symbolically linked to the desktop folder on this one. Open the spoiler to see the folder tree I use.

 

Spoiler

Quote

+---1.0 Desktop <--------- %userprofile%\Desktop is symbolically linked to here. See the batch script below. This is where my desktop is located. I have custom icons on almost everything.
|   \---0.0 Other <--------- This is my "secondary desktop" (it's just a folder on my desktop) that has shortcuts to less-frequented built-in Windows tools like Group Policy Editor, Services, Registry Editor, Disk Management, etc.
|       \---0.00 Icons <--------- This is where I store my custom icons.
+---2.0 Software <--------- This is the directory I install programs to. Some programs just won't work from one OS installation to another when they're installed like this. A lot of them do, though. Only way to find out is to try it.
+---3.0 Browsers
|   +---1.0 Software <--------- I installed my browsers here. Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, and Tor are my browsers of choice.
|   +---2.0 Cache <--------- My browsers are directed to keep their cache files here.
|   \---3.0 Profiles <--------- My browsers are directed to keep their user profiles here.
\---5.0 Restore <--------- This is my streamlined setup for after I install my OS. 
    +---1.01 Power Configuration <--------- Exported power configuration and a batch file to import it.
    +---1.02 Group Policy Editor <--------- Shortcut to GPEdit and a text file reminding me what to change.
    +---1.03 Symbolic Links <--------- The most important one here, see below.
    +---1.04 Taskbar <--------- A folder for [Shortcuts] and a folder for [Icons]. They are pasted into a new folder "%userprofile%\LOCAL" on my C:\ drive upon installing my OS. The shortcuts are linked with the icons that are in that specific location. Then I go into "%userprofile%\LOCAL\Shortcuts" and pin everything to the taskbar. Now I have my custom taskbar shortcuts again, and it only took about 20 seconds.
    +---1.05 i7-8700k Setup <--------- Drivers and whatnot for my hardware. Yours will obviously vary.
    \---1.06 Windows Photo Viewer <--------- A registry file that adds the classic Windows 7 Photo Viewer to the "open with" menu for photo files in Windows 10. I prefer this one, because the Windows 10 photo viewer is too slow for me. This allows you to assign it as the default program for photo files.

 

Part 2: The Desktop Arrangement

You may have noticed that I prefix everything with numbers. That's so that it stays in the order I want it in, and all I need to do is sort by name. This is what my desktop looks like. The great thing about this is that this is the desktop I see within 1-2 minutes after booting up on a fresh Windows installation. It's not actually located on my C:\ drive at all, but thanks to symbolic links, it's a fully functional and fully independent desktop.

 

Here, browsers are prefixed with 3.xx; OSI software is prefixed with 4.xx; and OS-dependent software (stuff I install manually each time) is prefixed with 5.xx.

 

 

Part 3: Symbolic Links

Symbolic links are an important part of this concept. If you're unfamiliar, look it up before proceeding. In short, it can turn a folder of your choosing into somewhat of a portal to a new location. A batch file is really just a .txt file with the extension changed to .bat. Running a batch file will run each line of the script in command prompt. You can get pretty complex with these, but this is a simple one. This is one of the first things I run upon installing an OS. If you want to use it for yourself, you'll have to replace the parts that are in all caps with your own custom paths for where you want those folders to be.

 

This script will delete the default desktop, documents, pictures, music, videos, and downloads folders on your C:\ drive. Then, it will create symbolic links for each one for your new chosen location. The folders should appear to still be there and function normally, but they're actually accessing your new locations for them. Only run this if you've just done a fresh OS installation and there's nothing in the folders - or if you've moved the contents of the ORIGINAL folders to the NEW locations beforehand. 

rmdir /s /q "%userprofile%\desktop"
cmd /c mklink /j "%userprofile%\Desktop" "NEW DESKTOP PATH"
rmdir /s /q "%userprofile%\documents"
cmd /c mklink /j "%userprofile%\Documents" "NEW DOCUMENTS PATH"
rmdir /s /q "%userprofile%\pictures"
cmd /c mklink /j "%userprofile%\Pictures" "NEW PICTURES PATH"
rmdir /s /q "%userprofile%\videos"
cmd /c mklink /j "%userprofile%\Videos" "NEW VIDEOS PATH"
rmdir /s /q "%userprofile%\music"
cmd /c mklink /j "%userprofile%\Music" "NEW MUSIC PATH"
rmdir /s /q "%userprofile%\downloads"
cmd /c mklink /j "%userprofile%\Downloads" "NEW DOWNLOADS PATH"

 

Part 4: Browsers

I only know how to do this for Chrome, Opera, and Vivaldi. Tor is already self-contained. I personally don't care about other browsers, so you're on your own if you use them. Each browser can be a little bit different and might take some figuring out.

 

In short, you create an

-installation folder (where they're installed - like Program Files but on your OSI drive),

-cache folder, and

-profiles folder.

 

Then you create a shortcut to the .exe to run each browser. You'll need to edit the targets on the shortcuts to get them to store their cache/profiles in your new location.

 

Chrome target (these both point to the "profile" directory - it's not a mistake):

"D:\CHROME INSTALLATION DIRECTORY\chrome.exe" --user-data-dir="D:\CHROME PROFILE DIRECTORY\Chrome\User Data" --disk-cache-dir="D:\CHROME PROFILE DIRECTORY\Chrome\User Data"

 

Opera target:

"D:\OPERA INSTALLATION DIRECTORY\launcher.exe" --user-data-dir="D:\OPERA PROFILE DIRECTORY\Opera" --disk-cache-dir="D:\OPERA CACHE DIRECTORY\Opera"

 

Vivaldi target: 

"D:\VIVALDI INSTALLATION DIRECTORY\vivaldi.exe" --user-data-dir="D:\VIVALDI PROFILE DIRECTORY" --disk-cache-dir="D:\VIVALDI PROFILE DIRECTORY"

Part 5: Windows Photo Viewer

For those of you who prefer the classic Windows 7 Photo Viewer, here's the registry script to add it to the 'open with' menu in Windows 10. Make a notepad file with this, and change the extension to .reg and run it. It doesn't automatically make it the default, it just makes it appear in the menu as an option.

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Created by Vishal Gupta for AskVG.com

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open]
"MuiVerb"="@photoviewer.dll,-3043"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
  00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,72,00,75,00,\
  6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,22,00,25,\
  00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,\
  25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,20,00,50,00,68,00,6f,\
  00,74,00,6f,00,20,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,50,00,68,00,\
  6f,00,74,00,6f,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,65,00,72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
  00,22,00,2c,00,20,00,49,00,6d,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,56,00,69,00,65,00,77,00,\
  5f,00,46,00,75,00,6c,00,6c,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,65,00,6e,00,20,00,25,\
  00,31,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\photoviewer.dll\shell\open\DropTarget]
"Clsid"="{FFE2A43C-56B9-4bf5-9A79-CC6D4285608A}"

[Enderman]

Honestly it is best to reinstall all your programs after a clean install of the OS.

That way you have the latest version of the program, not a 3 year old version with 50 updates on top of it to make it compatible with the newest OS or hardware.

Not only will this give better performance and stability but it will also save space.

 

PS-you can literally just change the location of your user data folders in the windows storage settings, there is no need to use CMD at all.

 

The best option is two drives, one for files and games, and one for OS/programs.

That way you can reinstall your OS and programs without affecting any documents or pictures or games or whatever files you had on the second drive.

[BecauseICanTBH]

6 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Honestly it is best to reinstall all your programs after a clean install of the OS.

That way you have the latest version of the program, not a 3 year old version with 50 updates on top of it to make it compatible with the newest OS or hardware.

Not only will this give better performance and stability but it will also save space.

 

PS-you can literally just change the location of your user data folders in the windows storage settings, there is no need to use CMD at all.

 

The best option is two drives, one for files and games, and one for OS/programs.

That way you can reinstall your OS and programs without affecting any documents or pictures or games or whatever files you had on the second drive.

It sounds like you didn't actually read the entire thread. Also, it sounds like this probably isn't for you. So carry on.

[altjoker]

Cool.. , but how is this really any different from dual booting linux/windows and changing the install directory to a partition of a larger storage drive ie. partion 1 windows install directory, partion 2 linux repository and letting your main use programs like your browser set embedded with your os. It seems that would accomplish the same goal

 

[BecauseICanTBH]

2 minutes ago, altjoker said:

Cool.. , but how is this really any different from dual booting linux/windows and changing the install directory to a partition of a larger storage drive ie. partion 1 windows install directory, partion 2 linux repository and letting your main use programs like your browser set embedded with your os. It seems that would accomplish the same goal

 

I didn't do any of this with dual-booting in mind. I don't use linux at all and I have a single-boot setup. This is just to make re-installing an OS easier, and to make things that take a long time to set up more permanent.

[altjoker]

1 minute ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

I didn't do any of this with dual-booting in mind. I don't use linux at all and I have a single-boot setup. This is just to make re-installing an OS easier, and to make things that take a long time to set up more permanent.

i get it. wouldn't dual drive and ghost back up do the same thing?

[Enderman]

15 minutes ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

It sounds like you didn't actually read the entire thread. Also, it sounds like this probably isn't for you. So carry on.

I did.

And I disagree with putting programs on a different drive to avoid reinstalling them.

Also the part about changing folder locations using CMD.

It sounds like you didn't actually read the entire post.

So carry on.

[BecauseICanTBH]

1 minute ago, altjoker said:

i get it. wouldn't dual drive and ghost back up do the same thing?

Sure, there are tons of different ways to implement this same concept. I was just explaining the way I personally do it. The vast majority of this can be changed for someone else's personal preferences/setup. It's just the "independence" part that's important really.

[TheBean]

you sir are a genius sir. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

It's a neat concept and I do something similar, but here's where I diverge from this.

• Most things I use frequently is on https://ninite.com/. So as long as I have my Ninite "build", I don't even have to fire up Edge to download anything first.
• Things I don't use frequently I'll just get them when I need it.
• I don't redirect user folders. All of my data is on another drive, but most apps are smart enough now to remember the last place you looked in so it's only inconvenient to look elsewhere once.
• I backup %APPDATA%, which after a new install of Windows, I plop it right back in. This is mostly convenient for my web browser so I can pick up where I left off. But otherwise a lot of other applications also use this directory to store settings, configurations, and in the case of games, save files.

Why do I do it this way?

It minimizes the amount of things I have to do to get going on a fresh computer.

[BecauseICanTBH]

2 hours ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

It's a neat concept and I do something similar, but here's where I diverge from this.

• Most things I use frequently is on https://ninite.com/. So as long as I have my Ninite "build", I don't even have to fire up Edge to download anything first.
• Things I don't use frequently I'll just get them when I need it.
• I don't redirect user folders. All of my data is on another drive, but most apps are smart enough now to remember the last place you looked in so it's only inconvenient to look elsewhere once.
• I backup %APPDATA%, which after a new install of Windows, I plop it right back in. This is mostly convenient for my web browser so I can pick up where I left off. But otherwise a lot of other applications also use this directory to store settings, configurations, and in the case of games, save files.

Why do I do it this way?

It minimizes the amount of things I have to do to get going on a fresh computer.

Copying %appdata% into a new Windows installation is a hit or miss, in my experience. A lot of apps store data in both AppData\Roaming and AppData\Local. Local usually isn't supposed be copied over, at least not to a different hardware setup or different OS. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

3 minutes ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

Copying %appdata% into a new Windows installation is a hit or miss, in my experience. A lot of apps store data in both AppData\Roaming and AppData\Local. Local usually isn't supposed be copied over, at least not to a different hardware setup or different OS. 

The difference only matters if you're in a corporate environment where you can log into any computer. Roaming is supposed to travel with you while Local stays on the computer. It has nothing to do with hardware setup or OS.

 

If you're not in a corporate environment, then they're both effectively the same thing.

[wasab]

how can you be OS independent when you are using windows?

[burnttoastnice]

Quite a neat idea, although personally I keep my documents folder synchronised with my flash drive, and all my videos/programs/games/backups on two backup drives (using FreeFileSync). I have another drive that I use for downloads/tempfiles and steam games (which can be re-downloaded any time). Might take a leaf out of your book and keep my files slightly more organised though lol.

 

One unused advantage of your symbolic linking is that it allows you to have multiple OS installs (windows 7, windows 8, windows 10 etc) alongside each other, presenting you with the same desktop and documents anytime you log on. Possibly allowing you to use software that isn't compatible with one OS from another OS instead

 

Out of curiosity, how do you manage off-line data backups? I see you have a redundant drive for on-line backups - but one thing I'd be concerned about is a random power surge turning those hard drives into glorified steel bricks

[BecauseICanTBH]

2 hours ago, burnttoastnice said:

Quite a neat idea, although personally I keep my documents folder synchronised with my flash drive, and all my videos/programs/games/backups on two backup drives (using FreeFileSync). I have another drive that I use for downloads/tempfiles and steam games (which can be re-downloaded any time). Might take a leaf out of your book and keep my files slightly more organised though lol.

 

One unused advantage of your symbolic linking is that it allows you to have multiple OS installs (windows 7, windows 8, windows 10 etc) alongside each other, presenting you with the same desktop and documents anytime you log on. Possibly allowing you to use software that isn't compatible with one OS from another OS instead

 

Out of curiosity, how do you manage off-line data backups? I see you have a redundant drive for on-line backups - but one thing I'd be concerned about is a random power surge turning those hard drives into glorified steel bricks

I have a total of 5 hard drives used for data storage.

 

(A) WD Gold, internal, 2 TB

 

(B) WD Gold, internal, 2 TB

 

(X) WD Easystore, external, 2 TB

 

(Y) WD Easystore, external, 2 TB

 

(Z) WD Easystore, external, 2 TB

 

Basically, A and B stay in my system 100% of the time and I sync them every day. X, Y, and Z get rotated periodically. I keep one of them plugged into my system and it syncs with A and B as part of my standard syncing process. Two of them stay at my girlfriend's house. Every couple weeks or so, we cycle them, in order. I give her the one I had, and she gives me the one of the two that she keeps that has the most out-of-date backup.

 

My sync list in DSynchronize is this:

D:\	A:\Storage\OSI Copy
A:\	X:\
A:\	Y:\
A:\	Z:\
A:\	B:\

Keeps it nice and simple. If a drive isn't plugged in, it just skips it. I also have a server UPS that all of this is plugged into, which should do a reasonably good job of surge protection. TrippLite gives you something like $300,000 in equipment insurance for their UPS systems - so I take it their surge protectors don't mess around.

 

 

Good point about dual booting with the same applications and desktop. I've considered it, but I don't dual boot. It might not work too well with Windows/Linux, but if you had Windows 10/Windows 7 or something, it would probably work just fine.

[wasab]

On Linux, I can do all of these by simply mounting my home directory as a separate partition and then plug and switch whatever Linux distros/version i want with all my data intact, just saying... 

[BecauseICanTBH]

3 hours ago, wasab said:

On Linux, I can do all of these by simply mounting my home directory as a separate partition and then plug and switch whatever Linux distros/version i want with all my data intact, just saying... 

That sounds like it would be useful, if Linux itself was useful anyways.

[wasab]

2 hours ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

That sounds like it would be useful, if Linux itself was useful anyways.

Cant be unuseful if so many universities teach UNIX and system administration with it. Ive been using linux throughout my school years. It does everything from programming to scientific workstation, to server, to consumer computer all perfectly fine. Windows on the other hand.... yucks. It hogs resources, cortana spy on you, force updates itself when you are busy with a college paper thats due in like two hours, no native SSH and atrocious file sharing, sticking to the stone age ways of digging online for installers when all modern OS are using software centers and appstore, and all sorts of security vulnerabilities. 

 

I am not saying you cant migrate your data nitty and gritty on windows but doing so invites more trouble than it solves. 

[BecauseICanTBH]

Lol

 

Here we have your average Linux Justifier 

[wasab]

6 hours ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

Lol

 

Here we have your average Linux Justifier 

It is a fact if you want to swap out OS and keep all your data intact. On Windows, you should just clone the drive with something like clonzilla ,which ironically enough is a Live bootable Linux operating system itself, for back up. If you wanna clean install Windows, something which you have to do yearly because Windows always breaks stuffs or bloats itself a couple times a year on average, you would want a real clean install instead of simply migrating all the old stuffs from your previous system. 

[BecauseICanTBH]

On 1/27/2019 at 11:27 AM, wasab said:

It is a fact if you want to swap out OS and keep all your data intact. On Windows, you should just clone the drive with something like clonzilla ,which ironically enough is a Live bootable Linux operating system itself, for back up. If you wanna clean install Windows, something which you have to do yearly because Windows always breaks stuffs or bloats itself a couple times a year on average, you would want a real clean install instead of simply migrating all the old stuffs from your previous system. 

I prefer the vast software compatibility of Windows. Linux can hardly run anything mainstream like Sketchup or Vegas, aside from being a total hassle to do pretty much anything with. I used to have the issue with Windows deteriorating after 6 months or so and having to reinstall, but another user on this forum suggested Windows 10 LTSB. I switched to that awhile back and it's incredibly stable.

[wasab]

19 hours ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

I prefer the vast software compatibility of Windows. Linux can hardly run anything mainstream like Sketchup or Vegas, aside from being a total hassle to do pretty much anything with. I used to have the issue with Windows deteriorating after 6 months or so and having to reinstall, but another user on this forum suggested Windows 10 LTSB. I switched to that awhile back and it's incredibly stable.

What is Vegas or sketchup? Never used them, never heard them, do not sound mainstream to me. 

 

Give windows to someone who never use it before in their entire life. Give him a consumer oriented Linux system like Ubuntu under the same conditions. I guaranteed neither is gonna be more Hassel than the other. You find it Hassel because of the first time learning curve. that  is all there is to it. 

[BecauseICanTBH]

9 hours ago, wasab said:

What is Vegas or sketchup? Never used them, never heard them, do not sound mainstream to me. 

 

Give windows to someone who never use it before in their entire life. Give him a consumer oriented Linux system like Ubuntu under the same conditions. I guaranteed neither is gonna be more Hassel than the other. You find it Hassel because of the first time learning curve. that  is all there is to it. 

If you want to use Linux, use Linux. Nobody cares. Linux kids are like vegans, always trying to convert everyone else to help justify their poor decisions.

[wasab]

10 minutes ago, BecauseICanTBH said:

If you want to use Linux, use Linux. Nobody cares. Linux kids are like vegans, always trying to convert everyone else to help justify their poor decisions.

When had I ever try to convert you? I simply said doing something like this on Windows is pointless. You are better serve with a clean install if you wanna swap operating system and why would you if you are just gonna swap windows for Windows?