If that's really a concern, USB or PCIe NICs are always an option as a replacement, whether temporary or permanent. More advanced users can create virtual connections to route traffic through (macvlans) with custom configurable MAC addresses and/or use virtual machines that offer the same feature if a guest OS is preferred or necessary.

The identifier the article is talking about is instead persistent on any Windows OS regardless of hardware, including if the OS is a virtual machine. Using the OS at all on the Internet ensures Microsoft can always track it.

Almost certainly intentional. If you can't find what you want to remove from your cart, you can't remove it.

Hi. I'm a Linux convert and hate Windows as well, but I feel the need to contest some of this

I hate rounded corners [...] I like having my whole desktop real estate to be used

Rounded corners only lose something like 30 pixels (assuming 100% resolution scale) out of the millions on screen. Serious question, no shade or sarcasm: do you need those corner pixels? Plus in Windows 11, the window corners are only rounded when the window is floating. The corners go square when the window is snapped and maximized so you get those corner pixels back anytime real estate matters most.

I want to just throw my cursor into a corner without looking and click with the confidence that it will open my start menu.

That's always been the case since... the Start menu was invented, I think? In Windows 11, just set your taskbar to Left instead of Center and you get that behavior back.

[The Start menu is] all small icons and you can't have them in groups.

The former is correct, the latter isn't. I exclusively keep my icons in groups, in the grid along with regular pins, on my last remaining Windows 11 computer. As someone who loves KDE, it drives me crazy that I can't keep my own in-grid groups like in Windows 11. Closest option I have is Plasma Drawer, which works but requires me to use the KDE Menu Editor to customize which is less convenient.

The taskbar freezing thing sucks for sure, my only recommendation would be to maybe try a 3rd party replacement like StartAllBack but it isn't free.

Thank you! Had no idea this existed

As long as you're running Windows 10 without an Internet connection, that's totally fine! Have a good time my dude. But if you are using an Internet connection, security updates are foundational, especially on Windows. I know XP is ancient but this was eye-opening for me: https://youtu.be/6uSVVCmOH5w?t=10m32s

Been a Windows user all my life. As Windows has been tanking over the years, I've finally started making the switch as of a few months ago. First was our home theater PC, which was shockingly easy - next was my desktop, which hasn't been as easy but it's been a joy to learn about and make it my own.

I'm happy to pay for a license for anything I use. That included Windows. But, sometimes, the free & open-source route is better - I'm no longer "locked in" to any one solution and it's a fantastic feeling.

There's a few ways to turn it off, but they require registry editing or using the Group Policy editor if you have a Pro license

https://www.ghacks.net/2021/11/26/how-to-turn-off-search-the-web-results-in-windows-11/

I love the idea but not the messaging. Older folks & non-nerd people - a vast majority of the demographic of people who would benefit from this campaign, if I had to guess - aren't going to want Linux or "fresh new software". They want a computer with a web browser, an Office suite, and an OS/layout that functions exactly the way they expect it to.

If you tout so much change, they're going to lose interest. I'd argue they'd lose interest seeing technical words like "software", since all they know on phones and computers are "apps".

However, If you instead show them side-by-side how they can do the exact same tasks with nearly identical steps and also emphasize the benefits like cost effectiveness and speed... they'll just say "okay great, can you do it for me?"

I had this issue on my desktop in Windows. Haven't tested to see if it's an issue on Linux (I just recently set up dual-booting with Kubuntu). I know your request is for Nobara but this may be helpful for troubleshooting.

The fix for me on Windows was always to power off my audio interface. Using powercfg /requests would show Firefox kept the audio device active once a YouTube video started playing. The software fix was arbitrary... sometimes closing the YouTube tab would work, sometimes I had to close the window, and sometimes none of those would work. What *always" worked was physically powering off my interface, waiting about 2 seconds, and turning it back on.

Thanks for the idea, I might try that. A friend recommended switching to Plasma and creating a folder menu on the main bar that contains the groups (folders) and pins (shortcuts) that I want. I'm considering going that route. Guess I'm just surprised to see a convenient app menu solution (ArcMenu) with a whole world of customization, but no way to group pinned items together.

I think I did a poor job of explaining things, sorry!

So here's what I could do on Windows:

1. Right-click and app in the All Apps list, pin to Start

2. Drag & drop pinned apps on top of one another, which creates a group

The result I was able to accomplish on Windows looks like this (note the top row, all groups with app pins inside): https://i.imgur.com/Y9PmYoG.png

On Linux, using Gnome and ArcMenu, I can get close to accomplishing a similar result using the Enterprise layout: https://i.imgur.com/btNKjtj.png

I can edit those categories on the left of the menu using Alacarte, so I have the grouping I want and the pins inside that I want... but I can't just drag & drop app commands, or even copy & paste them. So for every app I want in a specific category, the process is:

1. Create the category, if it doesn't exist already

2. Name the category

3. Give the category a description

4. Give the category an icon (required) and save it

5. Create a new item in the category

6. Either figure out the launch command or copy it from an existing entry elsewhere

7. Give it a unique name (required)

8. Give it an icon (required), which means hunting for it if I don't already know where it is

And then it'll work. But, steps 5-8 are required for every single app... so if I want to put an app in a category, I have to perform those 4 steps every time. It's a solution but it requires a notable amount of time and effort.

Thanks for the info! I'm already using ArcMenu, which is great - but as mentioned, it lacks app grouping support of any kind... not unless I want to go through the effort of editing categories. Doing that is a solution, but requires so much time and effort that it isn't really the solution.

A friend is recommending switching DEs or distros, would Plasma get the job done?