I Want to Keep Windows 7 Forever

I can happily endorse Linux Mint, having been a user of it since Windows 8 era.

As for the op's sentiments, i would just say you can carry on with Windows 7 and why would you not? (as it is probably the last great OS that Microsoft made).

Here is what i'm doing, I wil keep Windows 7 around on my gaming PC's (and there are a couple of software i don't want to pay to upgrade for the WIndows 10 versions etc). To do this i used the awesome script by Wkeller on these very forums, the link is here to the Integrate7 tool:

Integrate7 script – automatically download and slipstream all updates!

With that i have a DVD+R DL (double layer = 8GB) iso of my Windows 7 pro retail OS. That is going into a new Ryzen build i just got the GPU for over xmas.

The first SSD will have that updated (and de-spywared) Windows 7 pro OS as the main boot OS. Then i'll install Linux Mint on the second SSD and create a dual-boot system for both. When i need to go online with that PC it will be under Linux Mint, and when i want to access my few Windows 7 only software or do some gaming that will be under WIndows 7 offline.

I also have this laptop (i'm typing this message from it) that i've been running under Linux Mint for 5 years now as an internet access point also. That system will be perfect for me for the years to come, as a gamer i am perfectly happy with sticking with Windows 7, in part because i have found over the last decade or so i buy less and less AAA titles.

I think it is the same kind of shift that keeps me uninterested (or impressed) with most modern movies vs older ones (Star Wars is a prime example, but it covers pretty much all films in truth). Most modern games (as i find for film) are just rubbish compared to the older games from five years to a decade ago or so, except in graphics. Not all, but most.

With the way the modern games industry is being run i doubt that will change any time soon (and the same for the film industry). So if you like quality over quantity it should be perfectly fine to carry on being a WIndows 7 user, you can just use the excellent Linux Mint as your 'connect to the internet' OS.

Windows 10 (and MS as a whole now) i just can't trust at all, i mean have you seen the EULA you agree to just be using it? Windows 10 is simply a spyware tool now, and you can only temporarily change that, as MS can reset it anytime it wants (and does after most forced updates).

RoWin7 said:

There are things we can do to keep some of our privacy. Google isn't inevitable.
I use no Google products and no social media.
I have Malwarebytes Browser Guard eliminating trackers and
Ublock Origin blocking ads. Haven't seen an ad in many years.
Don't have a smart-phone.
I don't give out my address and phone # to stores to get those little plastic "loyalty" cards.

You do what what you can.

People who go on social media and then complain about their privacy... Grrrr

ETA-I just looked back and Lady Fitzgerald posted almost the same thing.
Actually this thread is similar to "https://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/419270-what-should-we-do-after-january-2020-a-25.html"

And do not do online Banking

RoWin7 said:

Thursday night I had the monthly meeting of my PC Users Group. Our current president is in IT. He doesn't see anything wrong with 10. I mentioned that I'm staying with Win7, and was sorry after. It's like publicly admitting that you never wash your socks. Now I'm on his s--- list, and most of the club thinks I'm nutso, with the exception of advanced users who really know what's going on.

OTOH, we've always had a monthly workshop in the current OS, under previous presidents, and I've been a member for 23 years. 10 "has issues" so I suggested there should be a workshop in Win10, he said there's no room on our schedule.

Agree there is alot wrong with Win 10. Each update it keeps adjusting my other devices themes. I turn the sync off and microsoft turn them on after each update

poorguy said:

I'm believer in a dual-boot system using separate hard drive for each OS and at power up I choose what OS to boot into Linux or Windows.

Why not have the best of both OS worlds.

Oh yes or Zorin. Windows like lol. Looks good. I will still use win 7 and 10 and Zorin, as well as mac

Lady Fitzgerald said:

One good reason is that dual booting between windows and Linux is fraught with complications and unreliability. Someone very familiar with both platforms can (and often do) do so successfully but most people will eventually have problems dual booting, especially at the beginning. Who needs that added complication when first learning how to use Linux?

One Linux expert I've mentioned before, Joe Collins, advises strongly against dual booting Windows and Linux.

Yes that's true because windows I noticed updates the efi and it becomes non bootable unless ran of another drive. Tried it myself. What does work I found is installing linux on a memory card. Like a USB the duel boot that way then no problems occur. But then have to go into the boot menu to select it, which does add complications for anyone learning unfortunately

U guys switching over to Linux... BEWARE:

Years ago, I stopped using Ubuntu coz I noticed right around midnight everyday, Ubuntu would upload 100's MBs worth of data to some unknown address. I wouldn't have noticed had I not been checking network activity around that time. This incident freak me out, so I stopped trusting Ubuntu, Mint etc. Who's to say NSA didn't pay those guys to install "backdoors" in their distro. Sure the projects r open source, but can u really trust the files u get that have been pre-compiled???

Now, don't lose hope, anyone thinking of Linux I can recommend this Deepin Linux (v20 next major release out on around Jan 20,2020):



Deepin v20 Taskbar Preview (In case the above vid doesn't work in your browser)

The reason I trust Deepin over Ubutu/Mint/etc. are four-fold:

1. Deepin already sold with Huawei laptops. Imagine the repercusions to Huawei if Deepin was found to contain backdoors.

2. Chinese gov PCs gonna be Microsoft (and Apple) free starting 2020. They've only got 2 choices: Kylin OS or Deepin. Imagine the fit the CCP gonna have if they discovered some company in China was installing backdoors stealing data from the government...

3. It looks like a Win7 clone, new users should adapt to the interface pretty fast.

4. Available in English and other languages.

ZakGordon7 said:

I can happily endorse Linux Mint, having been a user of it since Windows 8 era.

As for the op's sentiments, i would just say you can carry on with Windows 7 and why would you not? (as it is probably the last great OS that Microsoft made).

Here is what i'm doing, I wil keep Windows 7 around on my gaming PC's (and there are a couple of software i don't want to pay to upgrade for the WIndows 10 versions etc). To do this i used the awesome script by Wkeller on these very forums, the link is here to the Integrate7 tool:

Integrate7 script – automatically download and slipstream all updates!

With that i have a DVD+R DL (double layer = 8GB) iso of my Windows 7 pro retail OS. That is going into a new Ryzen build i just got the GPU for over xmas.

The first SSD will have that updated (and de-spywared) Windows 7 pro OS as the main boot OS. Then i'll install Linux Mint on the second SSD and create a dual-boot system for both. When i need to go online with that PC it will be under Linux Mint, and when i want to access my few Windows 7 only software or do some gaming that will be under WIndows 7 offline.

I also have this laptop (i'm typing this message from it) that i've been running under Linux Mint for 5 years now as an internet access point also. That system will be perfect for me for the years to come, as a gamer i am perfectly happy with sticking with Windows 7, in part because i have found over the last decade or so i buy less and less AAA titles.

I think it is the same kind of shift that keeps me uninterested (or impressed) with most modern movies vs older ones (Star Wars is a prime example, but it covers pretty much all films in truth). Most modern games (as i find for film) are just rubbish compared to the older games from five years to a decade ago or so, except in graphics. Not all, but most.

With the way the modern games industry is being run i doubt that will change any time soon (and the same for the film industry). So if you like quality over quantity it should be perfectly fine to carry on being a WIndows 7 user, you can just use the excellent Linux Mint as your 'connect to the internet' OS.

Windows 10 (and MS as a whole now) i just can't trust at all, i mean have you seen the EULA you agree to just be using it? Windows 10 is simply a spyware tool now, and you can only temporarily change that, as MS can reset it anytime it wants (and does after most forced updates).

Agreed I saw a video on what you are doing 3 days ago and that's my sentimance exactly. I have to use windows toolkit to build mine as my PC doesn't like the script of the USB drivers. so making it now