From Microsoft to Microslop to Linux: Why I Made the Switch

January 26, 2026

What's better than a devil you don't know?
The devil you do.

I've used Windows for as long as I've been alive. At 6 years old, my first computer was a Windows 98 machine, with an Athlon XP 1900+ (Palomino core) and a GeForce 440 MX, blessed with a generous 256 megabytes of RAM.

Looking back, I kinda got scammed with that graphics card, but what could I do? I was a silly kid. (The missing shader support came back to bite me in the ass)

Also, is it weird that I still remember the specs of my first computer, 22 years later?

Anyway, Windows has been familiar and comfortable. I knew all the workarounds and how to extract maximum efficiency from it.

I was a happy user, for over 20 years, and Windows has been my go-to for everything computer-related.

Even after becoming a software developer and buying a MacBook, I’d still find myself reaching for Windows at times.

I didn't see it back then, but looking back, the reality was obvious: I was getting more and more work done on my Mac while I was spending more and more time fighting Windows.

In my head, it was still the "comfortable option", the old reliable.

That is, until Microsoft decided to turn it into something completely unrecognizable and unusable.

It all came crashing down

I think it started with the Windows 10 full-screen ads.

You know, those friendly suggestions telling you to try OneDrive or to "use the recommended browser settings" (reads as "please try Edge and OneDrive, we're desperate").

Actually, scratch that, I think it really started with the non-consensual updates:

Oh you're doing work? That's so cute... we're gonna close whatever apps you had open, because we're updating now. We own your computer.

You had unsaved work? Too bad, it's gone, get bent.

Later Edit: Someone said they did not like that I used the word "consent" to describe Microsoft's actions, so let me just steer you towards the definition of the word, as read on Cambridge.org

Consent

noun

permission or agreement:

• They can't publish your name without your consent.
• Your parents must give consent for you to go on the trip.
• Patients must be informed of the risks of the surgery and give their informed consent.
• Microsoft did not ask me for consent when it installed a broken update on my computer.

Now let's get back to the rant.

At first I ignored it, and carried on as normal. Sure, I'd get mad from time to time and I'd complain.

But hey, nothing beats the convenience of being able to have all of your applications in one place

Right? Right?

My breaking point came with the 24H2 update. It automagically installed on my system, like any other major update. I knew there were problems with it, people were already complaining on Reddit, so I just postponed it, and kept postponing it.

All it took was to leave my computer on and unattended for a while, and BOOM, just like that - the major OS update that nobody wanted, it was on my computer.

The Chrome Seizure Incident

As soon as 24H2 landed on my machine, I encountered a bug so bizarre I thought I was losing my marbles.
If Chrome was positioned under any other window, it would start having what I can only describe as a visual seizure.
Here's Ableton Live with Chrome (Reddit) under it:

Worse, there was a decent chance this would trigger a full system lock, leaving me smashing my desk in impotent rage. I shit you not.

I tried to rollback. The rollback failed with an error. I reinstalled Windows. The bug persisted.
Like digital herpes, I just couldn't get rid of it.

The solution? Installing an Insider build. Yes, the solution to Microsoft's broken stable release was to use their unstable release.

For the Windows Defenders (see what I did there?), I tried uninstalling the display drivers with DDU, and testing other versions of the NVIDIA drivers. It didn't help.

Either I stayed forever on the older build, or I'd have to deal with this. And don't tell me to forever disable updates, I'll completely lose it.

The Sequel I Never Wanted

The Insider build worked...sort of. But now I had a new bug: Chrome would randomly lock up for about 30 seconds when a video was playing. My options were to wait it out or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and Esc to force my way back to a working browser. After some digging, I discovered this was caused by an NVIDIA-Microsoft driver incompatibility.

Links here:

• Chrome freezes when I play any video
• Edge and Chrome Freezes after 24H2 update
• Win11 24H2: Fullscreen videos are freezing in all browsers, while on-top windows are refreshed
• Google Chrome keeps freezing, when playing YouTube videos.
• How can i disable windows MPO in 2025 ? (24h2 windows 11 version)

I've found out that the flickers and the chrome lock-up issues are likely caused by the Multiplane Overlay (MPO) pipeline. Microsoft blamed NVIDIA for not correctly implementing it in their drivers. NVIDIA blamed Microsoft. What's clear is that if you were facing this issue, you were essentially screwed because these 2 companies would just pass the hot potato to each other.

I should mention that this bug persisted even after I went off the Insider build and on 25H2. And when I posted on r/Microsoft, they just deleted it.

The latest and greatest OS surely cannot be broken beyond repair, surely I'm using my PC wrong.

So there I was, finally grasping the reality of what you're up against, as a Windows user:

• Random bugs that break basic functionality
• Updates that install without permission and brick my system
• Copilot and OneDrive ads appearing in every corner of the OS
• Copilot buttons everywhere, coming for every application
• Can't even make a local account without hacking the setup with Rufus (they even removed the terminal workaround)
• Zero actionable fixes or even an honest acknowledgment of their fuckups

People often say Linux is "too much work.".

And I agree. They're completely justified to complain. There's the documentation page diving, the forums, the reddit threads. And, most importantly, you have to basically rewire your brain and stop expecting it to behave like Windows used to.

But I looked at the list above and realized: Windows is now also too much work.
And the difference with Windows is that you're going to do all that work while actively fighting your computer only for it to be undone when the next surprise update comes and ruins everything.

You might be thinking "just disable updates, man" or "just install LTSC", or "just run some random debloat script off of GitHub". Why? Why would I jump through all these hoops? I'd rather put in the effort for an OS that knows what consent is and respects me as a user.

Could the grass actually be greener on the other side?

To set the stage: I'm a software developer and a musician.

• GitHub
• Spotify

I've already been using Linux on servers and through WSL for years, so I could deal with any jank that would stop a new user in their tracks. (If you were here expecting a "Linux is ready for beginners, your grandma should switch" article, this isn't it. I'm someone with technical knowledge who is extremely irritated with Microsoft, sharing my experience. Your mileage will vary.)

As you can imagine, my biggest worry was app support, and how it would disrupt my workflow.

But after Chrome crashing for the 10000th time, I said "enough is enough", and decided to go big. I installed CachyOS, a performance-focused Arch-based distribution, on my main machine.

It wasn't a painless process. In fact, sleep mode was broken from the start, and my system would fail to detect the monitor after waking up.

What's more, Ableton Live does not have a native Linux build, only Windows and macOS. So I couldn't use it anymore, at least not without fucking around with Wine (which doesn't fully support it), or without keeping a Windows VM and taking an L on audio latency.

But unlike Windows, on CachyOS I could actually fix my NVIDIA woes by following this thread on their forum.

All I had to do was add the NVIDIA modules to mkinitcpio. One config change, a command to rebuild the initramfs, and problem solved. Intuitive? Not really, it should've been there from the start. Fixed for good? Yes.

I also found a good native alternative to Ableton Live - Bitwig Studio, which has a native Linux Build. And thanks to the constant progress that was made with Pipewire, I'm getting audio latency on par with macOS, and lower than Windows.

My workflow didn't even change that much, since Bitwig is made by ex-Ableton developers. As for my development tools, on Windows you already accept the fact that you WILL use WSL or docker, so realistically I just cut the broken middleman.

Now compare that to the Windows fuckery above.

What I Signed Up For

If 3 years ago you would have told me that Microsoft would singlehandedly sabotage their own OS, making macOS look like a godsend, and doing more Linux PR than the most neckbearded Linux fanboy (or the most femboy Thinkpad enjoyer), I'd have laughed in your face, called you delusional, and then hurled some more insults your way.

Yet here we are, I've been dual-booting Windows and CachyOS on my desktop for over a year, and in the last month I've been using it exclusively.

So what is the actual state of Linux in 2026, from my honest perspective? Well, I'll only comment on the categories that concern me since I don't like mentioning things I don't know much about.

Web Browsing

All major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave) have native Linux builds. Full support. No compromises.
Video playback works flawlessly, with hardware acceleration even. On AMD, on NVidia and yes, on Intel too.

Software Development

Linux is the preferred platform for development.

Better terminal support, native package managers, Docker runs natively without the WSL overhead, and your production servers are probably running Linux anyway.

Music Production

• Bitwig Studio: Incredible DAW that runs natively on Linux
• Ardour: Native, free, open-source DAW
• Audio latency: Thanks to PipeWire, Linux audio latency is actually lower than Windows

Gaming

Here's where things get interesting. The perception is that gaming on Linux is a no-go. In 2026, that's increasingly untrue:

• Proton/Wine: Pretty much all games without kernel-level anti-cheat work out of the box through Steam's Proton compatibility layer
• Performance: For AMD GPUs, gaming performance is on par with Windows, on average
• NVIDIA: There was a 10-30% performance penalty on Intel/NVIDIA GPU setups, but recent Vulkan extensions are taking care of that.

NVIDIA has released beta drivers making use of these improvements, and once Wine/DXVK/Proton are updated to make use of the extensions, the performance delta should be essentially gone, or at the very least greatly diminish.

The two real limitations are that DLSS/Framegen support is still a bit behind, and some games with anti-cheat like Valorant, Call of Duty or League of Legends won't run (the developers don't want to support it). But honestly I think not being able to launch League of Legends is actually a feature - one final reason to install Linux.

Jokes aside, it's not all bad. Arc Raiders makes use of Easy Anti-Cheat, yet runs flawlessly. In fact, I've been playing it like a madman. It goes to show that if the developers want to, it's possible.

General Usage

Basic operations feel much faster on Linux. Opening directories, launching applications, system responsiveness. It's like your computer took a line of coke, and is now ready to work.

The Jank

I'd be lying if I said it was all sunshine and rainbows. (Or maybe it can be, if all you do is browse the web and play youtube videos.)

But let's be honest, if you're a power user, gamer, programmer, or anything in between, you will run into some jank, and you'll have to troubleshoot things from time to time, too.

If I had to rate the intensity of the jank, it's probably between Windows 10 and Windows 11, with Windows 11 being the worst offender from my personal experience.

If you enjoy tinkering with your computer, you'll be alright. If you don't, well, now you know what to expect.

So should you switch?

Look, I'm not a missionary that's here to baptize you in the name of the Kernel and the Holy Tux.

I’m just here to throw bricks at Microsoft for the rapid decrease in quality of their operating system, and talk about my switch.

If you're genuinely happy with Windows, stick with it, I'm not your dad, so I won't judge you, or tell you what to do.

And if you do want to switch, but Linux simply fails to deliver for your use cases, consider macOS. I think it's more than adequate as an alternative.

Sure, the cost can be steep, there are issues with repairability and there are some AI integrations, but at least Apple isn't actively shoving slop down your throat, like Microsoft does.

I also want to address the elephant in the room - people who keep saying "I really want to switch to linux", but keep moving the goalposts:

"I'll switch when it supports X."

Linux supports X.

"Okay, but what about Y?"

Linux supports Y.

"Well, Z is still missing..."

If you're always finding the next reason not to switch, you're not looking for solutions, you're looking for excuses to stay complacent.

I was that person, so I would know - kept being irritated by the Windows shenanigans, yet refused to move on.

Grab a dirt cheap secondary SSD, dual-boot a little and just see if it works out. Only then will you truly know if it's for you.

The Windows Retrospective

While I'm currently enjoying my setup, Windows 11 is having a miserable year, and we're barely a month in!

According to Windows Latest, there were over 20 major update problems in 2025 alone, and 2026 is starting off strong, with the January update causing black screens and Outlook crashes.

Here's a quick 2025 Spotify Wrapped™ of the bugs some Windows users had to deal with:

• USB audio devices randomly stopped working
• Webcams failed to be detected
• BitLocker settings became inaccessible
• Adobe Premiere Pro couldn't drag clips on the timeline
• Cursor constantly spinning for no reason
• Remote Desktop sessions randomly disconnecting
• The Copilot app accidentally getting deleted (okay, this is actually a good change for once)
• Blue screens of death in mandatory security updates
• Windows Hello face recognition broken
• File Explorer becoming unresponsive
• FPS drops and system reboots while gaming
• Task Manager spawning infinite copies of itself
• Dark mode breaking with white flashes

And the company's response? They're busy boasting that 30% of their code is currently being written by AI. Don't worry, Microsoft, we can definitely tell.

Meanwhile, entire governments are abandoning Windows for Linux, the term "Microslop" is trending on social media, and Windows 11's reputation is at its lowest point ever.

For the remainder of 2026, Microsoft is cooking up a big one: replacing more and more native apps with React Native. But don't let the name fool you, it's never going to be as close to native as the real thing.

These are projects designed to be easily ported across any machine and architecture by making use of JavaScript.

And each one spawns its own Chromium process, gobbling up your RAM so you can enjoy the privilege of opening the Settings app. Each one of these apps creates an instance of V8 or Hermes per app, which adds additional overhead (RAM + CPU). I'd argue you do not need that overhead just to open a Settings app.

I could totally understand this for a weather widget. But when it's coming for core system apps, I think it's lazy.

I'm gonna go full conspiracy nut - I bet it's because it's easier for LLMs to write JavaScript, and Microsoft can't be asked to pay actual humans to write (and test) proper native code.

Not Because I Wanted To, But Because Microsoft Forced My Hand

This is it - I'm running CachyOS on my desktop, and macOS on my laptop.

Some of you might be yelling "skill issue" or claiming I just don't know how to use the OS. Spare me. I've spent over two decades in the Windows ecosystem. I even had a Windows Phone and developed UWP apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. I know exactly where the bodies are buried, and could probably edit the registry with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back.

And how can it be that out of the three major operating systems, the one I’ve used the most is the one that gives me the most miserable experience, and the two I used the least are now my daily drivers?

If anything, I should be the biggest Windows defender, not jumping ship.

But I can't defend it anymore, because Microsoft turned into Microslop.

I want to reiterate - it's not like macOS or Linux had some miraculous glow-up. They just kept doing what they've always done - maintaining their OS, fixing bugs, etc. The boring stuff. Microsoft is the one that changed. They dropped the ball so hard, it's now in the earth's core. They are fully AI obsessed and stopped giving a damn about Quality Control.

Recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote a blog post asking people to stop calling AI-generated content "slop" and to think of AI as "bicycles for the mind."

Well, Mr Satya, I have a couple of bicycles that will blow your mind:

You are the biggest Linux evangelist there ever was, and single-handedly convinced countless people to ditch your buggy, ad-ridden, bloated, slop-infested mess of an OS.

Worst of all, you're like a pit bull that has lock-jawed onto OpenAI's ballsack, and you're not letting go, no matter how much we tell you to.

So we're calling slop for what it is: disgusting slop.

You're chasing profit like your life depends on it, yet you've completely forgotten the very things that generate profit: user satisfaction and adoption.

If you've also been burned, the time to switch is now. The tools are ready. The only question is: are you?