About a decade ago, my son built himself a gaming computer, but soon decided he didn’t need it. I bought it from him and have used it for work ever since. Despite its age, it’s still fast, with massive memory and the horsepower to multitask pretty much any combination of programs or websites. I would happily keep using this PC for as long as it lasts.
Unfortunately, that’s not an option, because it’s running Windows 10 and can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. In October, Microsoft will stop publishing Windows 10 security patches, leaving such computers wide open to hackers.
So I have no choice but to waste time and money buying and setting up a replacement.
If that were the whole story, it would be annoying. But there’s more. It seems the next generation of computers feature AIs that apparently eliminate even the pretence of privacy. Here’s a marketing page from a webinar on the subject from Glen Medder’s Privacy Academy:
Both Windows and Apple are going through massive changes (for the worse)...
On October 14th, this year, Windows will END support to all Windows 10 devices.
That means if you stick with a Windows device, you will be forced to move to Windows 11 (because using an out-of-date operating system is extremely dangerous).
On top of that, a lot of computer hardware will also become out-of-date. This means, there is a good chance that your computer will no longer be supported after these changes.
Now, this may seem like a normal update, but there is a very insidious reason for it. It’s because of the new AI spyware that is inside all of the new operating systems (like Windows 11).
Towards the end of 2023, Windows announced CoPilot, their AI software that watches and understands everything that you do on your computer.
So much so, that it takes a screenshot every second and stores it for posterity.
Everything you search, type, or read is monitored, recorded, and analyzed. They are doing this to create a profile on you, your likes, your dislikes, and your beliefs. And yes, CoPilot is already in use today.
It knows if you are a skeptical person, it knows if you believe propaganda or not, or even small things like if you search for censored news, or who you're friends with.
And no it's not just Microsoft doing this. Apple released Apple Intelligence, and you can bet that they will force it onto their users as well.
They are trying to create a walled garden; a surveillance net that will control everything, and they are wagering that you won’t notice until it’s too late.
Because Windows and Apple have such a strong monopoly on the market, they believe the average person doesn’t notice that there is an exit door out of this walled tech garden, which is – Linux.
For the longest time, Linux was out of reach for the average user. It was complicated, clunky, and made for tech-geeks.
But last year, we finally found a private and user-friendly distribution of Linux that actually felt like an upgrade to Windows and Apple.
Since then, it's been our goal to help average, non-techy people move out of the big tech computer walled garden.
Disclaimer: I don’t have an affiliate relationship with Privacy Academy (or anyone else), so I don’t benefit if you sign up for this class. Think of this post as a heads-up, not a sales pitch.
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I've been using Linux Mint Cinnamon full time since 2015. I started trying out Linux in 2001. I would never even consider using Windows or Apple. Everything I need to do, I can do in Linux. I have not once ever needed Windows or Apple. Linux is also open source, meaning the code can audited, so you know there are no hidden back-doors for spying on you.
This may sound harsh, but as a retired computer programmer, I tell all the people who are interested, that if you are not on Linux, then in reality, you don't care about security. Why do you think all servers that run the web are Linux?
I've been using Linux Mint Cinnamon full time since 2015. I started trying out Linux in 2001. I would never even consider using Windows or Apple. Everything I need to do, I can do in Linux. I have not once ever needed Windows or Apple. Linux is also open source, meaning the code can audited, so you know there are no hidden back-doors for spying on you.
This may sound harsh, but as a retired computer programmer, I tell all the people who are interested, that if you are not on Linux, then in reality, you don't care about security. Why do you think all servers that run the web are Linux?
Thanks very much for spreading awareness about this very important matter.