I always build my own machines as well and for the same reason, I choose the components, I install the software, that way the machine will do what I need it to do.
Oh and about Spycro$oft Spyware 10 a nice article about how the normal users are expandable lab rats so they don't f#ck over the business users with their alpha level software, so remember, you ARE quality control, M$ doesn't care if your machine crashes and burns, the fallout will make them able to fix the flaws before enterprise customers can be bothered by it.
https://www.computerworld.com/artic...dows-10-and-the-importance-of-being-last.html
I have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft. I've been a Windows user since 2.0, and fell in love with 3.1. I grumbled with Windows 98 but eventually liked it, despised Me (what a craptastic OS), and the same with XP when it premiered (remember "Xtra Profit" being thrown about by a lot of tech people in the community?). When Vista came out, I didn't want to let go of XP, because Microsoft got the major bugs worked out of XP and it ended up being a pretty reliable piece of software. Then Windows 7 came out, and I fell in love with it. It was the aesthetic of Windows Vista, with the reliability of XP. When Windows 8 came out, I panned it, and still do as a giant pile of garbage. 8.1 only warmed it up.
When Windows 10 arrived, I wanted to stay on 7, but I was intrigued and so made the leap. I liked it at first, but quickly discovered just how labyrinthine the spyware was, and how deep into the code it went. I've disabled as much of it as I could, but I know I didn't catch all, no one gets it all.
I wanted to stay with Mac, I wanted to so bad, but watching Apple's treatment of its users, especially its desktop and notebook users, doesn't give me much faith in their ability to serve those customers. Then my iMac went kaput, and I knew I was stuck. I couldn't stay in the Mac environment because there simply was nowhere to go. Their decent systems were in the high triples, and why would you want to buy a computer that Apple was already pushing into obsolescence? Plus, the OS was being shoved into lockdown, with so little one could modify. It was like using iOS as a desktop <wretching sounds>.
I considered Linux, but its compatibility with so much of the software I use just wasn't reliable and I hate that because Linux is a solid platform, and the distros get easier and easier to use every new iteration. So it was back to Windows, and to be honest, I kind of welcomed it, because I do enjoy the environment. When Windows works, it works very well. Of course, when it fails, it fails
spectacularly.
For now, though, things are good. What's nice about my little system here is that if push comes to shove, I can still boot up my favorite distro of Linux (Mint), and I'm good to go inside of 20 minutes. If a video card fails, just replace it. RAM? Switch it out. Hard drive? I back up religiously, and most HDDs these days are relatively inexpensive. New CPU? No problem. Power Supply failure? $20 and I'm back in business.
So many customizations, so many configurations that just cannot exist on the Apple hardware platform. That kind of flexibility is hard to beat for options.
