@tomscharbach Yeah I had issues as well with dual booting. The problem if I install Windows AFTER is that then Windows bootloader will take over and you have to reinstall grub after I think, at least I remember doing that a very long time ago when not using EFI but Legacy.
I'll probably end up install Linux on my laptop first. I can't really scrap my current setup since I am working from home and using my main machine for all backend development. So my hands are tied. The willingness is there though. All I know is Windows 11 is not going to get installed on this machine. As I reach 2025 I guess I'll have decisions to make when Windows 10 becomes officially unsupported.
It does sound like I am taking two steps back but I'm just being careful. But in my mind there is no doubt that LINUX is the best option if I was not stuck my gaming and work.
If this info interest you, I am currently running Windows 11 on three unsupported systems. All you need is to modify the installer and a Windows registry thereafter.
It is also possible to install unmodified Windows 11 as VM on the unsupported host including Zorin OS.
Exactly my feeling. The other things I don't like about Windows 11 is all that TPM stuff and this 64 bits requirement. They are just forcing people to get a new machine which is so wasteful. Then there is this come back of BING everywhere, not that Google is any better but I don't want to be forced to go somewhere I want to make my own choices. There is the integration of Microsoft TEAMS in the OS now, so similar to what they tried to do with Internet Explorer back in the days. To a certain degree the UI would not bother me that much but it is all the other parts.
When I started to see Microsoft integrating Linux into its OS a few years ago I thought that maybe they would make a transition to Linux eventually. There was a lot of speculation about that. It may still happen one day but I'm not holding my breath. Besides, why would I go for a "LINDOWS" if I have the choice of something better. Anyways, to me, Windows is just old technology that has been repainted many times with a lot of the same stuff underneath, it is obsolete and high unsecure. It is just a bad OS used as a playground do experiments with where the lab rats are the people (hence Windows 11).
I am also planning to hang on to Windows 10 till very the end. But I do not want to panic at the last moment either. Those installation of Windows 11 is a kind of insurance for my future computer needs.
[How to bypass the Windows 11 TPM 2.0 requirement]
Option 1 for in-place update
Copy and paste the following in text editor and save it as win11bypass.reg
After the error message press Shift+F10 on your keyboard at the same time to launch a command prompt.
At this command prompt, type regedit and press enter to launch the Windows Registry Editor.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup, right-click on the Setup key and select New > Key.
When prompted to name the key, enter LabConfig and press enter.
Now right-click on the LabConfig key and select New > DWORD (32-bit) value and create a value named BypassTPMCheck,
and set its data to 1.
Now create the BypassRAMCheck and BypassSecureBootCheck values and set their data to 1 as well.
Once you configure those three values under the LabConfig key,
close the Registry Editor, and then type exit in the Command Prompt followed by enter to close the window.
You will now be back at the message stating that the PC can't run Windows 11.
Click on the back button in the Windows Setup dialog.
But I have to tell you, I hate having to do all these kinds of tricks, eventually you run into problems and you know Microsoft will make our lives hells, hence why I'll hold on to Windows 10 until 2025 and hopefully by then maybe, just MAYBE, I can say goodbye to the Windows world forever? FINGERS CROSSED
You are touching so many good points here.... When it gets this complicated to use an OS that is insecure and they need to use hardware to help make it more secure, there is something very wrong there. Windows has so many flaws, so many security issues and they need this kind of security to help make it better.
Helping to a transition to Linux is a good idea. And also, bring more developers who usually just code for Windows and have them code stuff under Linux. I always said it, if more games would be available under Linux, you would see more and more people switch over.
That being said, let us not waste energy on Windows but on how we can help Linux continue to move forward!
It is interesting to see the diversity in our perception. I just love to research and try out such tricks. For me, it is a trivial effort compared with running OSX on unsupported PCs. I suppose it is boiled down how much time one would like to dedicate tinkering around computers - which I love with passion
As for Microsoft, my freeing is quite neutral.
I wish I could do without their products but my work requires it. If I cannot do without, it is better to accept rather than hate every moment of using it. Everyone is entitled to think otherwise but I myself prefer not to place myself in such a negative mind set.
Actually I am hoping that I would be retired by then
But really, if you still need Windows to get the job done, there is always an option of virtual machines. In fact, that has been the only way I run Windows for my work for over 6 years. I keep one bare-metal installation for firmware update for peripherals which quite often comes in Windows only format.
There is one interesting discovery from my installation endeavourer. If Windows 11 is installed as VM, absolutely no modification is required for the installer. It can be installed and run on any Linux host with an unsupported system.
I have been your classic distro hopper; Manjaro, Pop, Fedora, Ferenos, etc. By no means am I a linux advanced user and still consider myself a newbie. But for me, Zorin has been the best experience seconded by Manjaro and Ferenos. I also game a little bit, and Zorin has also been great in that department. I use a Acer nitro i5 with onboard Nvidia graphics and have not had any problems once i installed the correct graphics drivers. I do have Win11 on a seperate drive for gaming (just in case). Outside of playing Cyberpunk, and Total War Shogun 2, Zorin is my daily driver. For the life of me I can not get those particular games to run. But that is a Proton issue and not a Zorin issue. For my two cent I would say go with Zorin. Nothing against any other distro at all, they are all great. Kudos to Popos by the way. Popshell is wonderful! But again, just my take!
@FrenchPress I understand what you are saying. I still need Windows for my work and yes for gaming so for now I need it. I also have a WORK VM that has Windows just to keep things separate. As for the gaming well that needs to be a bare metal Windows.
For me it is not about having a negative mindset but the recognition of what Windows is and what, historically, Microsoft has tried to do to push Open Source out of the way, making it difficult for Linux, just remember the Netscape vs Internet Explorer saga. That kind of attitude may have changed with the different leaders, now it is less apparent perhaps but they are still trying to do things, in my opinion, they shouldn't be doing.
Besides, Windows, compared to Linux, really has zero advantages in terms of technology, security, etc. I am not being a hater. There are other things that came from Microsoft which I enjoy very much, C# and .NET CORE is one of them. It got much better ever since they open sourced it. And they did that because they really had no choice anymore.
That being said, once the dust settles maybe I'll find myself using Windows 11 but, if I can go the Linux route I will. One thing is for sure, all my servers are all Linux based and there is no way I would go and pay for a Windows Server.
@Thatothrgy You mentioned you are running Windows 11 on a separate drive. I presume you have a dual boot setup? If so, mind explaining your procedure especially if you use a EFI partition. I had issues trying to do that.
Yeah I thought of doing that too. Basically, what you do is, you swap your OS disk leaving the internal drives there (if any). So you only have one Operating System with a boot partition (may that be EFI or Legacy).
The Icy Dock hot swap unit does make it easy that is for sure.
There is only one problem for me and that is I am using M.2 SSD for my OS. So I would have to change my strategy and have my Operating Systems boot from a regular SSD and leave the M.2 SSDs for internal storage. I could buy an adapter for my M.2 SSD (M.2 to regular SSD case).
If you do decide to dual boot, choose something else option after performing the recommended steps in the tutorial category of this forum, then amend the windows partition size, create your Linux partitions and format. That is the most difficult part. Grub will modify the efi boot partition, and you'll be able to switch without physically changing the drives.
Sorry for the late response @tessierp . But i did indeed follow the guide provided above. I went into my bios and turned off Raid and switched to ACHI. I was able to get things going afterwards. My system defaults to Zorin when booting. If I have to get to my windows drive, I just select it on boot (f12 key on my system). I have tried dual booting on one drive in the past but had nothing but problems as mentioned. I would also second not going about things in that way unless you have no other choice.
Thanks for your help everyone. I wont be able to attack this issue for a while since I'm stuck with other problems at the moment that have nothing to do with IT and may take a while. But at least this gives me food for thought and things to think about.
Thanks for this info.
I all of a sudden remembered that I managed to reduce EFI partition in Bhodi Linux from 500MG to 100MB when I was trying to install it on 7GB eMMC came with the 1st gen Intel Compute Stick.
It seems less than 100MG EFI is required for both Windows and Linux. I suspect this extra 400MB is for adding some "breathing space" in Linux.
I since moved to a headless Linux installation for this Compute Stick (is is running Dietpi for X86) and space is no longer an issue
