Windows - what do you use it for?

[old_noob]

Well, I have to use it at work, and to keep my wife's W10 machines running. I run W10 VM's for work and personal stuff. Increasingly, when I attend training or conferences for work, we are sent home with literature that is in encrypted pdf form. The problem is that our network flags all outside encryption as malware. So to read this stuff I use Adobe Reader in a Windows VM on a personal Linux device. Not 100% kosher but saves a few weeks dealing with our IT guys. Anything crucial, I photograph and save for co-workers. At home, for things like Fire Toolbox to fix our Amazon tablets.

[trike lady]

I have a Windows7 laptop that is used for counted cross stitch chart making. Everything else is Linux.

[Infidelus]

Work - because I have no say in the matter.

I do have Windows installed in a VM, but only in case I need to test something that's not working on Linux or because a website demands it to let me download something (yes there are sites that still do that).

[Neophyte]

Clip Studio Paint won't install on Linux, so...

[Peter Linu]

Hiyall,
The audio industry steadfastly refuses to support Linux.
I have a Rodecaster that only works with Win10/11 and an ancient digital clock made by SOtM (Korea) that works with Win7. Neither is willing to make a Linux driver.

[Hoser Rob]

... The audio industry steadfastly refuses to support Linux.....

I definitely agree, USB DACs aren't so much of an issue but most other things seem to be.

There is a Linux version of Reaper, which is a good DAW, but of course most VST plugins won't work in Linux.

If you look at lists of Linux audio/studio programs on web sites, you still see LMMS there. That says a lot of how well things are going. LMMS is pitiful.

[lsemmens]

Only to talk to a "bit of fruit" that I used for my chord charts. I've now managed to "compost" that product so am now free!

[BenTrabetere]

I have a Win11 virtual machine to manage my mother's iThings. Nearly a year ago the HDD on my mother's iMac was showing signs of imminent failure - the machine had been out of support for macOS a couple of years (my idiot sister convinced her it was still safe to use). When the HDD started making "noise" I took the opportunity to move her to Linux.

[senjoz]

I use MS Windows to update the uefi/bios firmware on my computers. On two laptops I use it to change the battery charge threshold. I also sometimes use it to compare the results of benchmark tests for disks and network connections with benchmark tests in Linux.

[Human_63]

I still use an employer-supplied Windows 11 laptop at work--their choice, not mine. My employer drinks deeply of the Microsoft Kool-Aid on a regular basis.

At home, I have one aging laptop that has a dual-boot of Win 10, along with the latest Linux Mint. Unfortunately, the user experience on that machine is so bad with either of them that I've simply stopped using it altogether, especially since the battery stopped taking a charge. On the other hand, I have an ancient MacBook Pro that I still fire up on occasion, if I should accidentally need an Microsoft Office app for something that LibreOffice or the Microsoft Office Web apps won't do. I mainly use it for burning audio CDs because I've never found anything better for that purpose than Toast Titanium, plus the MacBook has an internal CD burner, which is highly convenient. Other than that, I'm finding that my latest Linux laptop, a Dell Latitude 7490, will do pretty much anything I need a computer for. That said, I could still see acquiring a new Mac at some point in the future, just not right now.

[Mintmann]

I use Windows 10 for MS Flight Simulator. My desktop has a lot more power than my laptop, plus a bigger screen.

[ivar]

Windows is widely used at work to pay for my hobbies, lol!

.... Now I only use Win (10) for MediaMonkey. That is a very good music player with which I can synchronize my music on smartphone (MediaMonkey app).
I hope the MediaMonkey-team will succeed in developing a Linux version soon....

And IMO, where it really shines, is to organize huge MP3 collections

visio

I've been using Visio for years, but a former coworker made me aware of Draw.io , which I've been using more and more lately.

[Jyaku]

I use it for a home theater server and home theater viewing for mp4/ mkv/ mpeg files.

I still haven't the know how to how to have a home network where 1 Linux Mint computer hard drive can contain the files and be usable and viewable with other Linux Mint computers.

If there is a guide on how to set this up.. please let me know.

[Telyx]

I have to use Windows at work, and I have a fairly cheap HP laptop with Windows 11 at home for the lone purpose of updating the firmware in my Olympus camera & lenses. I usually run Mint 21.2 MATE on that laptop via external SSD, though. (My other computers - both older Dells, a desktop and a tank of a laptop - run Mint 20.3 MATE.)

[MikeNovember]

Hi,

I have two virtual machines (Windows 7 and Windows 10 Pro) that I can run using VMware Workstation Player.

Windows 7 one is a 32 bits version, able to run 16 bits applications: I use it to run some oldware.

Windows 10 Pro is a 64 bits version. I use it to run some programs not existing on Linux (Microsoft ICE, French captvty...) or to run Gimp (there are much more filters available for Gimp on Windows than for Gimp on Linux; I can also interface it with Google Nick Collection and other graphic programs).

I don't use Wine or mono: compatibility is not always there, and there is no isolation between Windows programs and Linux.

The use of virtual machines solve both problems.

Regards,

MN

[CloneWerks]

I have a surface pro 7 that just works better under Windows (as in all the hardware works like the cameras and so forth). It gets used as an "interface" with my job and as part of Microsoft Whiteboard collaboration.

Everything else in the house is Mint at this point.

[MurphCID]

Yesterday I had to get into Photoshop to convert some .nef files to .jpg or .tiff so that I could load them on the digital photo frame for the Spouse Unit for our 35th Anniversary. GIMP would have taken 2-3 hours longer at a minimum to do the same thing I could do at about 2 minutes per photo. So I keep a Windows computer just for that.

[shedyed]

Congratulations on your anniversary

[MurphCID]

Thank you, she is rather nice to be married to, and hopefully the two of us will be around for a long time.

[MikeNovember]

Yesterday I had to get into Photoshop to convert some .nef files to .jpg or .tiff so that I could load them on the digital photo frame for the Spouse Unit for our 35th Anniversary. GIMP would have taken 2-3 hours longer at a minimum to do the same thing I could do at about 2 minutes per photo. So I keep a Windows computer just for that.

Hi,

Gimp itself doesn't know to open raw files. But, if you install Darktable, Gimp will automatically use Darktable to open raw files, with a direct transfer from Darktable to Gimp.
On Windows you can also use the free Nikon software to open ".nef" files.
Regards,
MN