Compact, convenient, console-like experience that pulls games from your existing steam library. Same niche as a normal console, just not locked down in the same sense. If it weren't for the price I'd consider one, but I'd rather limp along my existing systems for as long as possible (and it sounds like SteamOS support for broader systems is improving).
Hardware prices, especially RAM, have skyrocketed. Priced out new baremetal servers recently and prices were 3-6x what we paid 4 years ago for the newer equivalents.
Because you should never fully trust any IoT product that you don't truly have control over. There's nothing stopping a faulty or malicious update from being pushed out, or their update servers being compromised (see notepad++ recently). So why increase your risk, if you don't truly need it online?
- For homes with close family (parents and siblings), I setup a subnet router and local DNS server on a Dell Wyse, making it one of their DNS servers so it can point them to services
- Yes, they should have their own account. However you can only add a few before you need to move to a paid version
- You can disable the expiry for nodes, which should keep it connected and prevent you needing to sign in again for them, for the most part
Windows automatically reinitializes the TPM if it's reset boots normally, most end users will not notice any issues unless they have Bitlocker or biometrics configured.
Not only did it happen at the worst possible moment, it took out a second engine on it's way out and over the plane. Two engines should've been enough to get off the ground and potentially land the plane, but one engine on a trijet isn't enough.
Pro does not. We only use Pro and Enterprise, and Pro certainly does not actually require a Microsoft account (as of last week, anyways). The options given do make it appear to be required, but it is not.
You don't need IoT, just the normal LTSC (2027, and then security updates until 2032, iirc). And there are easy ways to swap to it, present on GitHub...
Main downside is other applications dropping support for 10, if relevant. I only swapped my main system due to Fusion 360 notifying me they were dropping 10 in January 2026.
I largely agree with your points, but in this context -
* A microsoft account is only needed for Windows 11 Home. A "semi-power user" is hopefully not using that edition of Windows...
* I'm also greatly annoyed by the right click - but holding shift when right-clicking opens the expected menu, removing the extra click requirement.
Some of my own annoyances though:
* The taskbar/windows button seems to just...crash...sometimes. It'll eventually restart, but extremely annoying. Left clicking taskbar icons still works, but right clicks or the start button don't work as expected.
* Additional clicks to change audio devices...drives me crazy on my main system.
* I like the autosaving aspect of notepad, but they've killed the main reason I used it - an instantaneous, lightweight text app. It's still quick, but is noticeably slower.
* Settings and Control Panel is still a mess, and even less usable than Windows 10 was.
I used to have a Bloomberg heat pump dryer when I lived in a historical apartment. I was fairly happy with it, only real downsides was that it did take longer to dry compared to my prior electric and gas dryers, it tended to pickup a musty smell, and it was relatively complex and difficult to repair compared to a simpler dryer (had some minor failures over the years). Upside was the efficiency and not needing an exterior exhaust.
Been a number of years since then, so I'm sure they've improved even more and are hopefully somewhat cheaper.