Linux instead of Windows 10?

[C.G.]

Don't put a free-market WiFi card in a Lenovo, because they have a blacklist (anything that Lenovo doesn't make, it seems) and none of the *buntu distros have OOTB drivers for the one that comes with the notebook I have.

Only partially true, you have to get the US version of the Wi-Fi card, as opposed to Chinese, etc. which may be blacklisted.

[Cowboy T]

Don't put a free-market WiFi card in a Lenovo, because they have a blacklist (anything that Lenovo doesn't make, it seems) and none of the *buntu distros have OOTB drivers for the one that comes with the notebook I have.

Only partially true, you have to get the US version of the Wi-Fi card, as opposed to Chinese, etc. which may be blacklisted.

Hmm...that's good info. Didn't know Lenovo was blacklisting hardware. That tells me to avoid Lenovo. Thanks for the heads-up on that. Reminds me of the bad-old-days with Compaq and HP PC's. You actually had to use *their specific* DRAM; generic DRAM would plug in, but wouldn't work.

It'd be interesting to know more about that wireless card that comes with those Lenovo laptops.

Actually, now that I recall, there was one thing you did have to do with Broadcom 802.11g wireless cards back in 2006-2007. These often came with the Dell Latitude D600 and D610 laptops that were current back then. There was a Linux driver, and it worked, but you also had to extract and install the firmwares manually from Broadcom's Windows package into the /lib/firmware subdirectory. Then it came right up. So, either we did that, or (for those who weren't as technical) we just swapped out the Broadcoms for Intel wireless cards, and everything started working fine.

So, yes, there was one hardware issue I remember running into back then. Wow...that brought back memories! :-)

My cameralady, a Windows sysadmin, also sometimes uses Kubuntu now, BTW. She seems to rather like it. Gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised.

[C.G.]

Hmm...that's good info. Didn't know Lenovo was blacklisting hardware. That tells me to avoid Lenovo. Thanks for the heads-up on that. Reminds me of the bad-old-days with Compaq and HP PC's. You actually had to use *their specific* DRAM; generic DRAM would plug in, but wouldn't work.

It'd be interesting to know more about that wireless card that comes with those Lenovo laptops.

It isn't just Lenovo, but other manufacturers that sell worldwide as well, due to much more restrictive laws in countries where they sell their products. No matter what you think about FCC, it is much less restrictive than their counterparts in some other countries, such as mainland China.

[Sliik]

Windows 10 is running alright for me and my new build... it is however pretty much Windows 8 with a simple facelift/changed up gui.