One year into my exit
Marginalising Microsoft
Easter 2026
...continued from My exit.
During Christmas of 2025 🎄, I installed Linux (Ubuntu) on my laptop as dual boot with Windows.
But after installing Linux as dual boot on my two computers, I found myself booting Windows almost always only for updating Windows... That doesn't make much sense, so this Easter, I removed Windows/dual boot on both my desktop and laptop. However, before removing it from my laptop, I extracted the Windows activation key 🔑 with this PowerShell command (as admin):
(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey
The to-be-removed Windows must be deactivated so that the product key can be used for activating a new install of Windows later, e.g. in a virtual Machine (or if you later want to reinstall Windows and sell the pc). For deactivation, run this command (Software Licensing Management Tool, Uninstall Product Key):
slmgr /upk
I chose to install Windows on a virtual machine using Virtual Machine Manager + QEMU/KVM on my desktop, activating it with the product key. This way, I can use Windows if I need to test something or run Windows-only apps.
Regarding the pictures I keep on my mobile, I have moved the cloud backup from OneDrive to Proton Drive, even if deleted/changed pictures not are synced like in OneDrive. I don't take that many photos anyway so it's not much of a hassle to delete images from both the local camera roll as well as in the Proton Drive app when necessary.
Earlier, I also used OneDrive for moving files between my mobile and pc. Now I instead use an app called LocalSend, which easily can copy files between devices on the same local network. From what I understand, it works more or less like Apple's AirDrop, except that LocalSend works with most operating systems, such as Linux, Windows, macOS 💻, Android and iOS 📱.
After moving to Linux, the news site "It's FOSS" keeps me informed about Linux and other free and open source software. Recommended if you run Linux. They both have an RSS feed and can be followed on Mastodon 🦣