Packages

Older packages:

Paid software:

  • Sublime Text 3
  • IntelliJ IDEA
  • Bitwig Studio
  • Ableton Live

Configuration

Disable internet search results appearing in the start menu by making the following registry changes:

disable-windows-start-web-search.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"BingSearchEnabled"=dword:00000000
"AllowSearchToUseLocation"=dword:00000000
"CortanaConsent"=dword:00000000

TODO: Add control panel settings worth changing

Cygwin

Packages

Package list
  • asciinema
  • bash-completion
  • busybox
  • colordiff
  • curl
  • cygutils-extra
  • flac
  • git
  • git-gui
  • gitk
  • mediainfo
  • moreutils
  • mosh
  • ncdu
  • openssh
  • p7zip
  • ping
  • python2
  • python2-pip
  • python3
  • python3-pip
  • tmux
  • tree
  • vim
  • wget
  • words
  • xdg-utils
  • xinit
  • xmlstarlet
  • zsh

Configuration

/etc/nsswitch.conf:

db_shell: /usr/bin/zsh

WSL

Install Debian through the Microsoft Store. It installs even if you click the button not to sign in.

Packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install <package>
Package list
  • man
  • glances
  • htop
  • sshfs
  • strace
  • moreutils
  • colordiff
  • zsh
  • tmux
  • git
  • tig
  • tzdata
  • python
  • vim
  • psmisc
  • xmlstarlet
  • nodejs
  • bash-completion
  • zip
  • unzip

Configuration

  • Set the timezone: sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
  • Set the shell to zsh: sudo $(command -v zsh) -c "echo chsh -s $(command -v zsh) $USER"

Windows gripes

  • Obscenely, flagrantly, egregiously anti-privacy
  • Updates restart your computer overnight whether you saved your work or not
  • Cortana is creepy
  • Web search results do not belong in the start menu
  • Pro audio is much more fiddly than on macs; driver bugs galore
  • Laptop hardware usually tends to be built with planned-obselescence quality
  • Windows Explorer does not have tabs
  • Too many different shells to use and install: cmd, powershell, cygwin, wsl (including different Linux distributions of wsl), cmder
  • The Windows Store is awful
  • Unnecessary and unjustified program bloat: calc.exe requires the Windows Store to run
  • Microsoft is leaning hard on their monopoly to squash out Firefox, by unsetting Firefox as the default browser and nagging you when you try to set it back
  • Microsoft is leaning hard on their monopoly to promote Skype, by forcing it to auto-start with Windows with a recent update
  • The current state of Windows package managers is a mess
  • MS Paint was removed and replaced with Paint 3D

Microsoft-specific:

  • EEE is a concern again

Windows delights

  • Famously backward-compatible
    • At the minor, acceptable cost of UI fragmentation caused by preserving Windows 8 UI decisions
  • Usually strikes a good balance of customization vs clutter. Not perfect, but categorized under delights because it is better than mac and linux.
  • Remote Desktop / RDP is the best remote desktop experience (NoMachine is a close second)
  • Task Manager is great at showing information
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux is nice

Microsoft-specific:

  • MS is actually contributing to Linux development

Windows neutrals

  • Parts of the UI are well thought-out
  • BSODs are a thing of the past
  • Windows finally got on board with virtual desktops
  • Far fewer gripes than Mac, but that doesn't count as a delight, and being hostile to user privacy is a big problem if Windows is your only option

Microsoft-specific:

  • Microsoft made VS Code, which is great, but it's not all open source, which is sleazy, because it is promoted as open source, leading some people to become invested in its success based on that assumption.
    If MS was more up front about it, there would be no problem, but it would have taken more time to gain popularity, so that fact is intentionally tucked away. This is taking unfair advantage of the goodwill of open source culture.