Some Thoughts About Alternative (Computing) Lifestyles ⭐

Today, we can effectively de-enshittify Windows 11 and remove its worst behaviors. But what if that changes? What then?

I write this looking over at my MacBook Air M3, now nearly two years old, which is an ideal laptop in so many ways and yet, to me, so much less than ideal.

I have multiple laptops here on which I can install whatever flavors of Linux I want, or at least try to, given the complexities.

And just yesterday my mind drifted back to the fact that one thing I don't have here in Mexico is a Chromebook of any kind; I was just going to start seeing whether I could buy something inexpensive locally or online when it occurred to me that I should at least try Chrome OS Flex first.

There is mobile to consider now, too.

Last year, I described the iPad—when combined with a Magic Keyboard or similar add-on—as perhaps the perfect laptop for most people, and, separately, the perfect computer overall, thanks to the gains in iPadOS 26.

And while Android is lagging in this regard, sort of, I do have a Pixel 10 Pro Fold that can function as a DIY laptop of sorts with a portable keyboard and mouse, both of which I did bring to Mexico for that reason. And Aluminum is on the way, the Androidification of Chrome OS that may or may not transform that platform into a contender, similar to the iPad and iPadOS 26.

Put more simply, we are not lacking for choices if an alternative is where your brain is at, now or in the future. But those alternatives are all problematic in some ways, a clear example of "the grass is always greener" that I try to keep in mind every time I see some shitty new behavior in Windows 11 that I instantly want to exorcise from the system. Depending on how you use a computer, and which apps and services you need to be productive, you will likely find yourself trading one set of problems for another in switching platforms. For me, at least, those new problems are even more problematic than the problems I face each day using Windows.

And that's the crux of this problem. Anyone reading this is smart enough to figure out a way forward if the choice becomes leaving Windows. Most reading this have PCs or other devices on which they can, for now, experiment with at least some of these alternatives and see for themselves if any make sense to them. Where you land will depend on, well, you. You and your needs. You and your workflows. You and your ability to change. It's all on you.

This year, I'm trying to have a big picture topic focus each month. In January, it was security. February was de-enshittifying Windows 11, and as I write these words, my next book, the imaginatively titled De-Enshittify Windows 11, is not in any way complete but is close enough that I can publish it publicly on Leanpub soon, and later on Amazon, so real people can purchase it. March and April will be vibe coding with AI and Windows alternatives, though I'm not sure which will be first.

Which is part of the point of all this. I can't...