Over the past few years, I've been using Windows 10 and while I do enjoy using it, lately I've been feeling that there is something about it which makes it seem as if it does not have any personality of its own ? Everything felt very superficial, inconsistent. It felt almost as if someone else was in control of my computer, automatically managing my updates, preferences, and apps that I install onto my system.

Over the years of using Windows 10, I grew accustomed of these inconveniences.

1.) There were instances where Windows would update automatically and install a load of bloatware (stupid games from their Windows store) onto my PC without my permission.

2.) After almost every major update, my preferences would automatically reset or change to something else entirely.

3.) I grew accustomed of random freezes and memory leaks.

4.) I grew accustomed of Windows Defender scanning my PC 10 times a day even after having it disabled.

5.) Considering how rare privacy is these days, I felt like Windows was not being respectful enough. Disabling Cortana still keeps it running, even though it doesn't show up in Task Manager.

It was not just about inconveniences either. As someone who is interested in the workings of a computer, I just couldn't learn/tinker much in Windows. Because it is mostly a GUI based system, you don't get to see what is actually happening under the hood. At the end of the day, all you are left with is the same OS, with the same interface, with no insights. I'm not hating on it, but learning opportunities are simply not there. With Windows 10, they made it even more difficult to actually see the workings of your PC.

Last month, I finally decided to do something about it and switched over to Ubuntu. To be honest, it was overwhelming, considering how open it was to its users. Initially I was sticking with the GUI as much as possible because old habits die hard but eventually as I spent more and more time with the OS, understood the workings of CLI and Bash, I started to appreciate it more and more. As I was understanding the workings of the CLI, I was subconsciously learning. Problems that I were easily solved with a quick search, and following the instructions which mostly involved using the CLI. It turns out, using CLI is far more productive than messing around with the GUI, as it gets the job done without having to move through menus and windows.

I loved the transperancy that I had with Ubuntu in general. I could easily monitor what data was being sent from my PC, and data was being received. I could actually disable the things that I didn't want, and they'd stay the same even after updating the system. It hasn't yet crashed/froze on me yet, as I keep my system turned on for the majority of the day.