Friendly Reminder That Adobe Sucks And That You Can Get A Lifetime License For Paintstorm Studio For

Friendly reminder that adobe sucks and that you can get a lifetime license for paintstorm studio for $20

Or any of the affinity creative programs for $40 each (or $100 for all three) which is also a one time payment

Affinity

Affinity – Professional Creative Software

From the smoothest photo editing and design software to next-gen page layout, Affinity is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with cre

Also for writing and other general office purposes you can get onlyoffice for replacements for microsoft word, excel, or powerpoint for FREE. They also have an online version to replace google drive for the privacy conscious & mobile versions.

onlyoffice.com

Office for home use

Get free document editing apps for home use. Access from Windows, Linux, macOS, Android-devices, iPhone and iPad.

(There's also libre office which is open source but that takes more work to get an appearance you like and default is real old school ugly lookin)

Please support other good programs if you can! It's a huge help for putting the tyranny of overpriced goods to an end (more so than just piracy)

A primer on Linux for non computer nerds

What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system, like Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. Specifically, Linux is free open source software, as opposed to private software sold and developed by a corporation like Microsoft or Apple.

Why would I want to use Linux?

Windows and Mac OS (but especially Windows) are including more and more bloatware as of late - software that takes up space on your computer and may use computing resources that can't easily be turned off or deleted.

In addition to being free of the anti-user practices that have become the norm on Windows and Mac OS, Linux has other advantages, like not requiring antivirus software (as a consequence of its design decisions and its relatively low usage, comparatively).

As a result, lightweight Linux distributions are often used to resuscitate old computers that have become too slow to use on other operating systems.

It should be noted here that for any aspiring computer nerds reading this, Linux has a lot of other advantages in terms of the customization it offers and the tools it encourages you to use, but that's not as relevant to your average user.

Why shouldn't I use Linux?

There are two main drawbacks. First, the smaller userbase means software companies are less likely to develop with Linux in mind. This is especially notable for gaming, which is generally considered better on Windows than any other OS.

If you have specific software you want or need to run, you should check in advance if it can run on Linux, or if an equally good open source alternative exists. Linux developers are working hard on this and have made great strides in recent years, and personally I've been running games on max settings (4k display) with high FPS and no issues on Linux.

Second, Linux is more work to install and run. On a user-friendly distribution, it should be pretty easy for anyone who is comfortable using google to look up solutions to computer problems, but if computer problems are especially anxiety-provoking or stressful for you, you may be better off sticking with your current OS.

What's a distribution?

Linux is an umbrella term for free open source operating systems that use the same "core" (the Linux kernel). Each Linux distribution has different features.

Which distribution should I use?

Linux Mint. Specifically, the Cinnamon edition, unless you're trying to revive an old computer, in which case you may prefer the more stripped-down MATE or Xfce editions.

For computer nerds, this is a hard decision, and there are lots of arguments on the internet about it. But if you're looking for a distro that prioritizes easy, intuitive installation and use, reliability, stability, and community troubleshooting resources, the consensus pick seems to be Linux Mint by a mile.

To make the switch, you'll need a USB drive with at least 4 GB of space and another device to search for troubleshooting advice/view a guide. After that, follow the advice on the Mint website, or look up any of the myriad tutorials online (there are plenty of video tutorials on Youtube, for ex).

Advice for the switch

If you're switching your OS on a machine you've used for a long time, be sure to back up your files beforehand, and don't switch on a machine that you need to be perfectly functional in the near future, like a work computer. Odds are very good that everything will go smoothly, but you shouldn't count on that.

Make sure that you have another device with internet access (I used my phone) to google troubleshooting advice in case anything goes wrong.

WiFi in Linux Mint doesn't work always work out of the box - the driver manager will get it working for you, but it often needs to be connected to the internet to do so. There are two main ways to connect without WiFi - connecting directly to your router (ethernet) or sharing your smartphone's WiFi (USB tethering). If these are unfamiliar concepts, there are plenty of online resources easily found on google that explain both.

Fellow computer nerds: if there's anything you think I should add or change, let me know in the replies/reblogs.

I also had a weird issue where the driver manager told me I had no updates left, despite my drivers clearly not working. The solution to this was restarting not once but twice - after that everything worked like a charm. Remember the golden rule of computer troubleshooting: try turning it off and on again.

EDIT: Did this again with a friend, the actual solution that works here is updating the kernel to the latest version. Open the update manager, go to View -> Linux Kernels, and install the latest one.

I had one of my comments removed from the r/pcmasterrace subreddit for breaking a rule that's not even listed on their ruleset and you have to go to an entirely separate website to view the full version (including the one I broke), so I'm going to post this shit here: NEVER FUCKING PAY FOR WINDOWS. EVER. Never buy it from Microsoft and never buy a cheap activation key from a shoddy website.

when you install windows, if the option shows up, select the 'pro' edition and skip entering the product key. once you're finished installing and booted into the system, open powershell and run:

irm https://massgrave.dev/get | iex

that command will download and run the microsoft activation scripts runner, which activates your Windows installation for free, without Microsoft ever knowing. they cannot revoke your self registered keys, and you get shit like group policy editor for free. you can also use it to freely activate Microsoft Office.

here's some other tools I use to make windows installations at least somewhat useable:

Chris Titus's WinUtil script: powershell script that can be run to quickly debloat, customize, and optimize a windows installation. disables useless bloat and lets you install a selection of useful software, as well as perform a number of optimizations to improve system responsiveness and privacy. free and open source.

WingetUI: a powerful UI package manager for installing packages via Winget, Chocolatey, Pip, NPM, and other sources. available via Winget (SomePythonThings.WingetUIStore) or WinUtil

WizTree: disk space analyzer to determine what's consuming the most space on your hard drive. displays the results in a list view as well as a visual block-based view. incredibly fast and easy to use. available via Winget (AntibodySoftware.WizTree) or WinUtil

SysInternals: a set of diagnostic tools and utilities that allow you to poke around at the components of the operating system, useful for all sorts of things. namely, process explorer allows you to figure out what's using a file or device. available via Winget (sysinternals) or WinUtil

7zip: file archive manager supporting almost all compression types. available via Winget (7zip.7zip) or WinUtil

WinSCP and PuTTY: SCP/SFTP and SSH/Telnet clients for Windows, with intuitive GUIs. available via Winget (WinSCP.WinSCP, PuTTY.PuTTY) or WinUtil

CPUID CPU-Z and TechPowerUp GPU-Z: hardware identification apps that allow you to view the stats and specs of your CPU, GPU, memory, and motherboard. available via Winget (CPUID.CPU-Z, TechPowerUp.GPU-Z) or WinUtil

CrystalDiskMark and CrystalDiskInfo: hard disk drive / solid state drive benchmarking and health check software. available via Winget (CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskMark, CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskInfo)

VirtualBox: virtual machine software that's highly user friendly, makes it super easy to run old software or isolate a program from the host system. available via Winget (Oracle.VirtualBox)

VLC Media Player: media player supporting playback from files, from disk devices, and from network streams. supports all codecs and highly configurable. available via Winget (VideoLAN.VLC) or WinUtil. fully free and open source.

Windows Terminal: a tab-based terminal emulator for easier multitasking in the terminal. integration with Powershell, CMD, visual studio developer powershell, and windows subsystem for linux. available via Winget (Microsoft.WindowsTerminal) or WinUtil

this concludes my software recommendations. also when you install windows be sure to turn off the following services: BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service), and DiagTrack (Connected User Experiences And Telemetry). also make sure you disable cortana.

FAQ: Q: Activating paid products for free? isn't that piracy? A: suck my fucking tits this concludes the FAQ. no further questions

i think that, if youre usamerican and any time someone calls out your lack of knowledge on global geography you start talking about how bad the usa education is and how its actually not your fault that you dont know what continent nigeria is on because you cant look at the google maps bc donald trump will personally shoot you, youre very annoying

saving my favourite twitter thread here just in case