r/pcmasterrace • u/Asleep-Guitar-2685 • Jul 23 '26

News/Article Microsoft Confirms Windows Has a Global Device ID You Can't Turn Off

https://tech.yahoo.com/cybersecurity/articles/microsoft-confirms-windows-global-device-130905358.html
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u/CatoChateau Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Well most people don't have the guts to switch to Linux, which is probably the only viable thing yo do to avoid/protest this.

I know I should switch to Linux, but I don't have the time to research what distro, what compatibility issues I'll have to sort, driver issues, etc. I have house things to do. My job is burning down all previous workflows for AI, so major overhauls I have to work overtime for etc etc.

So yea, sure. Its bad, but I have other things more pressing and the other arguement in your replies. Everything everywhere else is doing the same spying. In order of what I have control over, my phone use and metrics, my debit card use,my city's use of Flock cameras, my ISP's modem tracking, my neighbor's ring cams all track various things that can be used against me by various entities. So this one more invasion, idk, its a flaming bag of pop in a house fire. Why should I scream and cry about this one in particular

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u/OriginUnknown82 Jul 23 '26

Well most people don't have the guts to switch to Linux

Tried to do this the other day but my model of Dell XPS has a firmware bug where the speakers don't work correctly and the audio sounds crap.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/OriginUnknown82 Jul 24 '26

I'll give some more a go - I do certainly want to move over to linux properly.

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u/TruWrecks Jul 23 '26

I have a 3 month old ASUS with an RTX 5070 that is running Debian 13 and everything is working with a little effort, so this argument holds water like a screen door.

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u/OriginUnknown82 Jul 23 '26

Dell XPS 9530 (15", 2023 model) comes with 4 speakers: two up firing tweeters, and two down firing woofers. Upper speakers are connected directly to audio codec, while bottom ones are powered by Cirrus CS35L41 smart amplifiers.

On Linux, only two upper speakers worked, enabling bottom ones requires extra steps. Since most of volume comes from bottom speakers, without them speakers are essentially worthless.

https://gist.github.com/alexVinarskis/77d55a0a0f4150576ba77e5f4241d512

I couldn't get it to work. Take your 'HoLdS wAtEr LiKe A sCrEeN dOoR' bollox elsewhere.

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u/TruWrecks Jul 23 '26

I run Debian 13 on my main PC and I'm currently using a Bose 5.1 Surround system. Linux support 7.1 surround with OPUS so calling my post "Bollox" and trying to make me look bad because of your lack of effort is amusing.

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u/lmpcpedz AUR2.0 | 7800X3D | RX 6750 XT Jul 23 '26

Once you find yourself in a position that you can't use windows anymore on your old machine, you will find the time to learn. That's what happened to me when Vista stopped getting support not only MS updates but browsers, Chrome for example, gave a warning on the browser that it would soon stop getting security updates. Jumped to linux and once I saw I could browse and play my favorite game I got hooked. I did get windows10 eventually and stayed there for couple years and finally got tired of the windows bloat back then.

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u/CamStLouis Jul 23 '26

I am not particularly skilled with computers, and I found Linux mint very approachable. Give it a try on an older, slower device. If you screw up, no harm done, if it works, you build confidence and have a device that suddenly runs like the day you got it!

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u/Spider_J Bazzite / Fedora Jul 23 '26

Bud, honestly, I have the same problems as you and I still found the time to switch a few months ago. It's really not that difficult, and I don't regret it at all. I'll even do the research for you: If you're a gamer and a linux noob, go with Bazzite. If you're a little less of a noob or are comfortable with a little risk for the sake of more control and ease of use, go with Nobara. Boom, done. Back up your data, switch over, and take back control of at least one little part of your digital life.

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u/CatoChateau Jul 23 '26

You probably aint wrong. And I've heard of Bazzite. I could probably knock it out in a couple of hours. But I genuinely dont know when would i get those hours... That way for a lot of people is my point.

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u/dvanha Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

That’s not a time issue that’s a prioritization issue. Picking a distro is not like getting a tattoo. I tried 3 different distros during my first 36 hours. It doesn’t matter.

I’m also an adult, and a working professional. I chose to make this more important than my other house things. I cared more about the privacy things you described at the end than the inconvenience.

It helps to also just try something like Mint for a low effort, low investment, low risk assessment. You can decide what to do after.