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this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
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I mean yeah? As a PC gamer what are you supposed to use? Fucking... Windows?
I know some people still manage to tolerate paying Microsoft for an operating system that serves popup ads, popunder ads, inline ads, bundles spyware, bundles adware, bundles malware, and literally spies on you. They either manage to filter all that out or tolerate having to spend time turning it off or mitigating it every two weeks/months when an update introduces more of it.
They angrily cope. They say things like "what is so hard about just clicking Close / Ignore on a few buttons!?" when this is pointed out. But they grow fewer and fewer.
Macs are mostly valid but expensive. If work doesn't pay for one, or you have another big hobby that makes Mac a necessity, buying one for gaming is a bit silly.
To be fair, I haven't paid Microsoft for my OS...ever. And it's not even piracy.
I got a licence for free through my university when I was in uni. And Microsoft seemed happy to let me keep using it and even upgrading it. I started on Windows 8, upgraded for free to Windows 10. If my PC didn't have a processor that seemingly arbitrarily they decided can't run Windows 11, I could be on that today.
you did pay with your usage data.
Same. Got XP and Vista from the university, license for Vista allowed to update to 7, 10 (never used 8)... Now I use LTSC + massgrave activation, but technically I have a 10 license.
Often OEMs pay for windows if you buy a prebuilt or a laptop. So you might pay Microsoft indirectly.
I've had two PCs over this time period. One came with a pirated copy of Windows (bought overseas) and I later installed a legit copy with my uni's licence. The other I transferred that same licence across to after building the PC myself.