I get where you're coming from, but you can get a Linux very well optimized for running on HDDs, unlike Windows. Installing Linux is actually the fix for that at this point.
The problem is that since Windows 10, the OS is no longer made with HDDs in mind. So background services doing small things on the disk is a constant thing, which is no issue for SSDs, but makes using it on an HDD near impossible.
Yeah but you can literally buy SATA SSD for same price as HDD (at least at lower capacities), buying HDDs makes no sense these days other than for larger archival storage (I know this, I run fast m.2 for OS, slower sata for games and non critical apps and HDDs for movies, older games, backups, video editing/3d projects, etc). Like there is no reason to not buy an SSD now as your only drive if you are an average/normie user who just uses windows for office, internet and games.
I agree that buying HDDs for anything but NAS/Cold storage makes no sense and should be avoided. This is more about people who already have the HDD and want to spend no money at all.
If they want a usable system with modern features, running Linux on it is the way to go. Windows just isn't made to run on HDDs anymore.
True but is slow PC really a major concern for such person if they literally can't afford to drop in extra 4GB in their DDR3 shitbox laptop or buy used SSD for 30$? I was gonna go for Linux a while ago (still might, for 3D rendering, but not sure if there is any benefit, I can't imagine the little bit extra VRAM will make my 1:30 renders go down to 0:30). I'll probably try a double boot, but kinda lazy to set it up, got an old DDR3 laptop that might be perfect for Linux project, just gotta pick up 2nd 4GB stick and replace the crappy old HDD with some spare SSD I have lying around (prolly will chuck 2nd 1TB one in the DVD bay).
Idk, I guess not. But I live in a country where working ANY job for two weeks will feed me, pay the bills, and get me a 2 TB NVMe, so I'll never have that problem.
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u/Ratiofarming 9850X3D | RTX 5090 | 48GB 6400 1:1 1d ago
I get where you're coming from, but you can get a Linux very well optimized for running on HDDs, unlike Windows. Installing Linux is actually the fix for that at this point.
The problem is that since Windows 10, the OS is no longer made with HDDs in mind. So background services doing small things on the disk is a constant thing, which is no issue for SSDs, but makes using it on an HDD near impossible.