In short, I’m going with the Linux option. Specifically Linux Mint.
I thought, why bother using a work around to upgrade to Windows 11 only to have Microsoft change things later and break my PC. I’m also bothered by the amount of tracking Windows 11 does, especially with this new Recall thing and concerns about it. Talk about a privacy nightmare! So I bought myself a new SSD, installed it in my PC and then configured a dual boot Linux Mint/Windows 10 set up.
The plan was to switch between the two as required. But it hasn’t worked out that way. I’ve only booted into Windows two or three times in the last month. I’ve dabbled in Linux quite a bit over the years and now that I’m using it daily I find it is way better than Windows. Faster to boot, faster to start applications - just faster overall. And thanks to the likes of Bottles and Lutris, I can run most of the Windows stuff I still need easily.
So bye, bye Windows!