[Jordan-117]

I ran into this trying to set up a new Dell laptop for my mom. It shipped to her in "S mode", meaning that among other things I couldn't install arbitrary software from the web. I assumed there'd be some straightforward way to disable it (even if it might be a little buried to discourage normies). But after several hours of searching through tutorials and mucking about in Windows settings, the command prompt, BIOS, and even the system registry, and I flatly could not do it. Never seen anything like it before. Ended up wiping and replacing Windows with Linux Mint, which she was happy with.

[adrian_b]

When I worked at a very big US company some years ago, I received for work a new Dell laptop with Windows also in "S mode", to replace an older Dell laptop.

However, at that time I had no idea about the existence of the "S mode". I could not install on the laptop some applications that were distributed and used internally in the company and which were essential for my work.

I requested assistance from the IT department, but at that time not even they had any idea about the existence of the "S mode", so they were equally baffled why on my previous Dell laptop I could easily install any application, while on its new replacement I could not. For a couple of weeks, various IT support people from teams located on several continents had repeatedly connected remotely to my laptop every day, trying to solve the problem, but without any success.

[left-struck]

That’s crazy, surely it would have been cheaper to buy a new laptop at that point. I mean if you combine all the costs of those people trying to problem solve, plus the opportunity cost of you not being able to do your work…

[type0]

Your assumption is that such big companies operate in a logical manner, the employee is a ball-bearing in a huge machinery, why should they care. IT support is probably outsourced, so for them is likely good to bill more hours.

[xigoi]

Microsoft keeps being the best advocate for Linux.

[pjmlp]

Except normies don't have the option at computer stores.

Even the OEMs that do offer the option to have Linux pre-installed keep pushing for "Works best with Windows".

What is a non technical user to do, the choice ends up being macOS, Windows, or ChromeOS thin clients.

[rolph]

this is the primary problem to begin with.

MS windows installs are not being purchased because they are better or more desirable, the option to purchase non MS installs has been scuttled by MS licensing and bundling thier way into exclusive OEM installs.

Bundling of Microsoft Windows

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundling_of_Microsoft_Windows

Microsoft litigation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation

[memcg]

https://www.google.com/search?q=Windows+also+in+%22S+mode%22 "Switching Out of S Mode If you find that S mode is too restrictive, you can switch out of it for free. However, according to Microsoft Support, doing this is a one-way street—once you leave S mode, you cannot go back without completely reinstalling Windows.To switch out of S mode:Open the Start Menu and click Settings.Navigate to System > Activation.Look for the Switch out of S mode section.Click Go to the Store.On the page that opens in the Microsoft Store, click Get"

[Jordan-117]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48537350

[memcg]

I responded because your solution was to use Linux Mint which I have installed a few times on older hardware. My experience getting older relatives to use Mint has not gone well. The most common is their reliance on Microsoft Office. Windows S mode and having to use the Microsoft Store might save me time supporting them.

[ReallyOldLurker]

"My experience getting older relatives to use Mint has not gone well. The most common is their reliance on Microsoft Office"

I was asked by an older friend to put Linx on their computer because they were too frusterated with MS Windows. She also used MS Word and Powerpoint a lot. I said that I had installed a different version of Offce because it was all I had at the time, so the menus would be slightly different. It was three years before she discovering that LibreOffice was not Microsoft Office. By that time it didn't matter.

[Kwpolska]

First DuckDuckGo result for "windows s mode": https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/switching-out-of...

[adrian_b]

For that, you must know that there is such a thing like "Windows S mode".

As I have mentioned, in another comment, some years ago I had the same problem when replacing an old corporate laptop with a new one, but at that time nobody from the IT support knew about the existence of the "Windows S mode".

At that time, seeing that none of many IT support people could do anything, I assumed that there was some kind of miscommunication inside the IT department, and there was some administrator who had configured some kind of secure Windows mode on my laptop, but the others were not aware about this.

Now I know that the laptop had come like this directly from Dell, but for some reason the IT department did not know about it.

[Jordan-117]

You're responding to a comment talking about hours of tutorial dives and advanced config tweaks, my guy. You really think the official fix isn't the first thing I tried?

That button simply doesn't work. I forget the exact error message, but it was something generic and unhelpful. (Spoiler: none of the other solutions in the first few pages of search results worked, either.)