My recommendation would be to have Linux on the 500gb drive and then install windows directly on the other drive without partitioning. I wouldn’t install Linux on a partition as Windows likes to mess with the bootloader but if Linux is on it’s own drive you can always boot it from EFI without issues.

Easy actually. I’m on arch (Hyprland) right now, so no longer EOS but it’s been refreshing. I’d recommend EOS as a base for any arch install, better than “arch installer” by a long shot. If you have dedicated storage I’d recommend using it and booting to the respective system through EFI rather than relying on software bootloader (windows likes to break it). I am running arch on a dedicated SSD and it’s been smooth so far.

Lemmy instances run on servers which are funded by donations. I don’t see how Sync (which is made by one developer) gets to be frowned upon because there’s a price for ad removal. All FOSS projects are somehow funded, usually by donations. Nothing runs for free.

If we get to use all the FOSS Lemmy apps is because someone put in the time and money to make it happen.

What rubs me the wrong way is the $20 ask to remove ads

I would feel the same way if Sync was the one and only option to view Lemmy on mobile but it’s not. You can use all the other FOSS apps which don’t have ads.

By the way you can install a global adblocker on your phone to remove all (well, most let’s say) ads across your device. I use one and don’t see any ads on Sync, just a blank square.

I’ve tried pretty much all the FOSS Lemmy apps I could get my hands on but the experience Sync provides is far superior. I’m an ex Boost user and since I couldn’t find Boost for Lemmy I naturally gravitated towards Sync and I’m not looking back.

Congrats on finally using a real OS! Arch is fantastic and teaches you a lot of skills down the road.

i3 for while but I mainly used xfce. Hyprland overall feels “new”, unlike X11, Wayland just “flows” better in a way. i3 felt more clunky but overall more stable, if that ever makes sense.

Mine doesn’t seem to be blocking anything

I’m on windows 10, use my PC for work and gaming. The thing with windows is that it works right out of the box, all major softwares are developed for windows in mind. When shit stops working is when you start messing with stuff that isn’t your typical “start the PC -> download program -> install -> run the program -> shut off” which is what most users do. Updating the os, softwares and GPU drivers are easy tasks.

It’s when you start messing with python or softwares that aren’t too mainstream and require a bit more effort that things have the potential to break. Even then, the os itself won’t break on you unless you really try. I broke windows a few times in 15 years but it’s worth mentioning that I was manually and willingly changing registry keys and messing with a lot of other stuff. Even then most of the time I was able to fix it.

With Linux is different. If you just use the OS for basic stuff like browsing the internet and editing documents you should be fine for the most part (if you choose a user friendly and stable distro like Ubuntu or Mint). The moment you try getting to run niche softwares or something that requires you to manually open the command prompt to change things in order to accomodate what you’re trying to achieve, that’s where it gets tough for most people. That’s how Linux works, it’s the user’s fault though not the machine’s.