Please also note that Windows based programs run as non-free source/proprietary code and Purism can not offer a guarantee that your Librem will continue to be secure if you choose to install. We do not recommend doing this for your own privacy and security but you are welcome to as the Librem is your machine
Users, who wish to install Windows on their machines, should be able to use all hardware. With Windows 10, this seems to be a problem with some hardware, such as the touchpad and energy management.
Can someone please provide names or links to working drivers or at least give the exact hardware specification so it is easier to find working drivers?
Well, Todd outright stated in an interview that they donât test Windows on the Librem, so Purism probably has no idea which specific drivers would be required to work on all the hardware; therefore, Iâm not sure why you think that this statement is true:
Users, who wish to install Windows on their machines, should be able to use all hardware.
Did they state somewhere else that there was 100% hardware compatibility with Windows?
As far as finding the exact hardware that your computer contains is concerned, you simply need to install the inxi package (available in all GNU/Linux distrubutions). If you run its man command, it will tell you which options you need to run it with, in order to find the precise names of all hardware components on your device:
man inxi
For example, if you wanted to find out what type of graphics card you had, you would run inxi with the -G option; the results would look something like this:
Thank you for your very helpful reply mentioning inxi.
The statement that you quoted was mine. I do not claim that Purism made that statement. I think that taking the discussion in that direction would digress from the actual topic (as intended by me). To the original idea, you have provided very valuable input with the second half of your post. Thanks again.
If anyone can publish the output of inxi for a Librem 13 v2 and/or point to Windows drivers, please do. (I am currently traveling and do not have access to the hardware.)
Purism provides official support for PureOS only, and provides âbest effortâ courtesy help with other GNU+Linux operating systems (with the help of community members here), but donât expect help for Windows or Mac OS.
Beyond the security/privacy implications of running Windows (which is highly not recommended), Purism is a social purpose corporation whose model is fundamentally focused on free/libre and open-source software. While your laptop might âjust workâ on Windows, we provide zero support or guarantee if you are going to do that (and frankly, whatâs the point of using a Purism laptop with a proprietary OS?)
Thanks, Mladen. I understand that your input exceeds Purismâs mission, and I am very grateful for your support.
Unfortunately, the Google searches did not work for me.
Elantech touchpad drivers seem to be released through the system manufacturer. At least the Lenovo package does not recognize the Librem version.
Graphics and WiFi work fine out of the box.
What does not seem to work is power management. I cannot tell from the products page which drivers would be appropriate.
Jeff, I hope you understand that I do not want to discuss ideology with you on this page. I do not expect anything, and whoever wants to help will hopefully be permitted to do so.
Although as of now i do not yet own a librium system, my best advice as a âsupport Monkeyâ with more than 20 years in the trenches is to go t the intell site and download the chipset driver directly from there. the only issue with using driver from a vendor like Dell or HP is quite often, these drivers get tweaked for the specific system the driver is for.
Thanks for your help!
So far, my efforts to find the right drivers were unsuccessful. The machine does not shut down properly but just reboots, and the touchpad functionality remains very basic with the default PS/2 driver.
My tentative conclusion is that this machine cannot properly run Windows.
why do you want to run Windows on a Librem? If it is to run some specific software that only exists on windows, could you not instead run Windows in a virtual environment?
I played around with Wine a few years back and never really got it to work properly, but I have seen machines running the commercial CrossOver which seemed to be quite flawless.
and frankly, whatâs the point of using a Purism laptop with a proprietary OS?
Actually, Iâd like to support your project by buying Librem laptops for our company, but (most) of them will run Windows7 no matter what. That is why these questions make sense.
Also, disabled IME is a great +.
Does anyone have experience of running Win7 on the Librem13/15 laptops?
@farercyte try a Google search for the Hardware-ID of the devices you still need drivers for. Youâll get a lot of scam results but usually also a few that are useful.
+1 for Windows âsupportâ. I dual boot Linux / Windows, this isnât negotiable for me and lots of people. But want to support this project. And so cant buy Librem hardwareâŚ
Purism aims to offer high-quality privacy, security, and freedom focused computers and software. (see https://puri.sm/why-purism/)
The quality of Windows OS is unverifiable, as it is closed source.
Windows has a history of repeated blatant privacy invasion on its users.
The multitude of existing malware does not give good impression of Windows security
Microsoft utilized vendor lock-in practices in the past, and it still affects users, who say they run Windows and not running it is not negotiable.
So, Windows fails in all four categories: quality, privacy, security and freedom. Devoting resources to support Windows would be an effort not in support of Purism goals.
This is problem people have with freedom, and âfreedom to the extend I likeâ. If I were to use Librem laptops for genocide running Windows 10, according to freedom I should be able to do so.
I see your point about dedicating resources, thatâs why I think Purism should focus on providing HW+FW primarily, and drivers at the second priority, linux OS only as third⌠On the other hand, I too want Librems to succeed, and for thatâŚdualbooting Windows opens a lot of doors, and money.
Anyone got any updates if Windows 10 is fully functional?
I have a relative who I was telling about my purchase and they liked the idea of hardware switches but they want to use Windows 10 not Linux.