Not sure about chromecast, but for AirPlay you don’t need internet connection. It’s probably the same for both, but I use an AppleTV and used a Xiaomi Mibox 3 before that, and would just cast to those if I need.

Well that’s just it, mostly unnecessary if you’re using it as essentially a monitor (like both of us are doing). Most of the updates would have to do with their smartcast OS or additional features or apps. The updates could also have additional support for devices as new hardware comes out, bug fixes (or additional bugs), speed improvements, etc.

They could definitely implement hardware that automatically connects to wifi without your permission. I guess a solution to that would be to connect to your own internet at home, maybe on a separate subnet that is blocked from accessing the internet.

I have a Vizio as well. It’s been disconnected from the internet for at least 2 years now and functions fine. I guess I miss out on updates, and if I press the Vizio “home” button it freezes up as it’s trying to connect for 20-30 secs before I can do anything, but works fine with an external Android or Apple box. You obviously won’t be able to use any of their apps if you disconnect from the internet, but it’s 100% worth it.

Adium… now that’s a name I have not heard for a while. Used to have a super nice customized version to chat with friends on various platforms. It was amazing. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!

I read this a lot as well, and I think for a time this was true, but in my experience with a 1070 and 1080ti, Ubuntu and Fedora worked fine with minor tinkering, pop_os and nobara work out of the box. Currently on nobara, and most apps and games work just as well if not a little better than on Windows. A mate of mine runs nobara with a 3080 and no issues there either.

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I’m only considering this because of some articles I read that went over it, but they were a few years old. I could see how that could get annoying though, just with the frustration I’m experienced now with multiple drives.

I don’t think the system and apps exceed 40GB to be honest, the rest is filled with steam library and video/photo scratch that will move to the NAS once that’s done.

Absolutely! I might try out EndeavourOS just for a change but honestly it’s great.

I’ve been using Nobara for about a year, maybe more and it really is no fuss. Comes with most things you need ready out of the box, or easily added with the post install tool. Only thing I added was Heroic Games Launcher. I set up a just in case Windows partition, but haven’t booted it since making the switch.