Windows on Technical Notes

Windows 11 on Proxmox

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Complete guide with all the detailed steps to install, configure and access a Windows 11 Pro Virtual Machine (VM) running on top of Proxmox VE.

This virtualization platform enables the deployment and management of virtual machines running Windows Server/10/11 using KVM/QEMU. With advanced integration through the QEMU Guest Agent, VirtIO drivers, and even UEFI Secure Boot with TPM emulation for Windows 11.

A Decent Windows

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This post is about deflating, removing what I personally believe is unnecessary in Windows 11. In English they call it debloat or bloatware removal. In this post I explain how to do it on a fresh Windows install, but it also works on an existing one.

The point is to remove apps, services and pre-installed junk that aren’t essential, consume resources and worst of all, affect performance and UX.

Cross-platform CLI Tools

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this post I share a selection of cross-platform command-line tools that you can use interchangeably on PowerShell, CMD, WSL2, macOS and Linux. These are modern, fast and lightweight utilities that replace or greatly improve classic tools like ls, cd, find or even command history.

They not only speed up everyday tasks, but also offer a more consistent user experience across systems. They don’t depend on specific shells like Bash or Zsh, and work the same whether you use PowerShell, Terminal, Alacritty, VSCode or any modern environment. As I discover new CLI utilities that fit this cross-platform, no-heavy-dependencies approach, I’ll keep adding them.

CRLF vs LF

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

When working in software development, one of the most subtle yet crucial aspects you need to be aware of is the difference between line endings in text files between Windows (CRLF \r\n) and Linux/MacOS (LF \n).

This small detail can cause big problems if not handled correctly, especially when working in mixed environments – version control conflicts, script incompatibilities, compilation or execution issues. I wrote this post to have a handy reference for dealing with this topic, including a few tricks.

VMWare on Windows

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Virtualization allows running multiple operating systems on the same machine without making changes to the main disk. In this post I show how I install VMWare Workstation Pro as a host on a Windows 11 Pro and how I create a Windows 11 Pro Guest without TPM 2.0, for the purpose of having an isolated development environment.

Windows for Development

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this post I describe the steps to set up a Windows 11 machine as a development workstation for a cross-platform environment — Linux, macOS, and Windows. This is not oriented towards Microsoft/Windows-only software development, but rather for those who like to develop on and for multiple platforms and environments.

I start from a clean Windows installation (in English), with nothing installed. I took advantage of needing to set up a dual boot and configured the operating system in a lightweight manner. The post starts with the CLI and WSL2, and in the second part I cover the tools and programming languages.

A Decent Windows (Obsolete)

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this post I explain how I configure a Windows 11 that I’m going to use for software development, testing or demos. I don’t need frills since it won’t have sensitive data, I want its essence, bare-bones, with few applications, some browsing and that’s it. In the end it became a technical exercise – removing everything I can, ads, Edge, extras, installing minimal drivers, a local account, having it boot and be available as soon as possible.

Note: a year later I decided to create a new decent Windows 11 (2025).

Dualboot Linux Windows

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Dualboot means having two operating systems on the same computer and choosing which one to boot during the boot phase. My goal is to prepare my PC for dualboot and install Windows 11 Pro. Normally you install Windows first and then Linux, but in my case I already have Linux (Ubuntu) working perfectly and using the entire 4TB disk.

I’m going to “add” Windows to enable dualboot. I describe the entire process, how I did it, how I resized the hard drive, added Windows and customized the boot menu.

Software KVM

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In environments where you need to operate multiple computers simultaneously, efficiency is key. There are several products that mimic the functionality of a KVM switch (Keyboard, Video, Mouse), which historically allowed you to use a single keyboard and mouse to control multiple computers by physically turning a dial. In this post I describe how I install and use Barrier, a software KVM solution, without the need for additional hardware.

My use case involves controlling three computers with a single keyboard and mouse. Two of them are desktops – a Mac and a Windows PC. The third is a Windows/Linux laptop. The difficulty lies with the Mac, where I encountered a curious and nearly insurmountable challenge.

Customizing VSCode

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this post I cover how to customize VSCode. I work with GitHub in a cross-platform, multi-account environment and want to sync my settings, use the same extensions, and leverage licenses. I explain the multi-account topic, synchronization of my global and per-project preferences (settings), and extensions.

I normally use Windows, Linux, and macOS, and I’ve chosen VSCode as my editor/IDE. The goal is to have a unified work experience – launch VSCode on any operating system, clone a personal or professional project, keeping the same extensions and settings, and even using the options to connect to a host, tunnel, WSL, etc.