Point #5 is most important to me. My FW16 will never run as a Wintendo. Having gone with the dGPU option (not a cheap option) I expect it to work properly with Linux from the start… Especially considering Framework doesn’t allow dropping the dGPU option without canceling the entire order and going to the back of the line with a new order.
Take the extra time, get FW16 working well on both major OSes from day 1 (absent a list of minor known issues which can definitively be fixed with a firmware update released quickly after launch). If the first 4 batches have a bunch of Linux issues for which I can’t envision obvious workarounds - Recognizing I have 25+ years of Linux desktop/laptop experience to go on - My batch 5 order will be cancelled and I’ll wait for “gen 2” next year.
As much as I hate my System76 Oryx Pro (explained elsewhere in r/framework) it does (mostly) work a few weeks past 3 years old. I’m not desperate enough for a new laptop to accept (another) machine with problems out of the box.
If I wanted another problem laptop I’d have gone with a 2023 Oryx Pro or a Dell XPS 17. Instead I opted for FW16 expecting it to be done properly rather than in a hurry and on the cheap.
All in all I’m looking forward to FW16 once its fully ready. FW16 ticks the items I explicitly wanted in replacing the Oryx Pro - 16-17" screen with 16:10 aspect (not 16:9), numeric keypad eliminated (or optional) in favor of a centered keyboard, fully AMD - No Intel or Nvidia CPU/GPU (dGPU was optional on my requirements list), and socketed RAM/SSDs. As far as I’m aware FW16 is the only option available ticking all of those items… Especially the numpad/offset keyboard I’ve come to find incredibly annoying… Ditching the numpad is one of the few things Apple has gotten right since the m68k PowerBook era.
Point #5 is most important to me. My FW16 will never run as a Wintendo. Having gone with the dGPU option (not a cheap option) I expect it to work properly with Linux from the start… Especially considering Framework doesn’t allow dropping the dGPU option without canceling the entire order and going to the back of the line with a new order.
Take the extra time, get FW16 working well on both major OSes from day 1 (absent a list of minor known issues which can definitively be fixed with a firmware update released quickly after launch). If the first 4 batches have a bunch of Linux issues for which I can’t envision obvious workarounds - Recognizing I have 25+ years of Linux desktop/laptop experience to go on - My batch 5 order will be cancelled and I’ll wait for “gen 2” next year.
As much as I hate my System76 Oryx Pro (explained elsewhere in r/framework) it does (mostly) work a few weeks past 3 years old. I’m not desperate enough for a new laptop to accept (another) machine with problems out of the box.
If I wanted another problem laptop I’d have gone with a 2023 Oryx Pro or a Dell XPS 17. Instead I opted for FW16 expecting it to be done properly rather than in a hurry and on the cheap.
All in all I’m looking forward to FW16 once its fully ready. FW16 ticks the items I explicitly wanted in replacing the Oryx Pro - 16-17" screen with 16:10 aspect (not 16:9), numeric keypad eliminated (or optional) in favor of a centered keyboard, fully AMD - No Intel or Nvidia CPU/GPU (dGPU was optional on my requirements list), and socketed RAM/SSDs. As far as I’m aware FW16 is the only option available ticking all of those items… Especially the numpad/offset keyboard I’ve come to find incredibly annoying… Ditching the numpad is one of the few things Apple has gotten right since the m68k PowerBook era.