I had an Apple laptop at the time, didn’t dual boot but did have to use some workarounds using Wine. I guess that’s kind of acknowledging Windows, but at least you’re not actually running it I guess? Basically it’s close to the way I use my Linux machine nowadays.

Chances are however that things have somewhat changed in the last 12 years and chances are it varies between (sub)degrees and universities. However I can guarantee you: you won’t be alone in not wanting to use windows. Being very OS picky is a tried and true tradition in the field. Find your kind of people and I’m sure you can troubleshoot any issues you encounter together.

I think if you work in a server farm, that’s very possible

I would say yes, I haven’t dealt with windows in a professional way in over 20 years.

Also cert, lpic maybe? Feel free to follow up.

Backend programming is almost all Linux. I have two computer science degrees and have only ever used Windows for gaming.

Not really.

Meh, if you’re competent enough a degree really isn’t worth anything.

Your portfolio is more important.

I did not touch Windows during or after my CS degree. No clue what people are on about needing Windows. It was a challenge on my first job where they preferred us to use VMs instead (I did not and it became the norm because it is better).

Graduated in Europe. We had a bunch going through the same. Campus computers were running Linux too. You need someone to champion it in the year and others will join.

If you are a complete hard-liner, you’re going to run into one very particular, and peripheral, obstacle: your employer will almost certainly issue you a Windows laptop. It may not be a large part of your job, but it will be there. Very few companies will offer a Mac, and even fewer will offer Linux.

You might have to work as a freelancer, taking on tasks that can be done without Windows. But even something like web dev will require testing on Windows.

honestly you have no business working in your field if that’s your approach to a fundamental facet of your job. that’s like a farmer refusing to use a spade because they prefer shovels.

I couldn’t take a linux foundation cert exam with my arch Linux computer. It misidentified my X11 as Wayland and refused to start. They never gave me a refund.

Computer science is just mathematics, you can do it with pen and paper. The actual IT jobs where you don’t have to touch windows are plentiful, although it might be a bit of a red flag if you’re vehemently refusing to touch some specific software (be it windows, or any other program, or programming language).

Absolutely not. Unless you get into a really niche career of IT pretty much everything you do will be accessed via a windows device.

you have to understand how that OS will interact with your app and the App’s UI.

As an It professional you need to embrace Windows. it is what pays the bills.

I did my BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications) and MSc IT (Master of Science in Information Technology) using macOS earlier and Linux in the final years. We mostly did C, C++, PHP databases etc. We did have Visual Studio in our curriculum, I did try it on college PCs, but skipped it completely for exams. There was also a small section in C language which dealt with graphics. They used a graphics library which only worked with Turbo C++, which is a windows only program. It worked fine using Wine on my PC.

For the job, I am primarily a 3D animator and I use Blender, and three.js. My previous job required me to use the office PC which had Windows 11, but now I am working at another company from home using my own PCs, all of which have some flavour of Linux installed. I did mention itbefore getting hired that I avoid proprietary softwares like Windows, Photoshop or even WhatsApp on my phone. As long as I am giving them what they need, they don’t have any issue with what OS I am using.

So, yes, you can have a career in IT without touching Windows, but you need to assert that before anyone hires you. It will requires an effort, but I strongly believe that it is possible.

Theoretically? Probably, I rarely touched windows outside of Windows centric shops. Practically, you’re going to have to make that a much more blurry line

There’s going to be times you have to deal with Windows. That can be as little as “effectively never” depending on your path and choices, but if you’re a hardliner it’s going to close doors on you just for picking a dumb hill to die on

You want to just work in a cellar? /j /obligatory