Windows 11 migration heats up... on desktops

With fewer than four months before Microsoft pulls the plug on standard support for Windows 10, businesses are replacing dusty – but in some cases perfectly working – desktop PCs in preparation for the migration to the little loved next generation of the Windows OS. Fresh stats from channel watcher Context this week show that …

[Tubz]

If I owned a business with a competent I.T team, I would be tempted to give Microsoft 2 fingers and just bypass their artificial requirements and tell them to use an alternative patch method until a true EOL and then decide on W11 hardware refresh or a Linux refresh. Unless a compelling reason, I would go Linux and tell my users to suck it up and learn the GUI and alternative packages.

[Anonymous Coward]

Some of us are just using the workarounds to keep perfectly workable hardware running with the latest, secured, OS. And yes, I mean Windows 11.

[MatthewSt]

Which will work fine until Microsoft flick the switch to use instruction sets that aren't available on older CPUs (like they've done by accident previously) at which point nothing will boot...

[williamyf]

Please be aware that some of the "alternative patching methods" for windows 10 may be incompatible with certain certificationn legal, insurance and/or auditing requirements that most businesses and some individuals may encounter.

please also notice that, while many Linux DISTROS comply with said requierements, many of them do not, I'd encourage people and businesses to go to Linux, but choose your distro carefully.

[Doctor Syntax]

"may be incompatible with certain certificationn legal, insurance and/or auditing requirements that most businesses and some individuals may encounter."

Most?

[Anonymous Coward]

Could you share which ones comply or are friendly to compliance?

[williamyf]

«Could you share which ones comply or are friendly to compliance?»

Mostly, the distro has to have credible support from a Reputable company (and a valid support contract for your company). Ubuntu desktop: Definitively yes. ¿ZorinOS? ¿who knows?, but most likely yes. ¿AntiX/Kali/TAILS/CrunchBangPlusPlus/DSL Reborn? most likely not.

Also, if the HW maker has certified the distro to run on said hardware, even better. In this sense, a Dell or a Lenovo With linux pre-installed: ¡Ideal!

Then, is the App situation. If all your apps are Linux/FOSS and are supported (most distros that have an office suite pre-installed offer support for that office suite under that umbrella, ditto for the rest of the pre-installed apps, but better check the fine print).

But if you have one or more windows apps on top of your linux, you have to be carefull. Windows App on a VM with a SUPPORTED version of Windows. A-Ok. ¿Windows App on Dreamweaver's Crossover support contract? Maybe. Windows App on proton or regular wine with no support at all... Definitively not. Remoting from linux to a VDI supported windows machine (either in the cloud or in a server in your company) to access said apps, also A-OK

Please notice that each specific regulation/certification/audit/jurisdiction will be different, so please get specific advaisory for your specific situation.

[Ian Johnston]

HP boss Enrique Lores talked in October of the aging installed base of computers in the market, saying they were bought during the early years of the pandemic and "have to be replaced."

$ sudo dmidecode

(output trimmed)

BIOS Information

Vendor: LENOVO

Version: 5CKT50AUS

Release Date: 06/10/2009

System Information

Manufacturer: LENOVO

Product Name: 7359W5Z

Version: ThinkCentre M58

Works beautifully. Does everything I need it to, under Linux Mint. "Have to be replaced" after four or five years? Fuck 'em.

[Scotthva5]

Really?

>>bought during the early years of the pandemic and "have to be replaced."

In what world do 3-4 year old desktop business PCs, which only run perhaps 50 hours a week, need to be replaced? Microsoft's world apparently.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: Really?

Well, obviously it's cheaper to replace the damn things than pull the covers off and blow the dust out.

[williamyf]

Re: Really?

Most of the computers bought during the early stages of the pandemic were bottom of the barrel laptops , either due to shortages not leaving enough highend laptops, or fiancial constraints of providing laptops to most of the workforce that until that time were using desktops....

those bottom of the barrel laptops need to be replaced, either by newer laptops (to be ready for possible avian flu lockdowns), or by new desktops (since we have so many RTO mandates)

[Jakester]

Re: Really?

The buyer really needs to beware. There are still 'bottom of the barrel' laptops out there from major manufacturers with Win 11 installed and only 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC drives. Yes, these meet the 'minimum' Microsoft Win 11 requirements, but you can't upgrade with the annual feature upgrades. Most computers I have setup in 2025 came with Windows 11 22H2 installed. Windows takes more than 20GB with no applications installed. A 64 GB drive has overhead so the most space available on the drive is about 56 - 58 GB. With Windows 11 installed, there is less than 40GB free space left on the drive. I recently tried to do a release upgrade on a virtual machine with Win 11 release 23H2 to bring it up to 24H2 with 39GB free space on the drive. The upgrade would not proceed because there had to be a minimum of 40GB free.

My personal recommendation is an absolute minimum of 250GB SSD and 8GB RAM but prefer 500GB or 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM. You may have to do research on what processor is used on systems. There are some modern processors out there that are only slightly faster than the old Pentium4 from years ago.

A few years ago I did buy one of these low-end systems that had 4GB RAM (not upgradeable) and either a 64GB or 128GB eMMC drive (also soldered-in). However, it had a vacant NVME slot. I purchased it because it was on sale for $100 and I wanted a it to run Linux instead of Win 11. I kept the Win 11 install and installed Linux onto the NVME SSD I installed. It didn't run Windows very well (really slow) as the processor was also low-end. However it ran Linux very well and I could use it between 7 and 9 hours on a charge. I gave it to a friend after getting a good deal on another laptop that has 16GB RAM and a 1TB drive. I kept the Win 11 on the original eMMC drive, but rarely used it.

[Gnisho]

Re: Really?

>> In what world do 3-4 year old desktop business PCs, which only run perhaps 50 hours a week, need to be replaced? Microsoft's world apparently.

Speaking from personal experience: A world where procurement process was more than gently encouraged to underspec leased PC's so they were only marginally fit for purpose (worst models at 4 GB RAM, spinning rust for storage, running Win7 and getting upgraded in place to Win10, no less than three separate antimalware and endpoint management toolsets installed) just before the pandemic hit, then new hardware "could not be sourced" ... Workers coming in 45 minutes before shift to have time to get a reboot for stability, logon, and apps loaded.

[Roland6]

Re: Really?

My major client of the time was lucky being able to send key staff home with existing kit. Directly after Lockdown, when there was money being given to the third sector for IT, we purchased a load of top mid-range business laptops that were “Windows 11 ready”, depreciating the older kit (none of which satisfied the Windows 11 system requirements).

So over the years many of these have been migrated to W11; mainly by users clicking the MS upgrade/update nag popup.

The rest of the staff benefited from the long awaited but without a specific delivery date arrival of 80 iPads(*). Yes we separated staff into two tiers: those who produced content etc and those who just needed email, Zoom and web access to service delivery systems and SharePoint…

(*) The delayed delivery meant JAMF was fully configured ready to receive devices.

[Roland6]

Re: Really?

>” A world where procurement process was more than gently encouraged to underspec leased PC's”

I had words with a supplier to another customer, who was buying (not leasing) PC’s, that their leasing grade spec offering was wholly inappropriate in 2025 (it was the spec of a 2019 sub £500 laptop), I want my users to be able to actually use 365 and Teams to support their workflow not having their workflow compromised by a p*ss poor laptop. Plus being in the third sector, funding doesn’t run in nice predictable cycles, so expect these laptops to be used in anger for at least 6 years and potentially 10+ years from my previous experience.

[navarac]

Re: Really?

<< Workers coming in 45 minutes before shift to have time to get a reboot for stability, logon, and apps loaded. >>

Well, I for one would turn in "just on time" and sit there while it booted up, if that is the crap I was being given to use. I don't work for free to be in early to sharpen my tools.

[blu3b3rry]

Re: Really?

Well, quite. My workbench PC at my current employer is very much a hand-me-down - a 2014ish HP ProDesk tower. i7-4790, 32GB DDR3 and a 500GB SSD (plus a GTX 750Ti from its days as a engineers programming / CAD workstation)

It very happily keeps up with anything I can throw at it on W10, running all my service software, two browsers and whatever else I need with nary a whimper, Indeed it is a very quiet and cool running machine....a complete opposite of the 2022 Dell Latitude i7 laptop I was issued which spends most of its time with fans screaming. Apart from M$'s bullshit requirements there would be nothing meaning this PC couldn't run W11 and be good for at least another 5 years barring component failure.

Although 99% of PC's here are running Windows we do have a handful of development computers running Ubuntu - I'd be tempted to add the HP to that list and keep on using it in honesty....

[Anonymous Coward]

Businesses often have no choice but to 'upgrade' their kit to W11 compatibility. Various compliance requirements will push them. But they're not doing it because workers are demanding W11, home users aren't demanding W11 at best some people think W11 is ok, maybe prettier than W10, the majority don't care, and the rest think it's junk. I think it's a data grab disguised as junk.

This isn't like moving to XP from 98 when people were genuinely impressed and wanted to shift. This is enforced obscelecence to pump MSs books and it's AI food source.

[ecofeco]

This ^^^^

[Tim Roberts 1]

Agree completely.

I have both - win 10 laptop that runs my ham radio station, win 10 desktop for home and a win 11 laptop for work.

11 offers me nothing that 10 doesn't already do for what I need.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Businesses often have no choice but to 'upgrade' their kit to W11 compatibility. Various compliance requirements will push them. But they're not doing it because workers are demanding W11, home users aren't demanding W11 at best some people think W11 is ok, maybe prettier than W10, the majority don't care, and the rest think it's junk. I think it's a data grab disguised as junk."

In our case, the users really didn't care. I customised it to remove all the crap and left-align the taskbar, and put the desktop shortcuts in the same place. Nobody had any major difficulties, and some didn't even notice that it wasn't W10! Provided that Outlook, Excel, Word and Powerpoint are where they expecte them to be (on the desktop), they aren't going to be bothered about OS versions!

[PCScreenOnly]

Why replace ?

These days more and more is doing via a browser and PaaS so the refresh of a PC with faster disk and RAM is less and less. There are some exceptions and maybe to keep on top of windows bloat, but there has been no great improvements in anything that would warrant it. slow spinner, get an SSD - NVMe is faster, but once loaded - do you care ?

If I was a bean counter who cared, I would be really miffed at being forced to perform an update where there is no real good reason for it. And Microsoft, as we all know, W11 runs without your stupidly enforced requirements

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Why replace ?

I agree 100%, but tragically, one issue is that certain sites (I won't name names) are getting creepily good at fingerprinting OS from browser, no matter what you do in terms of user agent and masquerading, they fail on anything not Win11 or Android of their preference.

And then it's a matter of waiting for the intersection of 'I need this' and "I have the political cloud to make you listen' ticket.

The browser was supposed to be the true decoupling from HW, in the same way Java got somewhat hijacked from its design objectives to favor 'runs anywhere'.

No longer.

[Colin Bull 1]

fingerprinting OS

Why do they need to do this?

I have a problem at the moment with multiple logins with Kobo/Rackuten where I cannot login. "A technical error". Almost a week, JUST got a support ticket number.

Cannot buy books, cannot download books. I can get in with a new login and they will transfer my 500 approx books to new login. BUT, that probably needs Adobe Digition Editions programme. I am on Linux. The programme is not available on Linux or Chromebooks. I think a few million people will get a surprise if the move over to Linux/Chromebooks.

Why is it not available for Linux when it is on MacOS? Why cannot be a browser version be available?

Doubly frustrating when all the E-readers are based ln Linux.

Their support tell me -

"But don't worry, you can still access all your purchased books on any Kobo platform without using ADE, as long as you don't need to transfer any DRM protected books". As far as I am aware ALL their purchased books are DRMed."

"We sincerely appreciate your graciousness, exceptional patience, and profound understanding."

What patience and understanding. The only understanding I have is that they have trouble with a simple login. Looks at the logs for fsake. My only saving grace is that most of my books have been Calibrated. :-)

[smudge]

Re: fingerprinting OS

BUT, that probably needs Adobe Digition Editions programme. I am on Linux. The programme is not available on Linux or Chromebooks.

My wife has just bought a Windows 11 laptop, to replace her 14 year old Tosh which was running (very slowly) Windows 10.

And she tells me that Adobe Digital Editions does not run on it, even though Win11 has been out for years. I haven't looked at her machine yet, but I see that other people do seem to be having problems.

Pass me the meths, please.

[ecofeco]

Re: fingerprinting OS

The entire ebook world is FUBAR crap. How such a dirt simple concept that can use dirt simple formating, became enshitified beyond any utility, is utterly jaw dropping.

I hate to say it, but you need to find a new seller.

[Adair]

Re: fingerprinting OS

Interesting, my desktop systems are all Linux and I have no problems logging into Rakutan Kobo to access my ebooks (for years).

Suggests your problem is particular to something in your setup - maybe corrupt file - rather than RK having a downer on Linux.

[Boris the Cockroach]

10 years

thats the general minimum for equipment in other industries(including mine)

5 years to pay back the cost, 5 years to make money... then depending on the condition, part-ex it for the latest shiney shiney, or carry on using it until it dies..... then get the shiney shiney.

But 3-4 years for a laptop... then bin it .. yeah right. why does'nt someone tell the eco-warriors how much e-waste windows 11 is gonna create

But by co-incidence.... I have a dead laptop right now..... that died during the 'upgrade' to win 11 and refuses to do anything apart from show a spinny thing then reboot.

So its being upgraded* as part of a project after a linux usb showed that its only dead due to a corrupt HDD. everything else is fine.

*upgraded to linux mint that is...

[Roopee]

Re: 10 years

I think you’ll find the eco warriors are well aware!

[ITMA]

Re: 10 years

And Microsoft couldn't give a monkeys....

[897241021271418289475167044396734464892349863592355648549963125148587659264921474689457046465304467]

Is Windows 11 any good?

[DJV]

Yes, but only for negative values of good.

[simonlb]

It's very much Double Plus Ungood

[ecofeco]

It's win 10, with some new shiny and 200% more spying.

And I'm almost certain I'm underestimating the spying increase. I've not run Wireshark personally, but I've seen reports. It took me many manhours to shut down all the spying, and I'm still not sure I got it all.

[897241021271418289475167044396734464892349863592355648549963125148587659264921474689457046465304467]

Is Windows 10 any good?

[Anonymous Coward]

Our university IT department just sent out the expected message that I need to downgrade my perfectly usable old Thinkpad to W11 by October. I'll be upgrading it to Linux and enjoying the performance boost.

[billdehaan]

September is going to be a great time to buy refurbed PCs

Unlike a decade or two ago, previous generation PCs are no longer dog slow and barely usable compared to current machines. Back in the 2000s, there wasn't as much demand for used PCs because old model machines simply couldn't keep up with current software.

Today, a two or three year old machine can be had for a fifth of what they originally cost. I routinely see machines that sold new three years ago for $900 going for $150-$200 used, and for the average home user, they may even be overkill.

With Windows 11 mandating the death of perfectly usable machines in the Windows corporate environment, I expect to see a deluge of fairly recent machines showing up in the used market. All of them are perfectly usable running Linux, and the more that are being dumped, the lower the resale prices will be.

[Roland6]

Re: September is going to be a great time to buy refurbed PCs

Due to the costs of refurbishment, the major refurbishers only take the top end business kit. So I’m already socialising with my third sector clients to plan in a desktop hardware refresh in early 2026.

I expect that $150~200 price to be reduced further for the non-profit sector and include a preinstalled W11 Pro licence.

(Refurbishment is another minefield for MS licensing. The best deal is for current owner to factory reset the system and then sell as is, you can then perform a free upgrade of the factory installed licence; a refurbished can’t do this they have to clean and install a new Windows licence.)

[billdehaan]

Re: September is going to be a great time to buy refurbed PCs

a refurbished can’t do this they have to clean and install a new Windows licence

That's where the real bargains tend to show up.

The hardware is a fixed cost to administer, it's the Windows licence that's a pain to keep track of.

A refurbed Windows PC where they can't account for the original licence (because the original owner re-used it, or whatever) means all sorts of juggling to try and sell it with a licence, or, just say "screw it", and sell it as-is, making the end user responsible for the licencing of it.

When $25-$25 of a $150 PC is the Windows licence, that leaves a lot of "as-is" discounts available to non-Windows (Linux, BSD, etc.) users.

Given how much time and effort is spent on the licencing of the refurbs, units that they can dump, licence free, make life easier for the seller, and discounts for the buyer.

[simonlb]

Re: September is going to be a great time to buy refurbed PCs

If all you are doing is web based stuff - browsing, email, and a few docs with nothing too CPU intensive - then a low-spec NUC for around £150 is more than enough and should have a decent sized SSD with 8Gb RAM and plenty of connectivity. Oh, it'll come with Win11 preinstalled but with a Linux USB ISO you'll never have to deal with that insanity and will have a stable, reliable and perfectly functional PC that'll last you years.

[Marty McFly]

El Reg, winning!!

Thank you Reg for properly putting the right context on Windows 11. You correctly referred to it as a "migration" and not an "upgrade".

[Alumoi]

Re: El Reg, winning!!

Wrong. It's downgrade, not migration.

[ITMA]

Re: El Reg, winning!!

I think there words you were looking for were:

"It's a pox computing. A canker on users PCs".

[Boris the Cockroach]

Re: El Reg, winning!!

Quote

""It's a pox computing. A canker on users PCs".

More like it the leprosy of the computing world... where later and later versions just run slower and slower and then bits drop off no matter how good the hardware...

[kmorwath]

Not a surprise - many desktops today are used longer than laptops

Desktops today fall mostly in two categories - workstation (or workstation-like) PCs that are powerful, upgradable, and thereby can last many years, or low-specced PC for simple tasks isntalled when a laptop is not fit for the task (i.e. a warehouse station), and this usually can last many years too because they run "light" workloads.

Laptops may be replaced earlier. So no surprise a lot of PCs unable to run Windows 11 are desktops.

[DS999]

Maybe this is the reason for the 22% increase

But maybe not. Perhaps some businesses thought pushing up purchases planned for later in the year or even next year in advance of potential trade/tariff chaos would be a smart move. Even if they are not buying PCs from Dell or other US PC makers, the CPU, any dGPU, and various other components would be subject to any retaliatory tariffs other countries might enact in response to the orange toddler. Unless he TACOs again and there's another pause after his 90 day pause expires in a few weeks.

[bryces666]

HP sales not as good a Dell

HP shot themselves in the foot with their shit behaviour. I'll never buy HP ever again. Printers that bork themselves on driver updates and stop working if you don't have it connected to the internet or use 3rd party inks. BIOS updates only available by maintaining subscriptions. No availability of TPM2 chips for the machines that could upgrade to Windows 11 if only one could plug one of these chips into the empty socket. I'm sure everyone can think of more HP bullets for their feet...

[williamyf]

Re: HP sales not as good a Dell

«No availability of TPM2 chips for the machines that could upgrade to Windows 11 if only one could plug one of these chips into the empty socket.»

AFAIK & AFAIR all machines that contain an 8th gen intel or an AMD Zen2 porocessor have a PTT or fTPM, perfectly suitable for Win11 in lieu of the physical one.

So... ¿care to elaborate on that idea?

[Kurgan]

Bullshit

HP boss Enrique Lores talked in October of the aging installed base of computers in the market, saying they were bought during the early years of the pandemic and "have to be replaced."

Of course they absolutely need to be replaced, otherwise HP would not make enough money!

This whole shitshow of Windows 11 and new hardware is insane. It's so obvious that the whole cartel (MS and HP and Dell) is driving it to make money, and still no one has objected AT ALL.

European Union, where are you when you are really needed?

And why we (the whole business world) have become so dependent on ONE software vendor that can now stick its hand up our collective ass and make us dance to its tune?

This is insane.

[ecofeco]

Re: Bullshit

I can answer the second question: conflict of interest

I've mentioned it before but I guess no one thought I was serious, but EVERY company above a certain size has a stock portfolio. And within that portfolio is... come on... take a wild guess.

Right the first time! M$!!

And that's how corporations turn other corporations into sock puppets. And WHY tech douche bros think they are the Master(bator)s of the Universe.

[Anonymous Coward]

The stagnation/decrease in purchasing power means that there is a silent revolution of people who need a laptop/desktop to get personal **** done, and don't want to fork out money because Microsoft likes to make things slower.

For industry, as noted earlier, there are other constraints, but if you have a human relationship between CFO/CIO/CEO and people who get things done, and you spend the money that would otherwise go to useless upgrades in bonuses or useful investment, you can make decent gain in productivity.

Writing from an 'ancient' x280 (bios 2022), that runs on 8GB on Fedora with forever battery, that would not tolerate W10 well and would suffer with W11.

Ironically, in Linux, deprecating 'old' hardware is much much much more contentious, with single processor modes and x86-32 being deprecated now, but expect 10yr old hardware to do just fine.

[Grogan]

Linux is not deprecating single processor modes, there simply isn't going to be a non-SMP configuration anymore. Your single core CPU will still continue to work. There MAY, in theory, be more overhead v.s. a non-SMP configuration, but it will be of little significance.

They are also not deprecating 32 bit x86 kernels, or 32 bit execution (compatibility) on 64 bit kernels. Many distributors don't offer 32 bit distributions anymore though, but still keep some lib32 userspace for running 32 bit applications.

What may go away some day (they have talked about deprecating it) is "x32" which is a kernel ABI that uses 32 bit userspace. It's a 64 bit kernel, with 64 bit instruction sets etc. that uses 32 bit integers and pointers to avoid the overhead of 64 bit. Not to be confused with "x86" or "i386" and friends. Pretty pointless, IMO, and not binary compatible.

[ecofeco]

Today's modern business world no longer operates on getting things done. That's what us plebes are for.

The actual goal is legalized grifting and it's all about getting us plebes to part with our money for useless tat. And should we happen to find something useful and durable, it then becomes about forcing the obsolescence of that thing.

Hence, current enshitification of everything.

And that's the least of the problem.

[navarac]

Scandalous

<< Microsoft pulls the plug on standard support for Windows 10, businesses are replacing dusty – but in some cases perfectly working – desktop PCs >>

This opening statement sums up the criminal scandal that is Microsoft. It is arbitrary and pure greed,

[Al fazed]

Where am I ?

Once upon a time, not too long ago in a land of fairies and elves there live a computer geek who wanted to turn on everyone to his new toy, Windows 3.1.

As time passed the wicked witches of everytown soon got to work for Microshite and began their corporate plan of unusability for the masses....

Oh f*ck.....what do I do now ?

My ptinter broke so I went to the local library where I found an array of PC's sitting alone, unused and apparently unloved by everyone.

I thought bugger me, there isn't a queue ! Am I really in England ? Wow !

Sat down, logged in easy enough - done it many times before.......then - Oh shit !!!!

What have we here, a Windose logo in the middle of the horzontal bar across the bottom of the page.....I wonder what it's for ?

Funny, I keep moving the mouse but I am unable to see where the fuck it is one the screen...

Not so funny now, eventually I found my way to my USB memory stick and clicked once, thwice, three times and even clicked my heels together .....................enventually ..... a pop up dialogue box tells me that Windows 11 cannot open the MS Office 365 docx that I want to print.......or indeed any of the MS Office 365 .docx that I want to print.......

The Library assistant tells me that it's a problem they are facing now, without any clue as to how they can improve the situation, since their IT overlards rolled out WIndows 11.

It seesm the licenceing arrangements for MS Office and Windows 11 have been updated with Windose 11 and now the library cannot afford a licence for each the PC's they bought recently in order to comply with the upgrade requirements of Windose 11....

I won't say any more in case I start shouting and smashing things up.... as it looks like I will have to buy another printer now.......

ALF

[theDeathOfRats]

Re: Where am I ?

Have you tried printing your files to .PDF from YOUR copy|SaaS Licence|whatever of MsOffice and bringing those to the library? I mean, if printing is all you need...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Where am I ?

Really? Sounds like the new PCs just don't have Office installed on them (which presumably they should have)? W11 isn't going to stop you from printing things if the software to open the file is on there.

[MachDiamond]

Win 7 for life

My Windows PC is still on 7. I don't let it play on the internet at all and "sneaker-net" files on and off of the box. My iMac is my daily driver for web/mail and as a control point for a couple of headless Macs in my office. My MacPro 5,1 (maxed out) is my media production machine and thanks to people much smarter than me, runs the second to latest MacOS mainly as I've been too busy and too chicken to install the latest version but it's reported to work just fine with a few incompatibilities that don't affect anything I'm doing.

I've got a stack of older PC hardware that will likely wind up getting a Linux install to be given away to people in town that need them for their kid's school work. Not the speediest machines in the world, but perhaps it's a good thing they'll suck as a gaming machine. With a standard load-out of a mail program, web browser and LibreOffice, they'll do the vast majority of what kids in school need. I still have Ferris Bueller's dad's old PC sitting here. (Actor Lyman Ward who played Ferris Bueller's dad in the movie). I zero'd it out for company that worked with him on a house move, so no, I have no idea what was on the drive and nothing remains. In return for making sure it was cleansed, I got the hardware which is often what happens. Sometimes the owner wants the HD extracted so they can dispose of it and I can do that on-site. Sometimes I get paid to go through a computer to retrieve photos and correspondence for family members when the owner has passed away. Mainly it's a hobby and I use the hardware to "pay it forward" (Thanks RAH).

If M$ is going to goes down Apple's path of deprecating HW as quickly as they can for no particularly good reason, it's just going to give Linux a big boost. Use linux, get close to free hardware.

[Anonymous Coward]

Alternatives

I'm surprised more businesses aren't abandoning Microsoft for Linux by now. I understand why large corporates with a huge legacy on Microsoft don't but smaller businesses could do so with much less pain.

[naive]

Re: Alternatives

There must be some collusion among US tech companies not to rock the boat in this blackmail scheme initiated by MS.

MS offered the Hardware manufacturers a fat juicy bone, by forcing users to ditch perfectly working hardware by the tens of millions if they want to continue using supported version of Windows.

Google, Citrix and others had several years to develop easy to use and install alternatives to help out those users wanting to keep their hardware.

It will be interesting to find out which price shops like Lenovo, HP and Dell have to pay to MS for running this extortion scheme on their behalf.

Perhaps what is more interesting is the fact no consumer protection agency or government stepped in to protect its citizens from the scamming by US based companies.

[ecofeco]

Re: Alternatives

There is indeed collusion and certain market fixing has been allowed by USA law for some many years now.

Of course you have to have favored status first before you engage in market fixing.

None of this is sarcasm or joke or hyperbole. Is it all fact. If it weren't for the military and the nukes, the USA would qualify as a failed 1st world nation in almost every way.

[skris88]

Yes, installing Linux is the best way to prevent 240 million perfectly good Windows 10 computers from becoming eWaste and filling our waterways with toxic chemicals from this October.

However if Win11 is forced onto it (there are many articles on how to do so), most Win10s PCs will run sluggishly anyway.

And ignoring the Use By date of Windows 10 puts all of us in trouble as these computers will quickly become malware infected, and soon be part of global BotNets that are capable of freezing our hospital or energy systems. It's not a good idea!

The only viable solution is installing and using Linux OS on these old Win10 PCs.

But installing a Linux ISO on USB and booting off it (into BIOS/UEFI) is far too complicated for the average user!

I train 17 yr olds in IT basics, and finding ("might be ESC, F1, Del, F10, etc") and pressing the BIOS/UEFI Boot Key ("not too early, not too late") to even START the installation of Linux is the hardest part of the course!

However, the ZIP file on the Q4OS website allows you to install and dual boot Linux on any Windows OS based computer without having to navigate those hurdles.

The Q4OS zip method. Super easy. Super secure.

So? No more excuses!

Don't let Microsoft ending of critical security updates force you to add your perfectly working computer into an eWaste pile come October when Win10 reaches EoL.

[skris88]

But HOW to switch?

Yes, installing Linux is the best way to prevent 240 million perfectly good Windows 10 computers from becoming eWaste and filling our waterways with toxic chemicals from this October.

However if Win11 is forced onto it (there are many articles on how to do so), most Win10s PCs will run sluggishly anyway.

And ignoring the Use By date of Windows 10 puts all of us in trouble as these computers will quickly become malware infected, and soon be part of global BotNets that are capable of freezing our hospital or energy systems. It's not a good idea!

The only viable solution is installing and using Linux OS on these old Win10 PCs.

But installing a Linux ISO on USB and booting off it (into BIOS/UEFI) is far too complicated for the average user!

I train 17 yr olds in IT basics, and finding ("might be ESC, F1, Del, F10, etc") and pressing the BIOS/UEFI Boot Key ("not too early, not too late") to even START the installation of Linux is the hardest part of the course!

However, the ZIP file on the Q4OS website allows you to install and dual boot Linux on any Windows OS based computer without having to navigate those hurdles.

The Q4OS zip method. Super easy. Super secure.

So? No more excuses!

Don't let Microsoft ending of critical security updates force you to add your perfectly working computer into an eWaste pile come October when Win10 reaches EoL.

[Anonymous Coward]

Easy way to fix the Win10 EoL deadline

Yes, installing Linux is the best way to prevent 240 million perfectly good Windows 10 computers from becoming eWaste and filling our waterways with toxic chemicals from this October.

However if Win11 is forced onto it (there are many articles on how to do so), most Win10s PCs will run sluggishly anyway.

And ignoring the Use By date of Windows 10 puts all of us in trouble as these computers will quickly become malware infected, and soon be part of global BotNets that are capable of freezing our hospital or energy systems. It's not a good idea!

The only viable solution is installing and using Linux OS on these old Win10 PCs.

But installing a Linux ISO on USB and booting off it (into BIOS/UEFI) is far too complicated for the average user!

I train 17 yr olds in IT basics, and finding ("might be ESC, F1, Del, F10, etc") and pressing the BIOS/UEFI Boot Key ("not too early, not too late") to even START the installation of Linux is the hardest part of the course!

However, the ZIP file on the Q4OS website allows you to install and dual boot Linux on any Windows OS based computer without having to navigate those hurdles.

The Q4OS zip method. Super easy. Super secure.

So? No more excuses!

Don't let Microsoft ending of critical security updates force you to add your perfectly working computer into an eWaste pile come October when Win10 reaches EoL.

[Nameless Dread]

Windows goodbye

SWMBO used to use Windows 10 but several years ago I converted her to Linux Mint except for a separate non-internet connected PC (Acer) solely to use Lotus 123 for the domestic accounts.

Then suddenly last weekend, the old Acer used only for Windows stopped advancing even as far as the login screen; so it was data migration time from the accounts backups. (Phew).

On dismantling the old Acer, I discovered the drive itself was OK so it must have been a windows corruption.

Now it's Gnumeric instead of 123: Not much re-learning needed for straightforward accounts; just ignore the plague of buttons above the working area.

And only one PC to look after.

BTW any experience on suppressing Gnumeric's default downwards step of highlight on data entry?

Bring back 123, but on Linux !! (Less is more.)

[Nameless Dread]

Windows goodbye

SWMBO used to use Windows 10 but several years ago I converted her to Linux Mint except for a separate non-internet connected PC [Acer]s solely to use Lotus 123 for the domestic accounts.

Then suddenly last weekend, the Acer used only for Windows stopped advancing even as far as the login screen; so it was data migration time from the accounts backups. [Phew]

On dismantling the old Acer, I discovered the drive itself was OK so it must have been a windows corruption.

Now it's Gnumeric instead of 123: Not much re-learning needed for straightforward accounts; just ignore the plague of buttons above the working area.

And only one PC to look after.

BTW any experience on suppressing Gnumeric's default downwards step of highlight on data entry?

Bring back 123, but on Linux !! [Less is more.]