Microsoft agrees to 11th hour Win 10 end of life concessions Microsoft will give consumers in the European Economic Area no-strings extended support for the soon-to be-EOL Windows 10. Spooky graveyard Campaigners urge EU to mandate 15 years of OS updates READ MORE In October last year, users globally were told that they could get a year of extended security updates after the October …
Agreed it was easy, do need a M$ account though.
Settings - Updates & Security
At the top of the default landing page will be text saying "Enrol in ESU", follow the prompts and ignore the backup suggestion at the end.
If you don't see that text then I guess your account or license flavour isn't eligible.
Once done the text changes to "Enrolled in ESU"
I woudn't call "Customers will still need a Microsoft account to secure the ESU..." "no-strings extended support" more like a mile of rope !
I almost spat my coffee out when I read on the beeb that M$ have suspended some services from the Israel military with a statement :
"Brad Smith, president of the company, said using the firm's technology to conduct mass surveillance on civilians was a violation of its standard terms of service."
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The thing is, I don't think many people would have cared too much about the EoL for Windows 10, except for:
1. "This is the last version of Windows you'll ever need to buy because it will be upgraded forever" false promise
2. Your perfectly fine computer, which does everything you need it to, and fast enough, isn't "secure enough" to run Windows 11 so you will need to buy another
I would even think most customers would overlook 1. and say "oh well, it got 10 years of support and upgrades" if 2. weren't such a shitty problem to be handed.
And, of course, it has to be mentioned:
3. The Windows 11 UI is still such a mess. Why MS let the kids decide that the paradigm used up to Windows 7 needed to be completely thrown out and redesigned (also seemingly by kids who clearly never have to sit and use the fucking thing) is beyond me.
Personally, if I could get full-fat MS Office to run seamlessly under Linux it'd be a switch I'd make tomorrow for my daily driver, but unfortunately tools and workflows and plugins (agh!) mean this isn't possible for me.
Additionally, hardware today is largely powerful enough for anyone but heavy users, video editing or high-level gaming.
A Windows 7-era computer is still fine, from a hardware point of view, for reading one's mail, viewing videos on Youtube and generally surfing the Intartubes.
This whole treadmill thing is slowing down because nobody cares what Redmond says, if it works, then it's good enough.
Companies have the money to do endless upgrades, people don't.
Redmond is going to treadmill itself out of existence (in time - lots of time).
Pretty much the case.
When working remote and my work laptop at the time died, I ended up joining in on teams meetings and running all the usual office stuff on the 1st gen i5 Acer laptop I used as a personal travel machine. Worked just fine and kept up more or less as well as the 11th gen i7 machine it covered for.
Nadella is no longer much interested in Windows and desktop applications. He believes all the money can come from Azure alone.
So he's killing Windows features, and dumbing it down so it can be developer by cheaper and less skilled developers, especially those with long names full of v, h and y. He's doing it know with Office too - hoping probably to move Office to Azure too.
Less hardware to support, less need to test, and less need to experts debugging strange issues. We have been seeing it for years, now.
Maybe one day Nadella will discover that Azure without Windows is just another cloud, and Microsoft shareholders too, but probably then they will have made enough money to laugh at all the customers.
Because Gates and prior CEOs worked too force it into every office on n the planet and still heavily lobby it into places out shouldn't be (warships, reactors, computing research, etc. The legacy of that is baked into public and private agreements all over the place, specifications, even security requirements. Then there is legacy format support...
Outside of that Excel has the most ardent fans but even that is changing. So a young company ended up needed it even if they don't want it. The upside is buying a couple of licenses usually covers what is needed.
Actually even many 2002 computers would be fine and were fine till browser support for 32 bit ended, QT 32 bit ended, Win 10 32 bit ended and Mint ended 32 bit at Ver 19.3. Even for video editing (limitation for me since 1995 was disk space). Gaming is now better done on Switch or Sony PS, except for some niche PC games. Gaming was always an upgrade treadmill (see 3D games and Oblivion when it first came out).
Almost any 64 bit CPU system is still fine for latest Linux Mint. Minimum 2G RAM and 64G Flash / SSD / HDD running Mate Desktop. Win10 needs rather more resources.
I bought a computer just after Windows 11 requirements were first muted. I made sure that everything was covered, TPM, memory requirements, modern processor. Then when Windows 11 was released, Microsoft decided my particular processor (but others in the range) is not supported.
Pissed off!
Already running Linux Mint on most of my computers, but SWMBO and offspring will not jump off Windows. Also the charities that I do free Tech Support for.
In the last month everyone is complaining that the Windows interface is becoming less responsive, missing key strokes, etc. as though something is grabbing a large chunk of CPU time, but I can't see anything in the Task Manager. Is this a punishment to try and make people move al la iPhones?
Well didn't M$ warn OEMs recently to stop selling anything with an Intel chipset older than 12th gen ?
Looks like my pre-loved 8th Gen and 10th Gen Dell SFF Optiplexes bought recently for Win11 will soon be redundant...
No doubt M$ will blame users for not jumping on the Win11 bandwagon earlier . ( or more likely just say go fish )
Microsoft has aggressively pushed updates with "AI features" and other bits, Make sure that is off.
As for those non-profits, I know how it goes, but work to wean them off by showing the prices and pointing out long term record access. Chances are a Google workspace would be free and depending what they do LiberOffice configured to look like a version of Office they prefer covers most issues.
(In the UK) Last week my wife's two Win 10 machines suddenly decided to let her to sign up for the extra year's support. This may have been triggered by the EU campaign.
Thanks to this pressure group, and I hope they get more concessions in the future.
PS. Personally I don't care as I have been a Linux user for 15 years, but keeping SWMBO happy is important for domestic harmony.
"That's because of the fact that the Windows 10 to 11 migration will force many users to buy new hardware, largely because of the new operating system's Trusted Platform Module requirement."
As far as I know, 99.99999% of supported processor has Firmware TPM 2.0 in the form of fTPM (amd) or PTT (intel). Also, some NON-SUPPORTED processors have TPM 2.0 too.
So, surely, is not the TPM preventing the upgrade. Perhaps is the lack of MBEC to accelerate HVCI? Perhaps is unwillingness from amd and intel to provide long term support for older SoCs? A combination of both?
But TPM2.0 is not as, again, it is included with 99.9999%os supported processors.
PS: Macs like my mini 2018are among the 0.0001% of machines that have a suported processor, but lack Tpm2.o ... We just have T2...
right. Lots of high end, not regular consumer, MB even just released in the market today don't even have a TPM on board or a module installed, but still support W11 via TPP in CPUs. Module is misleading. People think is a hardware chip which it originally was Though actual hardware module provides more functionality than TPP, but MS is satisfied with TPP
I'm running Linux and have since '98, so I don't really care. However, my wife and sons are running win10 and I am tech support.
None of them have MS accounts. But could a VPN be used to register/install updates? I honestly have no idea how they would determine your location other than IP address.
All the location/cortana junk is turned off or disabled on their machines.
They'll have to trust what the user tells, possibly combined with geo-IP. Credit cards are nowhere near as prevalent in Europe as they are in the US of A, and IDs aren't generally required for citizens. Amd FWIW, I never verified anything (except maybe a recovery email) when I created my MS account way back when, not sure if it was even this millennium.
"No doubt it will be verified by entering a credit card or presenting some form of official ID."
Credit card in the EU? Not often used. Also "just give us your creditcard for our free service" ... hopefully red flags for Joe user.
Official ID? I don't think that's allowed under EU law. Copying an ID is only allowed for certain organisation (here in the Netherlands): employers, banks, hospitals, government. Seeing an ID (and not copying) for some other.
So my guess is on geo-IP. And thus VPN to the rescue. But the amount of people using Windows10 and able to set up a VPN: a small percentage. But indeed useful if you're helping your (grand)parents.
Or ... KISS: Microsoft to also allow UK users.
Are the rest of the family using Windows for any actual 'reason', or is it simply reluctance to embrace change.
No one in my extended family who has moved to Linux, including SWMBO, has ended up pleading to return to Windows, or even missed it. And SWMBO is one of the least IT literate people I know. Maybe that helps! ;-)
My sons (18 and 16) do play a lot of games on their desktops. My 18 yr old is the most tech savvy, and he did have Linux installed on his laptop for a few months, but he wanted it switched back to windows. Something about not being able to get the trackpad to work well enough to his liking. My daughter is 20 and honestly just needs web stuff, but she's on 11. My wife has a laptop and she uses a couple of win-only things, especially Quicken to do our finances. Her laptop is win11 capable, but it's just a pain in the ass to do it and i don't trust the upgrade. I mean, this isn't like the move from 7 to 10, 11 just isn't better. (I use it at work) I don't trust MS to suddenly disable the old version of Office she has to push their nerfed cloud products.
I used to have Nvidia cards for years, and upgrading always posed some kind of challenge with the proprietary drivers. I switched to AMD several years ago, and it's been very smooth. That would be another sticking point for the boys on Linux.
Since they are already offering at least three years of paid support and thus were already going to be producing patches. They're just unhappy it denies them the license income from all the consumers who feel forced to upgrade.
I'll have to see what the requirements are for that "windows cloud settings backup" thing here in the US. So long as it is free I can create some throwaway MS account for my mom's PC to keep it under support, and she doesn't keep anything personal on it so whatever it backs up isn't a concern.
Microsoft is willing to back down on everything, but I see the requirement for a Microsoft account remains non-negotiable. I think Microsoft might even back down on the Windows 11 hardware requirements at this point - they might just offer that and kind of blame the EU for doing what they want to do anyway (the real reason, of course, would be the worry that too much of the herd is dispersing to other operating systems).
I mean, Microsoft could "listen to the customer feedback" and offer a compromise - something like agree to waive any performance liability, and you too can gain official access to Windows 11 on any Windows 10 capable hardware. What a great deal and such a reasonable way to give the customers what they want! Just need to re-authenticate and re-upload certain performance monitoring data to OneDrive at minimum every 60 days - to make sure of the hardware performance, of course, and to check that the computer is able to qualify for any *future* Windows 11 upgrades that might stress the poor old hardware too much.
Good bye to big bang hardware obsolescence deadlines that cause all this bad press, hello to older computers gradually and slightly randomly dropping from future Win11 support every half a year because the cloud-based AI analysis says "no".
Just did it on my PC and my Laptop. PC did not need an MS account as it used the non MS email address used when setting up windows 10. Laptop I had used a no longer existing email, tried to change it but after 3 failed attempts with other non MS emails it let me enrol anyway even though none of the email addresses worked.
Apologies for typos/spelling mistakes I just had cataract surgery and things are still a bit blurry till I get the final checkup and new glasses.
It’s not “no strings attached” - you need a Microsoft account. Why can’t they just take the fucking hit and allow PCs everywhere to get the updates. They’re coding the updates anyway, after all. It’s so blatantly a money grabbing exercise.
But the fact that they’re making money essentially out of creating landfill is as disingenuous as it gets.
They’ll let some people keep the computers because they’re bowing to pressure from their governments. But don’t worry, the rest of of the world can waste their money on new PCs. This isn’t just blackmail, it’s Microsoft blackmail. Special.
When I bought my computer with win10, the list price for win10 pro was ~€200 (I don't care to know how much it really costed the manufacturer).
It was sold to me as "the last windows you will ever use". So I expect to have support for it for as long as I use it, and I also expect that I have payed for that support with initial purchase...
And I don't care if they have "cost" to support it , because I PAYED IT. It did not come to me for free, and I don't expect them to do anything for free, because I PAYED IT in advance as "the last windows you will ever use".
PS I use Linux, this writing is from the perspective of all the others that I support. Personally, I really don't give a s**t about windows or micros~1 at all. My last windows was 95 :)
I was quite looking forwards to End Of Support day if it meant that my machine didn’t attempt to download and apply updates using 99% CPU at startup for 30 minutes.
Also, I’d be able to kill the Compatibilty Telemetry process and executable one last and final time with no more updates resurrecting it every month.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that MS would end support for an OS 10 years after it came out as they've been doing this for like a thousand years for the last 5 years the TPM and CPU requirement has been known. I think it's ridiculous that MS has been pressured in to offer another years support. What happens at the end of this year? More tears and violins. You were entitled to what was given. Time to sort your shit out.
What I PAID for and what I was SOLD, was that this was the LAST version of Windows. As in no more new versions to "upgrade" too.
I happen to think that when someone buys one thing and winds up with something entirely different they have every right to be upset. The only ridiculous thing here is we have sheep running around so used to getting bent over by these companies they are incredulous that other people dare to get upset when it happens to them!
... to shunning Microsoft by never booting Windows 10 on my development desktop ever again. Indeed: never booting another Microsoft operating system ever again. After this October cut-off.
But, a few weeks ago, I *move* my 9-year-old desktop workstation out of the corner in which it lived in order to thoroughly clean the room because we're trying to get out of this house and – yeah – BIOS beeps and error codes greeted me when I tried to set it up again; I think the motherboard finally died. (I spent about two days doing whatever triage I could without a test bench or any spares at all but, nope. It's dead. It was suspect for a while, though so I'm hardly shocked.)
I don't have any other Windows kit in the house or at work, now. I'm kind of sad that hardware end-of-life stole my chance to deliberately choose to shun Microsoft but there you have it: the outcome is the same.
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