Microsoft, doing it’s part to make the world a better place.
No it won’t.
240 million grandmas, cheapskate businesses, and cash-strapped public schools will continue to use whatever operating system their computers already have, forever, until they break, security implications be damned.
This is a huge business opportunity for someone with the know-how. They should offer a consulting service that does the following:
- Catalogs the software your company is using.
- Identifies which ones have native Linux versions, which ones work well under WINE, and which ones will need to be replaced with either a different native application or an online equivalent.
- Installs and configures Linux with a Windows-like UI on your old systems, and gets them set up with the replacement software.
Offer a support contract that severely undercuts anything Microsoft is
gougingselling. Offer basic training, too.Anyone who does that can make bank.
My 76 y/o spouse loves Linux Mint. The 2017-bought desktop was deemed insufficient for Windows 11 and now runs Mint.
If all they use is a web browser and solitaire then putting them on Linux is super easy. Got my dad on Mint for years now. I recommend KPatience for solitaire needs.
If all they use is a web browser and solitaire, they should consider a tablet. Even as a techie, with many devices, I spend the most time using my iPad because it works so well for “media consumption”.
Of course it’s only 6 years old, slowing down, and is no longer supported with patches, so maybe that’s not a solution. At least it’s less to go in a landfill
I built a new PC last year and bought a copy of Windows 11. Holy moly the login process required so much bullshit that I skipped through. It also every few days tries to get me to go through it again. After learning about all the Spyware and other bullshit I decided to just take the plunge back into using Linux as a main OS.
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They were data mining on non subscribing customers tho, in age of AI nowadays, data mining on real living people is good business
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I’ve never used them tho, most probably USA exclusive thing, i know Azure used in many countries companies on par with aws and Google cloud but it’s first time i hear about entra, didn’t know it existed
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Some very small percentage of people will switch to Linux, the majority of people will just continue to use windows 10.
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Microsoft doing its* part
I feel like MS could avoid everyone’s gripes by simply not charging for their security update program. 7 to 13+ years is going to more than cover when most people would’ve upgraded anyway.
That’s not how software works. Maintaining an OS until the end of time is a real problem.
Should they be maintaining the beloved windows xp still?
Agreed. I’m just looking at the machines that were purchased at the launch of Win 11, but might not have had the proper hardware to transition off 10. I would assume that computers on a that cusp will mostly support 11, but if the extended updates were free, it would ensure those machines would have had 7 years of security updates - which seems like a reasonable lifespan for a computer these days.
Making those updates free would also mean computers that were 13+ years old were also getting security updates, so maybe my recommendation is overkill.
At some point you just need to move on and stop taking customer service calls from people with old hardware.
Agreed. I’m just looking at the machines that were purchased at the launch of Win 11, but might not have had the proper hardware to transition off 10.
Windows 11 launched in 2021. The bare minimum hardware (8th gen intel) is from 2017. If you were buying 5+ year old hardware in 2021 then that’s on you.
Don’t forget the TPM module! Which has also been pretty damn ubiquitous on mobos for a long ass time.
This is all just clickbait and easy upvotes on lemmy with the big pro-linux movement.
TPM is built into the CPU of all 8th gen and ryzen 2000 series CPUs. The module is only needed for older systems.
The module is only needed for older systems.
Not needed at all. If you’re installing it on an older system, you’re already bypassing the requirements so why bother with a TPM?
I’m seriously thinking of trying Linux when Windows 11 is forced. My computer has the specs to run it, but I’m just tired of Windows and Microsoft.
Or you could try Tiny11, which is basically Windows 11 but much less Microsofty 😉
Ah, the WIntel cartel is at it again. Planned obsolescence.
The incompatible hardware is more than seven years old at this point.
The problem is that that hardware, and older, is still perfectly capable of preforming modern desktop tasks. I have a 12 year old Athlon FX 8320 with 32GB RAM that works great, not the most efficient processor in terms of energy but runs everything well, yet it’s not supported. Honestly I don’t give a shit about Winblows, I work with Linux (system administrator) and I only use Win10 for some gaming. That said, I have a newer Ryzen 9 5950X with 128GB RAM to work with virtualization, and it will stay on Win10 till no longer being sustainable.
Yes. But to be fair they would have ended up there anyway.
I’ve got a computer with a copy of XP on it that still runs. Not connected to the Internet anymore, but it still functions as a computer otherwise.
So does anyone have a good strategy for transferring non giant things? Like I have a ton of unorganized pictures, documents, videos dating back to my 2009 1TB HDD that still works.
I think I want to run Debian mostly because I don’t know any other build well. Well RHEL, but I want to keep it similar to the Steam Deck as I can
If you want to play games, then Debian isn’t that good of a choice because of the outdated packages. I’d suggest getting a new SSD though. Your HDD is already pretty old and slow and could potentially fail soon, so you might as well get some fresh storage. Makes it easy to test distros too until you found something satisfactory, at which point you can transfer over your old data and eventually format your old HDD into some sort of backup drive I guess.
Linux Mint is a pretty solid option for a desktop OS. And it feels quite a bit like Debian.
I installed Tiny11 on my ancient potato of a laptop to extend its life without having to do without the easy compatibility of Windows OR deal with the bloat and other bullshit Microsoft forces on you.
So far it’s accomplished all of that admirably while being as lightweight and stable as Lubuntu, the Linux distro I had it running before!
Btw, this might be relevant to your interests as well and though it might sound like it, none of the things mentioned and linked in this comment are in any way illegal 😁
Cool, a prime opportunity to scalp even more old machines by the end of the decade once they become valuable.