11:30 "Experience over the past few years indicates that security and other basic updates will be received just fine; however, there will be no feature updates to the next version of Windows 11. And so, to maintain security updates, a reinstall roughly once a year may be required." I'm misunderstanding something here. If the security updates come through, why would an annual reinstall be required to maintain security updates?
Because versions of Windows 11 (like all other Windows versions) only receive updates for a certain period of time -- typically two years, but on average there will be a year to go when you install. And this means that eventually you have to install the next feature update, or you'll be back without security patches. For example, Windows 11 22H2 reached end of support in October 2024. 23H2 is supported until October 2025, and 24H2 to October 2026. So right now is a great time to do an unofficial update, as it will be supported until October 2026, after which a reinstall will be required to continue to have support.
@@alkohallick2901this is how it always has worked since win 7. There are major feature releases, usually twice per year, and security updates only apply to that feature release after a period of time. So if you stay on an older feature release, it must be updated to a more recent feature release to get security updates.
@@ExplainingComputers Wait hold the freakin' phone?!!??!? Windows is purposelly making older versions of windows 10 and 11 updates obsolete within three years AFTER it was introduced 4 years ago!?!?! That's freakin' insane!!....Personally, I'm staying on WIndows 10 until Steam doesn't support windows 10 anymore, and then I'm moving to linux and such. Thankfully some programs like Slack still work without the updates, but who knows how long many of the applications from windows 10 will run until they become just as obsolete as Mac OS X Lion/Maverick.
At this point, it will be "the last version of Windows" but not the way Microsoft thought it would be. There is a high probability that we are witnessing the renaissance era of computing.
I wonder if it’s because Apple stopped making their yearly MacOS versions 10.X, and instead went back to their naming scheme from the classic macintosh days. Apple is at MacOS 15 now btw, so I’m not sure if Microsoft moving to 11 was even that good of a move from a marketing standpoint.
Yes, I moved to MacOS in 2009 and have never looked back. I still have one old laptop that isn’t Windows 11 capable and when it dies it will have been my last Windows machine.
@@brumm3653 Yep - I'm running on 4 core, 8 thread 32GB pc that's gone from windows 7->10. And now it's junk in 1 year (as far as official windows is concerned)
I'm 72 and with no qualifications my working life was totally as a labourer, but my home computer has run Ubuntu since 2005. And build my own computers as well. And I don't miss Windows one bit...
@@OctavioGaitan I'm running linux, with steam, proton, wine... you can run almost every games on linux flawlessly. except if you're want to play fortnite, COD and some games with stupid krnel-level anti-cheat.
I typically laugh at Linux users for trying to convince literally every Windows user to make the switch, even in cases when switching to Linux isn't viable, but honestly you deserve MASSIVE respect from me, so you will get it.
Same with me! What took us the extra five years? (For me it was date-create timestamps in NTFS, and because I couldn't read btime from Ext4 until GNU Coreutils stat 8.32 which was released on 2020-01-28 despite having been in the kernel since Linux 2.6.30 released 2009-06-08. Still working on the transition to store the times in extended attributes rather than the file name hahah)
The breaches of privacy and lack of control in Windows now is egregious,. I remember seeing somewhere that Linux desktop market share rose close to 5% for the first time. I really hope this is a self-reinforcing trend where more usage leads to more developers supporting it and then more people feeling comfortable using it. Microsoft was right that Windows 10 will be the last windows, if only just for me. Made a switch to Linux Mint years ago and have never looked back.
Not just for you, but for me too. I'm going to hang on to Win 10 as long as I can, they'll prolly offer security updates after EOL. However I've already started using open source applications and they're surprisingly better after you get used to them, so many options like old software used to have, new software tends to dictate how you should use it. I don't know which flavour of Linux yet, Maybe Unbuntu, Debian, or SteamOS. I heard a little of mint, but it didn't sound like my cuppa tea. However sounded great for people who wanted a Windows like experience and ease of use if I recall correctly. Still I love my command line, even in Windows.
@@Commander_ZiN I've been thinking of Linux OSs, including those on smartphones that would end up discontinued, just so I can still use it for web browsing, gaming, etc. So for me, Linux would be better in terms of personal work and such, but for gaming, Windows 11 is the way to go, but definitely not for my personal work and such. And if I need to open a program from windows into linux, WINE is the one I got to and it boots the programs pretty well, despite graphical issues.
@@SuperFlashDriverYou're not stuck with Windows if you're a gamer. If you use STEAM then Linux is an option, via WINE and SteamOS. I'm considering it.
@@SuperFlashDriver Games are one of my primary purposes, AMD graphics cards are actually more stable on Linux I hear. Also the SteamDeck and SteamOS are Linux and many games run without Wine and very well. The more people that switch to Linux the more games companies make native Linux games like back in the day. Still dual boot is an option but I won't ever use Win11, the things I know about it and the ugliness of it, it's just a nope from me. I'd rather keep using Win10 behind a strong firewall. People still use Win7 after all, but it'll be my secondary OS only. I've heard talk of a Win12 because of low adoption of Win11 and every second OS is the good one, that's the rule at MS. Bad = 95, ME, Vista, 8, 11 Good = 98, XP, 7, 10 -> 12? Still I don't expect M$ to change course, I expect all M$ OS's from here out to be a money grab by taking your information and using it to sell you stuff invasively.
@@encodersofia I hope so. I already have a Win 11 computer, but I'd still like to be able to keep using my surprisingly snappy 2015 celeron acer all in one on Windows 10, which is still a very capable side computer.
I believe Windows 10 support will be extended for awhile longer just as they've been known to do before. They scare people into upgrading and then extend support at the last minute for those that haven't upgraded.
Most businesses will do this just so they don't have to do anything at all because upgrading or replacing hundreds or thousands of computers would be a massive financial undertaking....not that paying for extended support is cheap, but there's a lot less labor involved by being able to use a few keystrokes and update the OS security than to have the physical labor and sometimes outsource a tech company to come in and do all the physical computer upgrades. I'm still on the fence what to do. I don't mind using windows, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money to buy a new computer when what I have works just fine...so I may try to figure out how to use one of the many versions of Linux. Most of what I do anymore is online anyhow...and I think Libre Office is a good alternative to MS Office so I may go the Linux route...my problem would be trying to get my printers to work with Linux, and I don't really want to have to buy new printers either.
This is blatant extortion. Charging for security updates on THEIR software because Microsoft MADE their latest OS is incompatible with perfectly working PC hardware! Absolute extrotion!
Just leave, I did, Mac OS works just fine! The only way to make these greedy companies suffer, is just to not buy their products! anymore! One day, Microsoft will pay for their intentional extortion!
It's not realistic to expect backwards compatibility forever, especially if you don't want (even more) bloatware. Hardware and software both move on - either move with it, or don't complain.
You must realize there is more to it than that, don't you? TPM was originally going to be required to run Vista, but Microsoft backed off on that for obvious reasons, since TPM was brand new at the time. They've been encouraging to PC industry to include TPM modules ever since. With Windows 11 they've finally gone all the way and required TPM. For desktops, it's no big deal. I bought a TPM module for $20 and installed it. Other computers support a firmware based virtual TPM. The only reason people really don't want to upgrade to Windows 11 is because it sucks. There is nothing about Win 11 that makes people want to run it, regardless of the TPM requirement.
@@shadowknows42 I don't get the hate for W11. I've been running it since it came out and it's been excellent. I've had no issues with it whatsoever, and it's still fast - doesn't seem to be slowing down with age as previous versions did. I can get that many W10 users may think there's no real reason to upgrade, but to say that W11 "sucks" is... well, it doesn't.
@@ziljin *"The only concern is online security"* There is no concern. I have _far_ more apprehension about using an out-of-the-way ATM at night than I do about connecting a Windows 7 --- or Vista, or XP, etc. --- PC to the Web. Which is to say none at all. In 21 years of XP, Vista, and 7, the last 10 years of which Windows 7 was "unsupported", I have never once used anti-virus software. I have had one single serious virus many years ago, and I knew full well that it was my fault.
Windows 7 here too... I have a strong feeling that this will be my OS for the rest of my life no bloatware, no spywere, no anoyware... it is light, fast I keep getting browser warnings about end of support but I will just keep switching browsers or use version spoofers to be able to continue online
@@doveofdestiny I've done just that. I purchased a Dell XPS early in the year. If has slots for 2 SSDs.. I have Win11 on one, Linux Mint22 on the other. Dual boot by pressing f12 during boot to select the boot device. Works awesome !!! Rarely do I use the Win11 boot. Linux is my daily driver.
My plan is now clear and fixed in my mind. Linux (Mint) will be my "daily driver". Windows 10 will be Offline Only whenever I need to use it, and I expect this need to diminish to zero over the 12 months following end of support. I've been winding up to this scenario for some time by increasing my Linux use and learning the OS in preparation. I will not miss Microsoft and their intrusive, controlling ways once they're gone !
After dabbling in Linux for more than two decades, I finally made the choice to officially switch two weeks ago. I settled on Mint for the same reasons user-pb1er1zo1n mentioned. I still got a dedicated Windows machine as a safety net but I haven't found a need to even turn it on. Work, game, other tasks.... every single thing I did in Windows I can do in Linux. And yeah, ever since Ubuntu switched to that Unity UI, it's been a train wreck.
@@LilaHikes Likewise I dabbled with Linux for many years, keeping an eye on its development and waiting for a distro I judged to be mature enough for daily use. Out of 3 or 4 candidates I chose Mint simply because I like how easy it is to configure the way it looks and behaves. I'd be happy to use other distros too, but I've invested a lot of time into Mint so it makes sense to stick with it now, and my wife has used Mint exclusively for a few years with no problems whatsoever. If it ain't broke, why fix it ?
One can look at it in another way... Most users do not use their computer systems on the internet all that much anymore, because of the resilience of smartphone/tablet device technologies today, so I personally do not think it is anything to to concerned about. I have just loaded Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 3 in the last 72 hours, using it offline and it is working an absolute treat, especially when playing music back on Windows Media Player 9. It is quite fast on my 11 year old i3 system. 😊👍👌💯
I am migrating to Linux Mint. Using a dual boot option I am currently running 50/50 or maybe as high as 75/25 Linux Mint to Windows 10. This slow start has provided a smooth transition into Linux and program selections. The more I use Linux the more I like it.
Yea, its pretty good. Big tip for new users, look up "graphical user interfaces" (GUI or some combination of those 3 words) for the programs you want to use (like wine), so you don't have to do it the hard way in command line. Most of them come pre-configured and work with couple of clicks, instead of needing you to figure out settings. Might take couple of tries to find a good one, so don't give up if first thing you try fails. Also avoid flatpacks, they are finicky. Most of them still work, and can be good idea for stuff you want to sandbox, but they take up 10 times the space and have hard time staying up to date.
Did the same thing. Haven´t booted into Windows for like 3 months now. Need to be more selective with new mice, kb, etc. in the future for linux support.
The only thing as certain as people switching to Linux for their desktop is them switching back shortly thereafter. It has been that way for the 31 years I've been using it. Unless you're a software developer who spends their day inside VSCode or a JetBrains IDE and a terminal window you're going to hate Linux.
Well,you can force a windows 11 update on unsupported hardware with /product server and an iso. This is what I did to my machines 2 years ago without issues.
Chris is 100% correct. As always, to be honest. Quality material. P.S.: I think I'll stick to my main rig being a proper VM host and experiment with other/more mobile devices. See, the bright side is the MS is almost forcing all of us to finally leave Windows behind and start using proper tools fit for certain tasks (Just as the Old Gods of IT intended).
XP was my first OS (my favorite Windows), I technically used some older ones at school and family PCs though, I recommend looking into Linux Mint or CachyOS. Good luck.
Same here - I started with Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and will stop with Windows 10. I've transitioned my current laptop to Linux Mint 22 and I find that I like it WAY more than Windows. I do have a couple of pieces of software that I need to run under Windows. For now, I still run Windows 10 on my 2 desktop machines, but If I can get the couple of programs I need under Windows to run in Wine or Bottles, I'll ditch Windows forever. I may need to look into running a Windows VM for those couple of programs - or maybe I'll just bite the bullet and find Linux equivalents (but I can't stand the thought of the money spent on software to be abandoned...). Frankly, I'd be happy to see Microsoft crash and burn. They are a company built on a foundation of deceit and theft, all the way back to when Gates stole DOS. Take care and God Bless.
I began worrying about this at the start of this year. My computer by a means should be able to run W11, but Microsoft's artificial requirements meant officially upgrading wasn't an option. I decided to switch to Linux Mint. It's been working pretty well so far.
Their VERY invasive & spy filled "Recall" to me, is a BIG indicator where Microsoft wants to head as a company. They want to spy & basically take over our computers. In one video, they referrenced how Microsoft switched the "MY COMPUTER" acronym to "This PC", hinting that they want us to basically consider PC"S running Windows OS as their own and NOT OURS.
Switch to Linux Mint. I did it back on January 14, 2020, the last day of support for Windows 7, and I've never been sorry. I can remember the date easily- it was also my 78th birthday! Installed Mint on my desktop and both laptops. Most intuitive switch from Windows of the 6 OS that I sampled, and I highly recommend it!
I just bought some old laptops, which cannot run Windows 11. I plan on running Linux Mint and Peppermint OS on these old laptops. I am so glad I can use Linux as an alternative!
I'm just enjoying what feels like a much more peaceful OS instead. That is, Linux Mint. An OS that let's you use it without nagging or interrupting you at all.
The "worst nagging" I've ever seen with Linux Mint is That red dot on the update shield, notifying me that there are updates available IF I CHOOSE. Me, I can't help but to do those pesky updates because my OCD won't let me have that red doc mocking my sloth attitude to computer maintenance. But normal Linux Mint users would probably simply ignore the dot. Me? Not so much.
I run Linux Mint on both a Thinkpad T460 laptop and a Dell OptiPlex 9020 desktop. Generally I'm very happy with it, though the upgrade process from Mint 21 to Mint 22 left a lot to be desired.
I run Zorin OS, but I still know what you mean. Windows is noisy. By that, I mean it distracts from work. Too many pointless push notifications, ads, mandatory system update restarts, etc. Now they are nagging users to buy new machines? No more. It was the last straw.
Some time late 2019 I switched exclusively to Linux from Windows 7 just before end of support. For a few years before that I had my machine dual booted with Linux Mint, and only used windows for gaming. Windows games just either did not work back then or was just way to much hassle to get working. (for me). Things have really improved now though. It was of no great hardship to me, as I had been repurposing other peoples through away (windows) laptops that could barely run windows and a web browser at the same time when new, nevermind after a few years of updates. I built a new 16 core amd machine for myself 2 years ago, I run Manjaro on it. No problems, no crashes, a reboot once a month after updates as and when I choose to install them. No corporate control over my pc anymore. It does just about everything I was able to do in windows7. Most of my Game library in steam play as reliably as they did in windows. There are a few exceptions though. I have never got my logitech driving wheel and pedals to work as well, and some games not at at all. It has been well over a year from I tried last, that may or may not have been solved yet. Linux can be is a steep learning curve, occasionally I have to look for instructions online, and I have been playing with it in the background alongside windows for 20+ years. Although I have had my hands on computers from the early '80s so may be somewhat more adaptable and have more of an interest than most everyday users? There is however no shortage of information if you are willing to learn. Everyone had to learn how to use windows, mac OS or whatever OS that it is they are familiar with. Is Linux for everyone? I doubt it, that would depend on each persons use case. You can only but try it, or one of the many other OS options available. If you have an old pc or laptop you just stopped using or replaced because it was to slow, I highly recommend giving it a go, you will be surprised just how usable/quick in comparison that machine will be for internet browsing, or use as a media center etc etc.
'completely artificial requirements' - nail on head. So far, I've only got a copy of W10 on my iMac (for rare occasions I might need something), but one answer is to not buy into their game in the first place - hard to do for most consumers and Linux can only go so far at the moment (same with Macs). It won't be too long before most up-to-date machines will be incompatible with W12+ due to similar artificial requirements. If you don't like what the beast is doing, stop feeding it.
I don't want to sound like a Linux fanboy (which I totally am, sorry!), but I can only agree partially with this: "hard to do for most consumers and Linux can only go so far at the moment (same with Macs)". Currently it might be tricky, but that is because it has been kept so in a totally artificial sense. A few good examples from Microsoft themselves are their Visual Code editor and SQL Server software that actually runs natively on Linux. Therefore the fact that things like MS Office does not run natively on Linux is a purely artificial limitation. There are ways around these limitations right now, and by doing a modest amount of research you will be able to move everything worth doing on a computer from Windows to Linux (or even the reverse if you are that way inclined). Therefore I cannot agree with "Linux can only go so far" (however I do agree about Macs, they offer a strange little walled garden which seems to work for some people), with intent Linux can go absolutely all the way right now. It is entirely possible to be 100% productive with Linux in all but a few ultra-niche areas of computing.
*"...but one answer is to not buy into their game in the first place - hard to do for most consumers..."* It's the opposite: Refusing to downgrade to a newer OS is the easiest thing in the world for _most_ consumers --- including both Joe Gamer/User and businesses with large installations who don't relish significant disruptions. For a minority it may be difficult to do.
@@bricaaron3978 If the machine comes with Windows, they've already bought into it, especially if they are not overly technically-minded and unlikely to change OS. Most consumers will also buy what they are familiar with, despite which, it is still uncommon (although not unheard of) for a machine to be sold with a Linux distro.
@@ExplainingComputers one positive side effect is that it makes it easy to get cheaper second hand unsupported hardware for homelab / hobby server use.
@ExplainingComputers Can I be annoying, and throw in some economics into the conversation? The current situation shows we have a recession in play, even if the officials don't want to admit it yet. And given all of the indicators, it will probably become an economic depression. So people already are feeling the financial strain... just how likely are they going to buy a new computer, just to please Microsoft? I don't see it happening, and it could mean a company swoops in, and gives an alternative to Windows taking away a huge number of people in the process. This is a dangerous game Microsoft is playing. It can easily destroy them.
@@ExplainingComputers expressly!! But they said windows 10 would've being the last big release and that they would've update it continusly in long term, but it will be updated for less time compared to win7 or xp, so they lied, and anyway there was no reason to release win11 this soon.
It isn't like they couldn't just add that telemetry piece by piece through upgrades, in fact I suspect that is exactly the plan if people don't move to Windows 11 en mass. They will just make it part of critical security updates, as I understand it they are linking recall to explorer for update purposes which goes to show that they aren't going to allow anyone to really avoid the telemetry.
@@ExplainingComputers The company didn't state that, an employee hinted at it. I think that it was about Windows10 becoming more like a rolling distro on Linux, except not doing it well. Which raises the question why Microsoft still needs a new version, if you roll then you don't because you get a lot of gradual changes. My conclusion: their motivation for Windows11 and later versions is that sweet money by selling new licenses.
I bought an extra SSD and installed Ubuntu on it to dual boot on a PC that cannot be upgraded to Win 11. So far I boot into Linux far more than to Win 10 now and it does the job for me just fine.
When you are ready Clonezilla will clone your external SSD onto to internal drive, providing of course the internal drive has sufficient capacity to match the partitions on your external SSD. That way you do not have to redo all the customisation you have added.
Moved to Linux Mint the day that copilot showed up on my taskbar uninvited. W11 was garbage from the get-go, so it felt great dumping microsoft. It's certainly a learning process, but I'm actually loving it. I feel much more capable and really enjoy gaining a perspective on how complex an OS is. Thank you for the informative video.
I put Zorin OS on my Windows 10 laptop recently. Windows was sluggish, but Zorin runs beautifully. I gave it to my teenage daughter, who reports that it is easy to use and compatible with Steam and other applications she uses. Great overview. Thanks!
I have been running Linux Mint now for a few weeks problem free thanks to Explaining Computers and I am certain that Windows 10 is definitely a final version for me. Many thanks Chris for all your help.
@@johnknight9150 It certainly played a major role in my decisions as Chris has a unique way of explaining and covering most of the finer details of his many subjects that make it much easier to follow along. I have tried other Linux distros such as Ubuntu, KDE neon and Zorin over time but have found Mint to be the most stable and reliable for my needs.
Thanks Christopher for covering this subject and offering some really sensible solutions and alternatives. My strategy has worked for me thus far: I run an Archlinux distro and a fork of the DWM window-manager (although the environment is purely preferential). I use this as my daily driver and am quite satisfied but I have very specialized applications that must run in Windows. For those, I have simply created a VM of the needed Windows version and just use that when I need to. The strategy is very seamless and is quite satisfactory. It isn't going to be everyone's alternative but it paints an example for those with similar needs. I do enjoy these video and they are very helpful! Cheers man!
After Microsoft announced Windows 10 end of support date, it feels like the final push that I need to finally daily drive Linux in which what I'm currently in right now and has been for a few months. previously however I tried Linux for years on and off but always returning to Windows because it is a transition that requires some learning curve and for the first few years I'm overwhelmed on takling it all in, this repeats for a while and coming back in everytime made it more bearable until where I am now where I'm more comfortable with Linux than Windows, in the past I wouldn't believe that this was possible few years ago but I'm glad it is now.
After 30 years of Windows on my desktop and 5 years of Linux/NixOS on my laptop, I switched fully to NixOS. Setup was somewhat complicated but it's shocking how there are almost more things that work out-of-the-box on Linux than on Windows now.
I've been trying Zorin OS for my chosen Linux distro, and I've been loving it! Especially for a graphics display that is not officially supported on Windows 11. Zorin OS with the Krita paint program has done wonders for me as a digital hobby artist.
Here we go again, eh? This 'end of support thing' from Microsoft becomes more and more inconvenient as I get older and time becomes more precious. Thank you Chris for telling us about the options. The extended security updates were the biggest surprise to me: an option I didn't know existed. I've got my fingers crossed that this option will be affordable... this will truly be a chance for Microsoft to 'show its quality' for the home user and for the environment... or will they try to make as much money from it as possible? Thanks again, and congrats on the 1M+ subs!
Yeah, every time I boot up a Win10/11 device, it spends four hours pulling and installing updates. I've begun disabling updates either partially (no more feature updates) or entirely, not only because it's a pain but because if they remove usability (as is currently being threatened), that's not worth it.
Wouldn't be surprised if the Home user pricing will be similar to the commercial pricing for extended service. Microsoft isn't very home user friendly either....and many schools use the Chromebooks which is another waste of money because after a few years they no longer receive updates either...so you are forced to toss the machine in the trash, or figure out a way to install a different OS on it.
I very much doubt the extended support price for consumers will make many people happy. Microsoft is not exactly known for their altruistic attitude. My guess is they will price it right in the middle of school and enterprise versions ... at roughly 31/62/124 bucks per year. That would be about 217 dollars for the three years, which is absolutely ridiculous, of course. To me, anything above 5/10/20, for a total of 35, is unacceptable. We shall see.
@@Gaius__ In which case I'll look into dual-booting my laptop with Linux... although I'm already dual booting Windows 7 and 10. It's an old laptop, but it was a very high spec gaming laptop back in its day.
@@ForViewingOnly Yep, dual-booting with a Linux distro as daily driver, or running Windows in a VM for the very few things one actually needs it for, is the best and easiest solution.
My course of action will be the same as with the end of support of all previous versions of Windows. I will continue using Linux as my primary OS, and will continue to use the out-of-support version of Windows to play games (which is, at most, a couple of hours on weekends) until it comes time to upgrade my hardware. I have an i5-6500 that isn't supported by Windows 11, but is still working perfectly fine and runs everything I need it to. There is no need to throw it in the trash until it's unable to run what I need, or the hardware fails. And my plan is, when I do upgrade, that this machine will become a home server, running Linux.
With tremendous irony, the only system I have that can officially run Win11 is also the slowest and least competent hardware (out of about 25 years worth of working systems in the house).
If you put in an SSD, your Skylake processor will do almost everything you need, there is no reason to ditch it. You strategy is what so many others are also going to do. Might even go down to Windows 7 for extra RAM usage as newer Windows 10 versions are resource hogs.
A few years ago I came across your videos and you convinced me to give Linux another chance. I had tried Linux years earlier and it was not where I could transfer over due to lack of support. After watching some of your videos I jumped back into Linux and tried a lot of different distros and have settled into Mint as my daily machine and never looked back. Thank you for all the videos and helping people break free from Windows.
One of the benefits will be a glut of perfectly fine PC's on the second user market - all ready for the picking.... 🙂 A very concise video Chris and very illuminating...
Like all the old machines that everyone has already grabbed and have been selling for ridiculous prices the past several years...nothing new in that realm of ideas. When I was in school they were literally throwing 286/386/486 machines in the trash because they weren't worth anything....now people are selling them for hundreds of dollars LOL.
@@wildbill23c 2- 3- 4- 86 machines are selling on a collectors' market by now. The "just old computers" are the ones that have Core processors up to about the 5th or 6th generation. Thinkpads can be a bit pricey, and some people ask a lot, but there are still good values to be found. I shrink from spending more than NZD$200 for a laptop, and that is very little money indeed.
I moved my computers to Fedora Linux after I heard about Microsoft Recall being foisted upon ALL Windows 11 PCs. I'm loving Linux and the freedom it gives me. I remember when Microsoft said Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows. Well...for me it was.
I run a pretty clean and tidy windows11 installation. I turned my computer on today and while looking up another program in my search I saw it "windows co-pilot" and I went I specifically disabled that plus everything related to it. They went and re-installed/enabled without my consent
Running Debian and have been for the past 5 years. Take solace in knowing you made the small effort to learn something new and are now free from that abhorrent ecosystem.
I try linux once every 10 years.. after installing it and trying to install some basic thing like VLC player and getting the usual 10 thousand line error code I imediatly format the PC ... last time was in 2021 .. crashed after 15 minutes so in 2031 I will try again... I dont have patience for linux... that OS is trash, has been trash and continue to be trash forever
@@fft2020 That sounds like you not actually knowing how to use it, or refusing to look up basic instructions on how to install something like VLC. You're not even trying my guy and then you act like anything you refuse to figure out is trash rather than you failing yourself.
I have 2 computers; both running Windows 7. One for the office, the other for home entertainment/streaming. I shop online all the time, and have never had any security issues. Using stock Windows security.
Greeting Chris, For Windows program compatibility, I have switched to Mac but have also been running Linux for many years now. When I retire in a few years and no longer “require” Windows, it will be banished from my home. For the most part though, the Windows devices I see are in corporate environments and embedded devices which are LTSC versions. My job requires me to deal with them. I have come across a few offline Windows XP computers that people refuse to give up. Fun stuff. Stay well!
Fellow UA-camr Chris Titus Tech, he discovered previous week that Windows now enables Recall by default outside the EU-zone. His community makes the most popular Windows-install-script with a GUI to install Windows as much debloated as possible, that is how they discovered it. Anyone who can stop using Windows, I recommend it. If you can't, then consider dualbooting with 2 separate SSD's and use Windows only for that 1 program. It also is possible to just run Windows in a VM for such programs but depending on the program you might need to pass a graphics card to the VM and in the case of some popular games even that won't suffice because the game-developer detects that you use a VM and does not allow it.
For most games no need to fiddle around with VM's anymore. Thanks to Valve proton and wine just work out of the box on linux, except for games with kernel level anti cheat with might ban you. Just look up the games, if there's no shitty anti cheat, it most likely runs just fine - sometimes even better than on native windows :D
@@nimonater I have been gaming exclusively on Arch Linux since 2020. Mostly it is fine but there are few caveats. The anti-cheat games from which the developer block it on Linux (around 50%, give and take 10%), some problematic older games (Far Cry3 did not run properly on my PC the last time) and in rare cases some problems with shadercaching. Borderlands3 did not run well on Epic, but runs well on Steam, you get some bad stutter on Epic due to shadercaching not being done properly, after some time of playing you got stutters of more than 100 ms for 1 frame. But mostly gaming on Linux is as simple as installing the game via Steam, Lutris (installing the launcher) or Heroic and the game will work. However, if you want the best performance then make sure that radv (mesa) is set as the default driver, when amdvlk gets used some games (for Deus Ex Mankind Divided it was day and night difference) will give a much worse performance. So yes, we can game fine on Linux. Even if you like battlearena-shooters, Apex is a fun game which I play myself, I also regularly win a match with my partner.
It's VERY EASY for a multi-billion dollar company to feel that others can afford to spend even a few hundred dollars on something they are already using and happy to be with.
My gaming PC is on Windows 11, as I was somewhat forced to upgrade. Laptop is on Ubuntu. All the PCs at my school are either chromebooks for the students and Windows 10 for the teacher PCs, Canteen tills and Notice board TVs. We also have IT rooms full of windows 10 PCs, and the DT rooms also use windows 10 (except the pc used for the CNC Lathe, which is windows 7. Guessing it's because the CAD software doesn't support windows 10). What's cool is that the stations around the school for singing onto the printer and resetting your password actually use Raspberry Pi OS Desktop! Don't ask how I know all this (especially because I'm a student 😂)
My favorite CNC machinery all used some for of Windblows, but they all also booted directly into the control interface so you never had to interact with Windoze at all. As I recall, they all used Windblows 7, although the more ancient ones may have run XP. I don't remember. Then again, most of them were not connected to the internet in the first place so upgrading was unnecessary. One place had all 11 machines hooked up to a local network. Another place I worked had them connected to the internet, and one kid got busted for watching UA-cam videos on his machine _while he worked._ A great way to lose a finger. Or hand.
@@f_worst_nightmare4499 Yeah, I need to install 7 on a virtual machine for the ONE flash game I like to play that I haven't been able to get to work on Linux. I don't play games much, but I like that one.
I am a recent Linux Mint convert (many thanks to Explaining Computers) running a dual boot with offline W10 for my GPS applications. One of your videos used the adjective 'calm' to describe Linux Mint and that is a great way of describing the Linux experience when comparing with the later Windows OS. I use a W11 PC at work and Linux is much more relaxing to use.
My 10-year-old laptop was really struggling with Windows updates, each update made it slower and harder to use. But three years ago, I decided to switch to Linux Mint, and after upgrading the hardware, it started running like a dream!
@@George196207 In my case, upgrading the hardware made a significant difference. I upgraded the RAM, replaced the HDD with an SSD for faster performance, and also upgraded the WiFi chip. Along with these hardware changes, I'm running Linux Mint, which has been working really well after the upgrades. The combination of the hardware upgrades and using Linux Mint has noticeably improved the system's performance.
@@George196207 Linux doesn't work with "every" hardware stuff. When making a computer for a Linux OS you first need to be sure that the hardware you choose is OK. That's the case very often, but sometime it's not that simple, mainly with graphic cards, wifi adapters and also with quite a lot of printers. So if you already have a computer, list the components and search on the net to ensure that every element is OK with Linux. It's easy with a desktop, more difficult with a laptop.
There is a fourth category of users that, being disillusioned with Win10 and finding privacy and security issues with Win11, begin looking seriously at Linux.
That’s me 🤚 I’ve used dual boot Ubuntu/win10 for several years now and once I saw the copilot feature and how it watches everything, stores passwords and credit cards in plain text, and can’t even be removed because it destroys windows explorer (it’s a dependency because they know people would just uninstall it), that’s when I was like 🤷♀️ okay full Linux for me then!
I'm strongly considering switching to Linux rn, especially when Win10 will be getting older and older, the only thing holding me back is the incompatibility issues you get with Linux and software
@@TheDeadMeme27 there’s Wine (windows environment emulator) for some things but a full switch is likely gonna mean you have to find an equivalent for some software on Linux or use a cloud service. Another upside to Linux though is majority of Linux software is open source.
@@TheDeadMeme27 I use Linux Mint and Libre Office for the office suite. I am also looking into Manuskript for my novels. LibreOffice or Only Office are both drop-in replacements for MS Office. Firefox does it for the web. All GIT apps are native under Linux, etc. The only issues I have are that DAZ3D only runs under Win 10 (Not Win 11, as near as I can tell). BTW, I absolutely refuse to get an OS under the subscription model. When I buy something, it is MINE forever.
I've already unplugged my Windows 10 machine from the internet, as I only use it to drive a vinyl cutter/printer. It's a Roland with proprietary windows/mac drivers and software. Everything else including gaming is done on my Linux Mint machine.
I gifted my parents with a ChromeOS laptop years ago and they've been quite happy with it. I'm technically inclined, so I've been using Debian for 10 years (after a shaky experience with Ubuntu). I think consumers should organise and fund developers to fill in the usability issues of Linux apps to make them real alternatives to Windows.
On my webpage I am always impressed how many users still use Windows 7 only. (I can see it on the log files of my web server, but I can also see that guys still download the windows 7 and/or 32 bit software only instead of downloading the much faster 64 bit Windows 10 version)
I've switched to Mint for my main OS as putting up with Windows 10's annoyances are made even worse with Win11 from my experience. It was an easy change as most of what I need is word processing for work and playing the occasional game which WINE does a fantastic job. In my experience Mint is fantastic to wean off the Windows platform and requires very few (if any depending on the use) terminal commands which is a big block to less experienced PC users.
which ver of mint you use? i used cinnamon and it DOES EAT 100gb of disk, so i ditched it and go to pop os(ubuntu-based also) and it does darn good for dgpu(mine using nvidia gpu) and it super lite and running well
Hi! I was very surprised to read that Mint consumes so much disk space. I used to use it myself and that wasn't my experience; I still think it's an excellent distribution. I wonder if you followed all their initial setup suggestions. Among them, one is configuring timeshift to make system snapshots. Depending on how many snapshots you allow it to keep, timeshift will use more or less disk space. Making or keeping fewer snapshots may have resulted in lower disk space use for you. This is just my guess though, sorry if I'm completely wrong!
It feels like I've only just had to replace my Windows 7 laptop and PC, and now I'm getting THIS video suggested to me. Damn you, Microtwots! 😡 Thanks for the heads up and info though 👍
Windows 10 is the last Microsoft OS I'll ever buy. When it's no longer possible to use I'll be jumping ship to other. There is absolutely nothing in Win11 that I want or need, but plenty of things I don't like or want to avoid. Win11 is not a better product and so far has been a productivity step backwards (don't even get me started on all the issues with new Office versions). After using Windows for 35-40 years (I was CP/M before that), I shall be parting ways with MS when Win10 finally dies. I've already moved one family member onto ChromeFlex as they are 100% web based in their use case... and they couldn't be happier.
Already started to make the switch to linux about 8 months ago and have been daily driving since. I am dual booting but rarely use windows unless i want to play a multiplayer game with anti cheat that doesn't like linux
Presentation reminds me of school of 2002. Feel sleepy and everything...lol But am happy to get the info and am thankful of the presentation nostalgia!
I still miss Windows 7. Best version ever. The file explorer actually listed all the files with no delay. Every WinOS since shows a spinny circle when doing anything in file explorer
Dear Christopher, I just found that my computer became W11 ready by updating motherboard firmware. It's worth checking it. Thank you for your great job. Best regards from Madrid, Spain.
I'm a math teacher. Im taking this year to move all of my class material into LateX. The OS will be Ubuntu. So far its working out much better that i thought it would. Been using MS word since 2003.
As an IT professional and windows admin, who has been forced to use windows 11 at work, I have recently installed Linux Mint on my personal laptop. I also have VirtualBox installed and am planning on running Windows 10 IoT enterprise in a VM until that loose support in 2032, at which time I should be fully Linux and possibly Mac OS based
I'm no VM pro, but I wonder...if you're running a Windows instance in a VM on a protected Linux machine, is the Windows then safe also in spite of no security updates from Microsoft?
One of the theoretical options I've not heard much about: upgrade a TPMv1 to TPMv2 ? How many people have looked into that ? (not that I will do that, I've been a Linux user for decades)
I DOWNLOADED WINDOWS 11 on APril and also RUFUS. I did the whole procedure with RUFUS and copiyed to the usb. Now ican install it to my pc at any time i want but havent decided when to do it. What is the best way to install11? Do during this 1 year from the usb that icopied it with rufus? or wit until support ends and then change cpu ram and motherboard and install it through Windows Update? MINE MONSTER PC IS RYZEN 7 1700 RX 6700XT 12 GB RED DEVIL 16 GB DDR4 3200MHZCL15 MP 600 2TB WRITE:4950MB/S READ:4250MB/S DELLP2416D 24'' 2560X1440 60 HZ IPS From price and eprfomance it seems the best choice for cpu ram and ????motherboard will be at this time ryzen 9700x 32 gb ddr5 64 00mhz and X870 motherboard? So what is best to do from the two ways to install 11?
@@k.b.tidwell While it is possible to get some security benefit out of virtualization such as the ability to roll back to a known good state this wouldn't be workable for most people. Just being a VM running on a Linux host wouldn't be a substitute for regular security updates. Thanks for the question!😃
I am running a few computers: some as old as 2010 with Linux. I am using Mint, Ubuntu, and Zorin. My 2010 is running with 8GB of ram with a 250GB solid state drive. It is almost as fast to fire up as a chromebook and just won't quit. I switched to Linux when XP was no longer supported and have not looked back. I have loaded Linux on laptops and computers for many of my friends so that they can continue to have secure access to the internet (as long as they do the recommended updates) and not fall prey to MS. I also show them how to clear their browsing data including passwords when they do online banking and the such. I will run anything but Windows.
@fpsagent I do agree that audio and video issues plague Linux as a whole, with some issues cropping out of seemingly nowhere. But overall, the gaming experience is much better than it was before Proton.
Great timing for Windows 11 users as Microsoft pushes out 24H2 with the mandatory "Recall" spyware feature that cannot be turned off. For me personally, I am jumping back to Linux from Windows 11 on my gaming PC. I'm no stranger to Linux. I will likely install Zorin OS 17.2 (I loved Zorin 16), but will try out a few distros with a focus on gaming. My work dictates Windows 10, so my other home machine running Windows 10 will remain as is for the next year. I also have a Proxmox machine handling a variety of tasks, but all of those VMs are running some variety of Linux --so no issues there!
@@ExplainingComputers is it possible to simply upgrade a W10 PC to run W11 by adding the required HW? I'm not a Windows person so all the antics here seem confusing.
they do that when a big security crater is found, it already happened but right now they already said some machines will be left behind, so they will not care really i think the licensing and development of microsoft windows will change alot in a way we will not like in the next years
Oh they'll extend support but for a ridiculous price, to get you to buy a new computer or buy windows 11, whichever you decide to do....switching to Linux sounds great, but it'll be a hardware nightmare for many like myself, I highly doubt my printers will work with Linux, and has always been an issue with Linux, is the lack of peripheral support in many cases....so you now have to throw your computer and printers away.
@@wildbill23c I've had good success with Fuji Xerox and Brother printers working fine in Linux. Scanners are more difficult. A great workaround is to install Windows in a virtual machine in VirtualBox under Linux then connect the printer/scanner using USB Passthrough. The printer/scanner should just work, no need to throw it away! You can run any Windows version in a virtual machine but Windows 8.1 in particular runs very well under VirtualBox. If you're like me and only do occasional scanning/printing this setup works just fine. It can also be used the same way running VirtualBox under MacOS, for using printers/scanners not supported by newer MacOS versions.
That's exactly what they will do. They are also opening themselves up to have their software pirated more than it already is. They really do believe that they have everyone by the short & curlys! They act like Cable Companies used to and sarcastically ask, "Where you gonna go?" Well...by the looks of this forum...Linux obviously!
@@wildbill23cFrankly, I've had better luck getting hardware to work in Linux than in Windows for many years now. Windows requires driver installs, and good luck finding a driver version that will work for old or very new hardware. Linux is just plug and play for almost everything.
Sounds like we need class action lawsuits and EU regulation to force Microsoft to stop messing around with Windows 10, and to prevent them from making it non functional in any way. They said themselves “the last windows you’ll ever need”. Hold them to that, in court. Hit them with Anti Trust lawsuits. Then nationalise Microsoft and make the source code open source. Allow Linux etc to be Windows emulators.
My choice is to move from Windows (and Office and Outlook etc.) to Linux. I'll have about a year to practice and evaluate this step on my old PC. My main PC (banking, shopping, etc.) will remain on WIndows 11. I will decide in summer 2025 if I will say goodbuy to Microsoft entirely. I expect to save some money (Office licences) and a lot of Microsoft related annoyances (AI, bloatware, etc.).
Libreoffice is pretty good at basic Office tasks, and Google Sheets offers a lot of the Excel functionality I like. I really hope that open source can compete with MS now that it is so much more accessible.
Most windows software works fine with Wine windows emulator on linux. You even have lutris and similar scripts which solve issues of specific software. Personally i wrapped my girlfriends banking app (eww) in a QEMU virtual image, so she doubleclicks a link on her desktop, then doubleclicks the banking software, done!
@@charleswhitney3235 They're both rubbish compared to Microsoft Office even for relatively basic use. I've had to keep going back to Excel. I've tried all the recommended alternatives.
I personally feel that Microsoft should be taken to court and charged with crimes against the planet for their cavalier attitude to computers being scrapped for landfill in such enormous numbers. I find it to be an utter disgrace and I sincerely hope most Windows 10 users move to Linux,BSD or Chrome to save so many from being scrapped.I gave up on Microsoft products years ago and never looked back,I swear by Linux and BSD on all of my computers. A good video Chris and I hope it helps a lot of people to make the move.
Personally, I can't help feeling that Microsoft have some hidden ulterior motive for wanting people to buy new computers which (to them, at least) outweighs the environmental damage caused by scrapping 250 million perfectly good machines. Remember that this is a company that professes to care about the environment, and it is definitely NOT doing it for the end user's benefit ! In short, I smell a rat.
@@volvo09And every time users do find a way to install Windows 11 on older PCs, Windows blocks it. That’s where it seems to be where I think a smart lawyer might be able to build a case.
@@joes9954 And what is their case? "My friends computer doesn't install or work anymore, because my friend can't agree to the terms for a free upgrade". Yeah you're gong to need a smart lawyer for that case.
A move to Linux would be great if it supported the printers I already have, which I highly doubt...this is an issue I ran into in the past, the support for printers, scanners, etc. in Linux is very bad, so unless you can somehow find the software/drivers for your printer that will let it work with Linux you are not only throwing your computer away you are also throwing away your printers, scanners, and everything else that connects externally to your computer. Its a much larger problem than just a computer that can't run Windows 11.
Yeah my Surface Pro 4 still runs beautifully. Won't officially be allowed to upgrade to 11. What a sack of I am also using another machine running ChromeOS Acer Spin Chromebook - beautiful machine, runs most of what I need. Will I need to go to Windows 11 specific machine, only time will tell.
I had this conversation in 1995, when Windows 95 dropped. Workgroups was the very LAST Windows I used daily. I didn't realize it back in 1995, but trying Linux would result in me using Linux permanently at home. I'm very glad I stayed with it throughout the years. This only applies to me, though. I understand that lots of other people need to use Windows for whatever reason.
I have been running Linux Mint (20) on my 12 year old HP Windows 7 laptop for some time. I can everything I want to do without problem. I was keen to have a look at Linux as I was once a Unix developer (HP UX and IBM AIX amongst others). Linux with a desktop is a revelation! But I still get to play with awk and other tools. Thank you Christopher for a wonderful channel which is very professional and enjoyable.
For me, the issue became moot when both my old unupgradable Windows PCs died of old age. I replaced both with new mini-PCs, one running Windows 11, and on the other I installed Linux Mint.
Only time I will ever install/re-install Windows is when it actually stops working or gets severely compromised beyond repair. Takes so long to set everything up the way I like it, the thought of going through that whole process makes me shudder.
Next time you have to rebuild it, create an image of the fresh install once you’ve configured it as you like, you can also create an image file ( WIM file IIRC, others will chime in.) that will automatically reconfigure everything the way you like it when you have to rebuild it all again.
I have not reinstalled windows on my main computer since Windows 10 first came out. As a content creator and a former network administrator, I have done too much customizing on that machine. But I do a lot of my work on this computer in linux running with a vm. With one of my laptops, I dual boot with windows 10 and linux. Also run several different versions of linux in a vm on that computer. For my newest laptop, I dual boot Linux and wimdows 11, but mostly use linux on that computer. In fact just last week I booted into windows just to run updates and realized I had not booted into windows 11 since June.
@@f.a.j.4685 Yes, already dual booting with Linux, but there are still some crucial areas and applications that keep me using Windows primarily. I'd love to move over to Mint permanently, but alas!
After the steam deck i'm totally considering linux far more now. My main editing rig is windows 11 now, but... yea... all my programs are natively supported on linux, so I think that's where I go.
@ExplainingComputers This is probably the BEST video I've found that most completely explains the situation without injecting personal biases but still including the viable options. Well done mate!
Don't expect good game performance on an LTSC version. They have been created for enterprise use, specifically for machines that mainly do one specific task, and nothing else.
You’ll likely have driver issues overtime if that windows build does not receive a feature update. Manufacturers will also cease driver updates for W10, AMD are already doing this.
@@jackbriant1244 Maybe, maybe not. We will see. So far the one and only thing that hasn't worked on this install of LTSC 2019 is (perhaps unsurprisingly) Microsoft's own xbox application, which wanted the 2021 version.
Thanks for this. Some years back, I was building websites, using Frontpage 2003. I had bought the CD, licence, books etc and really put some time into it. Then Microsoft discontinued support for 2003. 😖 ..I was planning to relocate from Scandinavia to Thailand, and during the move, I erased all interest in everything Microsoft. The computer I was using was a shared setup, so I just wiped my user account and left it behind. .. a thing of the past. When I was set up in Thailand, I used to browse the IT shopping malls of Bangkok. The iShops were very appealing. One day, I just walked in and said, "This one". A MacBook.. omg .. turning that thing on was a dream... and still is. A now also have a Lenovo desktop with Windows 10, mostly for guests, but is also running the scanner and printers. I've long sunce decided to keep it as an offline work station for composing, administration and editing. Anything that needs to be sent out or uploaded, if can be simply moved physically via media, such as memory stick. Easy. Just as I enjoy being bilingual, being literate in multiple platforms is also very healthy. Cheers. 🤝
The thing with ESU for Home users (apart from the price) is that Microsoft almost certainly will require you to sign up with an account. So all the people that don't want to log in with a microsoft account will basically be out of luck with Win11 already requiring account login. I'd speculate this is on purpose, to push their sales and subscription platform. Oh and rather amusing, that Microsoft states LTSC is designed for having unchanged functionality and features. For an operating system that should just be the standard. I can't imagine someone is going "yeah some new functionality and features, this is great". It's an operating system after all, designed to be stable and not break every so often. To conclude they're putting the final nail in the coffing with this move, as a lot of people (maybe even companies) might move away.
I run Win11 with local accounts, and a lot of people do. Although MS doesn't want you to, it's easy to do and works fine. Having said that, I only run W11 in VMs to be able to test things for customers. I run W10 LTSC, and it's the best Windows 10 release in my opinion. I don't want added features, and yes I DO want it to stay the same for years please. My company has the licenses for LTSC and we can apply for LTSC IOT as well, which has even longer support. I won't switch to W11 of it is still the heap of horseshit it is now.
@@robertgijsen By still using Windows, you are enabling their behavior tho. I still thinks it's wiser to move to Linux, make the market share change, so that microsoft actually feels some consequences... Only way things will ever change. The sooner you switch to linux, the sooner things can change... Postponing the switch only postpones the changes.
@@MyouKyuubi yeah, the thing is I'm a MS guy since MS-DOS 3.30. The company I own is a MS shop, doing MS services for customers. So while I can do my work from linux, I can pretty much honestly say I know Windows in and out. I have my toolset built up over the course of years. I know my way in linux, but just as a bit over regular user level. So I'd have to start all over. But I will if I have to. Honestly I think if MS goes on like this, pushing their evil cloud services through our throats, I'll not be in IT anymore when LTSC stops being supported. I am an on premises guy. I don't want to provide services I have zero control over. So I guess I'll just be a prosumer user within a few years, and yes that's probably on Linux then.
@@robertgijsen Ah, IT guy... I see, complicates things a bit then, i guess. Smart of you to stay on user-level+ with Linux though... The world needs some Linux IT guys anyway, i hope you become one of those, even if you do have to start almost from the beginning again. :)
The moment that Gaming works on Linux as it does on Windows the time of Windows will be over. The problem with Linux was always that it kind of workend in a lot of cases but not always as easy as in Windows.
For the record; You can always create a installation drive using Rufus. A Rufus drive can be set to disable TPM 2.0, secure login, online accounts, telemetry and BitLocker making gen 7 computers and older viable.
I dropped Microsoft Windows after Windows 7 - I have never needed it since switching to Linux. It takes a little patience and research if you are a home user and most of your needs can be met.
When we get close to the EOL date of Windows 10 next year, I'll: 1. Stock up on popcorn 2. Eat said popcorn and watch the fireworks happen when people get hacked when they can't get updates for free (I've been on Linux since before Windows 11 came out so I have no personal stake in this.) All kidding aside, people in the tech community just do NOT want Windows 11 for a very long list of reasons. Most work places don't want it either. I know at this point, I don't need to mention any of the reasons why as anybody here likely already knows or can quickly find out in less than a second of searching. The reasons aside, the result of burning that bridge of trust with the tech community means the average uninformed user isn't getting exposed to Windows 11 at work or school or by their tech savvy friends getting all excited for it. They rely on the tech community to tell them what they need to do X with their computer and most of the chatter they're likely to hear is going to be negative around Windows 11. The tech community cannot in good faith recommend Windows 11 to them and are holding onto Windows 10 for as long as they can. The average user who doesn't know a hard drive from a computer case, is only used to updates "magically happening" every month and being able to call their tech person to fix it when the computer breaks. They don't "upgrade" or "buy" windows, they buy the computer as a product. Right now, their current Windows 10 computer most likely serves all their needs. Also, many folks are still struggling in today's economy so buying a new computer (even a cheap one) isn't on their priority list. What I suspect will happen is in 2025, Microsoft will start doing ads in Windows 10 to aggressively push Windows 11 to the average user. They won't know what Microsoft's talking about, nor do they WANT to know. They'll go to their technical person and complain about it and their technical person will be in a very difficult position. Every fiber of their being will likely want to tell the average person that it's time to move on from Windows, but as we all know, that's easier said than done for a lot of people. These difficult situations will mean decisions will have to be made more carefully than in the past for a lot of people. All this will slow the adoption rate down for Windows 11 even as more people begrudgingly make the move to it for the security updates. If 2025 doesn't see a rapid rate of adoption, then Microsoft has their own list of options: 1. Screw the world and let the people run vulnerable software because they didn't upgrade on time (and take the PR hit for it). 2. Patch Windows 11 to remove the heavily disputed requirements to allow more PCs to upgrade. This could even be an interim "lite edition" with things stripped out of it. 3. Extend support for Windows 10 like when they extended Windows XP support. 4. Patch Windows 11 to fix all the problems the tech community has with it to get their support in moving the average person over (we know they're not going to do this, but still technically an option). 5. Release Windows 12 (or what ever name they call it) to give people false hope that they're fixing their ways and get some people moved over with that "cleaner slate". This is similar to what happened with Windows 7 which was basically Vista with some tweaks to make it look like it was "the fix" people were hoping for, but in reality was just a slightly newer/tweaked Vista. Given how hypersensitive people are around CoPilot, Recall, and Microsoft basically forcing their cloud services on people with their required Microsoft accounts and having One-Drive enabled by default (at least in the US), I don't know how effect #5 would be. It's a different age than when people were hating on Vista. In any event, with any luck, more people will be learning Linux and re-learning how great it is to control their own computers again.
11:30 "Experience over the past few years indicates that security and other basic updates will be received just fine; however, there will be no feature updates to the next version of Windows 11. And so, to maintain security updates, a reinstall roughly once a year may be required."
I'm misunderstanding something here. If the security updates come through, why would an annual reinstall be required to maintain security updates?
Because versions of Windows 11 (like all other Windows versions) only receive updates for a certain period of time -- typically two years, but on average there will be a year to go when you install. And this means that eventually you have to install the next feature update, or you'll be back without security patches. For example, Windows 11 22H2 reached end of support in October 2024. 23H2 is supported until October 2025, and 24H2 to October 2026. So right now is a great time to do an unofficial update, as it will be supported until October 2026, after which a reinstall will be required to continue to have support.
@@ExplainingComputersWait, what???
@@robyn6521 With each new version, you pay more, and get less.
@@alkohallick2901this is how it always has worked since win 7. There are major feature releases, usually twice per year, and security updates only apply to that feature release after a period of time. So if you stay on an older feature release, it must be updated to a more recent feature release to get security updates.
@@ExplainingComputers Wait hold the freakin' phone?!!??!? Windows is purposelly making older versions of windows 10 and 11 updates obsolete within three years AFTER it was introduced 4 years ago!?!?! That's freakin' insane!!....Personally, I'm staying on WIndows 10 until Steam doesn't support windows 10 anymore, and then I'm moving to linux and such. Thankfully some programs like Slack still work without the updates, but who knows how long many of the applications from windows 10 will run until they become just as obsolete as Mac OS X Lion/Maverick.
I still remember when Microsoft said Windows 10 would be the last version ever. It's so funny looking back now.
Actually they are right because Win11 isn’t a real OS but rather a joke.
That statement aged like fine milk. 😂
If you had the right specification PC, the statement is correct, you get a free upgrade
At this point, it will be "the last version of Windows" but not the way Microsoft thought it would be. There is a high probability that we are witnessing the renaissance era of computing.
I wonder if it’s because Apple stopped making their yearly MacOS versions 10.X, and instead went back to their naming scheme from the classic macintosh days. Apple is at MacOS 15 now btw, so I’m not sure if Microsoft moving to 11 was even that good of a move from a marketing standpoint.
Microsoft was right. Windows 10 will be my last version of windows.
windows 12 baby!
Yes, I moved to MacOS in 2009 and have never looked back. I still have one old laptop that isn’t Windows 11 capable and when it dies it will have been my last Windows machine.
I am sure Microsoft's CEO will be crying himself to sleep. LOL
+1
On the bright side that means in a year Windows 10 will no longer randomly restart itself to install updates in the middle of your work again!
Absolutely, W11 will not interrupt your work, it will kindly let you use your computer 1 or 2 hours a day. I hope you're not a computer addict.
Another bright side is that I may see the back of Microsoft for ever.
🤣🤣🤣👍
Disable that shit.
But that's my favorite feature for Friday afternoons 😂
I remember seeing this exact video, only about Windows 7. Now it's time for Windows 10. How the time flies...
How time flies indeed! It does not seem that long sinde the Windows 7 episode.
@@ExplainingComputers Seems like yesterday
The scale is different this time. Most Windows 7 PCs are able to run Windows 10, perhaps with a RAM upgrade and an SSD.
@@brumm3653 Oh yeah, the story is different now for sure!
@@brumm3653 Yep - I'm running on 4 core, 8 thread 32GB pc that's gone from windows 7->10. And now it's junk in 1 year (as far as official windows is concerned)
I'm 72 and with no qualifications my working life was totally as a labourer, but my home computer has run Ubuntu since 2005. And build my own computers as well. And I don't miss Windows one bit...
Nicely done.
Respect !!!!
I wish it was that easy to migrate to Linux.
Sadly, all my computer games require Windows to work. 😢
@@OctavioGaitan I'm running linux, with steam, proton, wine... you can run almost every games on linux flawlessly. except if you're want to play fortnite, COD and some games with stupid krnel-level anti-cheat.
I typically laugh at Linux users for trying to convince literally every Windows user to make the switch, even in cases when switching to Linux isn't viable, but honestly you deserve MASSIVE respect from me, so you will get it.
I switched to Linux in May 2018 and I am quite happy with it.
Already started making the switch, Microsoft can eat a D.
@@wasd____ You watched the Video till the end? probably not maybe due to a bluescreen but at 11:50 it turns to Linux.
Same with me! What took us the extra five years? (For me it was date-create timestamps in NTFS, and because I couldn't read btime from Ext4 until GNU Coreutils stat 8.32 which was released on 2020-01-28 despite having been in the kernel since Linux 2.6.30 released 2009-06-08. Still working on the transition to store the times in extended attributes rather than the file name hahah)
I have been using LInux Mint for years and I love it. I even have Ms Word 2000 running on linux using Wine.
The breaches of privacy and lack of control in Windows now is egregious,. I remember seeing somewhere that Linux desktop market share rose close to 5% for the first time. I really hope this is a self-reinforcing trend where more usage leads to more developers supporting it and then more people feeling comfortable using it.
Microsoft was right that Windows 10 will be the last windows, if only just for me. Made a switch to Linux Mint years ago and have never looked back.
if youre willing, you should try other distros too. such as Arch (with archinstall ofc i dont think youre a masochist)
Not just for you, but for me too. I'm going to hang on to Win 10 as long as I can, they'll prolly offer security updates after EOL.
However I've already started using open source applications and they're surprisingly better after you get used to them, so many options like old software used to have, new software tends to dictate how you should use it.
I don't know which flavour of Linux yet, Maybe Unbuntu, Debian, or SteamOS. I heard a little of mint, but it didn't sound like my cuppa tea. However sounded great for people who wanted a Windows like experience and ease of use if I recall correctly. Still I love my command line, even in Windows.
@@Commander_ZiN I've been thinking of Linux OSs, including those on smartphones that would end up discontinued, just so I can still use it for web browsing, gaming, etc.
So for me, Linux would be better in terms of personal work and such, but for gaming, Windows 11 is the way to go, but definitely not for my personal work and such. And if I need to open a program from windows into linux, WINE is the one I got to and it boots the programs pretty well, despite graphical issues.
@@SuperFlashDriverYou're not stuck with Windows if you're a gamer. If you use STEAM then Linux is an option, via WINE and SteamOS.
I'm considering it.
@@SuperFlashDriver Games are one of my primary purposes, AMD graphics cards are actually more stable on Linux I hear.
Also the SteamDeck and SteamOS are Linux and many games run without Wine and very well.
The more people that switch to Linux the more games companies make native Linux games like back in the day.
Still dual boot is an option but I won't ever use Win11, the things I know about it and the ugliness of it, it's just a nope from me.
I'd rather keep using Win10 behind a strong firewall. People still use Win7 after all, but it'll be my secondary OS only.
I've heard talk of a Win12 because of low adoption of Win11 and every second OS is the good one, that's the rule at MS.
Bad = 95, ME, Vista, 8, 11
Good = 98, XP, 7, 10 -> 12?
Still I don't expect M$ to change course, I expect all M$ OS's from here out to be a money grab by taking your information and using it to sell you stuff invasively.
Very clever decision to keep the price for support secret until the end.
In the panic, many will pay a fee no matter how high the price is.
Or the contrary - guessing that the price will be high you choose the safe route of Windows 11. And in the end they announce a low price
@@encodersofia I hope so. I already have a Win 11 computer, but I'd still like to be able to keep using my surprisingly snappy 2015 celeron acer all in one on Windows 10, which is still a very capable side computer.
@@encodersofia Conversely, if they announced a higher price right now, i can see some people jumping the boat and migrating to linux.
I believe Windows 10 support will be extended for awhile longer just as they've been known to do before. They scare people into upgrading and then extend support at the last minute for those that haven't upgraded.
Most businesses will do this just so they don't have to do anything at all because upgrading or replacing hundreds or thousands of computers would be a massive financial undertaking....not that paying for extended support is cheap, but there's a lot less labor involved by being able to use a few keystrokes and update the OS security than to have the physical labor and sometimes outsource a tech company to come in and do all the physical computer upgrades.
I'm still on the fence what to do. I don't mind using windows, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money to buy a new computer when what I have works just fine...so I may try to figure out how to use one of the many versions of Linux. Most of what I do anymore is online anyhow...and I think Libre Office is a good alternative to MS Office so I may go the Linux route...my problem would be trying to get my printers to work with Linux, and I don't really want to have to buy new printers either.
This is blatant extortion. Charging for security updates on THEIR software because Microsoft MADE their latest OS is incompatible with perfectly working PC hardware! Absolute extrotion!
I agree, Win11 should be: lighter and more flexible, UI is getting better but still a far cry from experience we want.
Just leave, I did, Mac OS works just fine! The only way to make these greedy companies suffer, is just to not buy their products! anymore! One day, Microsoft will pay for their intentional extortion!
It's not realistic to expect backwards compatibility forever, especially if you don't want (even more) bloatware. Hardware and software both move on - either move with it, or don't complain.
You must realize there is more to it than that, don't you? TPM was originally going to be required to run Vista, but Microsoft backed off on that for obvious reasons, since TPM was brand new at the time. They've been encouraging to PC industry to include TPM modules ever since. With Windows 11 they've finally gone all the way and required TPM. For desktops, it's no big deal. I bought a TPM module for $20 and installed it. Other computers support a firmware based virtual TPM. The only reason people really don't want to upgrade to Windows 11 is because it sucks. There is nothing about Win 11 that makes people want to run it, regardless of the TPM requirement.
@@shadowknows42 I don't get the hate for W11. I've been running it since it came out and it's been excellent. I've had no issues with it whatsoever, and it's still fast - doesn't seem to be slowing down with age as previous versions did. I can get that many W10 users may think there's no real reason to upgrade, but to say that W11 "sucks" is... well, it doesn't.
Clear, concise and thorough. One of the best channels on UA-cam. Thank you.
I'm still using Windows 7 and its still working perfectly to date ;-)
I built my Windows 7 system in February 2014. No problems whatsoever. Still using the same 750GB Samsung SSD as my OS volume, too.
The only concern is online security
@@ziljin I'm online all the time and I use separate security programs/appps plus several vpns and browsers with good security features built in ;-)
@@ziljin *"The only concern is online security"*
There is no concern. I have _far_ more apprehension about using an out-of-the-way ATM at night than I do about connecting a Windows 7 --- or Vista, or XP, etc. --- PC to the Web. Which is to say none at all.
In 21 years of XP, Vista, and 7, the last 10 years of which Windows 7 was "unsupported", I have never once used anti-virus software. I have had one single serious virus many years ago, and I knew full well that it was my fault.
Windows 7 here too... I have a strong feeling that this will be my OS for the rest of my life
no bloatware, no spywere, no anoyware... it is light, fast
I keep getting browser warnings about end of support but I will just keep switching browsers or use version spoofers to be able to continue online
MS made my choice! I'm learning Linux.
You will never regret it.
Try mint, I still would reccommend to dual boot though. Good luck!
Until people migrate to Linux then start making viruses. It will be same thing all over again.@@twentyrothmans7308
Lazy asf for linux 🤡
@@doveofdestiny I've done just that. I purchased a Dell XPS early in the year. If has slots for 2 SSDs.. I have Win11 on one, Linux Mint22 on the other. Dual boot by pressing f12 during boot to select the boot device. Works awesome !!! Rarely do I use the Win11 boot. Linux is my daily driver.
My plan is now clear and fixed in my mind. Linux (Mint) will be my "daily driver". Windows 10 will be Offline Only whenever I need to use it, and I expect this need to diminish to zero over the 12 months following end of support.
I've been winding up to this scenario for some time by increasing my Linux use and learning the OS in preparation. I will not miss Microsoft and their intrusive, controlling ways once they're gone !
Mint is such a simple distro to use and is free of the chaotic Ubuntu default UI.
After dabbling in Linux for more than two decades, I finally made the choice to officially switch two weeks ago. I settled on Mint for the same reasons user-pb1er1zo1n mentioned. I still got a dedicated Windows machine as a safety net but I haven't found a need to even turn it on. Work, game, other tasks.... every single thing I did in Windows I can do in Linux. And yeah, ever since Ubuntu switched to that Unity UI, it's been a train wreck.
@@LilaHikes Likewise I dabbled with Linux for many years, keeping an eye on its development and waiting for a distro I judged to be mature enough for daily use. Out of 3 or 4 candidates I chose Mint simply because I like how easy it is to configure the way it looks and behaves. I'd be happy to use other distros too, but I've invested a lot of time into Mint so it makes sense to stick with it now, and my wife has used Mint exclusively for a few years with no problems whatsoever.
If it ain't broke, why fix it ?
I'm following a similar plan: Windows 10 Offline on one machine and Linux on two others (incl. my Daily Driver).
One can look at it in another way... Most users do not use their computer systems on the internet all that much anymore, because of the resilience of smartphone/tablet device technologies today, so I personally do not think it is anything to to concerned about. I have just loaded Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 3 in the last 72 hours, using it offline and it is working an absolute treat, especially when playing music back on Windows Media Player 9. It is quite fast on my 11 year old i3 system. 😊👍👌💯
I am migrating to Linux Mint. Using a dual boot option I am currently running 50/50 or maybe as high as 75/25 Linux Mint to Windows 10. This slow start has provided a smooth transition into Linux and program selections. The more I use Linux the more I like it.
that's the same thing i did few weeks ago. now my default os in linux mint. i just removed windows from my laptop.
Yea, its pretty good. Big tip for new users, look up "graphical user interfaces" (GUI or some combination of those 3 words) for the programs you want to use (like wine), so you don't have to do it the hard way in command line. Most of them come pre-configured and work with couple of clicks, instead of needing you to figure out settings. Might take couple of tries to find a good one, so don't give up if first thing you try fails.
Also avoid flatpacks, they are finicky. Most of them still work, and can be good idea for stuff you want to sandbox, but they take up 10 times the space and have hard time staying up to date.
Did same thing !
Did the same thing. Haven´t booted into Windows for like 3 months now. Need to be more selective with new mice, kb, etc. in the future for linux support.
Daily driven Ubuntu for over a month now. It's not that hard to switch!
Watcing on Linux right now. No need to wait.
Hooray for Linux! 🐧❤
Greetings!
The only thing as certain as people switching to Linux for their desktop is them switching back shortly thereafter. It has been that way for the 31 years I've been using it. Unless you're a software developer who spends their day inside VSCode or a JetBrains IDE and a terminal window you're going to hate Linux.
Well,you can force a windows 11 update on unsupported hardware with /product server and an iso. This is what I did to my machines 2 years ago without issues.
@@cthree87 I've been using Linux as my daily driver for years (I've never really used Windows)
Chris is 100% correct.
As always, to be honest.
Quality material.
P.S.: I think I'll stick to my main rig being a proper VM host and experiment with other/more mobile devices. See, the bright side is the MS is almost forcing all of us to finally leave Windows behind and start using proper tools fit for certain tasks (Just as the Old Gods of IT intended).
Windows 10 will be my final windows. Windows 3.11 was my first OS.
XP was my first OS (my favorite Windows), I technically used some older ones at school and family PCs though, I recommend looking into Linux Mint or CachyOS. Good luck.
My intentions are the same as yours. May I ask if you are a PC gamer?
3.11 ran on top of DOS, that didn't change until the NT kernel came out.
Same here - I started with Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and will stop with Windows 10. I've transitioned my current laptop to Linux Mint 22 and I find that I like it WAY more than Windows. I do have a couple of pieces of software that I need to run under Windows. For now, I still run Windows 10 on my 2 desktop machines, but If I can get the couple of programs I need under Windows to run in Wine or Bottles, I'll ditch Windows forever. I may need to look into running a Windows VM for those couple of programs - or maybe I'll just bite the bullet and find Linux equivalents (but I can't stand the thought of the money spent on software to be abandoned...).
Frankly, I'd be happy to see Microsoft crash and burn. They are a company built on a foundation of deceit and theft, all the way back to when Gates stole DOS.
Take care and God Bless.
The built in spyware is what did it for me, I don't need MS to Recall my data.
I began worrying about this at the start of this year. My computer by a means should be able to run W11, but Microsoft's artificial requirements meant officially upgrading wasn't an option. I decided to switch to Linux Mint. It's been working pretty well so far.
Their VERY invasive & spy filled "Recall" to me, is a BIG indicator where Microsoft wants to head as a company. They want to spy & basically take over our computers. In one video, they referrenced how Microsoft switched the "MY COMPUTER" acronym to "This PC", hinting that they want us to basically consider PC"S running Windows OS as their own and NOT OURS.
Switch to Linux Mint. I did it back on January 14, 2020, the last day of support for Windows 7, and I've never been sorry. I can remember the date easily- it was also my 78th birthday! Installed Mint on my desktop and both laptops. Most intuitive switch from Windows of the 6 OS that I sampled, and I highly recommend it!
I just bought some old laptops, which cannot run Windows 11. I plan on running Linux Mint and Peppermint OS on these old laptops. I am so glad I can use Linux as an alternative!
What? You paid money for them? Friends and family simply give their old computers to me for free! 🙂
I'm just enjoying what feels like a much more peaceful OS instead. That is, Linux Mint.
An OS that let's you use it without nagging or interrupting you at all.
I am running Linux Mint right now. "Peaceful" is a great word for it.
The "worst nagging" I've ever seen with Linux Mint is
That red dot on the update shield, notifying me that there are updates available IF I CHOOSE.
Me, I can't help but to do those pesky updates because my OCD won't let me have that red doc mocking my sloth attitude to computer maintenance.
But normal Linux Mint users would probably simply ignore the dot.
Me? Not so much.
I run Linux Mint on both a Thinkpad T460 laptop and a Dell OptiPlex 9020 desktop.
Generally I'm very happy with it, though the upgrade process from Mint 21 to Mint 22 left a lot to be desired.
Until people migrate to Linux then start making viruses. It will be same thing all over again
I run Zorin OS, but I still know what you mean. Windows is noisy. By that, I mean it distracts from work. Too many pointless push notifications, ads, mandatory system update restarts, etc. Now they are nagging users to buy new machines? No more. It was the last straw.
Some time late 2019 I switched exclusively to Linux from Windows 7 just before end of support. For a few years before that I had my machine dual booted with Linux Mint, and only used windows for gaming. Windows games just either did not work back then or was just way to much hassle to get working. (for me). Things have really improved now though.
It was of no great hardship to me, as I had been repurposing other peoples through away (windows) laptops that could barely run windows and a web browser at the same time when new, nevermind after a few years of updates. I built a new 16 core amd machine for myself 2 years ago, I run Manjaro on it. No problems, no crashes, a reboot once a month after updates as and when I choose to install them. No corporate control over my pc anymore.
It does just about everything I was able to do in windows7. Most of my Game library in steam play as reliably as they did in windows. There are a few exceptions though. I have never got my logitech driving wheel and pedals to work as well, and some games not at at all. It has been well over a year from I tried last, that may or may not have been solved yet.
Linux can be is a steep learning curve, occasionally I have to look for instructions online, and I have been playing with it in the background alongside windows for 20+ years. Although I have had my hands on computers from the early '80s so may be somewhat more adaptable and have more of an interest than most everyday users?
There is however no shortage of information if you are willing to learn. Everyone had to learn how to use windows, mac OS or whatever OS that it is they are familiar with.
Is Linux for everyone? I doubt it, that would depend on each persons use case. You can only but try it, or one of the many other OS options available.
If you have an old pc or laptop you just stopped using or replaced because it was to slow, I highly recommend giving it a go, you will be surprised just how usable/quick in comparison that machine will be for internet browsing, or use as a media center etc etc.
'completely artificial requirements' - nail on head. So far, I've only got a copy of W10 on my iMac (for rare occasions I might need something), but one answer is to not buy into their game in the first place - hard to do for most consumers and Linux can only go so far at the moment (same with Macs). It won't be too long before most up-to-date machines will be incompatible with W12+ due to similar artificial requirements. If you don't like what the beast is doing, stop feeding it.
Yeah it’s all artificial. I installed the leaked w11 beta on my dell latitude laptop from 2007
I prefer it's internal name.
"Completely Required", Artificial Prompt.
I don't want to sound like a Linux fanboy (which I totally am, sorry!), but I can only agree partially with this: "hard to do for most consumers and Linux can only go so far at the moment (same with Macs)". Currently it might be tricky, but that is because it has been kept so in a totally artificial sense. A few good examples from Microsoft themselves are their Visual Code editor and SQL Server software that actually runs natively on Linux. Therefore the fact that things like MS Office does not run natively on Linux is a purely artificial limitation. There are ways around these limitations right now, and by doing a modest amount of research you will be able to move everything worth doing on a computer from Windows to Linux (or even the reverse if you are that way inclined). Therefore I cannot agree with "Linux can only go so far" (however I do agree about Macs, they offer a strange little walled garden which seems to work for some people), with intent Linux can go absolutely all the way right now. It is entirely possible to be 100% productive with Linux in all but a few ultra-niche areas of computing.
*"...but one answer is to not buy into their game in the first place - hard to do for most consumers..."*
It's the opposite: Refusing to downgrade to a newer OS is the easiest thing in the world for _most_ consumers --- including both Joe Gamer/User and businesses with large installations who don't relish significant disruptions. For a minority it may be difficult to do.
@@bricaaron3978 If the machine comes with Windows, they've already bought into it, especially if they are not overly technically-minded and unlikely to change OS. Most consumers will also buy what they are familiar with, despite which, it is still uncommon (although not unheard of) for a machine to be sold with a Linux distro.
Microsoft really are shooting themselves in the foot with all this.
Yes, it will be the first time that a very large number of computers will not be able to run a supported version of Windows.
@@ExplainingComputers one positive side effect is that it makes it easy to get cheaper second hand unsupported hardware for homelab / hobby server use.
@ExplainingComputers Can I be annoying, and throw in some economics into the conversation?
The current situation shows we have a recession in play, even if the officials don't want to admit it yet. And given all of the indicators, it will probably become an economic depression. So people already are feeling the financial strain... just how likely are they going to buy a new computer, just to please Microsoft?
I don't see it happening, and it could mean a company swoops in, and gives an alternative to Windows taking away a huge number of people in the process.
This is a dangerous game Microsoft is playing. It can easily destroy them.
@@horseradishpower9947 Microsoft is too big to be destroyed.
@@8bit-meiko Yes, or to build a Batocera gaming machine!
BTW, even though I'm not a Windows user, I can't resist watching all your videos. Your crystal-clear English is mesmerizing.
Windows 10 was supposed to be the last windows, then they realized there was not enough telemitry in it...
Windows 10 being the last version of Windows is an urban myth -- Microsoft never said it! :)
@@ExplainingComputers expressly!!
But they said windows 10 would've being the last big release and that they would've update it continusly in long term, but it will be updated for less time compared to win7 or xp, so they lied, and anyway there was no reason to release win11 this soon.
It isn't like they couldn't just add that telemetry piece by piece through upgrades, in fact I suspect that is exactly the plan if people don't move to Windows 11 en mass. They will just make it part of critical security updates, as I understand it they are linking recall to explorer for update purposes which goes to show that they aren't going to allow anyone to really avoid the telemetry.
@@ExplainingComputers Not directly but it was part of one plan when Windows as a service was a strong option.
@@ExplainingComputers The company didn't state that, an employee hinted at it. I think that it was about Windows10 becoming more like a rolling distro on Linux, except not doing it well. Which raises the question why Microsoft still needs a new version, if you roll then you don't because you get a lot of gradual changes. My conclusion: their motivation for Windows11 and later versions is that sweet money by selling new licenses.
I bought an extra SSD and installed Ubuntu on it to dual boot on a PC that cannot be upgraded to Win 11. So far I boot into Linux far more than to Win 10 now and it does the job for me just fine.
When you are ready Clonezilla will clone your external SSD onto to internal drive, providing of course the internal drive has sufficient capacity to match the partitions on your external SSD. That way you do not have to redo all the customisation you have added.
Moved to Linux Mint the day that copilot showed up on my taskbar uninvited. W11 was garbage from the get-go, so it felt great dumping microsoft. It's certainly a learning process, but I'm actually loving it. I feel much more capable and really enjoy gaining a perspective on how complex an OS is. Thank you for the informative video.
Windows 7 happy customer since 15 years ago
I put Zorin OS on my Windows 10 laptop recently. Windows was sluggish, but Zorin runs beautifully. I gave it to my teenage daughter, who reports that it is easy to use and compatible with Steam and other applications she uses. Great overview. Thanks!
I have been running Linux Mint now for a few weeks problem free thanks to Explaining Computers and I am certain that Windows 10 is definitely a final version for me. Many thanks Chris for all your help.
Excellent choice. I was just wondering, was it this channel that made you choose Mint over another distro?
@@johnknight9150 It certainly played a major role in my decisions as Chris has a unique way of explaining and covering most of the finer details of his many subjects that make it much easier to follow along. I have tried other Linux distros such as Ubuntu, KDE neon and Zorin over time but have found Mint to be the most stable and reliable for my needs.
Thanks Christopher for covering this subject and offering some really sensible solutions and alternatives. My strategy has worked for me thus far: I run an Archlinux distro and a fork of the DWM window-manager (although the environment is purely preferential). I use this as my daily driver and am quite satisfied but I have very specialized applications that must run in Windows. For those, I have simply created a VM of the needed Windows version and just use that when I need to. The strategy is very seamless and is quite satisfactory. It isn't going to be everyone's alternative but it paints an example for those with similar needs. I do enjoy these video and they are very helpful! Cheers man!
After Microsoft announced Windows 10 end of support date, it feels like the final push that I need to finally daily drive Linux in which what I'm currently in right now and has been for a few months. previously however I tried Linux for years on and off but always returning to Windows because it is a transition that requires some learning curve and for the first few years I'm overwhelmed on takling it all in, this repeats for a while and coming back in everytime made it more bearable until where I am now where I'm more comfortable with Linux than Windows, in the past I wouldn't believe that this was possible few years ago but I'm glad it is now.
After 30 years of Windows on my desktop and 5 years of Linux/NixOS on my laptop, I switched fully to NixOS. Setup was somewhat complicated but it's shocking how there are almost more things that work out-of-the-box on Linux than on Windows now.
I've been trying Zorin OS for my chosen Linux distro, and I've been loving it! Especially for a graphics display that is not officially supported on Windows 11. Zorin OS with the Krita paint program has done wonders for me as a digital hobby artist.
Zorin OS and Krita -- two great pieces of software. :)
Here we go again, eh? This 'end of support thing' from Microsoft becomes more and more inconvenient as I get older and time becomes more precious. Thank you Chris for telling us about the options. The extended security updates were the biggest surprise to me: an option I didn't know existed. I've got my fingers crossed that this option will be affordable... this will truly be a chance for Microsoft to 'show its quality' for the home user and for the environment... or will they try to make as much money from it as possible? Thanks again, and congrats on the 1M+ subs!
Yeah, every time I boot up a Win10/11 device, it spends four hours pulling and installing updates. I've begun disabling updates either partially (no more feature updates) or entirely, not only because it's a pain but because if they remove usability (as is currently being threatened), that's not worth it.
Wouldn't be surprised if the Home user pricing will be similar to the commercial pricing for extended service. Microsoft isn't very home user friendly either....and many schools use the Chromebooks which is another waste of money because after a few years they no longer receive updates either...so you are forced to toss the machine in the trash, or figure out a way to install a different OS on it.
I very much doubt the extended support price for consumers will make many people happy. Microsoft is not exactly known for their altruistic attitude. My guess is they will price it right in the middle of school and enterprise versions ... at roughly 31/62/124 bucks per year. That would be about 217 dollars for the three years, which is absolutely ridiculous, of course.
To me, anything above 5/10/20, for a total of 35, is unacceptable.
We shall see.
@@Gaius__ In which case I'll look into dual-booting my laptop with Linux... although I'm already dual booting Windows 7 and 10. It's an old laptop, but it was a very high spec gaming laptop back in its day.
@@ForViewingOnly Yep, dual-booting with a Linux distro as daily driver, or running Windows in a VM for the very few things one actually needs it for, is the best and easiest solution.
My course of action will be the same as with the end of support of all previous versions of Windows. I will continue using Linux as my primary OS, and will continue to use the out-of-support version of Windows to play games (which is, at most, a couple of hours on weekends) until it comes time to upgrade my hardware. I have an i5-6500 that isn't supported by Windows 11, but is still working perfectly fine and runs everything I need it to. There is no need to throw it in the trash until it's unable to run what I need, or the hardware fails. And my plan is, when I do upgrade, that this machine will become a home server, running Linux.
With tremendous irony, the only system I have that can officially run Win11 is also the slowest and least competent hardware (out of about 25 years worth of working systems in the house).
If you put in an SSD, your Skylake processor will do almost everything you need, there is no reason to ditch it. You strategy is what so many others are also going to do. Might even go down to Windows 7 for extra RAM usage as newer Windows 10 versions are resource hogs.
A few years ago I came across your videos and you convinced me to give Linux another chance. I had tried Linux years earlier and it was not where I could transfer over due to lack of support. After watching some of your videos I jumped back into Linux and tried a lot of different distros and have settled into Mint as my daily machine and never looked back. Thank you for all the videos and helping people break free from Windows.
One of the benefits will be a glut of perfectly fine PC's on the second user market - all ready for the picking.... 🙂
A very concise video Chris and very illuminating...
Thanks for your support -- so many machines available to run FreeBSD! :)
@@ExplainingComputers I was stoked when you mentioned FreeBSD and GhostBSD... thanks for that 🙂
Good observation, potentially a small business opportunity, installing Linux and on selling (e.g. to Students) for a modest profit, win-win.
Like all the old machines that everyone has already grabbed and have been selling for ridiculous prices the past several years...nothing new in that realm of ideas. When I was in school they were literally throwing 286/386/486 machines in the trash because they weren't worth anything....now people are selling them for hundreds of dollars LOL.
@@wildbill23c 2- 3- 4- 86 machines are selling on a collectors' market by now. The "just old computers" are the ones that have Core processors up to about the 5th or 6th generation. Thinkpads can be a bit pricey, and some people ask a lot, but there are still good values to be found. I shrink from spending more than NZD$200 for a laptop, and that is very little money indeed.
Thank you so much for continuing to look out for us 'little guys/gals'.
It is greatly appreciated.
☮
Come on, my friend! You don't have to use Feminist language if you're not a member of the cult.
I've had W11 for as long as it has been available. No problems have arised. I'm keeping it.
I moved my computers to Fedora Linux after I heard about Microsoft Recall being foisted upon ALL Windows 11 PCs.
I'm loving Linux and the freedom it gives me.
I remember when Microsoft said Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows. Well...for me it was.
I run a pretty clean and tidy windows11 installation. I turned my computer on today and while looking up another program in my search I saw it "windows co-pilot" and I went I specifically disabled that plus everything related to it. They went and re-installed/enabled without my consent
Running Debian and have been for the past 5 years. Take solace in knowing you made the small effort to learn something new and are now free from that abhorrent ecosystem.
I try linux once every 10 years.. after installing it and trying to install some basic thing like VLC player and getting the usual 10 thousand line error code I imediatly format the PC ... last time was in 2021 .. crashed after 15 minutes so in 2031 I will try again... I dont have patience for linux... that OS is trash, has been trash and continue to be trash forever
@@fft2020 That sounds like you not actually knowing how to use it, or refusing to look up basic instructions on how to install something like VLC. You're not even trying my guy and then you act like anything you refuse to figure out is trash rather than you failing yourself.
I was waiting for you to say either "Lets take a closer look" or " Lets Get Started", you must have forgotten. I had to watch it twice to make sure.
I have 2 computers; both running Windows 7. One for the office, the other for home entertainment/streaming. I shop online all the time, and have never had any security issues. Using stock Windows security.
Greeting Chris, For Windows program compatibility, I have switched to Mac but have also been running Linux for many years now. When I retire in a few years and no longer “require” Windows, it will be banished from my home. For the most part though, the Windows devices I see are in corporate environments and embedded devices which are LTSC versions. My job requires me to deal with them. I have come across a few offline Windows XP computers that people refuse to give up. Fun stuff. Stay well!
Fellow UA-camr Chris Titus Tech, he discovered previous week that Windows now enables Recall by default outside the EU-zone. His community makes the most popular Windows-install-script with a GUI to install Windows as much debloated as possible, that is how they discovered it. Anyone who can stop using Windows, I recommend it. If you can't, then consider dualbooting with 2 separate SSD's and use Windows only for that 1 program. It also is possible to just run Windows in a VM for such programs but depending on the program you might need to pass a graphics card to the VM and in the case of some popular games even that won't suffice because the game-developer detects that you use a VM and does not allow it.
For most games no need to fiddle around with VM's anymore. Thanks to Valve proton and wine just work out of the box on linux, except for games with kernel level anti cheat with might ban you. Just look up the games, if there's no shitty anti cheat, it most likely runs just fine - sometimes even better than on native windows :D
@@nimonater I have been gaming exclusively on Arch Linux since 2020. Mostly it is fine but there are few caveats. The anti-cheat games from which the developer block it on Linux (around 50%, give and take 10%), some problematic older games (Far Cry3 did not run properly on my PC the last time) and in rare cases some problems with shadercaching. Borderlands3 did not run well on Epic, but runs well on Steam, you get some bad stutter on Epic due to shadercaching not being done properly, after some time of playing you got stutters of more than 100 ms for 1 frame. But mostly gaming on Linux is as simple as installing the game via Steam, Lutris (installing the launcher) or Heroic and the game will work. However, if you want the best performance then make sure that radv (mesa) is set as the default driver, when amdvlk gets used some games (for Deus Ex Mankind Divided it was day and night difference) will give a much worse performance.
So yes, we can game fine on Linux. Even if you like battlearena-shooters, Apex is a fun game which I play myself, I also regularly win a match with my partner.
I have done the amusing workaround of running Win8.1 in a VM on XP64, to get the one piece of functionality I needed.
@@nimonater It's still a hassle compared to windows. I agree they've made massive strides though.
@@Reziac I run Win10 in an isolated VM for using Visual Studio. It's the only tool I use the won't run on Linux.
You don't have to worry about what Microsoft is doing to Windows if you just stop using Windows.
I've been using Linux since 1994 (Slackware 1.0 and Linux kernel V0.9 at that time) and probably forever!
That's Impressive if true
I've been playing with it since the late nineties (I still have the big box from SUSE) and in the earl zero's I switched complete to linux
Been running Linux over 10 years now at home, with a few Macs and iPad. 🎉
It's VERY EASY for a multi-billion dollar company to feel that others can afford to spend even a few hundred dollars on something they are already using and happy to be with.
*multi-trillion
Computer Manufacturers 🤑
Well, You use their products
@@juotasoon, you ARE OUR product! The os is just the plastic packing material of the corporate hell!
I cant justefy spending 500€ on a motherboard and processor when my pc does everything i nead 😮😮😮
My gaming PC is on Windows 11, as I was somewhat forced to upgrade. Laptop is on Ubuntu.
All the PCs at my school are either chromebooks for the students and Windows 10 for the teacher PCs, Canteen tills and Notice board TVs. We also have IT rooms full of windows 10 PCs, and the DT rooms also use windows 10 (except the pc used for the CNC Lathe, which is windows 7. Guessing it's because the CAD software doesn't support windows 10).
What's cool is that the stations around the school for singing onto the printer and resetting your password actually use Raspberry Pi OS Desktop!
Don't ask how I know all this (especially because I'm a student 😂)
I too love singing to my printer 😉
@@bfapple crap, typo 😅🤣
My favorite CNC machinery all used some for of Windblows, but they all also booted directly into the control interface so you never had to interact with Windoze at all. As I recall, they all used Windblows 7, although the more ancient ones may have run XP. I don't remember. Then again, most of them were not connected to the internet in the first place so upgrading was unnecessary. One place had all 11 machines hooked up to a local network. Another place I worked had them connected to the internet, and one kid got busted for watching UA-cam videos on his machine _while he worked._ A great way to lose a finger. Or hand.
@@tarmaque Love windblows 7 :)
@@f_worst_nightmare4499 Yeah, I need to install 7 on a virtual machine for the ONE flash game I like to play that I haven't been able to get to work on Linux. I don't play games much, but I like that one.
I am a recent Linux Mint convert (many thanks to Explaining Computers) running a dual boot with offline W10 for my GPS applications. One of your videos used the adjective 'calm' to describe Linux Mint and that is a great way of describing the Linux experience when comparing with the later Windows OS. I use a W11 PC at work and Linux is much more relaxing to use.
My 10-year-old laptop was really struggling with Windows updates, each update made it slower and harder to use. But three years ago, I decided to switch to Linux Mint, and after upgrading the hardware, it started running like a dream!
Great to hear! :)
upgrading the hardware or software made the difference ?
@@George196207 In my case, upgrading the hardware made a significant difference. I upgraded the RAM, replaced the HDD with an SSD for faster performance, and also upgraded the WiFi chip. Along with these hardware changes, I'm running Linux Mint, which has been working really well after the upgrades. The combination of the hardware upgrades and using Linux Mint has noticeably improved the system's performance.
@@George196207 Linux doesn't work with "every" hardware stuff. When making a computer for a Linux OS you first need to be sure that the hardware you choose is OK. That's the case very often, but sometime it's not that simple, mainly with graphic cards, wifi adapters and also with quite a lot of printers.
So if you already have a computer, list the components and search on the net to ensure that every element is OK with Linux. It's easy with a desktop, more difficult with a laptop.
Eh? Upgrading the hardware might have made windows work fine too?
There is a fourth category of users that, being disillusioned with Win10 and finding privacy and security issues with Win11, begin looking seriously at Linux.
That’s me 🤚 I’ve used dual boot Ubuntu/win10 for several years now and once I saw the copilot feature and how it watches everything, stores passwords and credit cards in plain text, and can’t even be removed because it destroys windows explorer (it’s a dependency because they know people would just uninstall it), that’s when I was like 🤷♀️ okay full Linux for me then!
I'm strongly considering switching to Linux rn, especially when Win10 will be getting older and older, the only thing holding me back is the incompatibility issues you get with Linux and software
@@TheDeadMeme27 there’s Wine (windows environment emulator) for some things but a full switch is likely gonna mean you have to find an equivalent for some software on Linux or use a cloud service. Another upside to Linux though is majority of Linux software is open source.
@@TheDeadMeme27 I use Linux Mint and Libre Office for the office suite. I am also looking into Manuskript for my novels.
LibreOffice or Only Office are both drop-in replacements for MS Office. Firefox does it for the web. All GIT apps are native under Linux, etc. The only issues I have are that DAZ3D only runs under Win 10 (Not Win 11, as near as I can tell). BTW, I absolutely refuse to get an OS under the subscription model. When I buy something, it is MINE forever.
Yep!
I've already unplugged my Windows 10 machine from the internet, as I only use it to drive a vinyl cutter/printer. It's a Roland with proprietary windows/mac drivers and software. Everything else including gaming is done on my Linux Mint machine.
I gifted my parents with a ChromeOS laptop years ago and they've been quite happy with it. I'm technically inclined, so I've been using Debian for 10 years (after a shaky experience with Ubuntu). I think consumers should organise and fund developers to fill in the usability issues of Linux apps to make them real alternatives to Windows.
On my webpage I am always impressed how many users still use Windows 7 only. (I can see it on the log files of my web server, but I can also see that guys still download the windows 7 and/or 32 bit software only instead of downloading the much faster 64 bit Windows 10 version)
Luv It
I've switched to Mint for my main OS as putting up with Windows 10's annoyances are made even worse with Win11 from my experience.
It was an easy change as most of what I need is word processing for work and playing the occasional game which WINE does a fantastic job.
In my experience Mint is fantastic to wean off the Windows platform and requires very few (if any depending on the use) terminal commands which is a big block to less experienced PC users.
Linux Mint is a great OS.
It NEVER does an update while working on an important report of uploading a file.
which ver of mint you use? i used cinnamon and it DOES EAT 100gb of disk, so i ditched it and go to pop os(ubuntu-based also) and it does darn good for dgpu(mine using nvidia gpu) and it super lite and running well
@@lolnoob5009 I used the XFCE version as a lot of the differences are mostly cosmetic so might as well take the most lightweight version.
@@lolnoob5009100GB? Did you install all packages in the repository?
The minimum requirement is only 20GB of hdd space.
Hi! I was very surprised to read that Mint consumes so much disk space. I used to use it myself and that wasn't my experience; I still think it's an excellent distribution. I wonder if you followed all their initial setup suggestions. Among them, one is configuring timeshift to make system snapshots. Depending on how many snapshots you allow it to keep, timeshift will use more or less disk space. Making or keeping fewer snapshots may have resulted in lower disk space use for you. This is just my guess though, sorry if I'm completely wrong!
It feels like I've only just had to replace my Windows 7 laptop and PC, and now I'm getting THIS video suggested to me.
Damn you, Microtwots! 😡
Thanks for the heads up and info though 👍
Windows 10 is the last Microsoft OS I'll ever buy. When it's no longer possible to use I'll be jumping ship to other. There is absolutely nothing in Win11 that I want or need, but plenty of things I don't like or want to avoid. Win11 is not a better product and so far has been a productivity step backwards (don't even get me started on all the issues with new Office versions).
After using Windows for 35-40 years (I was CP/M before that), I shall be parting ways with MS when Win10 finally dies.
I've already moved one family member onto ChromeFlex as they are 100% web based in their use case... and they couldn't be happier.
Windows 11 is annoying. They changed things that simply didn't need to be changed and not for the better.
Don,t Like 10,So I Doubt I,ll Like 11. Time To Go Elsewhere
Already started to make the switch to linux about 8 months ago and have been daily driving since. I am dual booting but rarely use windows unless i want to play a multiplayer game with anti cheat that doesn't like linux
Same here, I pretty much only start windows to keep it updated or if I have to use my car tuning software.
Presentation reminds me of school of 2002. Feel sleepy and everything...lol But am happy to get the info and am thankful of the presentation nostalgia!
I still miss Windows 7. Best version ever. The file explorer actually listed all the files with no delay. Every WinOS since shows a spinny circle when doing anything in file explorer
I think they broke Indexing. It still runs, which slows everything down, but doesn't seem to work.
WINDOWS 7 WAS THE BEST OS. THEN, WINDOWS 8.1 AND WINDOWS XP.
it is still supported with ESUs, but many applications and drivers stopped supporting it.
Still use it exclusively everyday. Just updated my Win7 PCs to 2024.10.10
I remember when you could expand a folder in the left pane without it jumping to the bottom. Seriously, who asked for that to change?
Fully switched to Linux about 2 years ago and never looking back.
Not having to deal with microsoft at all makes it totally worth it.
me too went in to linux last week. :)))
sudo apt dist-upgrade
Took around 20 minutes - I use Kubuntu which is now on 24.10 with the wonders of KDE6 - including a desktop cube
P.S I have been running linux on my machines for at least 15 years - Windows is such a pain, and life is too short to be waiting for a computer...
@@Paul.Chaffey that's true my friend
Dear Christopher, I just found that my computer became W11 ready by updating motherboard firmware.
It's worth checking it.
Thank you for your great job.
Best regards from Madrid, Spain.
I'm a math teacher. Im taking this year to move all of my class material into LateX. The OS will be Ubuntu. So far its working out much better that i thought it would. Been using MS word since 2003.
As an IT professional and windows admin, who has been forced to use windows 11 at work, I have recently installed Linux Mint on my personal laptop.
I also have VirtualBox installed and am planning on running Windows 10 IoT enterprise in a VM until that loose support in 2032, at which time I should be fully Linux and possibly Mac OS based
I'm no VM pro, but I wonder...if you're running a Windows instance in a VM on a protected Linux machine, is the Windows then safe also in spite of no security updates from Microsoft?
One of the theoretical options I've not heard much about: upgrade a TPMv1 to TPMv2 ? How many people have looked into that ?
(not that I will do that, I've been a Linux user for decades)
@@autohmae If it's not soldered onto your motherboard and your motherboard / CPU supports a v2 device I say go for it!
I DOWNLOADED WINDOWS 11 on APril and also RUFUS. I did the whole procedure with RUFUS and copiyed to the usb. Now ican install it to my pc at any time i want but havent decided when to do it.
What is the best way to install11? Do during this 1 year from the usb that icopied it with rufus? or wit until support ends and then change cpu ram and motherboard and install it through Windows Update?
MINE MONSTER PC IS
RYZEN 7 1700
RX 6700XT 12 GB RED DEVIL
16 GB DDR4 3200MHZCL15
MP 600 2TB WRITE:4950MB/S READ:4250MB/S
DELLP2416D 24'' 2560X1440 60 HZ IPS
From price and eprfomance it seems the best choice for cpu ram and ????motherboard will be at this time ryzen 9700x 32 gb ddr5 64 00mhz and X870 motherboard?
So what is best to do from the two ways to install 11?
@@k.b.tidwell While it is possible to get some security benefit out of virtualization such as the ability to roll back to a known good state this wouldn't be workable for most people. Just being a VM running on a Linux host wouldn't be a substitute for regular security updates. Thanks for the question!😃
I am running a few computers: some as old as 2010 with Linux. I am using Mint, Ubuntu, and Zorin. My 2010 is running with 8GB of ram with a 250GB solid state drive. It is almost as fast to fire up as a chromebook and just won't quit. I switched to Linux when XP was no longer supported and have not looked back. I have loaded Linux on laptops and computers for many of my friends so that they can continue to have secure access to the internet (as long as they do the recommended updates) and not fall prey to MS. I also show them how to clear their browsing data including passwords when they do online banking and the such.
I will run anything but Windows.
I moved to Mint a long time ago. I think most people fail to realise that you just don't need Windows for most things you'd want to do on a computer.
@fpsagent What would you recommend instead, Kubuntu?
@fpsagent I do agree that audio and video issues plague Linux as a whole, with some issues cropping out of seemingly nowhere. But overall, the gaming experience is much better than it was before Proton.
Great timing for Windows 11 users as Microsoft pushes out 24H2 with the mandatory "Recall" spyware feature that cannot be turned off. For me personally, I am jumping back to Linux from Windows 11 on my gaming PC. I'm no stranger to Linux. I will likely install Zorin OS 17.2 (I loved Zorin 16), but will try out a few distros with a focus on gaming. My work dictates Windows 10, so my other home machine running Windows 10 will remain as is for the next year. I also have a Proxmox machine handling a variety of tasks, but all of those VMs are running some variety of Linux --so no issues there!
Did they change their minds again? In June thanks to corporate backlash they announced that Recall would be optional.
@@Reziac It is optional. Also only runs on a very limited subset of hardware capable of running it.
Great video, thank you so much!💪🏽😁🔥
This a very timely, very thorough video and deserves to do extremely well. Watch the views ramp up the closer we get to Oct 2025!
Everything I need to do is handled by Nobara (based on Fedora Linux rel. 37.) Also, where are Mr. Scissors, Stanley the Knife, and Allen the Key? 😆
The tools will return!
@@ExplainingComputers is it possible to simply upgrade a W10 PC to run W11 by adding the required HW? I'm not a Windows person so all the antics here seem confusing.
You are doing a good job. Keep going
If enough Win10 users do nothing I suspect Microsoft will have no choice but to extend support, especially if its market share is still above 50%.
they do that when a big security crater is found, it already happened
but right now they already said some machines will be left behind, so they will not care really
i think the licensing and development of microsoft windows will change alot in a way we will not like in the next years
Oh they'll extend support but for a ridiculous price, to get you to buy a new computer or buy windows 11, whichever you decide to do....switching to Linux sounds great, but it'll be a hardware nightmare for many like myself, I highly doubt my printers will work with Linux, and has always been an issue with Linux, is the lack of peripheral support in many cases....so you now have to throw your computer and printers away.
@@wildbill23c I've had good success with Fuji Xerox and Brother printers working fine in Linux. Scanners are more difficult. A great workaround is to install Windows in a virtual machine in VirtualBox under Linux then connect the printer/scanner using USB Passthrough. The printer/scanner should just work, no need to throw it away! You can run any Windows version in a virtual machine but Windows 8.1 in particular runs very well under VirtualBox.
If you're like me and only do occasional scanning/printing this setup works just fine. It can also be used the same way running VirtualBox under MacOS, for using printers/scanners not supported by newer MacOS versions.
That's exactly what they will do. They are also opening themselves up to have their software pirated more than it already is. They really do believe that they have everyone by the short & curlys! They act like Cable Companies used to and sarcastically ask, "Where you gonna go?" Well...by the looks of this forum...Linux obviously!
@@wildbill23cFrankly, I've had better luck getting hardware to work in Linux than in Windows for many years now. Windows requires driver installs, and good luck finding a driver version that will work for old or very new hardware. Linux is just plug and play for almost everything.
We will install Linux!
I will keep using Windows 7
Offline?
Sounds like we need class action lawsuits and EU regulation to force Microsoft to stop messing around with Windows 10, and to prevent them from making it non functional in any way.
They said themselves “the last windows you’ll ever need”. Hold them to that, in court. Hit them with Anti Trust lawsuits. Then nationalise Microsoft and make the source code open source. Allow Linux etc to be Windows emulators.
2015 I dumped Windows for good, we broke up. Been on Linux full time.
It never got over you, it just got more bitter and jaded over time 😔
Gsm spotted
My choice is to move from Windows (and Office and Outlook etc.) to Linux. I'll have about a year to practice and evaluate this step on my old PC. My main PC (banking, shopping, etc.) will remain on WIndows 11. I will decide in summer 2025 if I will say goodbuy to Microsoft entirely. I expect to save some money (Office licences) and a lot of Microsoft related annoyances (AI, bloatware, etc.).
Libreoffice is pretty good at basic Office tasks, and Google Sheets offers a lot of the Excel functionality I like. I really hope that open source can compete with MS now that it is so much more accessible.
@@charleswhitney3235 OnlyOffice Desktop is also worth a look.
Most windows software works fine with Wine windows emulator on linux. You even have lutris and similar scripts which solve issues of specific software. Personally i wrapped my girlfriends banking app (eww) in a QEMU virtual image, so she doubleclicks a link on her desktop, then doubleclicks the banking software, done!
@@charleswhitney3235 They're both rubbish compared to Microsoft Office even for relatively basic use. I've had to keep going back to Excel. I've tried all the recommended alternatives.
Nice clear exposition. Thank you!
I personally feel that Microsoft should be taken to court and charged with crimes against the planet for their cavalier attitude to computers being scrapped for landfill in such enormous numbers. I find it to be an utter disgrace and I sincerely hope most Windows 10 users move to Linux,BSD or Chrome to save so many from being scrapped.I gave up on Microsoft products years ago and never looked back,I swear by Linux and BSD on all of my computers. A good video Chris and I hope it helps a lot of people to make the move.
Yes, lots of very useable computers will be thrown to e waste just because they can't be easily upgraded by the end user.
Personally, I can't help feeling that Microsoft have some hidden ulterior motive for wanting people to buy new computers which (to them, at least) outweighs the environmental damage caused by scrapping 250 million perfectly good machines. Remember that this is a company that professes to care about the environment, and it is definitely NOT doing it for the end user's benefit !
In short, I smell a rat.
@@volvo09And every time users do find a way to install Windows 11 on older PCs, Windows blocks it. That’s where it seems to be where I think a smart lawyer might be able to build a case.
@@joes9954 And what is their case? "My friends computer doesn't install or work anymore, because my friend can't agree to the terms for a free upgrade". Yeah you're gong to need a smart lawyer for that case.
A move to Linux would be great if it supported the printers I already have, which I highly doubt...this is an issue I ran into in the past, the support for printers, scanners, etc. in Linux is very bad, so unless you can somehow find the software/drivers for your printer that will let it work with Linux you are not only throwing your computer away you are also throwing away your printers, scanners, and everything else that connects externally to your computer. Its a much larger problem than just a computer that can't run Windows 11.
I'll probably install Linux Mint on my older laptop. I don't want to bother with hacking Windows 11 to even get it installed.
ITs farily actualyl easy, like Ventoy automatically modifies windows 11 when ISO is dumped into the USB drive.
Yeah my Surface Pro 4 still runs beautifully. Won't officially be allowed to upgrade to 11. What a sack of
I am also using another machine running ChromeOS Acer Spin Chromebook - beautiful machine, runs most of what I need. Will I need to go to Windows 11 specific machine, only time will tell.
I had this conversation in 1995, when Windows 95 dropped. Workgroups was the very LAST Windows I used daily. I didn't realize it back in 1995, but trying Linux would result in me using Linux permanently at home. I'm very glad I stayed with it throughout the years. This only applies to me, though. I understand that lots of other people need to use Windows for whatever reason.
I have been running Linux Mint (20) on my 12 year old HP Windows 7 laptop for some time. I can everything I want to do without problem. I was keen to have a look at Linux as I was once a Unix developer (HP UX and IBM AIX amongst others). Linux with a desktop is a revelation! But I still get to play with awk and other tools. Thank you Christopher for a wonderful channel which is very professional and enjoyable.
Been on 11 since day one with no issue. Waiting for the next version.
The stupid file encryption slows the computers down to mush even the ones with threadripper cpu's.
@@parkerbohnn that will happen with any file encryption. For what it's worth, I mainly use Linux. I use Windows at home for gaming.
For me, the issue became moot when both my old unupgradable Windows PCs died of old age. I replaced both with new mini-PCs, one running Windows 11, and on the other I installed Linux Mint.
Mini-PCs are great: powerful, relatively cheap, and a viable way to upgrade from old hardware.
Only time I will ever install/re-install Windows is when it actually stops working or gets severely compromised beyond repair.
Takes so long to set everything up the way I like it, the thought of going through that whole process makes me shudder.
Change to Linux for peace.
Next time you have to rebuild it, create an image of the fresh install once you’ve configured it as you like, you can also create an image file ( WIM file IIRC, others will chime in.) that will automatically reconfigure everything the way you like it when you have to rebuild it all again.
@@joes9954 Do you have a recommendation for a tool to do that? I've used Norton Ghost in the past but it can be a little cranky.
I have not reinstalled windows on my main computer since Windows 10 first came out. As a content creator and a former network administrator, I have done too much customizing on that machine. But I do a lot of my work on this computer in linux running with a vm.
With one of my laptops, I dual boot with windows 10 and linux. Also run several different versions of linux in a vm on that computer.
For my newest laptop, I dual boot Linux and wimdows 11, but mostly use linux on that computer. In fact just last week I booted into windows just to run updates and realized I had not booted into windows 11 since June.
@@f.a.j.4685 Yes, already dual booting with Linux, but there are still some crucial areas and applications that keep me using Windows primarily. I'd love to move over to Mint permanently, but alas!
After the steam deck i'm totally considering linux far more now. My main editing rig is windows 11 now, but... yea... all my programs are natively supported on linux, so I think that's where I go.
@ExplainingComputers This is probably the BEST video I've found that most completely explains the situation without injecting personal biases but still including the viable options. Well done mate!
LTSC is my choice. I don't want 'feature updates' or candycrushes anyway.
And Linux Mint on systems that don't need to play games.
Don't expect good game performance on an LTSC version. They have been created for enterprise use, specifically for machines that mainly do one specific task, and nothing else.
You’ll likely have driver issues overtime if that windows build does not receive a feature update. Manufacturers will also cease driver updates for W10, AMD are already doing this.
@@Gaius__ There's nothing special about LTSC, it's just Windows 10 without the stuff that makes Home/Pro annoying. It's fine.
@@jackbriant1244 Maybe, maybe not. We will see. So far the one and only thing that hasn't worked on this install of LTSC 2019 is (perhaps unsurprisingly) Microsoft's own xbox application, which wanted the 2021 version.
Another Linux Mint comment! 🙂UA-cam is filling up with them! May I ask why you've chosen Mint specifically?
Thanks for this.
Some years back, I was building websites, using Frontpage 2003. I had bought the CD, licence, books etc and really put some time into it.
Then Microsoft discontinued support for 2003.
😖
..I was planning to relocate from Scandinavia to Thailand, and during the move, I erased all interest in everything Microsoft. The computer I was using was a shared setup, so I just wiped my user account and left it behind. .. a thing of the past.
When I was set up in Thailand, I used to browse the IT shopping malls of Bangkok. The iShops were very appealing.
One day, I just walked in and said, "This one". A MacBook.. omg .. turning that thing on was a dream... and still is.
A now also have a Lenovo desktop with Windows 10, mostly for guests, but is also running the scanner and printers. I've long sunce decided to keep it as an offline work station for composing, administration and editing. Anything that needs to be sent out or uploaded, if can be simply moved physically via media, such as memory stick. Easy. Just as I enjoy being bilingual, being literate in multiple platforms is also very healthy.
Cheers. 🤝
It's time to double-check my backup on my older pc, and then decide which Linux version yo go to.
The thing with ESU for Home users (apart from the price) is that Microsoft almost certainly will require you to sign up with an account. So all the people that don't want to log in with a microsoft account will basically be out of luck with Win11 already requiring account login. I'd speculate this is on purpose, to push their sales and subscription platform.
Oh and rather amusing, that Microsoft states LTSC is designed for having unchanged functionality and features. For an operating system that should just be the standard. I can't imagine someone is going "yeah some new functionality and features, this is great". It's an operating system after all, designed to be stable and not break every so often. To conclude they're putting the final nail in the coffing with this move, as a lot of people (maybe even companies) might move away.
I switched to Linux a bit over a week ago now. I don't feel homesick for windows at all, lol.
All my needs are met, i'm happy little penguin now! 🐧
I run Win11 with local accounts, and a lot of people do. Although MS doesn't want you to, it's easy to do and works fine. Having said that, I only run W11 in VMs to be able to test things for customers. I run W10 LTSC, and it's the best Windows 10 release in my opinion. I don't want added features, and yes I DO want it to stay the same for years please. My company has the licenses for LTSC and we can apply for LTSC IOT as well, which has even longer support.
I won't switch to W11 of it is still the heap of horseshit it is now.
@@robertgijsen By still using Windows, you are enabling their behavior tho.
I still thinks it's wiser to move to Linux, make the market share change, so that microsoft actually feels some consequences... Only way things will ever change.
The sooner you switch to linux, the sooner things can change... Postponing the switch only postpones the changes.
@@MyouKyuubi yeah, the thing is I'm a MS guy since MS-DOS 3.30. The company I own is a MS shop, doing MS services for customers. So while I can do my work from linux, I can pretty much honestly say I know Windows in and out. I have my toolset built up over the course of years. I know my way in linux, but just as a bit over regular user level. So I'd have to start all over.
But I will if I have to. Honestly I think if MS goes on like this, pushing their evil cloud services through our throats, I'll not be in IT anymore when LTSC stops being supported. I am an on premises guy. I don't want to provide services I have zero control over.
So I guess I'll just be a prosumer user within a few years, and yes that's probably on Linux then.
@@robertgijsen Ah, IT guy... I see, complicates things a bit then, i guess.
Smart of you to stay on user-level+ with Linux though... The world needs some Linux IT guys anyway, i hope you become one of those, even if you do have to start almost from the beginning again. :)
What will I do? I will save this video and watch it nearer the day, then decide. Thanks.
The moment that Gaming works on Linux as it does on Windows the time of Windows will be over. The problem with Linux was always that it kind of workend in a lot of cases but not always as easy as in Windows.
For the record; You can always create a installation drive using Rufus. A Rufus drive can be set to disable TPM 2.0, secure login, online accounts, telemetry and BitLocker making gen 7 computers and older viable.
Yes, as I note in the video, there are many ways to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, as I've covered in another video.
@@ExplainingComputers But those are really hacks that can dissapear whenever Microsoft pleases to remove it. I would not rely on such things.
I dropped Microsoft Windows after Windows 7 - I have never needed it since switching to Linux. It takes a little patience and research if you are a home user and most of your needs can be met.
When we get close to the EOL date of Windows 10 next year, I'll:
1. Stock up on popcorn
2. Eat said popcorn and watch the fireworks happen when people get hacked when they can't get updates for free
(I've been on Linux since before Windows 11 came out so I have no personal stake in this.)
All kidding aside, people in the tech community just do NOT want Windows 11 for a very long list of reasons. Most work places don't want it either. I know at this point, I don't need to mention any of the reasons why as anybody here likely already knows or can quickly find out in less than a second of searching.
The reasons aside, the result of burning that bridge of trust with the tech community means the average uninformed user isn't getting exposed to Windows 11 at work or school or by their tech savvy friends getting all excited for it. They rely on the tech community to tell them what they need to do X with their computer and most of the chatter they're likely to hear is going to be negative around Windows 11. The tech community cannot in good faith recommend Windows 11 to them and are holding onto Windows 10 for as long as they can.
The average user who doesn't know a hard drive from a computer case, is only used to updates "magically happening" every month and being able to call their tech person to fix it when the computer breaks. They don't "upgrade" or "buy" windows, they buy the computer as a product. Right now, their current Windows 10 computer most likely serves all their needs. Also, many folks are still struggling in today's economy so buying a new computer (even a cheap one) isn't on their priority list.
What I suspect will happen is in 2025, Microsoft will start doing ads in Windows 10 to aggressively push Windows 11 to the average user. They won't know what Microsoft's talking about, nor do they WANT to know. They'll go to their technical person and complain about it and their technical person will be in a very difficult position. Every fiber of their being will likely want to tell the average person that it's time to move on from Windows, but as we all know, that's easier said than done for a lot of people. These difficult situations will mean decisions will have to be made more carefully than in the past for a lot of people.
All this will slow the adoption rate down for Windows 11 even as more people begrudgingly make the move to it for the security updates. If 2025 doesn't see a rapid rate of adoption, then Microsoft has their own list of options:
1. Screw the world and let the people run vulnerable software because they didn't upgrade on time (and take the PR hit for it).
2. Patch Windows 11 to remove the heavily disputed requirements to allow more PCs to upgrade. This could even be an interim "lite edition" with things stripped out of it.
3. Extend support for Windows 10 like when they extended Windows XP support.
4. Patch Windows 11 to fix all the problems the tech community has with it to get their support in moving the average person over (we know they're not going to do this, but still technically an option).
5. Release Windows 12 (or what ever name they call it) to give people false hope that they're fixing their ways and get some people moved over with that "cleaner slate". This is similar to what happened with Windows 7 which was basically Vista with some tweaks to make it look like it was "the fix" people were hoping for, but in reality was just a slightly newer/tweaked Vista.
Given how hypersensitive people are around CoPilot, Recall, and Microsoft basically forcing their cloud services on people with their required Microsoft accounts and having One-Drive enabled by default (at least in the US), I don't know how effect #5 would be. It's a different age than when people were hating on Vista.
In any event, with any luck, more people will be learning Linux and re-learning how great it is to control their own computers again.
You could make a video with 👆 this comment.
My bet is option 3. I think that is a rather safe bet.