Microsoft tells Windows 10 users to just trade in their PC for a newer one, because how hard can it be?

I never liked Windows 10, I had way too many issues with it. However, so many companies rely on old versions of Windows and it takes them years to upgrade to the latest version. The machines I use at work still have Windows 10 installed because the software we rely on isn't compatible with Windows 11 yet. This whole "trade in your old PC for a new one" is ridiculous. Thankfully there's many Linux distros that work with older hardware so you don't need Windows!

I'm not using windows, but apple does the same thing. My OS is 9 versions old because they won't let me upgrade without buying a new computer.
- Try OpenCore Legacy Patcher
  
  I've seen similar options, but haven't heard of this one. Looks like my 17 yr old comp might be compatible. I wonder how compatible though, since most of my USB ports already don't work with my supported OS.
  Anyway, thanks, I'll look more into it.
- That's apple wanting to control their closed hardware ecosystem. Windows is built to run on a significantly wider range of hardware, so isn't really comparable in that way.
  
  True, microsoft is a wehrmacht nazi soldier where as apple is full on gestapo.
  
  I guess that's true. But both are acting everyone just has money to waste.

Always wandering why it isn' t possible for Microsoft to maintain their version and update all along. Linux can do it, Android can do it. I' m not sure about Apple. I switched to Linux years ago and I'm still most satisfied about my choice. My current laptop is from 2009 and can still go on for years. That is what you call sustainability
- Sustainable products are not profitable products. Look at what happened to Tupperware.
  
  If there's no IP barrier, the products can come back when the demand is back.
  Which is one of the reasons I'm against copyright and of course reverse-engineering and modding and emulation being legally suppressed.
  Say, one can easily understand how 90s' era of good old software and hardware ended. Modern business models there are more profitable. But those models lead to degeneracy, and they wouldn't be competitive if the old things were competitive for longer, and the old things would be if not for copyright. More paths is always better.
- But then the People wouldnt pay for it over and over again?
  People are way less willing to pay for updates than for whole new versions.
  Apple and companies using Android are selling hardware, not software like Microsoft.
  
  They make most of their money from pro licenses and telemety data anyway, I'm sure.
  
  Pay for windows?
- Android doesnt, my S8 can no longer be updated and many apps are beginning to no be supported. I love this phone, all the new ones are way too big.
  
  Lineageos. I'm like 1 android version behind latest on s9.
  Also it depends on the chip maker and the phone maker. Fairphone will get the latest for like a decade..

Hah. Good luck trying to make me dispose of the computer I built almost a decade ago and that I just upgraded. Neither my laptops nor my phones have outlived this baby.
- I put Linux on my mom's laptop which is nearing two decades old at this point. It was the pragmatic choice even though I personally use Windows.
  Windows security updates only last a few years. Would be annoying to keep reinstalling and re explaining the changed UI every few years.
- It might be time to release the shackles of Windows and head on over to Linux.
  Or I guess you could get Windows 10 LTSC.
  
  Yeah! I'm gonna use Windows 10 LTSC in the meantime but I'm still eyeing a full jump to Linux.

Linux/BSD blah blah blah

I will take your windows 10 PC and give you a keychain made of DDR2 RAM in trade.

Actually you can get the IoT Enterprise LTSC here and do your windows thing until 2032
https://massgrave.dev/windows_ltsc_links

How much could a new PC be Michael, $10?
- Just buy a new girlfriend!

Trade in to whom, to Linux users?.. Actually a good idea, not sure MS understood which almost logically complete advice they gave.

Trading in a PC.... in 2025? To who? Where? What time period, even? They must be thinking it's still 1985, and you can trade in your IBM Compatible to your nearest IBM Distributor.
- The addage to people who ask if I buy PCs is: You want to get rid of it. How am I going to convince someone to not only take it, but pay money for it?
- Maybe to the "third world" ( i dont like this name ) countries which still use linux because of high financial costs of windows... I can't wait react os 1.0

Users to microsoft: "You're creating a huge pile of garbage out of perfectly fine devices because of unneeded hardware requirement"
microsoft: "It's ok, just buy a new one"
Rarely have a message gone through so bad.
- Can you believe this company has a Chief Sustainability Officer? What the fuck do they do all day?
  
  Yell at the wind
- Funny because people still use Windows 7 in large quantities across the world.
  
  Windows 7 is such a nice user experience today, if you use it in 2025 you really get an idea of how far windows has fallen off.

W10 wouldn't get past the pin screen (type pin, then black screen forever, nothing else), so I used a live boot disk of fedora to rescue my files (turns out you can just bypass windows pins and mount the drive), then installed fedora on my old toshiba satellite and never looked back. Few years in I upgraded with linux in mind and now am cruising with a Framework 16. No regrets.
Join us! Cast off your shackles! Microsoft has no power over you beyond what you willingly give them!
- Can't game 100% on Linux not all games work well enough and driver issues.
  If not we wouldn't be on Windows.
  
  SteamOS. In principle anyway.
  
  I decided not to trade freedom for microtransactions years before I even switched to linux, personally. If a game can't run without literal spyware, I probably haven't played it.

If you are living on the coast and the water is rising due to climate change, just sell your house and move.

Linux users tell Microsoft to just get over it, dump your parasitic software and start over, because how hard can it be?
- As hard as plugging in a USB with OS and follow instructions.
  
  Minus all the caveats like not being reliable on anything with an NVidia GPU or just hating your specific setup for no reason (I am salty, I'm going to keep trying anyway)

Can MS be sued by EU for this? There was the thing with USB-C, because E-waste, and now the most used Desktop-OS says "just throw your PC away" for a not really needed (and artifically defined) requirement.
- I don't think there would be any legal standing for it. The computers being dropped won't be losing their functionality since users could just switch to something different or keep using Windows 10 without security patches. The
  
  The?

Bring on the cheap non windows 11 computers. I've already told everyone i know if they didn't want to have to buy another computer for years they just had to start using linux. Then I show them what that looks like if they are interested. I show them that they can put menu/start button at the bottom left if thats what they want. That they can have a the same browser they use and many of the same applications. I've had two people willing to try. Most insist that they don't want to learn anything new. Its depressing but its a boon for me when people start getting rid of their perfectly usable gear.

And I now I use Linux. Will never go back to Windows after this nonsense.
- This is the way. Linux gave my computer more freedom and lifespan. Never go back again.
  
  Linux speed increase over Windows it's like jumping 10 years into the future
- I made the jump recently, too, after having to use W11 for my studies... Figured that the one multiplayer game I play that actually needs Windows to work (and that's purely because the dev's won't enable anticheat on Linux) is not too much of a sacrifice when the alternative would be giving out the possibility to tune the OS to my liking.
  Bye bye Windows, you were "great" during XP and W7 times!
  
  Well, if I'm honest I tried to install Win11 before Linux but it was such a pain in the arse I gave up. The installer couldn't pick up the SSD so I had to download drivers onto USB and install them half way through the wizard. THEN, it wouldn't pick up the WiFi card so I bypassed that to get the installer to finish, and to top it off, even after I'd installed all the drivers, it still didn't pick it up, not in the device manager, nowhere, as if it didn't exist. So I gave up. Linux installed first time and although it's not quite perfect yet it's functional enough for me to actually use the flipping thing! Haha
  I've installed every Windows since 95 on various machines and never had so much trouble. Win11 is complete crap. And Microsoft are a bunch of dickheads for forcing it when there was literally nothing wrong with Win10.

I switched to Linux on my laptops years ago. Recently, I retired and started playing video games like Skyrim. I play on a Nintendo Switch. I considered playing Skyrim on a laptop so I could use/build mods. I bought a laptop with Windows 11 and spent forty minutes removing the bloat, ads, spyware, ai nonsense, and other dross, fixing it so it did not 'update' to restore everything I deleted, and installing my preferred alternatives (browser, search, email etc). It reminded me why I hate Windows almost as much as Mac OS (which is even more controlling). Microsoft have hundreds of engineers 'enshitifying' everything. It is more than a full-time job trying to stop them and block their 'improvements'. I am retired. I have better things to do.
I did not enjoy playing games with a laptop (hurts my arthritis, I prefer using a console and an easy chair) and resented having to reverse engineer everything I installed to keep it running but without sacrificing my privacy so the laptop now just sits in a drawer. It amazes me that anyone still tolerates Microsoft products, or any of the monopolists stuff. Why is anyone still using google search or chrome browser, why bing or any of it? Why is anyone still seeing adverts? Why is everyone still being fed by algorithms? You must chose this - but why? I always sought out better and if it did not exist, I built it, and if I could not build it, I did without. There is a lot of dumbing-down around technology. Back in C20th, we used to build our own hardware, write our own software. We were skilled hobbyists (later I got an M.Sc. to reinforce my hobby skills with theory and even ran a business for a while as an engineer). Around 2000 +/- five years, the monopolists offered 'help' in the form of WYSIWYG editors to write code for us or 'click buttons to register your account' platforms to host content for us instead of us running our own websites (blogger, wordpress, facebook, twitter etc). They dumbed us all down, farmed us like animals for data and used clickbait to get ad revenue and undermined our politics, culture, even changed our sense of being human. Now old folk can build resources but younger people can only consume. We have to re-skill and resist the seduction of the easy and free-to-use. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Never trust a tech bro, whether USA or any nationality.
Personally, I want to 'jail break' my Switch and make mods for my console version of Skyrim. I can't do that now as it is illegal but when they bring out the Switch 2 and the old console is 'obsolete' and they stop trying to get money for Skyrim, I reckon we tinkerers will get a chance to re-purpose the old console to play the old games in our own way. I reckon some exciting engineering is happening amongst the recyclers and re-purposers rather than amongst the corporates. I only buy second-hand for ethical reasons and to save money. I always install my own software based on AOSP or use a more ethical distro or alternative to the commercial options. I always debloat or degoogle or remove unwanted stuff. I wish that kind of personalisation were more common. There is a zero sum relationship with tech: either the technology controls you, or you control it. I urge you to control your own tech. Don't be enslaved by it. I feel I am in a minority in wanting sovereignty over my damn phone. It makes me sad.
- Personally, I want to 'jail break' my Switch and make mods for my console version of Skyrim.
  Why not just get a steam deck?
  
  I tried creating a Steam account and was blocked by the revolving captcha security thing - took days to try to get help from their customer care and by the time they got back to me I had lost interest. I spent the waitjng time researching Valve and I decided they are not an ethical business. Made me sad as I loved the idea of a customised-for-gaming-on-console linux OS and liked the look of the hardware. But Valve is a monopolist and has too much market share and too many users and thus too much power - USA politics today shows how big a risk that is. Valve supports unethical business models like 'rent game to play', AI-generated junk games and IP violations so it debases game development and hurts indy developers, live-streaming games which is bad for environment. It promotes 'easy access/always on gaming' and is thus profiting from addiction-to-gaming, which ix a MASSIVE problem and few gamers admit it. It's an American corporation and I distrust American corporate culture. Most of which might be said of other console/platforms so its not just Valve/Steam, I feel wary of but the whole industry. I bought a second-hand Switch so did not help Nintendo/Japanese corporate power directly. I bought a bundle of 2nd-hand games on sd card with minimal download content (except for 'No Man's Sky' which constantly updates). I am trying to be an ethical gamer - limit my time gaming to stop me becoming an addict etc. But I admit I am compromised - I spend too much time gaming, being retired its easy to lose track of time. Honestly, I feel like a vegan who wraps bacon in thick wholemeal sandwiches and pretends they are not really eating pigs since its mainly bread. I am 'a work in progress'.

This is kinda funny, just thinking someone believes you can "trade in" a PC at all. Even more so when they are trying to say those same Windows 10 machines will be so useless you need to trade them in in the first place, making the value of such a trade in what, next to nothing?

jokes on them i just erased my windows and put mint on it
- I use Arch btw.
- Hi from a Thinkpad running Debian (Mint), as God intended
  
  "In the name of our Lord I implore thee to embrace Linux Mint. For it is a software that shall free thy computer from its earthly shackles and grant thee access to infinite knowledge of the cosmos."
  Matthew 23:23
  
  Arch heretic here (long time Mint user).
- My Acer Nitro with OpenSUSE says hi 👋
  
  My Acer Nitro with Aurora Says Hi!
  (I'm thinking maybe going to Kinonite)

A testament to the shot development standards at MS. An OS literally should not in a million years be this resource inefficient, especially out of the box.

Oh sure, why not throw a perfectly functional $1,300 into a shredder so we can make Microsoft happy? Oh yeah, I know, because fuck you Microsoft.

"Trade in" like theres a dealership willing to give you some kind of fair value for your old computer. That said, if you're willing to be extorted by Microsoft, then you get what you have coming to you.

Seriously, use Linux. What is the problem?
- The problem is there are a billion versions of linux, idk what one to choosex idk if i can play my steam games on linux, everyone who talks about linux seems to be a programmer /coder, and uses jargon that i don't even understand, so idk if I'll even be able to USE linux. And if I ask any questions I feel like it's all gonna end up sounsing like another language to me.
  The whole idea of moving to linux is overwhelming.
  But I'm starting to hate windows 11. And fuck Apple all together.
  
  My 72 year old, non techy father in law had a laptop that could not be updated to Windows 11 without modifying the installer to get around Microsoft limitations. I suggested Linux, He decided to just buy a new laptop with Windows 11 on it. About a week later he was complaining about the way Microsoft was forcing him to have an online account and how he wanted to get rid of onedrive. I suggested Linux again and he said why not?
  I installed Linux Mint for him and gave him the password. I offered to show him around but he said he would take a look at it and let me know if he has trouble doing anything.
  Its been a few months now, and he hasn't had any problems or even questions. Everything is just working for him.
  I also gave my 16 year old daughter a Linux Mint laptop and the password a couple of years ago. She uses it all the time and has never asked for help in figuring out how to do anything.
  The distro doesn't really matter too much, but if you are coming from Windows 7 or 10, Linux Mint will seem very familiar to you.
  
  I can't really think of a better example of what you're talking about than that there's three other people replying to this, each recommending you use a different flavor of linux...
  
  If you don’t know what to choose, just pick Mint and give it a try. It’s not that difficult. Don’t go for those things, which need more knowledge, start with the easiest one and if your knowledge is growing and you are willing to do distro hopping, you can try more complex stuff.
  
  everyone who talks about linux seems to be a programmer /coder, and uses jargon that i don't even understand
  I've been pointing that out for a while, but unfortunately there is a vocal subset of the community that thinks referring people to just read technical manuals is fine (if you can't, just learn to read it, duh).
  Some things are concepts you'll learn easily, don't worry, and for the rest, you'll always find someone willing to break it down if you manage to look past the snobs. If you want, shoot me a DM if you just want to understand a specific term without someone making you feel like an idiot.
  The problem is there are a billion versions of linux, idk what one to choose
  There are plenty of suggestions here. Ubuntu is what got me started and I still think it's a good start. Mint is from the same family, "Pop! OS" too (the name sounds silly to me, but it's legit and popular for a reason). Just look at pictures and see what seems prettiest to you, then go with that. The usage won't be too different.
  The grandpa of that family is Debian, but I'm not sure it's quite as user-friendly out of the box. I'm mentioning it in case you come across the term.
  The other big families are Fedora and Arch. I personally use a Fedora-Child, but to keep things narrow, I recommend the three mentioned above as starters.
  If you come across people hating Ubuntu - including myself - it's usually for ideological reasons rather than usability ones. Don't worry about that for now. Getting into the weeds of things is a skill you don't have yet and that's perfectly fine.
  if i can play my steam games on linux
  Steam, fortunately, is the one platform that works best with Linux. For their handheld, they decided to flip off MS and made their own Linux, along with a wrapper tool to make all the games run on it anyway.
  You may hear the terms "compatibility layer", "Proton" and "wine", which is exactly that: A tool to make Windows stuff run on Linux. Again, don't worry about the specifics, just believe me: I'm playing almost all of my steam games just as I used to.
  If there is a specific game you care about, https://www.protondb.com/ has a large store of knowledge. Some things run out of the box, some may require a few extra settings that are usually easy to add, and if there ever is a thing you don't understand, my offer stands.
  The whole idea of moving to linux is overwhelming.
  It's a scary plunge, a leap of faith, but I assure you: There are people ready to catch you at the bottom. The reception wasn't as warm when I jumped off of Win7, and the snobs are still around, but things have improved a lot over the past few years. Trust me, trust us: You won't be left alone.
  
  Install Linux Mint Cinnamon. You don't need to be a coder and there is a discord for any tech support needs
  
  Just get Mint, you'll be fine.
  
  (Taking your questions seriously and attempting to offer genuine and practical advice with some of my usual psychotic sense of humor)
  There aren't billions of versions of Linux, only tens of thousands. Of those, some are meant for servers, some are meant for embedded devices, some are meant for supercomputers, some haven't been updated in a decade and some are for specific weird niches. Filter out the joke ones like Hannah Montana Linux and what you'll have left are five major distros called Red Hat, Debian, Slackware, Arch and SuSe. These five are quite different from each other, they do things like develop their own package managers and such. Most other distros are minor modifications of these, most of the time just including a different desktop environment or included software. Debian's forks include Ubuntu, Linux Mint, ElementaryOS and Neon. Fedora is a fork of Red Hat, Manjaro, EndeavourOS and SteamOS are forks of Arch, and I'm sure Slackware and SuSe have been forked too. The majority of forks are "What if this distro, but this desktop instead of that one?" This is why there are three different versions of Linux Mint, your choice of Cinnamon, xfce and MATE desktops. How do you choose? Try a few and see which one you like best. They're all free.
  You can play Steam games on Linux. Valve has gone BIG into Linux compatibility, their Steam Deck handheld gaming PC ships with a Linux operating system called SteamOS which as previously mentioned is a fork of Arch Linux that comes with the KDE desktop. They have a compatibility layer called Proton which, if I understand the tech correctly, translates DirectX API calls into Vulkan API calls which Linux can understand. At this point, the vast, vast majority of Windows games just work on Linux. The one big sticking point at the moment are kernel-level anticheat systems often used in competitive multiplayer games. The developer has to specifically choose to release a Linux version that enables this, and most don't. So there are some games to include Fortnite that the developers have specifically chosen to not run on Linux. I've been PC gaming exclusively on Linux for over a decade now.
  A lot of Linux users are indeed programmers, developers or sysadmins. I'll remind you that Android and ChromeOS are also both Linux operating systems. Many distros these days have complete and polished graphical desktop environments that make the OS similar to use to Windows or MacOS. Take a look at Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition, I bet you'll find your way around.
  
  Ubuntu, PopOS, or Linux Mint. All different interface, but largely identical.
  
  I'm not a programmer or coder and I've been using Linux for about a year. It's been really user friendly after I figured out what distros are and which one to choose. I highly recommend Linux Mint Debian Edition. It's worked quite well for me and was not a huge jump from windows because the user interface is similar. All you need to install it is a thumb drive.
  I like playing games on steam and haven't had any issues. There's this really cool website called protondb where you can search steam game compatibility with Linux. For the few that aren't compatible, oftentimes people share fixes which usually consists of copy pasting stuff on there.
  
  Linux community doesn’t help the user friendly nature of the OS, that’s true. Steam deck runs Linux so if it works on steam deck it will likely work on Linux mint or Ubuntu.
  Lots of terminal help and outdated forum posts make it feel difficult to manage Linux, you’re right it is overwhelming and it’s not going to have full software compatibility, but if you spend lots of time in the browser and rely on web services it works fairly well over all and is generally low maintenance if you stick to the App Store and use graphic user interfaces.
  
  Just use Ubuntu. (Surely I'll get hate for this.)
  It's based on Debian, a major branch off the tree. It just fucking works. Millions of tutorials, groups, etc. to find troubleshooting info. Probably won't have to do anything to get a machine running that does everything you're doing now.
  Get the swing of that and go from there, if you want to try other branches.
  This realization helped me quite a bit: Windows does all sorts of arcane voodoo with the registry and DLLs and such. Weirdness Linux appeals to many because all the configuration is contained in simple text files. Got a program that reads and writes plain old text? Aight. You can configure Linux. In a way, it's so simple it's hard to get your head around coming from Windows.
  tl;dr: Just download and install Ubuntu. Go from there with your nicely working machine.
  
  I'm coming from a non programmer perspective who has been on linux just short of a year. I work in finance but use CachyOS on my personal computer and laptop. I started with PopOs because I had heard that it was "out of the box for nvidia gaming" but soon after learned that most gaming distros are just advertised as such because of pre installed ease of use programs. Proton, wine, etc will run on most forks of linux and the distro you choose matters less and less the more familiar you get with using linux. I recommend CachyOS as a first distro because the installer allows you to choose your desktop environment / window manager. Allows for more options for a beginner so you don't feel limited to what is packaged in other "beginner friendly" distros.
  Note that anticheat is still the biggest pain point for linux compatibility layers so I just go on ProtonDB, check to see if the anticheat allows for linux, and if not I have a dual boot of debloated/removed telemetry windows that can run those games. Within my time using it, only rainbow 6 has required me to launch the windows instance. Aside from that all my singleplayer and multiplayer games run, albeit some with a 5% performance decrease (but that's more of an Nvidia issue than an inherent linux issue).
  My advice is to just try it. Doesn't take much time or effort to back up your necessary files and just switch even if temporarily just to see if it's for you :)
  
  At some point you were foreign to Windows also. Everything must have also felt new and weird. The only way to make it feel not new is experience. One way to do that is to stop thinking if you choose the right one the first time. Get your mindset back to learning the whole system, keep an open mind. Go Linux Mint feel it out. Another is stay on Windows 10 and wait it out perhaps Microsoft will budge and allow outdated systems to install Windows 11 with support.
  
  You should start with a friendly Linux version, Ubuntu flavor.
  
  Set a usage scenario (Desktop, Gaming), decide if you want rock-solid or fancy new features, then google it. And add the word "beginner" if you're new to linux.
  
  Try them here: https://distrosea.com/
  I suggest Cinnamon Ubuntu for a combination of Mint and Ubuntu and the best of both worlds. It's got the Mint Windows like front end, with Ubuntu in the back. Most help online is for Ubuntu anyway and it's better with games imo.
  https://distrosea.com/select/ubuntucinnamon/
  My partner is a gamer and this is what I'm bringing him in on this summer.
  
  Just use Ubuntu. It's super easy and built for folks new to Linux. Plus steam plays all games on Linux, so no worries there.
  You can duck duck go any question and then add "ubuntu" to the end and get help. No reason not to at this point.
- People are too addicted to video games apparently
  
  Gaming on Linux is better than it's ever been. But yeah still a few Windows only releases, but that time is coming to an end I think.
  
  Can't judge people. Everybody decides how to spend their time. I think the problem can be solved. It just needs a right decision.
- Adobe and ease of use
  I need Adobe, specifically Lightroom, because there’s no alternative. I can’t just stop using it as a semi-professional photographer (I make money from it, just not a ton).
  Darktable doesn’t handle large libraries well and also is missing features such as AI remove and integration with photoshop for splitting photos up for social media posts.
  
  Then Apple. Their M-series are fantastic, and their support cycles are great. Also, taking marketshare from Microsoft is generally a good thing because it'll force them to make a better product.
  
  Use what works for you.
  
  If it came down to ditching adobe or quitting photography I would quit photography and I love taking photos lol.
  Adobe is a threat to the photography industry for many reasons (especially to future photographers who want to follow in your footsteps) you should reconsider your options.
  
  OK but people who need Adobe are a really small minority.
  
  Sorry but then you will have to continue living on your knees, drinking verification cans at their mercy and pray they don't alter the deal again (they will).
- my main problems are the lack of support for Adobe programs and several online games
  Edit: I guess a more accurate phrasing would have been "lack of support from..."
  
  Fair, but that's not a Linux problem. Publishers need to support the platform. Is windows bad for not "running" final cut?
  
  Go to https://www.goeuropean.org/#products-list and try to enter the Adobe search word. :) Could it be an alternative for you?
- Gaming. The only reason I went from Ubuntu to Windows.
  
  steam and heroic launcher makes it very easy
  
  From games with anti cheats exclusively functional on windows I'm assuming. Otherwise gaming is on par
  
  Maybe buying a dedicated gaming device would be the option? Separation of concerns?

So, uh... You gonna trade me a better machine for my current one, Microsoft?
- M$: best I can do is Intel celery, but it's new enough to run windows 11
  
  sigh does it at least come with ranch or peanutbutter? Celery is better with one of those.

Alright then MS, (this is hypothetical as I haven't ran Windows as my main OS in years and don't plan on going back) since you want me to trade in my hardware, how 'bout I trade in your OS instead? :p

Trade in their PCs to who? Fucking Aquaman?
- I love how memes (in the Dawkinsian sense) work. Lots of people have enjoyed this, but I can imagine this being quoted as the original is lost to the sands of time.
  Young people everywhere thinking that Aquaman was someone who just bought failing assets from everyone.
- The Linux guys obv
- That excellent gag is how I discovered hbomberguy some years ago
  
  What's especially funny is that he didn't even script that, he just came up with it on the spot. And now it's the joke he's most known for.

It's one new PC, Michael. How much could it cost? $10?
- based on the context of the show shed say like 10,000$ but I like yours better lol
- What's 10 dollars? The people saying this are too rich to understand poor numbers. They probably think in terms of "a new pc costs less than an hour at my favorite spa, people are complaining too much".
  
  Arrested Development tv show. Pretty funny. The family fortune started with the dad opening a banana stand in his youth.
  ALT: 2 panels. 1st panel- Rich mom from Arrested Development sitcom, holding a cup, opulent home, saying "I mean it's one banana, Michael. How much could it cost? Ten dollars?"
  2nd panel- Michael sitting back, head on hand saying "you've never actually stepped foot in a supermarket, have you?"
  
  It's a joke from a tv show. The rich out of touch lady thinks bananas "only cost" ten dollars.

October is going to be a great month to get a cheap second hand computer.
- ooo and I bet they won't be that bad all things considered with how wild some of the non supported hardware is.
- It’s online corps offload computers but there will be a delay and many will just have the extended windows 10 supports. So I’d give it another year.
  
  Good time to start looking for a good deal on cheap home lab crap though.

Translation: "Install Linux."
- Kinda excited to go all the way and swap my last holdout. The last thing Windows forces me to do.
- I really want to put Linux on my gaming PC, but I'm doubtful I can get my Rift S working on there. :/
  Apparently there is an openxr driver for it, though, so I suppose I should at least give it a shot.
  There's absolutely no way I'm going to win11, though.
  
  Nobara or Pop! OS would be good choices.
  Yeah, VR is still catching up, but I feel like (dual) booting to Win 10 just for specific purposes would greatly reduce the risk.
  
  Your best shot is with Monado, which supports the Rift S: https://monado.freedesktop.org/
  I only have an Index, so I can't speak for how well it works or how easy it is to setup.
  
  I got my meta quest 2 working on Linux, so you should definitely just try :)
  
  Yeah, this is why I never got into VR, the Linux support blows even if you get a supported headset because the games aren't made for Linux. There are some games, sure, but it's not worth spending $1k+ on an Index.
  I'll use it once the barrier to entry drops or Linux support improves.
  
  As someone who routinely used to sink thousands of hours into games, and by that I mean 3000 hrs. on R6-3, 2500 hrs. on Squad and so on, the predatory practices of Microsoft, Steam and game developers have just turned me off gaming completely.
- I would, except there's always some software or some feature missing. And there's always the FOSS app that "might" meet "some" aspects of what native software does but it's almost always never "native" support.
  Sure, I know I can play MOST games on Linux, but I know for a fact they'll launch on windows.
  Or things like, sure, I know that my corsair Hardware MIGHT be controlled by signal RGB, but what about controlling the pump in my AIO? Or the sound levels on ny headset? Or the DPI in my mouse?
  Then you have things like drivers. I'm not using any Nvidia GPUs right now, but the nvidia support for Linux is atrocious and you lose access to things like RTX-HDR and RTX Voice, and hell, even in AMD you lose access to certain features like AMFM2.
  Then the software, not only does things like Adobe or Office just don't exist, the FOSS solutions are not industry standard, so sure, I can learn to use LibreOffice, but that's worth absolutely nothing when you apply for a corporate job and they expect you to know how to use outlook as a bare minimum, hell, even the Google office suite is being adopted faster.... Ah, but if the software is available there's still a chance it doesn't work because it's missing a dependency or something and you have to ask people to use the terminal and... Sigh
  All in all, it's just behind in many ways, sure, for some people it's ok, and for laptops I'd think is mostly ok, great even. But I know I could deal with Linux, and I don't want to troubleshoot a whole PC to play a game when I already spend the whole day dealing with solving issues or servers or services on my job.
  I'm rooting for Steam OS to release to desktops because my living room PC is LITERALLY just for gaming, so that "could" work nicely.
  
  Hardware MIGHT be controlled by signal RGB
  OpenRGB to the rescue: https://flathub.org/apps/org.openrgb.OpenRGB
  controlling the pump in my AIO?
  What do you need to control about your pump? I sure hope it works without OS support.
  Or the sound levels on ny headset?
  Move the volume slider up or down?
  Or the DPI in my mouse?
  Save them to the mouse as profile if it can or use Piper: https://flathub.org/apps/org.freedesktop.Piper
  in AMD you lose access to certain features like AMFM2
  FSR Frame Gen works just fine, not sure why you need fake frames in more games.
  the FOSS solutions are not industry standard, so sure, I can learn to use LibreOffice, but that's worth absolutely nothing when you apply for a corporate job and they expect you to know how to use outlook as a bare minimum
  There is also OnlyOffice and online MS Office. Not sure what you need to know about Outlook to open it and use your eyes to read the mails.
  even the Google office suite is being adopted faster
  Good news, it runs in a browser and works on every OS!
  Ah, but if the software is available there's still a chance it doesn't work because it's missing a dependency or something and you have to ask people to use the terminal and... Sigh
  I have not fixed dependencies issue on Linux since the early 2000s. Flatpaks are your friend https://flathub.org/ .
  All in all, it's just behind in many ways, sure, for some people it's ok, and for laptops I'd think is mostly ok, great even.
  I run it on my high end PC and I disagree. It's ahead in many ways.
  The graphics drivers are included and don't need any bloated software to work
  It has a banger OpenGL driver, which makes games like Minecraft run significantly faster.
  It has a very active community for game support for games where the developer does not care
  It translates older DirectX versions to Vulkan automatically, resulting in a performance uplift and more stability. People on Windows are installing DXVK just so older games work. Look up DXVK in the Steam forums.
  It downloads shader caches from Valve, preventing shader stutter in games that don't do it on their own
  That list could go on for a while and it's only for gaming.
  I haven't even gone into installation and not having to run ShutUp10 every time just to make the OS usable. Or how KDE is so much cleaner than Windows. Or how I don't have any ads in my start menu, don't have to force download Candy Crush on first boot, don't have pre-installed apps I can't remove, don't have to block my own OS in its firewall to get rid of telemetry, don't have to be told that I need to upgrade to Windows 11 constantly.
  For work: Docker just works, complex networking setups are not a pain to setup, creating VMs is so much easier and has so many more features. VPN is so seamlessly setup. I can read almost every file system on the planet and use ROCm without jumping through hoops. Not to mention I don't get Copilot and Recall shoved down my throat.
  Are there issues on Linux? Sure, lots of them. But if I find them I can tell somebody about it and don't have to deal with them for centuries.
  I'm rooting for Steam OS to release to desktops because my living room PC is LITERALLY just for gaming, so that "could" work nicely.
  SteamOS is just a modern Linux distro with Steam pre-installed and in autostart. If stuff works there, it works on regular Linux just as well.
  Bazzite achieves the same thing right now: https://bazzite.gg/

- Is that Sam Reich in a penguin suit!?

Hot take from an IT guy: save your important data, make a plain vanilla W11 boot USB (nothing fancy, no Rufus tricks), wipe your hard drive to zeroes, and install W11 like normal. I've reimaged a ton of older PCs and literally never seen it not work. My 10 year old Optiplex, supposedly ineligible for W11, runs W11 just fine.
Microsoft might someday break it, sure. That's not new. Microsoft products were always, in practice, available to us at Microsoft's pleasure. This is the same company that allows massgrave to exist on github because they'd rather we pirate MS Office than allow LibreOffice any oxygen. We'll probably be fine.
- Also IT guy. Hot take indeed. I've done this but won't support this. I will almost guarantee some update will break shit at the most inconvenient time humanly possible and the people you've done this for will need your help, all at the same time.
  I'm using this opportunity to expand Linux market share.
  Most people only use a browser these days. People that ask me about Windows 10 eol get pushed towards Linux. There is really no need to spend money to replace a machine mainly used to browse the web.
  Only if they need stuff that won't work on Linux or they really really want Windows to use Chrome or Firefox on for some reason I'll recommend complying with Microsoft's hubris.
  But not before suggesting Apple sells pretty and user friendly computers as well. Because I really want this to hurt Windows's market share and by golly I'll do everything in my power to help.
  
  I'm imagining me doing this to my building of elderly, it dies and then opening my eyes to 40 work orders. Lmao
  
  I will almost guarantee some update will break shit at the most inconvenient time humanly possible and the people you’ve done this for will need your help, all at the same time.
  Well, yeah. That's life as an admin under the best circumstances. There's a running list of Windows ticking time bombs over on r/sysadmin. There are lots of good reasons to ditch Windows, but I wouldn't say the risk of MS shutting down technically unsupported hardware is one of them (because I don't agree it's a substantial risk).

Ah, the old Ben Shapiro logic. If you don't want your house that's at risk of flooding, don't worry, simply sell it! Someone's bound to give you a good price for it!
- Hmm. I wonder if Aquaman is in the market for some old computers.
- Sell it to the merpeople, they'll be happy to have a proper house for once!

DoN't YOu gUyS hAvE TPM? Hilarious.
- TPM part is easy. It's them arbitrarily cutting out cpu generations that's the problem.
  oh you have an almost brand new cpu, sorry we decided you needed a slightly newer line for win 11. Just trade it in for a new one
  
  Yup. OG Ryzen had TPM but wasn't supported for Windows. Not sure if that has changed.
- Tpm I do have, the annoying thing is secureboot I need to enable to play league on win11 and that wont work with when dual booting with my main os linux.
  I hate win11 so much man

Ok, write me a check for a new one.

Lots of suggestions here. Here is mine peppermint OS. Simple and doesnt brake (debian based)
- Peppermint OS and Pop! OS are my top favs.

Just in case anyone reading doenst know - the free tool Rufus can write a Win 11 ISO to your usb drive md remove all the silly soft requirements.
- Or better yet, windows 10 LTSC. Which will be supported for another 2 years. 4 if you subsequently switch the product key to the IOT LTSC version.
  
  The hurdles windows users are willing to put up with is nothing less than amazing. That's not a good thing.
  
  IOT version is supported until 2032
  
  oh nice - thanks for sharing, i was not aware of this and will add it to my toolbox!
- The free OS Linux also doesn't pull this crap, and Rufus can write a Linux ISO to your USB drive and remove Microsoft's gaslighting from your life.
  
  gaslighting
  Bro, i cut my teeth on FreeBSD 2.2.x and served in the Great Linux / Windows wars of 95 and 98…
  but im not so sure MS ever gaslit anyone. everyone seemed to have a pretty solid perception of reality.
  Maybe the term gaslighting means something new to you 🤷
- Yeah, but will updates work? And even if they do, what's stopping Microsoft in disabling them somehow?
  Nowadays if you want to have usable Windows installation you need to use a bunch of 3rd party scripts that might break on next update. Learning Linux is easier than this shit.
  I can't wait for someone to ask me how to solve some shit in Windows, and me saying that I don't have patience for this crap.
  
  updates work.
  MS won’t disable them - they want people to move to Windows 11.
  Congrats on migrating to Linux! it’s what i’ve been pushing friends and family towards for decades, and thankfully Ubuntu is in a position right now to be a fine desktop OS, esp for the average user who lives in a web browser.
- Windows updates don't work correctly a lot of the time if you've bypassed the requirements. My predecessor at work installed 11 on some ancient systems and it's been a hassle.
  
  I’ve had no issues on the machines i’ve done this with, aside from having to do an upgrade in place with a major update (used rufus, write the latest iso, did the upgrade from the bootable usb.
  regular windows updates work without hassle. perhaps your predecessor didn’t use a complete solution 🤷

Linux

Yes. The totaly real PC trade-in market...
- At best, I've seen a small discount and whatever is traded in is junked to keep it off the second-hand market.
  
  You could probably trade it in a pawn shop, now that I think agian about it.

When will Commerce Secretary Sputnik shill for Windows 11 on Fox?

Microsoft is getting billions for AI datacenters (they're now turning back on) why do you buy me a fucking new PC Microsoft
- Why have 1bil when you could have 1.1 bil

I installed linux on my PC a couple months ago. The other day I wanted to log back into my windows partition for the first time in a while in order to clean up some of the files on that partition (even though the drive is mounted in linux, the windows "fast boot" option apparently leaves it in a state that linux considers read-only). Windows apparently wouldn't let me log in without a microsoft account, instead of just using my regular windows username.
So yeah, that partition's gone now. No going back!

eli5? people can continue using windows 10 but becomes insecure?
- No, the police will show up at your door on October 11th and arrest you on the spot.
  If you're in the US you'll be sent to El Salvador. If you're anywhere else you'll be sent to the US, receive a few tattoos, then El Salvador.
  
  Can I pick the tattoos?
- Ms will stop supporting windows 10. Windows 11 has hardware requirements for a specific security chip and processors with specific features, so upgrading components isn’t an option.
  If you have an old pc you can’t easily upgrade. Theres ways of forcing it to work but it’s not supported.
  A lot of businesses will be getting rid of their old pcs so they dont need to deal with the hassle.
  Linux will still support and run on the older hardware, so a lot of people are expecting used hardware prices to drop.
  
  And thanks to Proton you can now do pretty much everything that you can do on Windows. Unless you do graphics design.
- Yes. They also added an option to pay for patches.

Let's get all IT people together and fight through the hassle to help friends and family switch to Linux
- I've already switched my mom and grandma to Linux, and I've personally only got 1 PC still on Windows. Its days are numbered though.
  
  The only PC we have with Windows is my wife's, and that's because she plays an anti-cheat game. My desktop, laptop, NAS, and Steam Deck all run Linux.

Im going to get so many pc upgrades. woohoo.

Someone has to say it: I bought a MacBook!
- A MacBook is on the upgrade treadmill even faster than windows lol
  
  I've never had a pc get to 10 years old before upgrading. I fully expect my MacBook to meet my needs (which don't include rending animations or editing video) for the rest of my life (I’m 65) OR at least 10 years.
- So you went from a 10 year upgrade cycle to a 7 year upgrade cycle?
  
  I may not have 10 years left in my life cycle!

Kinda funny the same statement to Tesla owners, where comments are telling that it's easy...