Windows 10 End of Life, Linux & Other Thoughts
Windows 10 reached the end of its life this week. This means that Microsoft will no longer be providing support for Windows 10 machines. No bug fixes, no security updates, nothing. For a multitude of reasons, this sucks.
As a warning, this post might meander around a bit, I have some thoughts and figure I'll just write them down, they might not always be the most organized.
Windows 10 came out in July 2015. It's been around for over 10 years. In the world of software, that's actually a pretty long time. I don't think you can expect Microsoft or any other company to support an operating system forever, but the jump to Windows 11 adds some wrinkles to the mix that I believe should require some exceptions.
In order to run Windows 11, the computer's hardware needs to support TPM 2.0. TPM is an acronym for Trusted Platform Module and it's a security feature built into the hardware of the computer itself. This is where the biggest wrinkle with the upgrade is. Many older machines, even some with decent specs, don't support TPM 2.0. This means that they can't upgrade to a supported Windows operating system without replacing their physical computer.
This is different from previous operating system upgrades which didn't have the same hardware requirements limiting the number of machines that could take the upgrade.
I ran into the same problem with my older machine. My last custom-built PC could not run Windows 11. I wanted to upgrade it anyway as I wanted a machine that could play more modern games and my older machine was starting to struggle with newer games. But my old machine was still a good machine. It might not have been the fastest machine or be able to play modern games, but it was still pretty fast and ran well. I ended up giving it to my in-laws to replace their much older machine that was well past its prime. For them, my old PC was still plenty good. It could do everything they wanted and needed a computer to do. I think that's what bothers me most. Because of the TPM 2.0 requirement, many computers that are still plenty functional are probably going to be thrown out.
What this also means is those who do not want to upgrade their actual hardware are likely to simply continue using their current machines running a now unsupported Windows 10. If it were simply losing access to new features or even bug fixes, that wouldn't be that big of a deal. The bigger issue is the lack of security updates. Any security flaws in Windows will no longer be fixed. It will leave Windows 10 machines vulnerable to exploits, attacks and many other threats.
This irritates me. People are going to be faced with the choice of running an unsupported operating system on otherwise good hardware, or throw out their machine and pay for a new computer.
And before anyone says anything, yes, I know Linux exists. I've been running Linux on my computers since college 20 years ago. My desktop dual boots between Windows 11 and Linux Mint. So yes, Linux is technically an option as it will run on older machines, receive software and security updates, and can make the machines feel new. While yes, many Linux distributions have gotten better and more user-friendly, I still don't believe it's an actually viable solution for the majority of people.
I have a Windows 11 install for one reason...gaming. If I want to play PC games, Windows is still really my only choice. Too many games just don't have installers for any other operating system. I've gotten back into World of Warcraft and have followed every guide I could find to get it running on my Linux Mint install. Every guide says it's easy to do. Just follow these instructions. Whelp, every guide has yet to work of my machine. I keep running into various errors during install or starting up Battle.net. I still haven't figured it out, and I like to consider myself technically proficient.
Imagine someone who doesn't have a technical background trying to do something outside the "happy path". This isn't to say that no one could figure it out or that Linux isn't an option for anyone, I just can see too many people getting frustrated with some of the differences Linux brings and giving up.
It's a shame too, because Linux is a great operating system. I really wish it had better support for those games that are built for Windows. But if my struggles to get a popular game like WoW running, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to get other games running. I'm also not sure how much time I'm going to want to spend fighting to get games running when I can just boot into Windows. My dream would be to get rid of Windows altogether and move forward with only Linux. Maybe I'll try it again once I finish Expedition 33...gotta finish it before my GamePass subscription expires in early November...thanks Microsoft for jacking up the price to make it no longer worth it, saves me $20/month.
Windows is also going all-in on Copilot and AI. Ugh. Every Microsoft app I use, it just gets shoved down my throat and I have to figure out how to either turn it completely off, or hide it. I don't want or use AI tools and it's annoying how hard Microsoft is pushing it on its users.
For my laptop, I have an M1 MacBook Pro I bought back in 2021. The machine is awesome. It's fast and continues to run well. I have no intention of upgrading anytime soon as this machine can handle everything I've thrown at it. When it does become time to upgrade, I can comfortably say I will likely not upgrade to a Windows-based laptop.
I will probably look at what laptops are around that are good with Linux. Thinking ahead, I was giving consideration to Framework until the whole DHH thing. If you don't know who DHH is, that's probably not a bad thing, but suffice it to say, he's a questionable individual to put it mildly. Maybe Framework will reverse course, maybe they won't. I thankfully don't have to make that decision now, but I don't want my money going towards a company that is helping finance DHH.
What I will want is a solid machine that will be supported for a long time. Apple has generally done a decent job supporting their hardware with OS updates and security patches. Linux of course is great with this. There are a large number of distributions and many that can do a good job supporting older hardware. My hope would be that if I go the Linux route, I can continue to count on that.
As I've gotten older, the less I've wanted the latest and greatest. My iPhone 14 Pro is still great, my 2021 laptop is still more than enough. I want a machine that will last me and if Linux is the route I go, I'm sure that barring a hardware failure, Linux will not let me down. I've been using my Linux desktop quite a bit lately and with the exception of gaming, there's nothing I use a computer for that it can't do.
.NET development? Check!
Node.js development? Check!
Basic web development? Of course!
People might have to get used to alternative apps that they're potentially unused to, think LibreOffice rather than Microsoft Office, but it's doable for those willing and able.