cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/15988326
Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10, and all editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date. Existing LTSC releases will continue to receive updates beyond that date based on their specific lifecycles.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro
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Year Of The Linux Desktop
Ten years of support is not that bad actually. Having said that, Linux is better in almost every way.
I think while this is true, it’s the time you have to switch over is much smaller.
Windows XP kept being supported until 2014, and up to that point you had Windows Vista (2007), Windows 7 (2009) and Windows 8 (2012). That’s 7 years users had to move over.
Even if you consider something like Windows 7 with a shorter support cycle ending in 2020, you had Windows 8 (2012) and Windows 10 (2015), giving you 8 years to cave in and upgrade.
Windows 11 came out in 2022, and you have 3 years not to just upgrade the OS, but in a lot of cases your hardware too. I think this is why everyone is feeling the squeeze moreso than previously.
Ten years of support is not that bad actually. Having said that, Linux is better in almost every way.
“Linux is better in every way except for those use cases specifically tailored by Microsoft & associates to not play ball with Linux”.
ftfy. Fuck corporations.
I have been running Linux for some time now, still had a Windows partition for gaming. Then I switched the motherboard and windows decided I no longer had a key for it… I stopped playing most of the windows exclusive games. Since last week I can’t even boot anymore, something about missing drivers. Spent a day trying to fix it. Today I decided fuck it and I’m just leaving it behind! It makes no sense wasting so much energy on a vastly inferior OS that actively tries to fight me.
I have been running Linux for some time now,
Same. Windows 95 was the last MS install on my personal machine.
Then I switched the motherboard and windows decided I no longer had a key for it
The reason for this is that Windows builds an identifier based on the hardware of the machine on which it is installed. When that identifier doesn’t match, it throws a flag that says “Hey now …” I think that you still get a couple of “honor system passes” before the installed OS enforces anything.
Once that gets enforced, you can call Microsoft Clearinghouse, “I upgraded my hardware,” and they’ll give you a new key to enter.
Apparently there is 2 types of Windows licences. The ones that are bound to the hardware and ones that aren’t. If you bought a PC with preinstalled Windows, it’s probably the first and you wont get any new keys.
Whereas on Linux I recently upgraded the motherboard on my machine from a B350 to a B550, stripping it down to it’s parts and rebuilding. Different network chip, audio chip, WiFi and Bluetooth, etc, etc. 6 SSDs plugged back in in a shuffled order.
Linux booted and worked first time, adjusting which drivers it used automatically, mounting all the drives in their original locations. Similar thing when I upgraded my GPU. Admittedly the old one was AMD, same as the new one, but there was about 4 or 5 generations between them. CPU upgrades too.
I’ve got a real machine of Theseus here. I think my case and my heatsink is all that’s left from the original.
…oh…and the OS.
Windows will do the exact same thing. It’ll even boot and run just fine, only telling you that Windows isn’t activated. And you can get vendor support if you need it. I had a Windows system that started as XP and got upgraded and passed around among newer and newer hardware up to Windows 11 with nary a problem.
I switched to Arch a month ago because of Microsoft forceful integration of their shit AI tools into 11. Easy switch.
Windows 10 21H2 LTSC IoT support ends in 13th Jan 2032. Just saying.
Or Arch…
And where does one get LTSC?
Yarr, matey.
I’d recommend asking around lemmy.dbzer0.com, in the sailing community.
But it’d be easier to switch to Linux Mint, if you don’t have a critical windows app that doesn’t work in wine.
Ooooo thanks
I’m worried about my Steam library. Steam ended support for Windows 7 not long ago. How long will they Support Windows 10?
Only 3% of Windows users are on Windows 7. Compared to 70% on Windows 10. When that number drops significantly, that’s around the time I’d expect Steam to drop. They’ll go where their customers go.
You should be worried about being on any Windows computer connected to the Internet that Microsoft is no longer patching period…
We recommend moving to linux eheh (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Oh fucking great. My daughter’s online school requires her to run “Windows 8 or greater,” but we got her a used laptop that can run 10 to make sure it can keep up with security updates. I don’t even know if it is powerful enough to run 11 because I didn’t even consider the possibility when I bought it. Now we’re going to have to buy a new one in a couple of years?
Fuck you Pierson and Microsoft.
Do they actually require it or do they “require” it.
A lot of things that are browser based “require” Windows or Mac but don’t actually require it.
I don’t particularly care to risk my daughter’s education by trying to figure that out.
Oh christ…
Pirate Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC for support until 2027
Thanks, I’ll look into that. I appreciate it!
You can use massgrave to activate it, microsoft support has been caught using it to activate windows on customers computers.
massgeave activation is new to me.
is that paid?
Most laptops that ship with windows 10 are capable of running 11. I recommend finding out if the schools provides a license. When I was attending Phoenix online a couple years ago they supplied me with a windows 10 education license through Microsoft.
It does not unfortunately.
I think it might be alright for you, I heard they are still supporting it with security updates for a while after that. But consider suing the school in attempt to help future generations not be stuck using bullshit.
If I could afford a lawyer, I wouldn’t be concerned about having to buy a new notebook for her.
If memory serves me, they usually do 5 years of extended support after they retire an os, so, I’m just going to wait and see.
Excited to see the increase in Linux desktop usage.
I’m already seeing more traffic across reddit and youtube
I have an elderly friend that I will probably need to migrate as 1 of their 2 computers doesn’t support win11. I am fully able to migrate them, but I really want it themed(Plasma6 probably ) to look as much like 10 as they a dealing with cognitive decline and I don’t want to force them to relearn using their computer.
I need to start investigating, but I got over a year to do so. The other part is making sure the 2 pieces of proprietary software they use runs in wine. I expect both will, but need to check.
This is obviously something that developers probably don’t think about as much as an accessibility issue in general.
Yeah KDE Plasma looks and functions alot like W10.
I was thinking about this the other day. I support some very, very technologically limited users and I wondered if anyone out there is working on a distro/DE that looks and feels just enough like windows to get them by
I would never have considered this before they announced Recall. Now it feels like I’m waiting to see just how hard they push it
You might want to check our React OS.
I’m typing this from Linux mint, I play mainly video games and websurf but I choose this distro for the community support! Since I don’t know everything about linux I go here on lemmy, or reach out to the members via hexchat
I’d temper those expectations tbh. I’ve still got customers on Windows XP.
Out of support does not mean “can’t be used”.
“Finally freed of those pesky Windows updates!”
“Finally freed of those pesky Windows updates!”
I agree. But using Windows XP these days is a huge security risk. W10 not getting security updates at least for the next 2 years is probably something that can be overlooked, but it will at some point be vulnerable to automatic attacks like XP. I’m sure there are some websites on the web that try to automatically exploit some major exploits that have been lrft unfixed in Windows XP. I’d advise them to switch to Linux Mint or something instead of using that old vulnerable system.
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The browser is the failure point and they get updated for a long time after the OS falls out of support. Chrome was supported for 8 years after Windows 7 stopped being officially supported.
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All their Windows software they need to run their business isn’t going to run reliably enough on any version of Linux. They don’t want to touch anything that’s working or pay for anything. You have to understand the world is not filled with OS enthusiasts. It’s just a platform to run other things. If it’s working and it’s making you money, you do not touch it, unless you really want to find out what OS they use at the Job Centre.
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This sounds like a problem for October 2025 me
Governments, schools, and companies just finished (for the most part) to move to Windows 10. So it really sounds more like a problem for 2030 to me.
That’s my feeling. I’ve been through this before.
Yup. Microsoft’s income depends on keeping them on the move.
Haha I remember having to help a school upgrade to Windows 7. Took a year just to get the approval, then another year to get the budget and keys.
October 2025 me: what the hell, why didn’t anyone tell me about this before!?!
Same.
And if it’s like the last four Windows updates, I’ll go right through EoL for a year or two, and finally upgrade because I wanted to play a specific video game, upgrade my graphic card, or it came free with my new PC.
If they really wanted people to upgrade to Windows 11, they’d take out the TPM and SecureBoot requirements.
Truly the Kinect of Windows 11.
upgrades don’t give them license fees, they want you to buy a new pc.
I still miss the Kinect. Shouting at people in Skyrim was awesome. They should have doubled down and added finger recognition for the Series K.
I actually bought an Xbox 360 Kinect for a grand total of £6 the other month.
Turns out you can use software called Amethyst for cheap full body tracking in PC VR games.
How do you connect that weird cable?
You have to buy an adapter to usb
The ones from CEX came with it, it’s an odd adapter that needs power as well.
The adapter is worth more than the camera…
Amethyst
That reminded me of AMD’s old Windows driver (accompanying software).
Same honestly. Like it was a hunk of junk that didn’t work half the time, but I think people kinda forget that the scope was pretty ambitious. Being able to scan people’s bodies and get each limb’s position in 3D, and to do so in many different lighting conditions and room setups, is stuff we still barely have working today even with AI.
Like don’t get me wrong, the tech was jank as fuck, but as a kid it was genuinely really cool.
They really want us to use Copilot AI, so that they can pushed more paying subscribers such as corpos and govts to use the service.
More money for microsucks, less jobs available to us
My employer will likely pay extra to remove copilot AI. It has zero use for us, and we already pay extra for security enhanced Win 11 which is just the software without the tracking and screenshots.
Assuming I still have my current job at that time, this is really going to suck for me. I have an old virtual PC runnning Windows 10 that I use once in a while to maintain some shitty old software. It was a giant PITA setting it up. I regularly back it up because of that.
Hopefully I can just continue using it, but I’ll need to disconnect it from the internet somehow. Will still need some limited LAN access. I guess it will require some strict firewall rules. I know just enough about networking to muddle through…maybe.
Put it on its own vlan behind a firewall and permit only what is required.
Looking forward to the sudden, definitely inexplicable, price increase of specific hardware at about the nine month mark.
