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Windows Microsoft Operating Systems

Microsoft Will End Sale of Windows 10 Licenses to Consumers This Month 69

Posted by msmash from the up-next dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system has been available on the retail market for over seven years and was superseded by Windows 11 in October 2021. However, despite its age, Windows 10 remains the most popular version of Windows, with a global market share of 67.95% in December 2022 compared to 16.97% for Windows 11, according to StatCounter. But it now looks like Microsoft is ready to put the brakes on issuing new Windows 10 licenses to everyday consumers. Microsoft's official product pages for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro now include the following disclaimer: "January 31, 2023 will be the last day this Windows 10 download is offered for sale. Windows 10 will remain supported with security updates that help protect your PC from viruses, spyware, and other malware until October 14, 2025."
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Microsoft Will End Sale of Windows 10 Licenses to Consumers This Month More

Microsoft Will End Sale of Windows 10 Licenses to Consumers This Month

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  • So I have to either buy a new computer or hack the Windows 11 install so it works on my perfectly functional and fast for my needs desktop.

    • Re: Decisions decisions (Score:5, Funny)

      by wgoodman ( 1109297 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @05:30PM (#63223120)

      I guess 2025 will finally be the year of the Linux desktop

      • They moderated you as funny, but it's entirely possible this will finally happen given the trainwreck that is Windows 11.
        • Linux Mint is a fine replacement for any version of windows. Super easy install, recognizes peripherals and wifi, works better on older hardware than MS operating systems. Hackers target Linux less and it's security is better too. Always free to install and upgrade, vast array of heavy duty productivity and fun software applications that are also free. Free as in speech: free as in beer. So keep doing what you've been doing with that old beige boxen by popping Linux Mint on it. Ditch Win and be happy.

          • Mint also has some lightweight options that are great on older hardware. I've got a writing laptop that's one of those old HP Stream mini thingies, that could barely boot with Windows on it. Mint? Fires right up and I can get to writing. And yeah, I've never had mint load up and not recognize everything right away save one video card that's been a bitch even with windows drivers. Can hardly blame Linux for that.

          • I bought a new laptop last year. Immediately removed Windows crap, and installed Linux Mint. I is one of the VERY few machines I ever had no work right out of the box. I had to update the kernel before the graphics and WiFi would work. Took about 5 minutes. It was a brand new model, so not completely unexpected to need to update for drivers. With Mint on it it is a true workhorse, Powers through anything I throw at it. Current uptime is 76 days. My gaming PC runs Mint, and even my GF has mint on her laptop.

      • I guess 2025 will finally be the year of the Linux desktop

        No didn't you hear, everyone migrated to BSD because systemd brought the end of Linux as we know it. Linux doesn't exist anymore. The 5 minutes of the Linux desktop was in 2012, during that brief period where the entire world abandoned Windows 8 due to the start menu and before systemd was introduced.

    • I'm still running 7 on three systems.

    • Install Linux isn't easier?
    • Don't confuse "upgrade" with install. If by hack, you mean download the W11 iso and install it, well, OK, but the iso installed without issue on my 4GB 2013 Asus netbook with only TPM 1.2, and updates are working. There's a lot of FUD about older machines not being able to run W11.

    • Why would you go through ANY EFFORT to get Windows 11? If you must get off Win 10 for some reason and onto another Windows product, hang on until Win 12. In the historic alterations between Good Windows Versions and Bad Windows Versions, W11 is definitely in the bad category

    • You can install Win 11 on a computer even if Windows update says you can't, but you'll have to do a clean install from a USB stick.
      It will then try to force you to log into One Drive, even if you don't want to and tell it you don't. I'm pretty sure there's a switch to turn all the nagging off but I haven't found it yet.
      Also, do the install offline and tell it you don't have an Internet connection so that it lets you create a local account. (Not available with Win 11 Home).
      Other than that Win 11 is ok

    • First wait if that laptop is even working in 2025 when support for Windows 10 ends. And if it's still working, let's see if it's still fast enough for your needs then.

      No need to change anything today.

  • Windows 11 is still broke eight ways from Sunday (Score:5, Informative)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @05:39PM (#63223142)
    It still has massive performance problems in games. Usually when Microsoft watches are released this badly they keep the old software around. I guess the complete lack of competition means they just don't have to give a rat's ass anymore.

    • Re:Windows 11 is still broke eight ways from Sunda (Score:5, Informative)

      by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @05:54PM (#63223176)

      It still has massive performance problems in games.

      We've found its breaking network connections in W11. Image a machine while on the docking station, run HP updates, overnight an update for Windows comes out which does something to prevent the connection, machine falls off network.

      Only workaround now is to do a network adapter reset which removes all adapters then adds them back on reboot.

    • A small but steady segment of the gaming market plays their games on Linux (Both Ubuntu and SteamOS work well for this purpose).

      So, there IS competition, just not enough for Microsoft to care.

      Yet.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by msk ( 6205 )

        I use Lutris as my main gaming wrapper. Working fine within it:

        WoW
        EVE Online
        Guild Wars 2
        Star Trek Online

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Not only that but you have to firewall the shit out of the systems. And I'm talking about OUTBOUND firewalling.

      Even if you disable every possible tracking/security/whatever bullshit, it still tries to upload every piece of data it can to the MS borg. It's one of the most invasive pieces of software I have ever seen, maybe even rivaling a fully Google'd device. We're talking core level spying here that can't be bypassed. I'm surprised companies and government are using it at all. 10 was bad, 11 identifies th

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      It seems like every new major versions get worse. It is not just MS' products too. :(

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by jwhyche ( 6192 )

      It still has massive performance problems in games.

      Of course, it does not. I've run plenty of games on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and there is no performance problems. There has always been a level of Windows hate here on Slashdot, but I've never seen such irrational hate for one particular version of Windows.

      • I saw it with Windows 7, when people said they would hold on to XP until it was pried from their cold, dead fingers.

        I saw it with 10, when people said they would hold on to Windows 7 until it was pried from their cold, dead fingers.

        And now I'm seeing it with 11, when people say they would hold on to 10 until it was pried from their cold, dead fingers.

        Same thing will happen with 12, whenever it comes along.

      • Re:Windows 11 is still broke eight ways from Sunda (Score:4, Insightful)

        by toddestan ( 632714 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @11:48PM (#63224034)

        A lot depends on your CPU. If you have a newer CPU that has multiple chiplets (AMD) or big.LITTLE architecture (Intel), the scheduler needs to know about this and handle it properly to get the best (or not terrible) performance out of your CPU. Microsoft has screwed this up a few times, and even when they manage to fix it, they seem to somehow screw it up again with the next update.

        If you have a monolithic CPU where the scheduler can treat all the cores pretty much the same, Microsoft hasn't screwed that up. At least not yet.

    • It still has massive performance problems in games.

      No it really doesn't. It has a few minor bugs for a small group of people here and there, but then so did every OS ever (including those trying to game on Linux). Most of the performance problems in games these days arise from windows updates, something that has been affecting gamers since Windows XP introduced Windows Update.

      For the overwhelming majority of users there's no difference gaming under Windows 11 than any other OS in the past 2 decades. Some have performance bugs, most have no issues whatsoever

  • will there be downgrade rights in Win11 license? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by CaptainPhoton ( 398343 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @05:48PM (#63223162)

    I seem to recall previous versions had downgrade rights, so if Win11 is purchased then an older version could be installed from media. Is this still the case?

  • Macrium Reflect Free also EOL (Score:3, Informative)

    by rambletamble ( 10229449 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @07:01PM (#63223356)
    Meanwhile the current version of Macrium Reflect Free will be their last. This may be a good time to grab a copy, and use it to backup your Windows 10 installation to protect your machine against the future.

  • Say (Score:3)

    by rossdee ( 243626 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @07:04PM (#63223362)

    Can you still buy a new PC (from a company like HP or Dell) with Win10 installed?

    • Can you still buy a new PC (from a company like HP or Dell) with Win10 installed?

      Yes and no. If you buy "new old stock" it can have Win10 installed.
      If the machine is new-new you probably will get a win11 install, but with "downgrade rights" to Win10, but only in some enterprise-y models.

  • Big dent in the refurb market (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Mspangler ( 770054 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @07:13PM (#63223390)

    Given the number of machines that can't meet the Trusted Computing requirement it will hit them hard, or is there an exception for resellers?

    Linux it is for the rest.

    • Re:Big dent in the refurb market (Score:5, Informative)

      by williamyf ( 227051 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @08:19PM (#63223588)

      Given the number of machines that can't meet the Trusted Computing requirement it will hit them hard, or is there an exception for resellers?

      Linux it is for the rest.

      There are Win10 licences for refurbishers/Recyclers, but you have to be a company refurbishing more than 20000 a month to get them.

      https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Mi... [ifixit.com]

      If you are a smaller company or a "hobby recycler" you have a few options:

      If the machine you are recycling has a Win7 or 8.1 license, you may try to upgrade it to Win10
      Beg one of the "big-un" refurbishers to "sub-distribute" some Win10 licenses your way
      Go *nix
      Sail the high seas (not recomended)

      A funny take on what refurbishers are doing:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • Given the number of machines that can't meet the Trusted Computing requirement it will hit them hard, or is there an exception for resellers?

      Given a windows license comes with every PC and is tied to that PC, can't the refurb seller simply reset the system and sell it on windows license intact?

  • Then drop the TPM2 requirement (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Octorian ( 14086 ) on Thursday January 19, 2023 @08:21PM (#63223600) Homepage

    The real problem is that Microsoft requires certain CPU features (mostly TPM 2.0, I think) in Windows 11, that were only added in the most recent generations of CPUs.

    Meanwhile, there are tons of existing machines that are plenty powerful for everyday use that are just a bit too old to check the box on that. Heck, there are probably even a lot of high-end machines (that are still "high-end enough") that are too old to qualify.

    CPUs really aren't getting faster these days, by enough of a margin for most users to even notice. So there's really no need to upgrade to something new enough to meet the Win11 requirements.

    • The requirements are TMP 1.2 and more than 1 core. If you do not want to edit the registry for the upgrade, a fresh install will work just fine as long as you have secure boot enabled. The oldest CPU I have installed on is a 4th gen i3 and it runs great (SSD only please). Please remove the fluff and bloat. The only thing that slows it down to the point of being unusable is the built in antivirus. Microsoft keeps changing it so it cannot be disabled. Kind of a deal breaker on slow systems.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Octorian ( 14086 )

        According to Microsoft's own requirements [microsoft.com] page, its TPM 2.0.
        On the Intel side, this seems to mean some 7th gen Core processors, and mostly anything newer than that.

        At least that's the minimum for official upgrade eligibility.

    • TPM is a good thing. If you don’t have Windows 10 already.. I guess you are on Windows 7 or 8? Isn’t windows 10 a free upgrade.. who is effected?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Octorian ( 14086 )

        This is about Windows 11, not Windows 10. Win11 requires TPM 2.0, which means (on the Intel side) an 8th generation Core CPU (and some 7th generation models). CPUs older than that are still perfectly performant.

    • The real problem is that Microsoft requires certain CPU features (mostly TPM 2.0, I think)

      It's TPM 2.0 + multicore + core isolation. Two of those are for security reasons. I'm going to say no to that. It's good that companies are pushing more secure solutions.

      At this point a computer that doesn't meet those requirements is over 6 years old (assuming it was state of the art at the time of purchase). Hardware doesn't last forever and by the time Windows 10 is EOL it will be 8 years old and you can start questioning its reliability, to say nothing of the fact that most of them are sitting around wi

  • Just tried Windows 11 on a VM, It Sucked Balls. Then Tried Windows 10, it was tolerable but still shitty. Then Tried Mac OX 13/Ventura, That looked like a Linux install, a Crappy one. What the hell is wrong with UI designers? Godamn Lazy?

    • What the hell is wrong with UI designers? Godamn Lazy?

      No, it's what's wrong with product managers. They expect the UI designers to keep making changes whether they make sense or not. It has to look new! As if that were relevant to anyone who knows anything, but it does work on the managers that actually make the purchasing decisions.

  • Windows11 anecdotally has some distinct glitches on systems that run multiples of certain types of pro audio devices. Because pro audio is the single application for which I use Windows, and in fact the only reason I've *ever* used Windows at all, this is of enormous concern for me. The only truly annoying thing I've noticed is that as a side-docker, I can't handle the fixed location of the taskbar. But as strictly a single application user I really don't want a desktop environment at all, just a host OS fo

  • I upgraded from StartIsBack (Windows 10) to StartAllBack (Windows 11) for $2.

    "If you own StartIsBack license key, you can upgrade it to StartAllBack (for $2 x license PC count) within app"

    Their support is very good, and so far every time Microsoft tweaks the GUI and related aspects of Windows 11, the StartAllBack people offer an update.

    So I'm OK with Microsoft moving from 10 to 11, even though one Microsoft mucky-muck originally stated that 10 would be the last version of Windows, everything after would jus

  • I'd still be on Win7 if I hadn't bought new motherboards...

  • Windows 10 and 11 use the same exact license key namespace. The activation software isn't able to differentiate a Win10 key from a Win11 key. This is just a way to charge an extra $10 for the same keys.

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