Microsoft Bombards Windows 10 Users With Full-Screen Ads for Upgrade (theregister.com) 63
Microsoft has expanded its campaign to migrate Windows 10 users to Windows 11, deploying full-screen ads urging users to purchase new computers ahead of Windows 10's end-of-support date. The ads, appearing on Windows 10 devices, remind the October 14, 2025 cut-off date for OS support.
40% off - what a deal! (Score:4, Insightful)
Some say Windows 11 is 40% less useful than Windows 10.
Others say that's being generous to Windows 11.
Re:40% off - what a deal! (Score:5, Interesting)
All kidding aside, I'm okay with Windows 11 on machines that are capable of running it.
That said, I really would like to have the relative-to-what-came-later bare-bones-ness of Windows 2000 with a modern (Windows 10/11) security model. Even Windows 2000 came with more than I need.
What I should have "out of the box":
* Basic operating system functionality, including a strong security model.
* Tools to read common documentation formats such as text files, PDF files, and in the Microsoft world ("because Microsoft"), Word documents.
* A secure way to get out to the internet to download software (such as a 3rd-party app store or 3rd party web browser)
* An expectation that out-of-the-box software will receive security updates until at least a well-known cutoff date at no additional cost.
I can take it from here.
Re:40% off - what a deal! (Score:4, Informative)
Personally I like my Linux Minty.
Yes and no (Score:1)
Sounds like Linux
Most distributions have far more that I will ever need as part of the default install. Thankfully, if I were so inclined, I could roll my own distro that was the "bare-bones" version I described above.
Yes, it's technically possible [alternativeto.net] to install a slimmed-down version of Windows, but since Microsoft's update tools (which are pretty much required for safety if you are connected to the internet) make certain assumptions about what is on your system, you are taking a big chance if you don't have something instal
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Sounds like Linux
Most distributions have far more that I will ever need as part of the default install. Thankfully, if I were so inclined, I could roll my own distro that was the "bare-bones" version I described above.
It's VERY easy to uninstall all of the things you don't want - that's probably less work than the roll-your-own approach. And starting with a distro such as Mint means that keeping everything up-to-date requires little-to-no effort, depending on how 'hands-on' you want to be.
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It's much better to make a proper win 11 ISO or get one of the prebuilt ones. Way less problems than manually removing stuff after it was been installed and left some footprint behind, often resulting in weird bugs.
I like GhostSpectre myself, since it has a great tool to install windows 11 components I may need after the fact, but there are many others. It also runs way faster than default install, and on par or better than windows 10.
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Sounds like Linux.
Personally I like my Linux Minty.
Same here, Mint is my daily driver and it's great.
No (Score:3, Insightful)
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My win10 comp can't support win11 (Score:5, Informative)
Re:My win10 comp can't support win11 (Score:4, Interesting)
Likely will move to ubuntu next year.
In the same boat and will switch to using my Linux Mint 22 (Cinnamon) system full time at some point -- I'm still finding alternatives to a few apps, but mostly I've been lazy. All my systems are too old to (officially) run Windows 11, if I even wanted to, though my Dell XPS 420 runs Windows 10 just fine.
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With Ubuntu I have an awesome Steam experience. I imagine it should be pretty much the same on Mint. I've also had a lot of good experiences with drivers under Linux. Even my computer that I built new last year worked perfectly after install Linux and updating. Everything just worked. With older hardware, I think it's even more likely to work since there has been more time to get drivers going.
I wish you the best of luck to going full Linux. I've been on Linux fulltime since about a year before Win7 EOL. Li
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Apple just stopped support for Monterey so I updated the 2014 Mac Mini I use as a server to Mint 22. It works fine. I wasn't sure the Intel graphics could run Cinnamon, but it does just fine.
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Most desktops are only really using the graphics card for blitting, alpha, maybe scaling, and possibly mipmapping. Compiz does all of those things, but also has optional 3d effects, and there are multiple 3D Window Managers these days. But Cinnamon is probably only really doing those first four things with the GPU even if you turn every possibly piece of eye candy on. The first three of them have been done by virtually all PC graphics chips/cards since the early nineties.
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I switched to Linux Mint this year and I'm slowly adapting to it. If your computer has the resources, I recommend using Qemu to run a Windows 11 virtual machine. I set one up with a local account (tricky), installed Microsoft Office, and activated both using Microsoft Activation Scripts. I don't plan to play games on it but it will provide a nice way to access Windows software going forward.
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I use virtual box to run Win11. Installation went well and any time I need it I just spin up the vm. Rarely need to though.
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I said the same thing with windows 3.1, and installed linux and never looked back... been on ubuntu for about 20 years tho.
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I used Ubuntu for a long time, until they started down the road of Snap-only packages, so I switched to Mint, which has Snap disabled by default and provides Apt packages for the things Ubuntu only provides via Snap. My alternative was Debian, but wanted something on a faster / more current track w/o having to resort to using Testing or PPAs ...
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My alternative was Debian, but wanted something on a faster / more current track w/o having to resort to using Testing or PPAs ...
Just curious - why the aversion to PPAs?
I'm on Mint for the same reason that you are. That said, I've added one or two Ubuntu repos, and a few PPAs as well. I've never had any problems with compatibility or updates.
FWIW, I run a few AppImages and Flatpaks, either because they allow me to run multiple versions of the same program or because they're all I can get. I do try to avoid Snaps though, because fuck Ubuntu's attitude.
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I had a MythTV system on top of Ubuntu for several years until my cable provider switch from analog to all digital *and* set the Cablecard CC bit on almost everything. I wasn't up to experimenting with using a Silicon Dust digital tuner so switch to a TiVo Bolt (based on experiencing a friend's TiVo systems) and have been pretty happy with that.
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Likely will move to ubuntu next year.
No idea how much experience you have with Linux; so apologies if this sounds patronising - it's not meant to be.
I used to be on Ubuntu, but 6 or 7 years ago I switched to Mint and haven't looked back. I like the ecosystem and the attitude a lot more; and for the few things I use that are only available in Ubuntu repos, I simply add that repo and install via Apt.
If you're moving from Windows to Linux as a daily driver, I recommend at least a bit of both distro shopping and Desktop Environment shopping befor
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Easier to just run Windows in a vm instead of dual booting. At least that's what I do when I need to use Windows. Thankfully that's rare.
That's very good advice regarding using the live images to test out difference desktop experiences. I know I prefer Xfce.
To repeat.. (Score:3)
No.
Do not want.
Windows 10 use will plummet in 4Q25-1Q26 (Score:1)
But not until after a few rounds of malware that Microsoft won't fix for free.
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Which is why I have my dad's Win10 system on a thumb drive to reimage if anything happens. I'll still have to put his radio programs back in, but at least the OS will be the same.
Yup, and then I ... (Score:5, Informative)
What's more annoying is that their PC Health Check app says my PC can't be upgraded as it "doesn't currently meet the minimum system requirements to run Windows 11" -- and never will as the CPU is too old and there's no TPM, etc... (It's a Dell XPS 420, and runs Windows 10 fine, btw.) So it' s not like I even could "upgrade" to Windows 11.
Re: Yup, and then I ... (Score:2)
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This has a pretty good list of many types of Windows shortcuts: List of all Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts: The ultimate guide [windowscentral.com]
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Iâ(TM)m didnâ(TM)t realize ctrl-shift-esc brought up task manager. Wow! No longer do I have to ctrl-alt-del then select task manager. This Windows 11 upgrade warning at least taught me something new today.
Did no one ever tell you to just right-click on the Win 10 (or Win 11) menu bar to select Task Manager?
this is a slur, treat it as such. (Score:2)
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Of course, my point was that it's such an easy thing to dismiss, why is this a big deal.
Also, no amount of us whinging about it will (apparently) make MS change their annoying tactics.
What does the new hardware even do? (Score:2)
What does the new hardware even do that helps security that much?
Will it have that much of an impact, or is the campaign to upgrade just a scam?
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clearly win10 is answering to a higher master, they control the computer and you're just allowed to use it, fox is already in the hen house
but sure, better to not make things even worse, if i ended up in your position i'd react the same
Re: fuck off its my computer (Score:2)
Scream at Microsoft, then give them more money, and see what happens.
If you're mad do something substantive, like switching, and convincing others to switch.
Didn't know how good I had it. (Score:2)
But the company that owns us now have decided our big growth phase is over, time to digest us. The first thing was moving us to Outlook.
The GUI is the same. Which is not a good thing, but whatever, I'm used to terrible UI.
What is... actually perfectly in line with how I remember Microsoft is getting calendar invites after the meetings happen, my mail mysteriously being delayed for hours in the afternoon, and shit just ran
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You forced to use Teams yet? Compared to that, Outlook actually works well :D
Re: Didn't know how good I had it. (Score:2)
The "best" part is how they cooperate to enshittify your desktop. Email comes in to Outlook with an appointment. Outlook icon lights up. Now the teams icon does too, due to "activity". Now I accept the appointment and I get a notification about it. Yes, I know it's already past, thanks.
The other great part is how teams will get stuck and refuse to relog. So then you have to force it to quit and relaunch it... Typical Microsoft quality
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It is starting to come back to me... the actual reason is going to turn out to be that they did that to kill off some competitor.
If they offer Windows 11 upgrade grants ... (Score:1)
WHAT! I've never see this! (Score:2)
Windows 11 has ads on the login screen (Score:2)
so it's just warming people up.
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planned obsolescence... degrade the user experience until it frustrates and demoralizes the user into throwing the machine away and/or buying a new one/upgrading to windows 11.
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Win 10 has a defined life span, just like MacOS, iOS, etc. - Windows OSes lifespan's are similar to Apple's.
If you have a retail version of Windows 7, 8/8.1, or 10 you can use the product key to install Win 11 on your new, Win 11 compatible hardware.
This doesn't really seem like the big money grab Linux users want to claim this is... Windows 10 was released 9 years ago, it goes end-of-life shortly after it's ten-year anniversary of July 29th, 2015.
[laughs in Win7] (Score:3)
Tell ya what, Microsoft: You buy me a brand new, at-least-mid-tier gaming rig and I'll let it run Windows 11 for at least a year.
My PC is from 2016, I only last year moved from Win7 to Win10, so that's the only way I would possibly deal with Win11 myself anytime in the near future. Honestly, at this point a given Windows OS only becomes usable once it's nearly deprecated...
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Wouldn't you rather be too early than too late?
Once Trumps Tariffs kick in they won't be bringing in any new computers...
Switch if you can (Score:2)
If you can change then switch to Linux, or Zeus help you, Apple. I refused to use a version of Windows past 7 which forced me to look for alternatives. Linux is not exactly user friendly but it damn well beats the shit offered by Microsoft. If you don't think your techie enough for Linux then switch to Apple if you can afford it. Anything is better than Windows. Send a message.
Shut up and drink the kool-aid or use Linux (Score:2)
They're not listening to user feedback, and they don't care. They want you to use Windows 11 and they want you to use their AI feature bullshit, just like any other streaming service, Windows is now an app.
Their motto should be "all your data are belong to us".
I use Windows 11 at work, and it's fine, but it's not an out-of-the-box experience, It's been heavily tailored by our IT department to be less consumer and more en
I will keep using Windows 10 (Score:1)
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Hackers appreciate your refusal to run a supported OS that gets periodic security updates.
Just end it (Score:2)
>"deploying full-screen ads urging users to purchase new computers"
Isn't that just so helpful! As if the user has NO other option but to buy an entire new computer so it can meet the *COMPLETELY ARTIFICIAL* requirements to run MS-Windows 11 so you can then be subjected to even MORE abuse.
Go download and install something like Linux Mint and BE DONE WITH THE INSANITY. $0. No more nagging. No more "Ads". No more spyware. No more being harassed. No more antivirus making your system crawl. No more fo
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The problem for a lot of us is that work requires Windows. For that reason, and that reason alone, I have Windows 10 on one computer. When I retire completely, I'm going to have an "F Microsoft" party and joyfully scrub it off that box forever. I'm sure there's no shortage of people in my position.
But I think there's a bigger change coming. Purely anecdotal, but based on office chat I hear, a lot of small businesses don't see any advantage to chucking out 20 or 30 perfectly adequate computers and spendi
Because the best way to retain customers is to ... (Score:2)
Windows 11 (Score:2)
When they said that Windows 10 was going to be the last major version of Windows, I didn't think they meant they were going to fuck up everything after it.
Angel of Death has passed me by (Score:2)
I upgraded my last W10 desktop to Linux last month. What a relief!
Any machine with tpm v1.2 can be upgraded (Score:2)
It's not well known but any computer with a TPM 1.2 can be upgraded to windows 11 without fuss. If it add ram most computers can run windows 11 just fine. I have a 10 test old machine I just upgraded. All using official MS instructions.
See https://support.microsoft.com/... [microsoft.com]
How to Install Windows 11 When It Lies (Score:2)
The Autounattend.xml drive does several things:
no way in hell (Score:2)
Mountains of e-waste. (Score:2)