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LibreOffice Explains 'Real Costs' of Upgrading to Microsoft's Windows 11, Urges Taking Control with Linux (documentfoundation.org) 84

Posted by EditorDavid from the where-do-you-want-to-go-today dept.
KDE isn't the only organization reaching out to " as Microsoft prepares to end support for Windows 10.

"Now, The Document Foundation, maker of LibreOffice, has also joined in to support the Endof10 initiative," reports the tech blog Neowin: The foundation writes: "You don't have to follow Microsoft's upgrade path. There is a better option that puts control back in the hands of users, institutions, and public bodies: Linux and LibreOffice. Together, these two programmes offer a powerful, privacy-friendly and future-proof alternative to the Windows + Microsoft 365 ecosystem."

It further adds the "real costs" of upgrading to Windows 11 as it writes:

"The move to Windows 11 isn't just about security updates. It increases dependence on Microsoft through aggressive cloud integration, forcing users to adopt Microsoft accounts and services. It also leads to higher costs due to subscription and licensing models, and reduces control over how your computer works and how your data is managed. Furthermore, new hardware requirements will render millions of perfectly good PCs obsolete.... The end of Windows 10 does not mark the end of choice, but the beginning of a new era. If you are tired of mandatory updates, invasive changes, and being bound by the commercial choices of a single supplier, it is time for a change. Linux and LibreOffice are ready — 2025 is the right year to choose digital freedom!"
The first words on LibreOffice's announcement? "The countdown has begun...."

LibreOffice Explains 'Real Costs' of Upgrading to Microsoft's Windows 11, Urges Taking Control with Linux More | Reply

LibreOffice Explains 'Real Costs' of Upgrading to Microsoft's Windows 11, Urges Taking Control with Linux

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  • same same. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The elephant in the room of course is that Linux also doesn't offer support longer than Microsoft unless you are going to go with a LTS sku, even then many of the LTS sku's only go to 5 years and it usually means making other sacrifises in terms of longer term functionality
    • Unless you pick a Linux that is on rolling release. That's why I switched to arch years ago.
      • You've touched on why the average user isn't switching. The is no Linux operating system. There are over 600 different distros, according to a quick search, and the typical advice is to try several to figure out what you like. That's not going to fly with someone who doesn't enjoy playing with operating systems.
        • That's why companies have IT departments, so that someone who knows Linux and likes playing with OSes can make the choice.

          • Huh, I thought the distro-wars ended when they abandoned Unity. Every IT department diverging from Windows that I've experienced seems to have standardized on Ubuntu. Well known, you can Google the answers, and any Gnome-hater such as myself knows about how to select a desktop environment from the xDM menu.

            [ That is unless your hosting mandates something from Red Hat land ... ]

        • This is exciting why I have never tried anything Linux. Read for years about Linux on this site and Linux users don't even agree what is best. Probably 99.9% of people want an OS that works w/o twiddling with it.
          • Manjaro with KDE is solid.
          • I bet you have an Android phone a WiFi router and TV all of which run Linux. Nevermind rubbish like your washer, drier, fridge and toasterâ¦

          • This is exciting why I have never tried anything Linux. Read for years about Linux on this site and Linux users don't even agree what is best. Probably 99.9% of people want an OS that works w/o twiddling with it.

            Which version of Windows do you use?

            Windows 7 10, or 11, Basic, Home, Pro, or Enterprise? I don't think that the "I don't know what to install!" argument works all that well.

            We're all smart people here. If you are starting, install Mint flavored Ubuntu. If you find yourself needing something different, then you can change distros. Or you can even download the parts you need.

            An example is some years back I had some tracking software to install that Mint didn't have components needed in its install

            • I use a Mac......Mac OS. It works !!!

              • I use a Mac......Mac OS. It works !!!

                So do I my friend. Depending on deeply you want to dive into the OS, you'll find that MacOS and Linux are brothers under the hood. MacOS is UNIX and Linux is UNIX-y.

            • Which version of Windows do you use?

              Windows 7 10, or 11, Basic, Home, Pro, or Enterprise? I don't think that the "I don't know what to install!" argument works all that well.

              Ridiculous point. People buy what they want to spend the money on. And, for most people, it just works no matter which one they install.

              And really, the only choices for purchase are 11 Basic, home, pro or enterprise. And most people are fine with Basic or Home so it's really only two.

              I'm sticking with Windows on my custom machine because Apple sucks for customizing and Linux doesn't support most of the software I use and there aren't any 'real' alternatives that don't require significant effort to g

          • Understandable. Problem is there are no doubt multiple linuxes that do fit your bill but people who talk about Linux usually don't know what they are.

            Way back in the day I installed something called Mandrake which is discontinued now but it was like 2001 and is still one of the smoothest installs of any OS I've encountered to date.

            https://www.openmandriva.org/ [openmandriva.org]

            This is supposed to be a fork, don't know if its good or not 20 years later. Someone else suggested Manjaro, maybe that's good?
            All this aside Windo

          • I've found Mint to be relatively easy to install, and the upgrade process has improved. Been using it for around 6 years now with no issues.

            Running it on several Dell laptops and a Gigabyte desktop. My machines tend to be between 8 and 12 years old. I max out the RAM and install a SSD. I've perceived the Linux installs to be "zippier" than Windows, but have no hard numbers to back this up.

        • You've touched on why the average user isn't switching. The is no Linux operating system. There are over 600 different distros, according to a quick search, and the typical advice is to try several to figure out what you like. That's not going to fly with someone who doesn't enjoy playing with operating systems.

          To be precise, it's the same operating system with some different options.

          This is perhaps not all that different from Microsoft having different versions of its OS, think basic, home, pro, enterprise.

          A person can roll their own version of Linux! It's the same OS, you'll just have to install some parts if you want to do something not already in your distro. And there, we depart from Microsoft - you get to pay if you want to go from home to pro.

          But the advice of what to install is pretty much Min

    • Re:same same. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 ) <bert@slashdot.fi ... m ['enz' in gap]> on Monday June 16, 2025 @05:06AM (#65452371) Homepage

      Support for the OS version may only be 5 years, but support for the underlying hardware will last a LOT longer and the new version is free, so you can update to the new version without having to buy new hardware.

      Plus Linux distros generally aren't designed to tie you in to other services provided only by the distributor.

      • Plus Linux distros generally aren't designed to tie you in to other services provided only by the distributor.

        Except the most popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu, with snap. They're the only source of snaps.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      RHEL clones have 10 years of support. And after that you REALLY want new software.

      • There are only a few circumstances I can imagine where LTS support over three or four years would even be desirable, and most of those are pretty niche use cases dealing with specialized equipment or legacy systems. In general, whether it's Linux, BSD, Windows or even MacOS, it's always better to do a full reinstall with the new OS. Heck, by the time Windows Server 2003 went mainstream, only madmen were doing in-place upgrades on domain controllers. The better solution was always to build a new DC and then

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      What LTS editions only do 5 years? I just checked SUSE, Ubuntu, and RHEL.

      RedHat is up to 13 years, with the the first 5 years being "full" including releasing for brand new hardware and backporting as needed with another 5 years of "you can keep running it on the hardware you have, but we aren't promising support for new hardware" and another available 3 years of paid extension. Note that Windows 10 pretty much went "maintenance" with the release of Windows 11, so the RHEL lifecycle largely imitates the Wi

    • The real question is how many companies are still running old hardware that haven't followed a normal upgrade process? Hardware ages out in the business world more so than at home. Even still, you still ended up with most equipment in last 4 or 5 years able to run win11 without issues.

  • I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable. I mean full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain - reboot required for entering text into a browser text area or editing a spreadsheet, all unsaved data lost, start over like you're using floppies. It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.

    • Re:Yeah but... (Score:4, Informative)

      by test321 ( 8891681 ) on Monday June 16, 2025 @04:14AM (#65452303)

      full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain.

      This has to be a hardware issue. Check the system logs upon restart. Check for bad RAM.

      You also say that "It crashes more than windows/office". Windows/office isn't supposed to crash like it was in the 90s. If both Fedora and Windows crash, even if one less frequently than the other, you have a hardware problem.

      Libreoffce crashes on me occasionally (I can't remember last time, maybe some months ago) but as I'm working with pre-releases I expect that.

      • Yep. The only time my windows box ever crashes , its 99.999% of the time a Nvidia driver issue from me trying to stuff 10 billion polygons into a hole that only accepts 9.

        Regular office app useage should never venter into these blacker waters.

      • This is exactly the problem - Linux crashes often and the average user sees the crash and says "hmm, that's unstable", not "hmm, let me go spelunk some cryptic logs". I'm a veteran tech and have no interest in even attempting to resolve this as I might have 25 years ago - I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.

        . Windows wasn't crashing on this hardware, only Linux (and Ubuntu is worse). i can boot into windows and use it for months without a crash. Linux crashes often. Just a fact on this syst

        • I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.

          Fedora is probably the most popular linux desktop for software developers right now, and we don't hear it crashes. If you don't have time or will to solve it, that's fine, just keep using what works for you. But don't think this is what keeps users on windows. There are many reasons users stay on windows; stability has never been one of them.

        • It is helpful to first research for hardware that is known to work well with Linux based operating systems. In particular, the graphical hardware can be a problem area due to the need for proprietary or closed source drivers. Meaning, that a successful installation and a crash free experience of a Linux distribution is dependent on avoiding certain hardware.

          Linux based operating systems are a best effort solution and so there will be some hardware configurations that give trouble in being unreliable. Window

          • Another suggestion: have TWO similar PCs (or laptops, or whatever). And a few spare HDDs. That way you can use one machine to test out various versions of Linux while the other one is your daily driver.

            When I shifted from Windows to Linux, I bought a second HDD. Swapped out my Windows drive, installed the new one, and put Linux on that. If I was satisfied, I used the Windows HDD as a secondary drive, pulled my data over, then put the Windows drive on the shelf as a backup (remember to label it).

            Linux seems

        • Your hardware probably has buggy ACPI tables. This is a frequent issue with laptops (especially the cheaper ones). Windows functions fine, because it is designed expecting these ACPI issues. Linux, which adheres perfectly to the standards, crashes because it finds something it can't deal with.

          There might also be unsupported chips, chips which might be crucial to sensors and/or fans.

          Anyway, either you have hardware which is buggy by design or (deliberately) unsupported hardware - by the manufacturer that is,

        • This is exactly the problem - Linux crashes often and the average user sees the crash and says "hmm, that's unstable", not "hmm, let me go spelunk some cryptic logs". I'm a veteran tech and have no interest in even attempting to resolve this as I might have 25 years ago - I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.

          What kind of veteran tech person has a one off problem and it becomes universal? Not sayin, just sayin.

          I've put lots of grandmas onto linux, and they are merrily rolling along, doing their email, web surfing, printing whatever they want to do. They haven't looked back.

          But there's the thing somewhere in here, These grannies just do their thing sans issues, and it sounds like your setup is unusable on Linux, yet runs flawlessly on Windows.

          If I might note, I have software that uses a lot of sound driver

    • Fedora is unstable by definition, it's Red Hat test bench. You should try a stable distro like Debian.

      Yeah, Linux fragmentation can be problematic.

      • I've read here that Fedora is now the default desktop for RedHat employees, because it updates faster than RHEL. If it crashed they would know it, and we would as well through news on this website.

        The poster also says computer crashes for no apparent reason. It's different from "unstable" in the sense of a distro, in the sense of: updatesto latest user software, and maybe LibreOffice crashes when calling one of the new functionalities. The kernel of a Fedora is going to be as stable as any other distro. A l

        • I've read here that Fedora is now the default desktop for RedHat employees, because it updates faster than RHEL. If it crashed they would know it, and we would as well through news on this website.

          The poster also says computer crashes for no apparent reason. It's different from "unstable" in the sense of a distro, in the sense of: updatesto latest user software, and maybe LibreOffice crashes when calling one of the new functionalities. The kernel of a Fedora is going to be as stable as any other distro. A linux system in 2025 doesn't crash for no apparent reason.

          I agree - I have less trouble with my Linux installs than my Windows ones. Same goes for the people I've placed on Linux (Mint variety or the occasional Ubuntu Mate)

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Junta ( 36770 )

          As a Fedora user, sometimes you have a period of software instability when they push something not yet baked. It may be for a reason, but that reason may be nearly impossible to discern.

          It's not news because the community is broadly used to it and they generally accept it as the cost of getting stuff faster.

          Fedora is not as bad as it used to be, but they are really aggressive and inflict oddities from time to time.

          If I were really bothered, I could go run something extra conservative, like Debian Stable or

      • Or Arch. I've on Arch for over 10 years now. Can't remember the last time it crashed.

    • and CTRL ALT BACKSPACE doesn't quit X, you are saying your WHOLE machine is locked up ? Hardware, almost certainly is your problem.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by MikeS2k ( 589190 )

      Do you have a modern (11th, 12th gen) Intel CPU? They have a hardware design fault that makes them crash often - mostly in heavy calculations (e.g. unpacking video game textures) - there is a tool online you can run to see if your CPU is affected and you may even be able to RMA it if so.
      And Windows doesn't save data on the fly so it would be affected similarly (though they are changing this - Notepad saves on the fly now - the youth are used to phones and think having to File - Save As every time is laughab

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Samare ( 2779329 )

      I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable.

      It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.

      This is called a Hasty generalization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable. I mean full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain - reboot required for entering text into a browser text area or editing a spreadsheet, all unsaved data lost, start over like you're using floppies. It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.

      You are using your use case to declare that Linux doesn't work?

      I have a legally punched from Microsoft Windows 11 Os that refuses to validate, Microsoft knows I bought it, I have the receipts, but it will not validate. Spent a lot of time with support, and they gave up, my usual experience of Windows support being worthless.

      To use your logic, I can now authoritatively state that Windows does not work. (of course it does)

      Anyhow, consider that millions use Linux, and do not share your problem.

      • I didn't say that Linux doesn't work (especially on server), and I've certainly seen it be a stable desktop sometimes, but I think it and the apps for the average user that run on it have more issues on more hardware than Windows does, which other comments on this thread seem to support. It's not just this one machine; this is actually the fourth machine I've tried. Laptops are certainly a bigger problem, but I've honestly never seen a single Linux desktop that didn't have issues of some sort.The issue I ha

  • Can confirm... (Score:5, Informative)

    by unique_parrot ( 1964434 ) on Monday June 16, 2025 @04:27AM (#65452317)
    ...after switching and using linux. The win11 subscription nagging, ads everywhere, reconfiguring win11 after updates, because settings get reverted, very annoying. And i have the impression that it will get worse over time.

  • LibreOffice improved (Score:5, Informative)

    by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Monday June 16, 2025 @04:35AM (#65452323)
    Some people are surely still holding on to the impression from a few years ago that LibreOffice (and OpenOffice) were very buggy.
    These days, LibreOffice is completely usable and can serve as a replacement for MS Office (even if its design isn't always as slick). It also takes a little time to get used to.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I find there are still issues with Word documents people send me not rendering right, and not being able to fill in forms in that format.

      The bigger issue is who do they think is going to provide the tech support for Linux? Are there even any distros that help you migrate your Windows files and apps?

      • Re: LibreOffice improved (Score:5, Insightful)

        by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Monday June 16, 2025 @05:08AM (#65452375)

        Well, an even bigger issue is that many times people send you a word-like document when a txt file would suffice.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          The annoying thing is that Word can save in ODF format and that is usually fine. It's typically ancient Word documents that were made 15 years ago and have been hacked up repeatedly that cause issues.

          Microsoft could have some code that cleans things up, but there is no motivation for them to do so. It probably needs some regulatory pressure.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by j-beda ( 85386 )

          Well, an even bigger issue is that many times people send you a word-like document when a txt file would suffice.

          Or even just include the information in the plain text of the email message.

          "See attached document for the time and place of the meeting."

      • If a large organization gets a SLA from companies like Red Hat, Suse, or Ubuntu (or from their network), they will be more than happy to oblige.

        Now, for smaller organizations or individuals, which cannot afford a SLA, it's a different matter altogether, but even in these cases there's more than likely paid support available as well.

        Otherwise, there's a myriad of support options available which are completely free. Think of irc, forums, bug trackers, documentation, the various project sites, etc.

        Please don't

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          How good is their support though? Microsoft's is crap. We had an issue where Portuguese language was broken in the OS. Microsoft said "yeah, we know, we aren't going to fix it, have a free support ticket credit."

        • > Otherwise, there's a myriad of support options available which are completely free. Think of irc, forums, bug trackers, documentation, the various project sites, etc.

          Insufficient. From home user through the 'mom & pop', all the way to the upper end of the small business... the users have to be able to pick up a phone and get support - including on site - or it's too much risk for them.

      • I find there are still issues with Word documents people send me not rendering right, and not being able to fill in forms in that format.

        I have similar issues going from Microsoft to Microsoft.

      • The bigger issue is who do they think is going to provide the tech support for Linux? Are there even any distros that help you migrate your Windows files and apps?

        Who provides free tech support for windows?

        If you say microsoft I suggest you check the official MS support forums because they're staffed by morons. I've seen lots of dumb stuff but can't remember much except one where the support guy was like "Tell me if this random program fixes your problem, but please be sure it doesn't have malware because its not microsoft" and he provided a link to some random website.

        I knew a girl who worked microsoft xbox support and they didn't get her contracting compan

    • As a regular user of mail merge function of Libre Office, I dissent....
    • We completely dumped M$ Office in favour of LibreOffice a couple of years ago. The transition was relatively painless... certainly easier than upgrading to the next iteration of Office.

      As October approaches, I'm starting to feel that maybe this is the time to switch the bulk of our gear to Linux. In the past, the hesitancy to upgrade to the next M$OS was mostly about defects and transition costs, but this year, there is an insidious feeling of anxiety that to continue with Microsoft will be a mistake. W

  • You need better autocorrect LibreOffice!

    • The author is Italian, so he's maybe learned British English instead of American. In British English, although "programs" is now the preferred spelling in computing contexts, in the real world the two spellings are now interchangeable as computing terminology has become the most common usage. Doesn't really matter, it's obvious what the word means.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Go Home Yankees!

  • It's still possible to install Windows 11 with a local account and bypassing some hardware requirements using Rufus (first thing you should do after buying a computer with a preinstalled version of Windows 11: wipe it and replace it with a version from MS), or to switch from a remote account to a local account after the classic installation. Moreoever, for a few bucks, you can buy a licence for Office 2024 or so from a licence broker, which runs on your computer, not in the cloud. But yes, this is not a so

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by allo ( 1728082 )

      What do you do when the workaround stops working? Even when there is a new workaround two weeks later, you're having an huge issue if you installed Win11 on all computers of your company.

      • My org tried this workaround a while back on some computers that didn't meet Win 11 hardware requirements (7th gen intel CPU). They were fine until the next feature update (annual/6month?) rolls out, and then that fails. The entire argument for linux here is they aren't arbitrarily cutting off old hardware like microsoft is in a couple months. Personally I tried linux for my own use and was pretty darn close but ran into some hardware drivers that just weren't ready. Bad laptop selection on my part? I'm p

        • What distort? We're running Ubuntu LTS on workstations, and we keep the updates rolling, and have no significant issues. Generally when we want to do feature updates, we don't do in-place upgrades at all, we just build a new image and roll it out. We want complete control over new feature rollouts, including any major new upgrades of key software like LibreOffice.

          And honestly, that's pretty much how we were managing Windows prior to beginning the migration. Updates in general are always a risky business, an

      • The workaround he's talking about only applies during install time.
        After that I still had to run a debloater script.
        I did this to the education enterprise version of windows 11 which supposedly already has a lot of anti consumer features turned off.
        I still had every corner of the OS begging me like HAL9000 getting unplugged. Please keep bing! You know edge is really good? Hey heres OneDrive, your new BFF for saving things anywhere!

        So there was still some manual nonsense and artificial barriers to overco

    • Please note: when you bypass those hardware requirements, your install is unsupported and may break with any update.

  • Why not test LibreOffice on Windows first? (Score:3)

    by rklrkl ( 554527 ) on Monday June 16, 2025 @07:19AM (#65452521) Homepage

    LibreOffice seem to want Windows users to go via the most difficult route first - install Linux in a dual boot scenario to test LibreOffice in Linux. Surely, a Windows user should downlooad and install LibreOffice for Windows first and see if their existing MS Office documents work fine with it (writing in one suite and reading it back in the other and vice versa). Only if Windows LibreOffice is compatible and usable enough for them, should they then consider Linux and its LibreOffice version surely?

  • Hardware is not obsolete (Score:3)

    by xanthos ( 73578 ) <xanthos@NoSPAM.toke.com> on Monday June 16, 2025 @07:54AM (#65452583)

    Furthermore, new hardware requirements will render millions of perfectly good PCs obsolete....

    The hardware isn't obsolete, Microsoft just decided that it was the easiest way to end backwards compatibility. Isn't it strange that an emulated TPM is good enough for a cloud VM but not for a personal desktop? I wonder if we will see this again if TPM 2.0 breaks and newer hardware is once again "required"

    • Isn't it strange that an emulated TPM is good enough for a cloud VM but not for a personal desktop?

      FWIW, which I know isn't much, I have Windows 11 in a VM with an emulated TPM right now. It doesn't know the difference.

      Anyway a lot of motherboards have a TPM port, but Windows 11 will still refuse to run on some fairly modern CPUs even if you have an addin TPM, won't it?

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