Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Windows Microsoft Hardware

Consumer Reports Asks Microsoft To Keep Supporting Windows 10 (theverge.com) 137

Posted by BeauHD from the final-days dept.
Consumer Reports has urged Microsoft to keep supporting Windows 10 beyond its October 2025 cutoff, saying the move will "strand millions of consumers" who have machines incompatible with Windows 11. The Verge reports: As noted by Consumer Reports, data suggests that around 46.2 percent of people around the world still use Windows 10 as of August 2025, while around 200 to 400 million PCs can't be upgraded to Windows 11 due to missing hardware requirements.

In the letter, Consumer Reports calls Microsoft "hypocritical" for urging customers to upgrade to Windows 11 to bolster cybersecurity, but then leaving Windows 10 devices susceptible to cyberattacks. It also calls out the $30 fee Microsoft charges customers for "a mere one-year extension to preserve their machine's security," as well as the free support options that force people to use Microsoft products, allowing the company to "eke out a bit of market share over competitors."

Consumer Reports asks that Microsoft continue providing support for Windows 10 computers for free until more people have upgraded to Windows 11.

Consumer Reports Asks Microsoft To Keep Supporting Windows 10 More | Reply

Consumer Reports Asks Microsoft To Keep Supporting Windows 10

Comments Filter:

  • It takes an hour or two to reimage most systems to run a modern Linux distro that will run FOOS versions of most software, all the browser based stuff, and more and more games every day (many games are running BETTER under Linux then Windows 11).

    It's free, easy, and unchains people from Microsoft and Apple.

    It just takes people making the plunge to install it as a dual boot option on their system until they no longer requires the Windows installation.

    • Not always. I have a laptop whose Wifi refused to work correctly under Linux. Spent a couple hours trying to get it to work correctly too.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by allo ( 1728082 )

        A USB Wifi stick that is supported by Linux is like $10. Don't wrangle drivers, but look for a cheap USB stick and do a short search if it has a Linux supported chipset. Today most of them are well-supported out of the box and you just plug it in and get asked which Wifi you want to connect to.

        • My laptop doesn't have USB, just a PCMCIA card and serial port...

      • While it happens, that is pretty rare under Linux now a days.
        Broadcom wifi chip?

    • Re: Everyone start handing out DVDs and USBs of Li (Score:5, Insightful)

      by HammerOn1024 ( 10137343 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @05:45PM (#65664210)
      The problem is, that this is EASY for a Unix/Linux Sysop. It is IMPOSSIBLE for the standard Windows user. They are NOT ignorent, nor is this comment a slam at Windows useres, it's a "We don't get it!" issue. So unless you want to go door to door and do the work, for free, then come up with a viable solution instead of being dismissive and calling it "easy".

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by caseih ( 160668 )

        Installing Windows or *any* OS is IMPOSSIBLE for the standard Windows user. Using a word processor and browser, on the other hand, is about the same on either platform. As anecdotal evidence I offer my neighbor who is 80 years old and computer illiterate. Has just as much success (and trouble) navigating Cinnamon on Linux Mint as he did on Windows. So far he's been running Mint for five years and I have to drop by about once a year usually to provide some assistance, but I used to have to do more than t

      • Assuming you're not dual-booting, the hardest part of installing Kubuntu or Mint is setting the BIOS to boot from the USB drive. After than, even an average Windows user can install them. Plug in the drive, reboot, and the sequence is something like: Next, Next, enter the username and password you want, next, next, wait about 10-15 minutes, done, reboot into your newly installed Linux.

        Installing Kubuntu or Mint is WAY easier than installing Windows (I know, most users don't install Windows). I had to instal

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by kenh ( 9056 )

          Well, the suggestion IS dual-boot, so there's that...

          Also, installing Windows 11 is literally no harder than installing any popular distribution of Linux - hav you ever installed Windows 11? Watched someone do it? It's literally the same as Ubuntu, except Ubuntu wants you to consider some more sophisticated drive partioning (but it is optional) and offers to download 3rd-party proprietary drivers

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dryeo ( 100693 )

            The other year, installing Win11 ended with an unsupported CPU error on a fairly new at the time Thinkcenter with a 7th generation CPU. The last time I had a similar experience with Linux many years ago just meant some Googling and adding a boot parameter to tell the kernel that yes I did have PAE even if the CPU didn't admit it. Would have been easy to use a different distribution then Ubuntu too.
            A general use operating system rejecting a 3 year old computer due to it being too old does not equal an easy i

        • Re: Everyone start handing out DVDs and USBs of Li (Score:5, Funny)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Wednesday September 17, 2025 @06:03AM (#65665190) Homepage Journal

          It's what you do after installing Kubuntu or Mint that is the problem. You need to somehow figure out that Wangzoola to the app that replaces your accounting software, and it's buggy half abandoned crap anyway. If you are lucky you might get WINE to work instead.

          Oh, and Firefox was renamed Icewazel for ideological reasons, and Chrome isn't available unless Google supports your flavour of Linux. Fortunately you will get to try several of them out because if they aren't broken out of the box you can be sure they will be broken when you copy/paste some Reddit post into a root shell in an attempt to fix something, only to find it's years out of date and bricked the OS.

          No, the only sane choice for non-hackers to replace Windows is ChromeOS, and only if they can live with just a web browser for everything.

    • Re:Everyone start handing out DVDs and USBs of Lin (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kenh ( 9056 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @05:45PM (#65664212) Homepage Journal

      So a person that is running a ten year-old computer should just partition their drive, install a new OS and learn Linux? That's your answer?

      While they're at it, why not re-arrange they keys on their keyboard to be Dvorak layout, since, as we all know, the the QWERTY keyboard was designed to intentionally slow-down typists, Dvorak was designed to increase typing speed.

      You're acting like a suitable replacement PC for most users isn't available off Amazon for about $100-200 and fits in an overcoat pocket.

      I love how people are acting surprised when this was announced FOUR YEARS AGO FFS...

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by CycleMan ( 638982 )

        I love how people are acting surprised when this was announced FOUR YEARS AGO FFS...

        This generation had a Real ID Act passed in 2005. It was supposed to take effect in 3 years, in 2008. In reality, 20 years later they are mostly there. "On January 14, 2025, the Transportation Security Administration maintained in principle the deadline of May 7, 2025, but allowed flexible enforcement, for example by warning holders of noncompliant documents rather than refusing them altogether, until May 5, 2027."

        Microsoft and the government are not the same, but we have a cultural history of holding on

      • So a person that is running a ten year-old computer should just partition their drive, install a new OS and learn Linux? That's your answer?

        If this person doesn't want to stop using that computer, then yes, that's a viable option.

        You're acting like a suitable replacement PC for most users isn't available off Amazon for about $100-200 and fits in an overcoat pocket.

        You're acting like such computers are "suitable" for most users. I reckon they aren't.

        • Re:Everyone start handing out DVDs and USBs of Lin (Score:4, Insightful)

          by kenh ( 9056 ) on Wednesday September 17, 2025 @12:11AM (#65664854) Homepage Journal

          A Windows 10 computer does not become more vulnerable (in any real way) the day after MS drops support than it was the day before they dropped support of Windows 10.

          • A Windows 10 computer does not become more vulnerable (in any real way) the day after MS drops support than it was the day before they dropped support of Windows 10.

            I suppose continuing to use Windows 10 is another option, but I'm not sure it's viable -- in the sense of the OS being secure when MS drops support. Maybe it will still be secure the day after, the week after, even the month after ... but eventually it won't, and no fixes for vulnerabilities will be forthcoming.

            • Every vulnerability you'll find in the OS were there the day the OS went off support, it doesnt get worse over time...

              Besides, i thought the biggest complaint about Windows was the incessant, poorly-timed, windows update - now that MS is done improving the OS, there wont be anymore 'surprise' updates as you turn your laptop on a plane or give a presentation!

              • Every vulnerability you'll find in the OS were there the day the OS went off support, it doesnt get worse over time...

                Head in the sand much? You completely miss the point: it doesn't get better either. Ever. That's what happens when an OS no longer has support.

                And arguably, it does get worse over time, as vulnerabilities are discovered and exploited, but not fixed.

                Besides, i thought the biggest complaint about Windows was the incessant, poorly-timed, windows update - now that MS is done improving the OS, there wont be anymore 'surprise' updates as you turn your laptop on a plane or give a presentation!

                You can manage when updates happen. Even pause them. I'm running Windows 11 right now on one of my PCs, and have paused updates until the large-file-on-SSD bug is fixed definitively.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            Chances are there are people sitting on exploits for Windows 10, just waiting for support to end before deploying them in the wild.

            The bigger issue will be software dropping support. Once your web browser stops getting updated for Windows 10 you are in real trouble.

          • You're right, it becomes more vulnerable the following Patch Tuesday. You're acting like security bugs are solved in Windows 10 rather than Windows being an architectural nightmare where security relies on a cat and mouse game of find the bug between Microsoft and anyone willing to do you harm.

            So yeah you're no more vulnerable the day after, but a month after you literally are more vulnerable as you will be forced to live with unpatched vulnerabilities.

            • How does a static, unchanging code base become *more* vulnerable over time? It doesn't, but if people continue to invest time in the deprecated software, they might find exploits they previously didn't know about, but were already there.

              I contend, having MS go in every Tuesday and patch the OS opened up the possibility of introducing new exploits/vulnerabilities - once the code base is frozen, stops changing, how can new exploits/vulnerabilities get into the software?

              • To follow your logic, updates are bad because they can introduce new vulnerabilities. Never mind that the main purpose of the updates is to fix the old vulnerabilities.

                Then, why not just release a software product, and not provide updates at all?

                You can't make a virtue out of a "static, unchanging code base" that contains vulnerabilities, whether they are discovered or not.

      • I love how people are acting surprised when this was announced FOUR YEARS AGO FFS...

        Why shouldn't they surprised? Windows 10 was guaranteed to be THE LAST VERSION THEY WILL RELEASE. It will all be incremental updates after that. If the government actually functioned, they would have sued Microsoft for lies and imposed a fine equal to replacing all of the PCs sold until that date.

        • Why shouldn't they surprised? Windows 10 was guaranteed to be THE LAST VERSION THEY WILL RELEASE. It will all be incremental updates after that.

          Citation?

          The only announcement i heard to that end involved windows *possibly* evolving into a subscription software offering instead of a buy once and use forever.

          I see that in 2015 it was mentioned, but COVID changed that...

          https://www.reddit.com/r/windo... [reddit.com]

          (Yeah, Reddit, but it includes solid links to MS statements)

          So it's your contention that by claiming Windows 10 was the last version of windows that MS is obliged to support it *forever* on legacy hardware? That its requirements would never grow/change?

          • So it's your contention that by claiming Windows 10 was the last version of windows that MS is obliged to support it *forever* on legacy hardware?

            You must belong to one of those 'isms to think like this. Very black and white thinking.

            The implication would look more like, "not putting arbitrary requirements on the ability to continue running the OS". Sure, when x86/64 is no longer the primary chip architecture, there will be a change in requirements, but that is not what is happening now is it?

      • While they're at it, why not re-arrange they keys on their keyboard to be Dvorak layout, since, as we all know, the the QWERTY keyboard was designed to intentionally slow-down typists, Dvorak was designed to increase typing speed.

        Trolling? At your age? You should be ashamed of yourself.

      • Got a college diploma for 'Computer Programming' 25 years ago; I did so poorly it was basically a pity diploma to make me go away.

        Did some A/V work for a decade then for the past 16 years I've been a janitor.

        Taught myself to use Linux in a weekend because Win11 keeps trying to sell me shit and copy everything into the cloud.

        Has so much fun I converted every old system I had to Linux. 2 Thinkcentres (had to do some interesting bios fuckery there), a Thinkpad, a 2006 iMac got Batocera and became an arcade for

    • Re:Everyone start handing out DVDs and USBs of Lin (Score:5, Insightful)

      by korgitser ( 1809018 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @05:46PM (#65664220)

      Now I'm a linux desktop guy for 25+ years now, Gentoo even, and I'm all for getting rid of the smell of piss in the subway.

      That being said, the actual imaging part of the systems is not where the effort is. But gathering user requirements, testing out the hardware, fiddling with it to make work what does not want to work, and finding and funding replacements where needed... Then creating the imaging infrastructure and training the users... And most importantly, rolling all of that back once it turns out your users need some specific software to do their work, even if it's just some more serious Office use... Yeah.

      And dual boot isn't really a temporary measure. Either you can go all in already, or you'll only be adding the complexity of dual boot without ever getting rid of Windows. You'll have better chances untying the Gordian knot.

    • unchains people from Microsoft and Apple.

      What makes you think people want to be unchained? There's this fantasy that exists in the minds of Slashdot that people only use Windows because they are forced to. Go ahead install Linux on random people's machine. We'll direct support calls to you when they ask why they can't install the Xbox store, or why their OneDrive sync no longer works.

      • Anyone smart enough to install Linux on their own box is smart enough not to do it for someone else.
        Unless they have a maintenance and support contract already in place.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by klashn ( 1323433 )

      The problem isn't the initial installation any more. For Ubuntu and Linux Mint the install process is fairly smooth and the UI is nice during install, and as a daily driver.
      The problem now is maintenance, and when things fail...
      Yes, I know there's automatic updates, but I ran into an issue with /boot not being large enough to hold kernel images, because after many of those automatic updates, it ran out of space in /boot.

      I'm not "technical" enough to know whether I can resize /boot, or if it is feasible - es

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Samare ( 2779329 )

        For that specific issue:
        (message from 2020)
        "Starting with Linux Mint 19.2, the Update Manager can be configured to uninstall obsolete kernels from your system in regular intervals.
        The relevant setting can be found and enabled in Update Manager -> Edit -> Preferences -> Automation tab.
        For more details see this webpage, section "Update Manager": New features in Linux Mint 19.2 [linuxmint.com]"

      • The actual problem is lack of software.

        The CAD systems and controller software development suites that I need to do my job are only available under Windows.

        The art and design software my brother uses is only available for macOS or Windows.

        Lots and lots of engineering tools and other stuff, only available for Windows.

        You can use Linux if you need some basic gaming, webdev or development for Linux itself, and web browsing. If your needs extend to professional software outside these spheres, which a LOT of thi

        • Corporations and businesses can keep using Windows on the newest systems.

          Your average schmoo can get by with Linux on the last years refurbs. All the non Microsoft owned games are going to switch to running natively on Linux/Mac/Windows because that gives the largest market. When developers make their engines scalable to run the games in low-rez on older boxes they will have even more market share.

          Most peoples lives and work are in the browser. Requiring Windows for your work software is no different then n

    • Mumble, mumble ... retain documents (all) and settings (as far as possible). Passwords in the browser. Browser History. Migrate media to the appropriate spot? Stash 'em away in a hidden partition at the end of the disk. And/or Image Windows so it could be restored if Linux isn't for them? Nice shiny desktop icon for that?

      Ok, not MY browser history.

      Is anybody doing this, and NOT blowing away the disk, these days? I mean, easy migration rather than start from scratch would help a lot of potential members of t

  • Microsoft could avoid a lot of this.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @05:32PM (#65664162) Journal

    The machines that can run Windows 10 but not 11 really have no legitimate reasons they're incapable of using 11. It's generally artificial barriers put up by Microsoft because the chips lack a feature or two they're trying to make a new standard.

    In a few cases, it's literally nothing more than an oversight! My co-worker was just telling me about a specific model of Xeon CPU he's got that has some long "sub-model" vs a simple model number like 5360 or 5500 or what-not. It has every single function in it that Microsoft says is needed by Win 11, yet you can't put 11 on it. Why? Only because Microsoft neglected to list its specific model/sub-model in its database it uses to determine the machines capable of installing 11 on them.

    If they want all these people off Windows 10, they could design 11 so it runs more like 10, with a few of the features disabled that require the instructions the older CPUs lack, when it detects those processors.

    Apple did this with iOS multiple times already. A new iOS version still runs on older phones but with a few features disabled if those specific features need the newer phone's CPU to work.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kenh ( 9056 )

      The issue is TPM 2.0, a hardware device and a security issue.

      There is the CPU, the Chipset, and the features the manufacturer builds into the computer - it isn't "just" the CPU, the chipset supporting the CPU needs to be capable of supporting TPM 2.0 AND the MFG needs to have implemented TPM 2.0 in the chipset.

      • Re:Microsoft could avoid a lot of this.... (Score:5, Informative)

        by blahbooboo2 ( 602610 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @05:42PM (#65664192)

        I have a desktop which has TPM 2.0 but the CPU is a 7th gen I5 so it refuses to run Windows 11. It's still a very capable desktop for basic needs...thankfully Rufus https://rufus.ie/en/ [rufus.ie] enabled it to run Windows 11.

      • Re:Microsoft could avoid a lot of this.... (Score:5, Informative)

        by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @05:47PM (#65664224) Homepage

        This isn't *really* a requirement. I've been able to upgrade all of my family's computers, and those of extended family, using an open source tool called Rufus. https://theideaplace.net/using... [theideaplace.net] It creates a Windows 11 installer from an official Microsoft Windows download, but tweaks a few registry entries to make it work, even on "unsupported" hardware. Once upgraded, I've never seen a compatibility issue, despite the purported requirements.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by xlsior ( 524145 )
          Which works great, until it doesn't. You risk that any future update can include cpu instructions which your system doesn't support, which could result in instability, crashes, or even being unable to boot. You're taking a /risk/ circumventing the cpu requirements. It may be an acceptable risk to you, but could come as a total surprise to the owner of a system who you helped upgrade on non-supported hardware.

          • The tweaks implemented by Rufus are registry tweaks in Windows, essentially turning off the features that depend on TPM. These flags were implemented by Microsoft, Rufus didn't replace binaries or perform major surgery on the OS. In other words, Microsoft does support this mode, through the use of configuration flags. They just don't want to tell people about the configuration flags.

            So sure, there's a risk, but IMO the risk is low. I've been using a tweaked version of Windows 11 on "unsupported" hardware, s

      • Security is at best the secondary purpose behind DRM. Also you can bypass the requirement and Windows will still work.

        • Re:Microsoft could avoid a lot of this.... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Talchas ( 954795 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @08:28PM (#65664576)
          Yeah, TPM provides no real security benefits to a home user. The best that preventing a persistent kernel compromise really gives is "maybe AV can be protected" (very maybe), potentially resulting in bricking the machine instead. For a user you've already completely lost when the web browser is compromised, far before root access. Its benefits for security in a corporate setting only exist if/because you can list every permitted executable and then it lets you lock down the machine even against a lot of physical access. The DRM "benefits" on the other hand are massive.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            You dismiss preventing the OS from being compromised at below root level far too easily. The browser is sandboxed and that has proven quite effective at blocking things like ransomware from accessing the user's file. The days of drive-by malware are mostly over, it's usually infection via phishing emails or compromised servers these days.

            TPM and Secure Boot killed off the worst categories of malware. People forget how bad it used to be. Removing that stuff required booting an OS off a CD and killing it, the

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by caseih ( 160668 )

        Despite MS's installer claiming otherwise, only TPM 1.2 or newer is required by Windows 11. Also I'm running Windows 11 in a KVM virtual machine an older server that has zero support for TPM of any kind, using an emulated TPM. Seems to me to run on older hardware, MS could have provided a light-weight hyperV shim that could provide the TPMv2 to windows. Assuming that the implementation of the emulated TPM would be completely inaccessible to the VM itself, enough security remains against malware, etc.

        Mean

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by msauve ( 701917 )
        >The issue is TPM 2.0

        Yes, Big Brother wants to take full control, you can't be trusted to take responsibility for your own security. Of course, they can't be either - they're happy to turn your personal info into profit.

        Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 4im ( 181450 )

        There's machines out there which actually do have TPM, but it's turned off via BIOS. How many people will throw away a perfectly good machine just because they don't know they could turn on TPM in the BIOS?

    • There are ways around the requirements for updating from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

      You can change some registry settings, or use a utility to modify the ISO automatically [rufus.ie].

      My laptop doesn't have a TPM, but otherwise met all of the requirements for upgrading to Windows 11...

      • My old z77 motherboard (with a 3770k) runs 11 fine. (no TPM, Secureboot or 8th gen cpu). My Xeon 2660V4 machine runs it too (again, no TPM or 8th gen CPU and Secureboot is disabled).

        Hardware limitations are artificial, kinda like when Apple blacklisted Atom CPUs in order to prevent netbooks from booting Snow Leopard.

    • Or, if they want them off Windows 10, they could relax the compatibility requirements to upgrade. It's very possible. In fact, you can do this yourself using an open-source tool called Rufus to make a tweaked Windows 11 installer that bypasses the compatibility checks. https://theideaplace.net/using... [theideaplace.net] I've used this on a number of machines of varying ages, and have experience no issues.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sjames ( 1099 )

      Proven by the fact that a few have hacked Windows 11 to run fine on machines that supposedly can't run it.

      I wouldn't trust those hacks in production, but they prove the possibility. Of course, I don't trust ANY Windows in production.

    • make a new standard.

      The devices in question have been standard for about 8 years now. Microsoft didn't make this a standard, they stopped supporting systems which didn't offer modern standard hardware.

      Why? Only because Microsoft neglected to list its specific model/sub-model in its database it uses to determine the machines capable of installing 11 on them.

      Microsoft does not do a CPU model number check against a database. They do a check for specific hardware features and no CPU list is managed by the hardware compatibility tool. Your co-worker's CPU doesn't meet some requirement most probably because the CPU is either lacking a feature, or more likely it's disabled (some Windows r

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jsepeta ( 412566 )

      The TPM 2.0 "new standard" was approved in 2014. Get over it -- it's no longer "new".

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The main reason is that Microsoft doesn't want to support older hardware. Support has a cost, code has to be tested on it, issues have to be fixed. Very few people are paying Microsoft for that on-going support either, they expect it for free.

      Perhaps a solution would be to require Microsoft to allow someone else to take over maintenance of Windows 10. It would be tricky, and they would probably have to pay Microsoft to keep operating parts of the system like Windows Update servers, but at least it would sav

    • It's the hard-to-remove bloatware and background processes that make older PCs slow on Windows 11. A PC that worked reasonably well on Windows 7 with a HDD is painfully slow with Windows 11, for very little end-user benefit. I wish MS would release a bloatware-free SKU of Windows 11 that would run on Windows 7 hardware.

  • are very well supported under Linux .. Just typing this for a friend .. ;)

  • Supporting Windows 10 costs MS money, and that money has to come from somewhere. And it's surely not going to come out of the CEO's salary!

  • Get a better Windows 10 (Score:5, Informative)

    by fafalone ( 633739 ) on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @06:07PM (#65664278)
    Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC is far superior to the consumer versions and has mainstream, non-ESU support all the way til 2032. For the people who say compatibility, well it's highly specific to some particular software and there's far, far more programs that have compatibility issues with 11 than programs that work on 10 home/pro but not enterprise ltsc. You can install missing bloat like the MS Store if you really want to. Even here on /. people post false info about 10 LTSC making it out to be worse than it is.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sgage ( 109086 )

      That's nice for Enterprise people. What about the average user? How does one get it? How much does it cost?...

      • You can't. LTSC is OEM only unless you get it in an "unofficial" way. So Joe user is pretty much screwed.

    • Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC is far superior to the consumer versions and has mainstream

      Superior in what way? The problem with statements like yours is that you will help someone who doesn't understand computers install it, and then they end up with basic problems as a result such as, where is the Microsoft Store, or why is the Xbox game bar not working, this online guide said windows+G brings up an overlay!

      far more programs that have compatibility issues with 11 than programs that work on 10 home/pro but not enterprise ltsc.

      Citation required, given that Windows 11 is the same underlying system as Windows 10. If it runs on Windows 10 it runs on Windows 11. Heck even Windows 11's version number is 10.0.26100

      You can install missing bloat like the MS Store if you really want to.

      At t

      • If it runs on Windows 10 it runs on Windows 11.

        A doubtful premise given Microsoft history, as I've experienced all kinds of minor upgrades/updates breaking software on various forms of Windows over the decades. But even given that, it won't all run it equally well, and Windows 11 is festooned with more crap which has to be dodged. They've also dicked up the interface regarding snap and multiple monitors in a way that causes my mouse pointer to warp incredibly unpleasantly, but I don't try to do multimonitor on a system I also play games on any more so I

        • minor upgrades/updates

          So what you're saying is there's no difference between Windows 10 and 11 then since minor updates break things? Congrats, you strengthened my point further.

          Otherwise, it has a longer support life than Windows 10 Pro.

          The ol' kick the can down the road approach to security is never the best. The problem is fundamentally things are not well supported across the things you actually DO care about. The OS vendor supports it? Great! You can't file your taxes though because we only just covered a story about a certain piece of tax software no longer supporting Windows 10. Y

      • you get "long term windows 10 pro" :)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      How do consumers get and use Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC legally?

  • CR is as famous for suggesting good things for bad reasons, as for their ludicrously clueless "reviews".

    I am certainly not agreeing with MS, but asking them to "continue providing support for Windows 10 computers for free until more people have upgraded to Windows 11" is just delusional.

  • Or simply disabled? In the past 3 months I've helped about 5 people upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. It was usually some combination of not knowing how to turn SecureBoot on to enable the upgrade (simple) or having to convert MBR to GPT partitions and switch the BIOS from Legacy to UEFI.

    In all cases their machine said their hardware was not capable of running Windows 11. I wonder how many PC actually can't, and I wonder how many of them are in 3rd world countries after they were dumped by the westerne

  • Consumer Reports fails to comprehend the importance of keeping up with the times. Windows 10 pc's that are unable to run Windows 11 are subject to attack from malware that isn't defended against by TPM 2.0, which was approved in 2014 (a year before Windows 10 was released). It is unreasonable to ask Microsoft to support a 10-year old operating system forever. There have been plenty of PC innovations over the past 10 years that people should want a new computer -- although without the bullshit focus on adver

  • >"Consumer Reports has urged Microsoft to keep supporting Windows 10 beyond its October 2025 cutoff, saying the move will "strand millions of consumers" who have machines incompatible with Windows 11."

    And every one of those machines is almost certainly compatible with Linux. Throw Mint on there and have a free, mostly familiar, easy-to-use, easy-to-update, stable, secure, high-performance, robust, privacy-respecting, and supported OS for many years to come.

    Or continue to whine at Microsoft "This isn't '

  • It's so easy for CR and others to be so generous with Microsoft's money and resources. Why don't the critics put up the money?

    People have had YEARS AND YEARS to save up for a new machine that could run Windows 11 (it wouldn't take much), buy a Mac, figure out Linux or whatever. But no, just kick the can down the road forever and then cry "poor me". Give me a break.

    I've been running a Mac laptop for over 12 years. Works just fine. No issues. Windows users with these non-Win11 compatible machine could have ma

  • Just yesterday, My wife needed an extra computer for her work (One computer broke and was sent for repair). She has an old laptop (from around 2011) originaly with windows 7, which was upgraded to windows 10 & 16GB RAM. I thought she could use the old one.

    I've started it. Waited for updates to finish (3-4 hours). And then the computer became unusable. It just randomly froze!

    I really cannot see any sane person using windows these days. Nowadays even games run better on linux using proton.

    Windows h

  • I can guarantee you that the vast majority of wINDOWS/Mac users have never installed an OS from scratch on their machiNe. Sure, they'll go through a major upgrade of the same OS if they're prompted for one, but they absolutely will not download an ISO image and install that OS from scratch. Heck, if their OS install got borked, they'd either ask a tech friend/family member to fix it, take it to a computer shop for repair or simply bin it and buy a new machine. Sadly, most Slashdot users can't fathom this an

    • No but people like you and me can install Linux for them.
      Most people only use the browser and maybe some email program. That can be done on Linux without any issues.

Slashdot Top Deals

I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

Close