October 14th came and gone… (crickets chirping)
So what happened? For most probably nothing. During the final days of Windows 10, Microsoft put out some options to keep using Windows 10 and of course upgrading to Windows 11 if you had the approved hardware. And if you didn’t have approved hardware, Microsoft gave an option to dispose of your unsupported hardware and upgrade to the new hardware. Also, there were not Microsoft approved options to upgrade to Windows 11 for the unsupported hardware and of course, Microsoft is working on closing those holes too.
So what’s the end game? What are the viable options?
Option one – Staying in the Microsoft Eco system
- If you have supported hardware, congratulations! You have the easiest path to take. If you have not done so already, upgrade to 11 – done. Well, not so fast. Make sure you back up your data first, especially if you are using a Windows 10 local account. You might have to install Windows 11 from scratch, wiping out everything on your computer. Windows 11 will force you into a Microsoft account for the home addition. If you have the pro addition; you can also use your work/school account, however, doing so gives your work/school control of your computer.
- If you don’t have supported hardware; there are a few options:
- Keep Windows 10 for another year. However, it comes with a catch – You have to pay a fee or sign up for a Microsoft account and upload everything to the Microsoft cloud.
- Use a third party service to provide security patches to your Windows 10. This is not free, however, will allow you to keep your Windows 10 for a lot longer than the Microsoft option.
- Install Windows 10 LTS (Long Term Service), which is reserved for businesses with multiple computers. Of course, you are going to have to find an LTS licence from somewhere and reinstall Windows 10 from scratch. * Make that back up first! *
- Upgrade your hardware. Depending on your hardware, it might be a simple module to buy and plugin or a total system replacement. Again, back up your stuff!
Option two – The grey zone
- As mentioned earlier, you can install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware especially if the hardware is relatively new. It just doesn’t meet Microsoft’s seemingly unjustified set of approved qualifications. And because it’s unapproved hardware, Microsoft could do something in the future to disable your Windows 11 with you having no recourse options.
- Do nothing. Just keep on using Windows 10, just remember there will be no more security updates and if something goes wrong – you are on your own. At first this will seem OK, it’s not like Windows 10 everywhere is just going to stop working. However, over time, your Windows will become more vulnerable to newly discovered security holes that just won’t be reported or fixed.
Option three – F*** Microsoft!
- In my opinion, this is the best option. Microsoft vision is that everything is a subscription they control and you own nothing (not even your own data and the computer you bought and paid for). The only way out is to take back control of YOUR computer. Back up your data to an external device, install Linux. I recommend Linux Mint, however, you don’t have to take my recommendation, you can choose another distribution. All I ask is if not using Linux Mint, do the homework. Read the other articles on this site about Linux distros, read other articles on other sites, view some YouTube videos on various distros, try some out using live USB. If your computer was running Windows 10 without any issues, then your hardware will run just about any Linux distro without any issues! If your computer stumbled a little running Windows 10, there are lite Linux distros that will run no problem on such systems.
- Some may suggest moving to Apple/iOS, however, you would be trading one walled garden for another walled garden with higher walls. Not to mention that your existing hardware will not work, you will have to invest in all new very expensive hardware. You will be stuck with that hardware as it will likely not work with any other OS. There may be a Linux distro that will work with Apple/Mac hardware, however, I am not certain of it.
- Turn your laptop into a Chrome Book, if everything you do is online/in the cloud, this might be an option for you. You would be in Google’s Eco system, not sure if that is any better than Microsoft or Apple.
- Turn your computer into an Android device, similar to the Chrome book option. However, there are de-Googled (no Play-store) Android available.
- More obscure options like ReactOS; This claims to work with Windows programs, however, very experimental and not stable on most hardware.
Option four – Combination of option one and three (for the power user)
- Dual Boot; it is possible to have the best of both worlds, just not at the same time. It is possible to install Linux alongside your Windows. This is a little tricky to do and I highly recommend that you back up your windows partition before attempting this. Use the Linux as the daily driver, and boot into Windows 10 or 11 only when you need to use a Windows only application.
- Virtual Machine (VM); run Windows inside of Linux or Linux inside of Windows. This is a great option if your hardware can handle it. If you have a newer system Windows 11 compatible or not, with lots of RAM, CPU with cores to spare, and sufficient storage for both, you can have the best of both systems at the same time! Of course I recommend installing Linux as the main system, and Windows in a VM Only run the Windows when you need to. The beauty of VM is that not only can you run Windows, you can run almost any other OS in a VM. Want to try another Linux distro, Android, Chrome Book, or mess with ReactOS? You can do it without ever leaving your main OS. If the VM ever crashes, no big deal, just spin-up another.
- On my personal computer I have a Linux Mint and Windows 11 dual boot and a Windows 10 VM in my Linux OS. To be honest, I have not booted into Windows 11 for a long time (have only boot into it for keeping up with updates). Windows 10 VM is only used for one app, and really have not used it lately. Really, my day to day stuff can ALL be done with my Linux Mint.
Which way are you going? Is there another option not covered here? let me know in the comments.