In a nutshell: As Microsoft prepares to end free security updates for Windows 10 in October, a significant challenge looms for charities that refurbish and distribute older computers to those in need. With an estimated 240 million PCs unable to meet the stringent hardware requirements for Windows 11, these organizations face a difficult decision: provide potentially insecure Windows 10 systems, send them to e-waste recyclers, or explore alternative operating systems like Linux.
Microsoft’s requirements for Windows 11 include a 1GHz or faster CPU with at least two cores, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, Secure Boot capability, and TPM 2.0 compatibility. However, the supported Intel CPU list only goes back to 8th Gen chips, introduced in 2017, while the AMD list includes Ryzen 2000 series and above.
Go Linux without a doubt. The hardware is still usable.
My 10yo netbook runs the latest Debian Linux. If it was running on its original OS (XP) it would not only crawl but be dangerously vulnerable.
Wow, pretty unbelievable a netbook was still being sold with XP in 2015 lol. How’d you come about getting that?
Precisely what I am doing. Too many devices that still do what I need simply to ditch just because Windows 10 is EOL. I’m a bit over half-way in my migration (still have a few programs to sort out - may have to run a W10 VM for a couple of them as they don’t work under WINE and there is no Linux equivalent).
My desktop is a 2012 lenovo office machine. Fresh SSD, wifi card, and an… OK graphics card have had the thing purring for me since 2018.
What if the SSD and everything else are 9 years old? Is that worth risking data loss over?
If it’s that valuable, you should have backups anyway.
And chances are it’s all cloud work that they’re doing on the computers.
With the age of those computers you might even be looking at a HDD. Those should definitely be replaced, SSDs, it depends.
In any case a new 128G SDD is on the order of 15 bucks, well worth the investment even for an age-old system (unless you have a bit more extra cash because the GB/buck optimum is in the 0.5-2T range).
Well, an additional problem with this Lenovo ThinkPad is that its “A” key is coming loose if not pressed on the rightmost side. I’ve also dropped it 3x from over a foot’s distance (knocked off a table, etc.), which damaged its Bluetooth receiver. So I’m wondering if it’s even still worth maintaining…
It’s definitely got 2×256 GB SSDs in it, though they’re also all from 2016-17, hence my predicament of sorts…
Microsoft’s requirements for Windows 11 include a 1GHz or faster CPU with at least two cores, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage,
All of this is no problem and essentially any computer manufactured in the last couple decades can meet these requirements. They’re effectively irrelevant for this discussion.
Secure Boot capability, and TPM 2.0 compatibility.
This is the problem right here. Pretty much every last computer you hear about that isn’t compatible it’s one or both of these, almost always the TPM 2.0 module.
That of course is if the reason you aren’t “upgrading” is because the hardware isn’t supported. For a great many of us our hardware is supported, we just don’t want all the bullshit anti-features Microsoft has crammed into Windows 11. Windows 10 was already bad enough with it’s constant telemetry spyware, that annoying Cortana garbage shoehorned in anywhere they could manage, the absolute atrocity that they turned the start menu search function into, and the annoying Teams and OneDrive integrations that randomly reinstalled and re-enabled themselves after updates.
Then MS went and had to cram in even more spyware by way of their horrible copilot garbage. All for what? What are we getting with 11 that’s better than 10? What feature justifies that upgrade? Nothing, that’s the answer. There’s no reason at all that 11 needed to be made.
I will leave this here for anyone who needs to use Windows but wants a little more privacy.
I’ll one up you
I’ll one up you both! With blackjack and hookers! ChrisTitusTech’s Winutil
All of this is no problem and essentially any computer manufactured in the last couple decades can meet these requirements. They’re effectively irrelevant for this discussion.
Not quite. Windows 11 requires an Intel 8th gen or AMD Zen+ CPU or newer, with some odd exceptions. I’ve dealt with some machines that only fail on the CPU check and can confirm that Windows 11 will refuse to install without bypassing those arbitrary ‘requirements’.
I do agree with the rest of your post though.
However, Linux still lacks some popular applications, such as Microsoft Office and Slack, though alternatives are available.
Lol nice bait. Real talk though, just toss shortcuts to word.office.com, excel.office.com and outlook.office.com on the desktop and nobody will be any wiser
Slack
??? Slack works just fine on Linux
Quality reporting right here
Yeah there’s a reason I didn’t even call that one out and just called it a bait. It’s in flathub, frequently featured in flathub, and in the same article they spoke with a nonprofit that stated they preload older computers with Linux Mint now, which has a graphical software center that covers both Flathub and the Ubuntu repos
Or use Libre Office which just does the same without costing you money or data.
If you’re buying a PC that doesn’t have the specs to run Windows 11, you’re probably only using it for web browsing tasks anyway. I’d wager that many of them wouldn’t even notice that they’re using a different OS.
My old PC has the horsepower to run 11. I even forced it on there. I got a tpm module too. But the cpu itself isn’t officially supported, even though it’s a i7 5930K with 6 cores and 12 threads @4 GHz.
My PC isn’t compatible with Windows 11.
I cobbled it together from spare parts as my wife has upgraded over the years. It was a pretty beefy computer when she first built it, and it’s gotten a couple upgrades along the way, but the CPU and MoBo are probably about 10 years old if not older (it’s an AMD FX-something, I’m unsure of the exact specs, it’s whatever parts were in her bin of cast-offs stuck with a new case and hard drive)
And I’m happily gaming on it. I may not be maxing out the latest AAA titles in glorious 8k epic quality 120hz HDR VR yadda yadda yadda, but I can still run pretty much any game out there on some acceptable mid-to-high quality settings and decent performance.
I’m probably going to have to either upgrade the MoBo and processor come October, or make the jump to Linux (which I’m not exactly opposed to, but I do like not having to fuck with wine and proton to run my games)
It’s a perfectly serviceable board, still doing just fine by me, and there’s no reason it can’t give someone at least a few more good years of use, even as a gaming computer if you’re not a graphics snob.
But if I decide to upgrade, unless I find someone who wants to run Linux on it, or understands the risk of running win10 with no security updates, it’s probably going to become e waste.
Steam does most of the fucking around for you these days.
Yeah, steam has definitely done a lot to improve the situation and I’m very impressed with the current state of things.
I just have a bit of a mental block from the last time I seriously tried to use Linux (circa 2009 probably) that I need to get over. A lot has changed since then
My last go-around with Linux gaming was pre-steam deck. I think it ended around 2018ish? So it’s been long enough I should probably give Linux a real try again sometime
There are extended security options for win10. Might be worth it to consider kicking the can a bit farther down the road. https://0patch.com/
So much for windows 10 being the last version.
IMHO each new version of Windows looks & feels different to the last anyway, so most (general users) wouldn’t know the difference - they just need a web browser an email client and an office suite.
That 1 Windows-only program they use is probably not compatible with the next version of Windows too
That 1 Windows-only program they use is probably not compatible with the next version of Windows too
No it probably is, Microsoft puts a ton of effort into backwards compatibility
Sounds like an easy choice to me.
Pick a newbie friendly version. I’m going to suggest linux mint, but there may be better options.
That’s literally what the representative from the charity said they did in the linked article
I’ve been planning on selling a couple older laptops (Latitude E6420 and ThinkPad X240) and this is a fantastic idea. The former laptop doesn’t even have Windows 10 drivers (that I know of)
The ThinkPads are great. I have an X220 that I have running Mint that I use in my garage. Its use cases are music streaming, displaying PDF Service Manuals/Technical Diagrams, and web queries for random questions/video instructions. I’m working on trying to see if I can get Wine to let me run some diagnostic software on it too.
It can certainly do more than that as I used it through school a number of years ago for note taking and small programming projects. But it’s retired to being the tank that it is and it’s amazing for that.
I totally agree, they’re mad little machines. I’m only selling mine because I can’t stand the combined touchpad/track point setup Lenovo did in that generation and I quickly replaced it with an X260. Both of them are capable of damn good battery life (I get about 5-6 hours from my X260)
I think it should be viewed as a trade-off. If you want cheaper refurbished PCs you’ll have to tolerate adjusting to Linux. If you want to deal with Microsoft you’ll have to pay for it: Licensing and new hardware and all.
So, the question becomes: does a particular charity have a shortage of tech people working for them or a shortage of money? Which would be easier to get?
Why is this even a question?
Well, because if the receiver of these can’t or won’t use Linux, then not efficiently trying to recycle them will either put the burden of getting them properly recycled on vulnerable people, or they just won’t be, either sitting collecting dust or being thrown in the dump.
I’m not saying it’s a strong reason, but it is a question to consider.
Most people have limited experience with computers. Most of them have barely used Windows so I don’t see Linux Mint as being any more difficult for those folks.
Even taking that incredibly Lemmy-brained statement as fact, I wonder if you understand that donated computers are not primarily for people who don’t ordinarily have a reason to use computers.
mint, ubuntu, kde neon mabye… many more
Or…3rd option. Revert back to Windows XP.
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And with hardware supported by XP.
No no, that’s the point. To infect as many computers as absolutely possible, all clogging down every network, and eventually microsoft will have to address the issues.
What do you care? I assume you’re on linux and wouldn’t be affected either way.
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I see you are interested in switching to the penguin, may I be of any assistance?
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My concern is the likelyhood that companies using MS products will cut corners by using deprecated/unsupported OSs for years after the last security patch, which will lead to security breaches for many consumers.
That likelihood is high, real and current.
username checks out. I’m not even joking. no web browser has had XP support for years by now, even firefox dropped it for 7 I think last year
Why not CentOS?
