Soon (October 14th) Microsoft will cease support of Windows 10. Some people have asked me what they can do. Today may not be a good time to get a good price on a Windows 11 computer unless it is a laptop or desktop with "bare bones" specs, less memory (RAM), a slower processor chip or maybe a desktop that's been used and refurbished.
So, what are the alternatives if you have a computer that is running ok and you want to not spend that money right now? As I see it you have at least three:
1. install on a USB stick (with at least 16GB capacity) the Microsoft ISO file for Windows 11 (ISO is a file that is more/less a replica of the operating system) and then download the free use program called Rufus to turn the ISO file into a bootable file. You will continue to boot your computer using this USB drive, but you will have Windows 11 and it will not impose the equipment requirements that Windows 11 normally does so it ought to work on most older units. You can find a lot about this searching using Google...more than I want to go into here. But the positive seems to be with this Windows 11 will be available to owners of older computers. Rufus is a Linux product. As I said, this way you will have Windows 11 but it will be on a USB stick you will use to make your computer act like a computer. I can see some limitations to this but it is an option.
2. purchase from Microsoft what they call ESUs (Extended Security Updates). These cost $30 per computer annually. Or they may be free if you (a) link your computer to the "cloud" (which may cost you more than $30 annually) and I don't know...might be about as secure as mailing all your personal information to Vladimir Putin and the husband of the president of Mexico (who I will call Maria because that is one of his three or four names). I would suggest you check out the cost of the "cloud" which is not a cloud in any way but really warehouses containing lots of computers where your sensitive information will be kept for a cost. I would suggest you calculate how much you have that Microsoft will try to put in the "cloud" because they have been known to move your stuff over there if you don't stop them. (b) you can get the ESUs free if you have 1000 Microsoft points you can turn back in to Microsoft. I am going to bet most of us here don't have 1000 points laying around but I could be wrong. Honestly $30 per computer annually doesn't sound exorbitant to me, so this may be something you want to consider. The main risk is going to be intrusion into your computer by hackers and that's what the security updates will protect you against.
3. use one of the free Linux operating systems (sometimes called distributions or distros). After using a Linux system and Windows, I would say this: Neither is better by definition but if you have older equipment Linux may operate on it more predictably. If you are young and you live to play computer games and install all manner of apps and programs, Windows is probably going to be better because almost all of those zip-a-dee-doo-dah apps and programs are developed only for Windows. If you are okay with learning different things (example a different file system), then Linux is free, almost nobody can hack into it (unless you allow them to) and Linux operating systems are very stable. You almost can't break them. Linux systems are all developed by some impressively intelligent people and in ways you won't see a difference from Windows. If you are just using your computer to surf the net, participate on sites like this, make spreadsheets, write letters, reports or books, keep up with your finances/taxes/etc, you sure don't need Billy Gates to sell you a way to do that and you can use inexpensive USB sticks to store your "stuff." The price on those has gone down a lot. You can get 256 GB USB drives for $17 each plus shipping from Micro Center and that's quite a bit of storage or for $22 and shipping you can get 640 GB (10 64GB USB drives) which will allow you to store a whole bunch of stuff.
As for Linux my favorite operating system has been Puppy Linux and because I need an older one, TahrPup is what I'm using on a very ancient laptop. It is a small system (maybe 2 GB or less), it is customizable and it already contains handy stuff like a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, you can play movies, watch tv (with internet connection), listen to foreign radio shows, download stuff, surf the internet...most of the things I think you're already doing. And you can use a WINE program (free) which allows you to load and use actual Windows programs in a Linux environment. It is what is called a "compatibility layer" and WINE originally stood for Wine Is Not an Emulator. An emulator creates the whole Windows environment which some think is un-necessary and fraught with problems.
So that's pretty much it from my limited knowledge. Hope it helps somebody.
