The Stovebolt Site Forums The Back Office IT Short Bus End of Windows 10 support...

I'm sure everyone has already heard this and I'll also post in the IT Short Bus, but a friendly reminder that support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025. Which will be here sooner than you think. I will probably remind you again. When it happens you have at least 6 options I think. You can...

1. Change to Windows 11...if your computer is capable, that is. Windows 11 has specific hardware requirements. Mine doesn't qualify in a BIG way.

2. Stick your head in the sand and pretend it won't affect you. The hackers will add you to their Christmas Card list if you go this route.

3. Buy a new computer which will have Win 11. You can always mail me your old one. I'll install Linux and donate it to somebody.

4. Billy Bob Gates won't provide free updates any longer but he'll sell them for an undetermined time period. He'll decide how long when he sees how much income this generates. And generate income it will because some business programs just won't work on Windows 11.

5. You can install a micropatch agent (like Opatch). Explaining this could be dangerous. You could doze off and bang your head on your desk at any moment. Basically it is a tiny bit of code which replaces a vulnerable area (of code) in some running applications. See? I caught you. Your eyes were already getting heavy and your head was nodding. Personally I don't think this is the answer you want anyhow so please don't hang your hat on it, but it is sort of an option.

6. Start learning about and using a Linux alternative. In my opinion the smartest of all options because it is free and hackers avoid it. Remember in Linux nobody can do anything unless you give them permission. I don't know about you, but I'm known to get pretty hard-headed when anyone wants permission to steal my stuff and pretend they're me. You have a few different alternatives with Linux. Think of it as ham-flavored lollipops. Odd, but when you get used to it not bad at all.

Puppy Linux is one of my favorites. I own an ancient Toshiba laptop which only has 2 gb of memory and uses (believe it or not) a Pentium 4 cpu as the processor. It was in the trash can at a company who owned my operation and I took it home. I had to purchase a power supply but I have used Puppy Linux on it since around 2009 and there isn't much I can't do with it. I can do word processing, create spreadsheets, store photos, use the internet, watch movies, listen to music, edit photos, do emails, see the Stovebolt site, buy stuff...what more do you need? Now for the surprise: I can do all of this without using a hard drive. A CD and a USB stick is all I need and I think there is a way to just use a USB stick.

I love this post!

It was late 1996? early 1997? I made Linux my permanent desktop operating system. I think it was Slackware 3 something I cut my teeth on? Please know my memory is not what is used to be. I installed it on a machine that had an Intel 386-16 SX (no math co-processor), with 4 megs (not gigs) of ram and a 20 meg hard drive. Like you, I got the machine for free because nobody wanted it!

I used my first Linux machine during my stint as an "older person" at university. I would remote log into the IBM AIX mainframe on campus from home, to work on my homework.

In the early to mid 2000's I played with Suse Linux, Red Hat Linux, Mandrake Linux, Tiny Linux and even Puppy Linux. I did have a short period playing with Gentoo Linux (which I would never recommend to anyone, even back then). Somewhere around 2010 I started using Debian Linux and I have never looked back.

What was the event that moved me to Linux? At the time, Windows 95 was very established, and found on most desktops. I hated it. The infamous "Blue Screen of Death" where the machine would lock up was so common when using the computer. It drove me nuts. The tipping point for me was when I was in an airport waiting to board a plane, and there was this wall of monitors that would show all the arrival and departure times. Every monitor was showing the “Blue Screen of Death.” I thought to myself, “That’s it! I’m done with Windows!” It was one of my professors at school that suggested I give Linux a try.

My wife has always used whatever current flavor of Windows was available. The different companies she has worked for over the years demanded it. She prefers Windows at home too. I will be building her a new machine this winter with more modern hardware so she can upgrade to Windows 11.

Sorry if this was boring… It sure as heck has nothing to do with old Chevy Trucks! LOL!

This is not boring. First thing that jumped out at me was "the Blue Screen of Death" ... oh, I remember those days with our first computer.

I'm still using that old Atom powered netbook - currently running Open Media Vault with an external hard drive.
Open Media Vault

Still happy with Linux Mint (now 21.3) but I use Brave instead of Firefox.

Jon did an extensive post on the Linux platform. If you have input about it, how about posting it there. We'll leave this thread for comments on the "end of Windows 10 support."

Thanks.

I'm still using Win7.