Neowin noticed that Microsoft has updated a help document about what it means if you’re using an unsupported version of Windows (spoiler alert: if you’re online at all, it’s a huge security risk), which currently means PCs running Windows 8.1 (or 8) and Windows 7, or earlier.
It’s worth noting, however, that this will also be the case for Windows 10 devices in a year’s time if their owners don’t take any action, as the end of support rolls around for that OS in October 2025.
Microsoft’s article takes the form of a short discussion followed by a FAQ, and the main update applied to the document pertains to the options for staying supported with Windows, with a new choice added here: ‘Recommended: New PC with Windows 11.’
So, this is Microsoft’s primary recommendation if your unsupported PC isn’t up to scratch, hardware-wise, for Windows 11 – get a new computer.
Given that, it’d be nice to see Microsoft working towards a solution in respect of somewhat newer PCs, which goes somewhere down the path of tackling some of the alarming stats we’ve heard about the number of Windows 10 machines heading to landfill in the future. This is a potential environmental disaster that could see hundreds of millions of PCs lumped unceremoniously on the scrapheap.
And ever since those concerns have been raised, we haven’t heard anything from Microsoft as to how they might be mitigated. What Windows 10 users (who can’t, or won’t, upgrade) can do is pay for extended support beyond October 2025 – but that could turn out to be an expensive way to go, particularly beyond the first year if Microsoft’s previous pricing in these schemes is anything to go by.
Logically, then, Microsoft needs to be looking at a way of keeping Windows 10 alive – for those totally blocked by Windows 11’s more demanding requirements on the security front and elsewhere – which works out to be way more cost-friendly for users, in an effort to save what might be a much heavier price to pay for the planet. In short, ‘buy a new PC’ will soon not be the answer we need frontloaded here, and pushing folks to make a purchase of a new computer is already a very dubious first port of call given what we’re facing down the road.
“Use linux instead”.
Oh okay, thanks for the awesome suggestion Microsoft.
I just installed Mint to an external SSD this weekend to try and get my grandma to try it out. I really don’t want her scared into thinking she needs to go out and waste a few hundred on a new laptop.
Did the same for my parents earlier this year. I downloaded a Windows 10 theme for Mint so it felt and looked more Windowsy for them.
It’s been great for them. One piece of advice, make sure you sit down with your grandma after installing it and have her do everything she normally does on Windows.
Make sure all the shortcuts and bookmarks are in the same spots and called the same things.
Home labs everywhere will soon have super cheap hardware options from PCs that can’t update to Windows 11 but are capable of running multiple virtual machines (like windows 11).
Six to midnight over here. Keep talking.
There is now a workaround for Windows 11’s TPM 2.0 requirement built straight into Rufus.
You can just check the box and it will put the necessary code to circumvent the requirement on the bootable USB.
My understanding is that 24H2 crashes if you try that. Microsoft is starting to build their OS around the TPM, so that work around is bound to stop being helpful. I decided a few years ago to stop fighting Microsoft and do what they are asking me to do, stop using Windows.
It crashes if you try the previous workaround. This new workaround made by the creator of Rufus still works.
It’s a game of cat and mouse. I’d be willing if I needed to use win11 myself but for my parents it’s either gonna be Linux or a new computer
Agreed, I’m on fedora myself but I like to let people know there’s options
I’m running AntiX Linux on a shitty 2010 netbook and it runs like a champ. Intel Atom and 2gb RAM.
We need svelter OSs, not new computers.
I have an old Atom tablet with 2 GB RAM capable of running Linux with the generic Linux kernel from any genetic distribution. Granted, I’ve never tried AntiX. How do you manage? Each time I’ve tried Linux in this tablet, it honestly runs like crap.
For basic stuff like what’s done in a browser I use the Falkon Browser. Very light weight. I will say it sucks for video acceleration though. 480p Max.
I use it for YouTube, emails, word processing with libreoffice. Runs SNES emulators quite well too.
Thank you for sharing those tips. Do you use a Desktop Environment (I’m thinking something barebones like lxqt) or a Window Manager (in this case, which one)?
IceWM
It’s going to be real funny when a bunch of people that don’t care much about tech shrug this off and everyone else ends up having to deal with some massive botnet a few years down the line.
why write better software when you can simply tell the customer to buy better hardware?
I think when they bought Bethesda they also let Todd Howard take over their statements.
windows 11 is a next generation experience. microsoft teams now has 16 times the detail
EU should just go and tell Microsoft that either they will allow consumers to install Windows 11 on hardware that would have no trouble running it (they could even slap a warning that it’s not fully “supported”, like whatever), or tell the user that there’s an eco-friendly alternative: that is running Linux, with instructions on how to do so. Otherwise they just allow a monopoly to have disastrous impact on the environment.
I will be waiting for cheap perfectly in good shape PC thrown out due to the upgrade on eBay.
Machines that can’t run Win11 aren’t immediately obsolete. They can run earlier windows (even though support has ended or will eventually end), and Linux.
And while I sound like I’m defending Microsoft, this is no different than Apple not supporting older Intel chips on their new OS’s. The big complaint here is the idea that all these unsupported machines are automatically destined for the landfill which I strongly believe is not correct.
There are a few fundamental differences here.
One: the existing hardware isn’t lacking anything functional that the user requires. While it may be more secure implemented with TPM 2.0 its far from a hard requirement. After all bitlocker works on 10. The fact that you can presently work around it suggests the limitation is imposed from on high not a hardware requirement.
Two: The hardware isn’t all that old. General duty cycle on a phone is around 3 years, about 6 years on a PC. Apple has dropped support for 6 year old phones and 10 year old PC. Especially because intel continues to manufacturer a given CPU long after launch and OEMs continue to integrate them people are going to find machines that they bought new off the shelf within the last 3 years unsupported which unlike a 10 year old Mac feels like a rug pull.
Speaking of phones.
I just had to buy new ones recently for the older folks at home because of the lack of VOLTE support on their phones. Those phones were perfectly fine and adequate for their use case (basic call, message) and they wouldn’t have to change phones if it were not for the 3G network termination.
Now they have new phones with functions that they will never ever use.
VOLTE is a hard requirement. Continuing to support them would require entire installations all over the country to be repaired, maintained, and installed in support of hardware that was mostly 7-12 years old long past expected lifespan. It’s like the opposite of the Windows 11 thing.
So far, I have installed Windows 11 on 4 devices that were not allowed due to TPM or CPU, and all have worked fine. I will continue this until it either no longer works correctly, or they finally stop allowing it.
The best one so far is an older Dell precision I have at work from like 2015 with a xeon chip, and they don’t support it. Works great so far, and I even put hyper-v on it with another Windows 11 running for testing purposes. I’m super happy because the company has ran out of money and even though I am up for an upgrade there is no way they are giving me a system this beefy again so I will milk it for as long as I can!
All these years of building trust, is this what microsoft thought of us? why did they get pissed of?
Haven’t used my laptop in years.
