If you support friends and family with their computer use like me, what are you looking to do after October 14th, 2025?
If you are wondering what the significance of this date is, it’s the end of support for Windows 10. After this date, no new development or security patches will be made available for this popular operating system.
The issue is far graver than that. Many of the machines sold with Windows 10 are too old to be upgraded to Windows 11, as Microsoft has been very cautious about the hardware they support for this new Windows variant.
Are the people using these machines willing to purchase a new computer when the specs of the machines that are no longer supported are more than sufficient to perform the tasks they want to do?
I’ve recently performed several SSD and memory upgrades for friends and family, and people have always been surprised at how little money they have spent and how much faster their machines have been.
We’ve reached the point where five-year-old machines are more than capable of office work, surfing the Internet, and watching catch-up television. Yet, Microsoft’s new operating system refuses to install on them.
I recently had to invest in a new Windows machine as a contractor who often has to supply their own equipment. Some companies are more than able to support me on my platform of choice, macOS, while others are not, so I have a Windows machine, too.
This Windows machine is running Windows 11, so at least I will be familiar with the OS before my friends and family are forced to upgrade. However, I was surprised that none of my other machines would allow me to run Windows 11 on bare metal or virtually without much tinkering.
I earn money from the use of my machines, so I cannot afford a configuration that might not work post-upgrade or that is unpredictable or performs badly. I’m just wondering whether these people will think like me and spend the money to get something performant or reliable or whether they will try to tinker, which is what usually results in me having to help out.
