End of 10
endof10.org
Windows 10 ends in 2025. Don’t buy a new PC — revive yours with Linux. It's fast, secure, and help is available to get you started.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/30792652

Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?

If you bought your computer after 2010, there’s most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.

Installing an operating system may sound difficult, but you don’t have to do it alone. With any luck, there are people in your area ready to help!

5 Reasons to upgrade your old computer to Linux:

  1. No New Hardware, No Licensing Costs
  2. Enhanced Privacy
  3. Good For The Planet
  4. Community & Professional Support
  5. Better User Control
  • Kng@feddit.rocksEnglish
    0·
    6 days ago

    I am just going to keep using 10 regardless of whether it has support or not. Yes its missing features yes there is some potential for security issues but I think the chances that my computer on my lan could be remotely compromised to be relatively slim. Other security threats would require that I visit some kind of malicious website or application which I think would be unlikely. I don’t even think running win XP or win 7 on a secure lan would be a significant concern since it is behind a firewall anyway. I do intend to switch to Linux at some point but the lack of support from Microsoft is not enough to convince me to upgrade to 11 or make the switch.

    • Lorindól@sopuli.xyz
      0·
      9 days ago

      I assume it was a generalization, just few weeks ago I installed 32-bit Linux Mint to two laptops from 2007 or 2008, now my kids have their very own and fully functional computers. They do lag a bit sometimes, but learning patience is just good for the kids.

  • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 days ago

    Can I bother anyone in this thread to help with suggestions for a Linux distro that works for a gaming PC that won’t require me to have a computer science degree? I’m not afraid of some troubleshooting here and there, but I’m kind of dumb.

    • Alaknár@lemm.ee
      0·
      8 days ago

      My journey was: Kubuntu -> Tuxedo OS -> Garuda Linux.

      Kubuntu was painful, lots of issues. Maybe just got unlucky, but cannot recommend it.

      Tuxedo OS was phenomenal until I bought a GPU. Then stuff broke left and right. I wasn’t able to get Steam to launch anymore so I switched.

      Garuda Linux is the one I still use. I had it for 53 days and had no severe issues to date. There’s still a bunch of stuff that needs ironing out, but that’s the case with all Linux distros, it’s never “fire and forget” like Windows, in my experience.

      I chose Garuda because it’s advertised as “the Linux for gamers”. It’s packed with extra goodies that make life easier - you can pick and choose popular apps to be installed right away (things like Lutris, Steam, Heroic Launcher, Proton, Vivaldi browser), and you get an application that helps with maintenance.

      The only major issue I had was due to my ignorance (but I kind of blame it on the OS because it was supposed to be “noob friendly” and this bit was very much not so) - just after installation and updates you’ll get the system maintenance app ask you to “merge pacdiff files”. This shows up a comparison window of two files, and if you’ve never used Linux you have no clue what’s going on. When you get that, just don’t overwrite the one on the right with the one on the left - you’ll break the entirety of your package manager. :D

      Other than that: I’m having a great time. The OS looks pretty, games run great. 9/10

        • chunkystyles@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          0·
          8 days ago

          Bazzite is phenomenal. Just know that it works a little differently than what I’d call “legacy” distros. So when googling things, just know that a lot of instructions for Linux won’t work for you.

          If you run into trouble, hop on the discord and someone will help you.

          • glaber@lemm.ee
            0·
            8 days ago

            Might be helpful to append “fedora” to any searches, as that’s the distro that serves as the base for Bazzite

    • Zerush@lemmy.ml
      0·
      8 days ago

      Maybe Q4OS, but if you a Gamer, which want to play the most recent games (logically in a Gaming PC), Linux sadly isn’t the best option, the most modern games are Windows only, the advantages of Linux are others. In this case the best option is to use Linux in dual boot with Windows. I hope that it change in the future.

    • evanciao@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 days ago

      I’d say anything mainstream and not esoteric should do the trick. I’m talking Ubuntu, PopOS and so on.

      • Chais@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        8 days ago

        My partner is currently running PopOS. They somehow managed to combine the chronically outdated Ubuntu packages with a rather counterintuitive UI.
        Updates frequently fail, commonly used packages like gamescope aren’t available, overall wouldn’t recommend.

        • evanciao@lemmy.world
          0·
          8 days ago

          oh… never actually tried it myself. welp too bad, it seemed like a fair distro to check out. nvm…

          • Wolf@lemmy.today
            0·
            7 days ago

            I’m on PopOS and my experience is the exact opposite. I love the UI- it’s the main thing I like about it actually. Never had an update fail.

            Don’t use gamescope, just run everything from Steam or Heroic and never had an issue gaming.

            YMMV

            • Chais@sh.itjust.works
              0·
              7 days ago

              Yes, most times gamescope isn’t required. Thing is, sometimes it is and not having the option is an inconvenience in the best case and makes games unplayable in the worst case.

    • agnomeunknown@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      I installed mint on a new laptop recently and it was completely painless. To be fair I’ve used Linux before but it’s been over a decade and I didn’t have any major hiccups. I installed steam and was playing games within 15 minutes of finishing the install. The UI is very familiar and comfortable for windows users and the entire ux seems to be designed around not making you use the terminal unless you have to. I highly recommend trying it out.

  • sparky@lemmy.federate.cc@lemmy.federate.cc
    0·
    9 days ago

    I’ve been dry-running a Linux only world for a few months now, dual booting and running everything on the Linux partition, only using windows when necessary. So far basically all my games run well under proton and the few non-free programs I care about work well enough under wine. I think tomorrow is the day I blow away the windows partition.

    • Bunbury@feddit.nlEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      Same here. Games and general office tasks work flawlessly on Linux. I currently only launch into windows for the Adobe suite and some other image editing apps (by Topaz Labs) that I already have licenses for but that won’t run on Linux.

      So far the alternatives I’ve found aren’t nearly as powerful. However I’m determined to uninstall windows by the time my licenses run out 9 or so months from now.

      • sparky@lemmy.federate.cc@lemmy.federate.cc
        0·
        8 days ago

        So far I think I can live without Topaz, Photoshop and some other image stuff long term, but to be honest if that turns out to be wrong, I’m inclined to buy a cheap Mac Mini specifically for photo stuff rather than keep Windows around anymore.

        • Bunbury@feddit.nlEnglish
          0·
          8 days ago

          Hm. That’s worth considering, yeah. But I want to get away from Adobe. I dislike just about every single change they made to any of their programs in the last 5 years… And any change their made to their business model in the last 15 years or so.

  • NutWrench@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    You don’t need to buy a new computer. You just need to upgrade your old computer.

    To Linux.

    • DannyMac@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Which then makes it run like a new computer. So Linux basically gives you a free new computer.

      • youmaynotknow@lemmy.ml
        0·
        9 days ago

        There is web support, but it lacks most actually useful functions. Libreoffice is great, but is not 1:1 compatible with excel. Then there’s Onlyoffice, which is very compatible, but also lacks many functions.

        Bottom line is, if you’re an excel power user, you’ll need to learn Libreoffice Calc, or you’re out of luck. If not, Onlyoffice should suffice.

        • Zagorath@aussie.zoneEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          if you’re an excel power user, you’ll need to learn Libreoffice Calc

          Let’s be honest…most people who are Excel power users probably need to interact with other users. Sending and receiving documents and templates, etc. Simply learning Calc yourself isn’t going to suffice, you’d have to convince your entire business to switch.

          • youmaynotknow@lemmy.ml
            0·
            9 days ago

            Your logic is spot on, and it does apply to most power users, but not to all.

            Everyone has a different use case and experience, I think we speak based on our own experiences.

        • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          I believe OnlyOffice may be problematic from an ethical perspective if I remember correctly because of Russia or something. But it’s FOSS, has a linux desktop version, and its compatibility with Excel has been absolutely rock solid for me.

            • Rose@lemmy.zip
              0·
              9 days ago

              I don’t know much about OpenOffice, but virtually all open source apps are developed by specific individuals who ask for donations or get paid for enterprise use. If you just download and use the app quietly, there’s probably no problem, however, if you talk about it to anyone, you’re promoting it and that may lead to others donating, generating more visibility, leading to more contracts, and so on.

      • Phen@lemmy.eco.br
        0·
        9 days ago

        It’s pretty bad at anything with large amounts of both data and formulas.

        As an example, if you try to make a spreadsheet for managing resources of any basic Colony Sim game (something with a list of items and recipes to turn them into other items and keep track of quantities), then you’re already beyond the computing capacity of the browser based excel.

        • Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.netEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          To be fair, if you’re using large amounts of data and formulas as a power user, you should probably be instead writing some python or something to handle CSVs.

          As for your particular example, LibreCalc would work just fine.

      • Matriks404@lemmy.world
        0·
        9 days ago

        Or run it on Win10 VM. I don’t think MS will drop support for Office apps on Win10 for some time at least.

        • Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.netEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          Definitely another option.

          It’ll probably work for a good decade or two before it goes out of date. They still need to support the enterprise LTS version, which I think includes excel.

        • NotProLemmy@lemmy.ml
          0·
          9 days ago

          Look, what everyone is saying here, including me, are suggestions. Feel free to listen to some people and not some people.

      • youmaynotknow@lemmy.ml
        0·
        9 days ago

        I’m so used to libreoffice that I don’t understand excel that well anymore. But there was a pretty steep learning curve to get there, months.

        • Rose@lemmy.zip
          0·
          9 days ago

          I use it too and it’s fully sufficient for my amateur tasks (functions to calculate things, conditional highlighting, etc), but the people who say there may be compatibility issues have a point. I remember files saved in the MS apps or vice versa not having the same like breaks, margins, or whatever it was that caused some content to not be on the same page as on the origin system.

      • Pudutr0ñ@feddit.cl
        0·
        9 days ago

        Librecalc isn’t that great and has some compatibility issues. Excel is the industry standard.

        • porcupine@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          Excel is proprietary software made by a company that achieved monopoly status by intentionally designing “compatibility issues” into its products. If you’re telling me you have a business need to use the Microsoft Windows desktop version of Excel specifically and nothing else will do, then throw your PC in the garbage and pay whatever tithe Microsoft tells you to pay. Or more specifically, have your employer do that if it’s their decision anyway.

      • nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip
        0·
        9 days ago

        LibreOffice is good as a standalone software, if you’re not looking for MS Office compability. I use LibreOffice, and my sister suddenly ask me to help edit their MS Office document. It was nightmare. There are a lot of hidden gotchas that rarely reported. It’s absolutely not recommended to constantly changing software if you’re editing your document.

        Also, at the moment, Excel has more advance feature than LibreOffice Calc.

    • NutWrench@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      8 days ago

      LibreOffice has LibreCalc. It’s free and there’s a Windows version you can try.

  • wuphysics87@lemmy.ml
    0·
    9 days ago

    What does it mean in practice for windows 10 to reach end of life? There are no more security updates? My vm will stop working? They are preventing you from using your computer?

  • Flames5123@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    The only thing keeping me on Windows is Teamcraft for FFXIV. It has packet capturing on Windows, but not on Linux because of the way they’re doing packet capturing. There have been people who claim to get it working, but it’s still not 100%. I could even use plugins to get ACT (DPS meter) working, but sadly no plugins for Teamcraft…

  • bampop@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 days ago

    My PC had been running like shit for a while and I was already weighing up options for replacing it, when I got the popup message from MS about Windows 10 expiring, and how my only option was to dump the PC. So I installed Linux out of pure spite. Runs like a dream now. Thanks MS!

  • sunbytes@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 days ago

    Came to Lemmy while my disk manager is processing my new partition.

    If it goes well, I’m switching today.

    So, probably some time early tomorrow morning. Because I’m not great with reading instructions.

    Edit: it’s still processing. It feels like it shouldn’t take this long to partition…

  • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
    0·
    8 days ago

    What distro would be good for an old (coming up to ten years) Windows 10 under-TV box with a GTX870? Its job is basically to boot straight into big picture mode with no login screen and be operated by a PS4 controller, but I figure I can’t just keep it on Win10 without security patches.

    • Drunk & Root@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      8 days ago

      if your using to watch tv try kodi or osmc or another media OS i have a ras pi running osmc and i never had a issue and im sure you could get a ps4 controller to work an if its for games i dont know any maybe bazzite