5 ms·

Windows 10 came out almost 10 years ago and they offered a free upgrade to Windows 11. I know people love to hate on Microsoft, but they’ve done better than mo

by _mlbt 1y ago

Windows 10 came out almost 10 years ago and they offered a free upgrade to Windows 11. I know people love to hate on Microsoft, but they’ve done better than most technology companies when it comes to security updates here. You’re lucky to get even half of that length of support from most Android devices for example.

bezier-curve 1y ago
If we're comparing them to other software companies, what would be their fairest comparison? Is there another company that manages the overwhelming majority of client desktops around the world?
- adastra22 1y ago
  Apple? Certainly in education and other sectors. Their support horizons are t as long.
- charcircuit 1y ago
  Google with over 50% mobile os market share and they support each Android version for 3 years.
hnhg 1y ago
I have a perfectly good machine that cannot be upgraded to Windows 11 for some arbitrary reason. Fortunately, I no longer specifically need Windows and can move on from it. I actually quite like Windows now that WSL2 is decent, but I don't need this specific form of enshittification in my life (along with all the tracking and ads). I don't use Android for the very same reason.
derivagral 1y ago
That free upgrade refuses to work with my hardware. I am glad they are continuing security, but they are literally forcing me to install another OS (as I understand the security difference).
spencerflem 1y ago
Even if I wanted to, my CPU isn't supported for (IMO) completely nonsense reasons.
gpm 1y ago
Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees. Personally I think they should be held to that promise, at least in so far as supporting it as long as they still support any other version of windows. The upgrade to windows 11 is not free in so far as it doesn't support the hardware that people have.
- octo888 1y ago
  > Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees It was just that - marketing! To get a load of people to migrate to it, right? "Do it guys, it's the last one you'll need to do, we promise" Trust Microsoft? Not even once
  - cjbgkagh 1y ago
    Microsoft made the announcement through very trusted Microsoft media experts which they have since burned. I remember their emphatic assurances at the time but didn’t believe them.
    - vel0city 1y ago
      They made the announcement from one guy saying it once when giving a talk on developing LiveTiles.
      - cjbgkagh 1y ago
        I previously worked at MS so asked friends about it and they agreed that there was an attempt to foster the impression of windows as a SAAS both internally and externally. If that impression gets out and is not countered then it’s a tacit acceptance. MS burns people all the time so we figured it would be another example of that. Just this time it’s more regular people and not just devs and partners. Some people internally and externally legitimately believed that people would pay $100 p.a. to use windows. Had that worked they might have kept the subscription model going. Office 365 is an example of that model working. It was also part of the billion devices push to make the case for the Microsoft App Store which we knew was in trouble, it seemed like a deliberate attempt to sacrifice long term trust for a short term gain.
eviks 1y ago
On the other hand, there is no reason you have to calibrate your principles to some random metric of "most"
sedatk 1y ago
Win11 doesn’t support all hardware Win10 runs on. Free upgrade is meaningless in that sense.
GeekyBear 1y ago
> I know people love to hate on Microsoft People rag on a company that is trying to force you to use an online account to log onto your local PC? Doesn't using Windows Backup to qualify for these extended Windows 10 security updates require that you purchase more than the default amount of cloud storage too?
- hhh 1y ago
  they don’t force you to use an online account
  - ManlyBread 1y ago
    They make it close to impossible to install windows without making an account, you either need to mess around in the registry or run some weird Powershell commands in order to skip the account creation step. They do this because they know a non-technical person will just create an account instead. It's fucking bullshit and it is 100% intentional.
    - Wistar 1y ago
      Actually, I discovered that, as long as the machine has a TPM and it is turned on, I can just set it (Win 11) up initially with a throwaway MS account. Then, I add local admin and user accounts and, using the admin account, I delete the MS account. I have done it many times now. It’s easier than all of the other crap trying to avoid that MS account.
    - hhh 1y ago
      this is not true, you can just create a local account with Windows 11 Pro and not use the online stuff at all.
      - hollandheese 1y ago
        No, you can't. Not with any of the Consumer versions. You have to do the workarounds to not have your initial account be an online account.
justin66 1y ago
> they offered a free upgrade to Windows 11 I wish. I have a completely capable machine that won't accept the upgrade, due to some completely artificial requirements MSFT built in.
zanderwohl 1y ago
> a free upgrade to Windows 11 My very expensive tower PC can't "up"grade because it doesn't have a TPM 2.0 module. So unless Microsoft plans to give me a new CPU (and new mobo) it's not free for many users.
- anticensor 1y ago
  TPM requirement can be bypassed with a registry edit, however this does not lift the requirements of the user apps that rely on TPM functions (such as Adobe CC or certain game anticheats).
arp242 1y ago
I don't really blame Microsoft for stopping updates. That's fine. But they're also preventing anyone else from doing any updates. And no one said the situation with Android devices is great.
mystified5016 1y ago
It's not a free upgrade if you have no choice
timewizard 1y ago
"support" In other words continue to supply the proprietary software that runs on my hardware. How about, if you can't or won't "support" your product anymore, you are required to give away the source code. We should be done holding users hostage.

by _mlbt 1y ago

bezier-curve 1y ago

If we're comparing them to other software companies, what would be their fairest comparison? Is there another company that manages the overwhelming majority of client desktops around the world?

adastra22 1y ago
Apple? Certainly in education and other sectors. Their support horizons are t as long.
charcircuit 1y ago
Google with over 50% mobile os market share and they support each Android version for 3 years.

hnhg 1y ago

I have a perfectly good machine that cannot be upgraded to Windows 11 for some arbitrary reason. Fortunately, I no longer specifically need Windows and can move on from it. I actually quite like Windows now that WSL2 is decent, but I don't need this specific form of enshittification in my life (along with all the tracking and ads). I don't use Android for the very same reason.

derivagral 1y ago

That free upgrade refuses to work with my hardware. I am glad they are continuing security, but they are literally forcing me to install another OS (as I understand the security difference).

spencerflem 1y ago

Even if I wanted to, my CPU isn't supported for (IMO) completely nonsense reasons.

gpm 1y ago

Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees. Personally I think they should be held to that promise, at least in so far as supporting it as long as they still support any other version of windows. The upgrade to windows 11 is not free in so far as it doesn't support the hardware that people have.

octo888 1y ago
> Windows 10 was marketed with the promise of being the "last version of windows" by microsoft employees It was just that - marketing! To get a load of people to migrate to it, right? "Do it guys, it's the last one you'll need to do, we promise" Trust Microsoft? Not even once
- cjbgkagh 1y ago
  Microsoft made the announcement through very trusted Microsoft media experts which they have since burned. I remember their emphatic assurances at the time but didn’t believe them.
  - vel0city 1y ago
    They made the announcement from one guy saying it once when giving a talk on developing LiveTiles.
    - cjbgkagh 1y ago
      I previously worked at MS so asked friends about it and they agreed that there was an attempt to foster the impression of windows as a SAAS both internally and externally. If that impression gets out and is not countered then it’s a tacit acceptance. MS burns people all the time so we figured it would be another example of that. Just this time it’s more regular people and not just devs and partners. Some people internally and externally legitimately believed that people would pay $100 p.a. to use windows. Had that worked they might have kept the subscription model going. Office 365 is an example of that model working. It was also part of the billion devices push to make the case for the Microsoft App Store which we knew was in trouble, it seemed like a deliberate attempt to sacrifice long term trust for a short term gain.

eviks 1y ago

On the other hand, there is no reason you have to calibrate your principles to some random metric of "most"

sedatk 1y ago

Win11 doesn’t support all hardware Win10 runs on. Free upgrade is meaningless in that sense.

GeekyBear 1y ago

> I know people love to hate on Microsoft People rag on a company that is trying to force you to use an online account to log onto your local PC? Doesn't using Windows Backup to qualify for these extended Windows 10 security updates require that you purchase more than the default amount of cloud storage too?

hhh 1y ago
they don’t force you to use an online account
- ManlyBread 1y ago
  They make it close to impossible to install windows without making an account, you either need to mess around in the registry or run some weird Powershell commands in order to skip the account creation step. They do this because they know a non-technical person will just create an account instead. It's fucking bullshit and it is 100% intentional.
  - Wistar 1y ago
    Actually, I discovered that, as long as the machine has a TPM and it is turned on, I can just set it (Win 11) up initially with a throwaway MS account. Then, I add local admin and user accounts and, using the admin account, I delete the MS account. I have done it many times now. It’s easier than all of the other crap trying to avoid that MS account.
  - hhh 1y ago
    this is not true, you can just create a local account with Windows 11 Pro and not use the online stuff at all.
    - hollandheese 1y ago
      No, you can't. Not with any of the Consumer versions. You have to do the workarounds to not have your initial account be an online account.

justin66 1y ago

> they offered a free upgrade to Windows 11 I wish. I have a completely capable machine that won't accept the upgrade, due to some completely artificial requirements MSFT built in.

zanderwohl 1y ago

> a free upgrade to Windows 11 My very expensive tower PC can't "up"grade because it doesn't have a TPM 2.0 module. So unless Microsoft plans to give me a new CPU (and new mobo) it's not free for many users.

anticensor 1y ago
TPM requirement can be bypassed with a registry edit, however this does not lift the requirements of the user apps that rely on TPM functions (such as Adobe CC or certain game anticheats).

arp242 1y ago

I don't really blame Microsoft for stopping updates. That's fine. But they're also preventing anyone else from doing any updates. And no one said the situation with Android devices is great.

mystified5016 1y ago

It's not a free upgrade if you have no choice

timewizard 1y ago

"support" In other words continue to supply the proprietary software that runs on my hardware. How about, if you can't or won't "support" your product anymore, you are required to give away the source code. We should be done holding users hostage.