Microsoft, doing it’s part to make the world a better place.
Launching Windows 11 in the midst of a semiconductor shortage was such a dumb move on Microsoft’s part, especially when 11 doesn’t really offer that much more than 10. The only real ‘groundbreaking’ new feature (multiple desktops) was something that Linux had fifteen years ago.
yay i can finally get a good laptop on ebay in 2025! 😹
That’s a lot of new Linux computers.
This is why I switched over to Mac back in 2022. I knew that I didn’t want to move forward with Windows but had to get a new computer anyways. I already have an iPhone and a Mac Mini M1 was only $700. Thanks Microsoft for forcing a Windows user of 30 years away from your OS.
“Windows 7 appears to still be running on at least 100 million machines, despite Microsoft ending support for the operating system a year ago”
–Tom Warren. Jan 6, 2021.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/6/22217052/microsoft-windows-7-109-million-pcs-usage-stats-analytics
Maybe the landfill won’t be overstuffed as quickly as expected.
See also
“Monthly market share held by Windows operating system for desktop PCs worldwide from January 2017 to November 2023, by version” https://www.statista.com/statistics/993868/worldwide-windows-operating-system-market-share/
It’s a dwindling effect, not just instant abandonment.
Fun fact whenever I go back to my parents place I still see their old Windows 7 desktop alive and well for over 10 years and they don’t care it just works
.
Hello, it’s me, a landfill
Those systems are going to be dirt cheap Linux boxes in the very near future
Or at least a couple will be for me
It’s beating a dead horse, but there are plenty of user-friendly Linux versions out there that will run just fine on most computers that ran Windows.
I installed linux. I only use browser and vlc and it works great. I am not buying a new machine when old one works just fine.
This isn’t a problem if you’re still using Windows 7! ;-)
My father in law has Windows 7 machines that he uses for scientific work that he refuses to update. His solution is to prevent them from connecting to the internet. Unfortunately not willing to try modern Linux.
Wine + proton/valve has made it very easy to run most anything windows related nowadays. I would expect this to help make Linux gain market share.
I’m still on the fence if gaining market share is a good thing ultimately, but I’m hoping to see it play out.
Yeah Helldivers 2 is an example of a game that is mindblowing to me that it runs at all. If this were 2021 the process would be something like:
Download Doitsu-jin’s DXVK from Github…
Download some scripts Joshua Ashton painstakingly created from Github 🐸 to get GameGuard to work…
Get one very specific version of Glorious Eggroll’s Wine “fork” with patches.
Try 5 different launch options, Winetricks, and cross fingers that you get more than just the sound.
Every update would need to get a new version of the script fork or introduce a new workaround. Those that use Lutris/PlayOnLinux would hopefully have their scripts updated within 2 days if lucky.
Fast forward to now: Click Play and everything is set up. Hot damn.
I’ve thrown older games at proton and wine and have made them work. Meantime the same game will work on Windows 10 with heavy modifications and does not work in 11.
Also at work, we are dealing with a legacy app that runs… everything? Or at least just about. It works in Windows 10 but has some bugs in 11. I’m tempted to see if wine can fix the issue lol.
Ah, the WIntel cartel is at it again. Planned obsolescence.
The incompatible hardware is more than seven years old at this point.
The problem is that that hardware, and older, is still perfectly capable of preforming modern desktop tasks. I have a 12 year old Athlon FX 8320 with 32GB RAM that works great, not the most efficient processor in terms of energy but runs everything well, yet it’s not supported. Honestly I don’t give a shit about Winblows, I work with Linux (system administrator) and I only use Win10 for some gaming. That said, I have a newer Ryzen 9 5950X with 128GB RAM to work with virtualization, and it will stay on Win10 till no longer being sustainable.
The great LINUX uprising of 2025!!!
