[hhh]

Microsoft isn’t forcing anything to be e-waste. They’re dropping support for what will be a 10 year old OS. You’re not forced onto Windows 11.

You just won’t get support or security patches. While people should upgrade, industries will still keep w10 around for a long time, just like they do with XP, 98, NT4, etc.

[linuxandrew]

Many people can't upgrade.

Running an unsupported and insecure OS on the internet is untenable.

Windows 10 may be a 10 year old OS but Windows 11 has only been around for 2.5 years.

Last I checked, Windows was also an end-user product and not just for industries.

There will absolutely be computers that are less than 5 years old that will go to e-waste.

[xg15]

Ostensibly this was the same deal they made with Windows XP: "We're not forcing anyone to move to Vista, we're just dropping support for XP. You don't have to upgrade if you don't want to - but of course you do want, who doesn't want to have the latest and greatest, right?"

Turned out, a lot of people accepted that deal and stayed on XP. So many that MS got increasingly upset and put up pressure by adding nag screens, etc.

I'm completely sure, should enough people here actually try and stay in Win10, they will do the same. Especially since the main motivation for Win11 seems to be additional capabilities for DRM/locking down the system, so MS has a specific motivation to get as many people as possible to switch.

[dspillett]

> Especially since the main motivation for Win11 seems to be additional capabilities for DRM/locking down the system

That, and more opportunities to insert adverts and related stalking for personal data to sell, which you agree to in the EULA.

[AwaAwa]

Seems like a way for them to turn everything into a console with all the complete control that big brother prefers.

If an enterprise computer, they'll have a dashboard for corporate IT, and if retail that dashboard will be for advertisers and 3 letter agencies.

[ryanjshaw]

It's not a 10 year old OS unless you believe Windows 11 is a fundamentally different kernel and Win32 API version with major backwards incompatibility - which we know isn't the case.

[pdimitar]

You are saying "10 year old OS" like it's a bad thing.

[dspillett]

When they were pushing Win10 hard it was said to be the last Windows you would need to buy, not those exact words but what they wanted people to think. So now people who bought into that who have machines Win11 won't install on (no TPM or TPM Win11 is incompatible with being the usual reason), have been bait & switched into needing new hardware or switching away from Windows, a task that, as many will gladly tell you in other contexts, is only free if using your time has no opportunity cost, and might not work well anyway due to driver issues with hardware that has no decent published specs. Not directly forcing e-waste, but certainly making it very likely to happen.

If my main home machine didn't need some replacement anyway (there is something funky happening with USB connectivity, particularly for devices needing more than negligible power) it would definitely be moving to Linux rather than being replaced, even if I do upgrade it might anyway, but I am not the norm and I don't have time to help others make the same change and support them afterwards. To suggest that MS is OK to have performed this long-term bait & switch because other options exist is disingenuous at best.

[exodust]

> 10 year old OS

Isn't an OS only as old as its last update? Like an online map which gets updated, the map is not considered "old" if kept updated.

[bingbingbing777]

As of 2025 we are no longer supporting our oil rig. Woops it caused a huge spill, that's not our waste