Microsoft Nonsense

This morning, as I was reading various newsfeeds, I found some news about Microsoft these days. That’s not interesting in itself, but the items I’m concerned about make an interesting pattern.

The outlook for extended support

The forecast for the extended support option for those of you who want to try to stay with Win10 as long as possible, is for a year of cloudiness and no relief in sight. For $30US you get another year of half-assed support with the end result being you’ll still need to upgrade to something new by October 13, 2026 anyway. But that’s not the real problem.

If you’re at all interested in the security of your data, the cloud in this forecast is that, in order to extend your Win10 use for one year, you must have a M$ account that will sync your data to their cloud. No choice — absolutely none. Be prepared to share your data with AI and the rest of the universe.

Read more about it at TechRadar: “Microsoft reveals a surprising catch to extended support for Windows 10 that’s going to seriously annoy some people.” Of course most Win10 users are already way past annoyed at M$ and who can blame them.

The most popular OS

Another article I just read is that Win11 is now, “the most popular OS.” First, I have a major issue with that statement. I seriously doubt that anyone is using Win11 because it’s “popular.” It’s more likely that they’re being forced into it by the M$ cloud juggernaut. I think this headline should read, “the most commonly used OS,” which is infinitely more correct.

But the real problem is that M$ is doing everything it can to force people out of their Win10 space and into the Win11 space where they (M$) can control your computing and your data.

You can read more about this at, “It only took four years, but Windows 11 is now the most popular desktop OS – and time is running out for Windows 10.”

At the end of the article, the author allows that Linux is a possible alternative that can be used to prevent having to purchase another PC capable of the massive M$ hardware requirements for Win11, and thus keep your old PC out of the landfill. Of course there’s the caveat that some software won’t work — or at least work well — on Linux, particularly the games.

I do respect gamers because their constant need for better/faster hardware and software has driven much of the advances in computing since the very beginning. After all, Unix was created just so the nerds working on the MULTICS project at AT&T could continue to play their Space Travel game. I just can’t imagine hanging on to Win10 just to keep playing the few games that don’t work on Linux.

The end is near…

… for WIn10, but not everyone is choosing Win11. My social media accounts on BlueSky and Mastodon are rife with users wanting options for getting off the Win11 train. A good number are trying Linux and are glad they did. Others, not so much. But the interest in Linux is high because of M$ and their draconian tactics to force users to Win11.

Many of us are glad we run Linux.