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learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/extend...s
For those who wish to continue with W10 security updates a very expensive option.
I have had trouble with W11 not recognizing my W10 music files after the update and audio stuttering. My music is played through a bunch of B&O bluetooth speakers and the updated W1o to W11 wasn't happy
So I bought last week an HP Ryzen3 laptop for the princely sum of £229 including a 1 year subscription to Norton for 5 devices and a 1 year licence for office for 1 user included,
Does the job. Copied my files from my recent HP desktop ( which is all singing dancing and very good) desktop inc music and all is well
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I remember several years ago when much older Windows OSes were very buggy that they often had to issue updates to cure their own (badly written) updates just a month or so ago. One larger workplace's central IT dept. often did not install them after testing a 'test bed' PC to see what would happen.
Some third party software will often experience problems interacting with new Windows updates, or in some circumstances, not work at all. Some providers are also not so generous with their own software updates to work with new or older OSes, because it requires more time from their (well-paid) software engineers to spend modifying them.
Unfortunately, that sometime can make software packages crucial to you or your business / employer obsolete in relatively short order,and can cost you a fortune shelling out for new hardware, software or both, including things like AV equipment.
I think some OS providers (and that is more targeted at mobile phones and tablets) deliberately make their systems incompatible with software / apps in order to force users to upgrade both hardware and software (which I think you have to do with phones).
Note how more and more providers of PC security and web browser software packages WILL NOT provide products that can be used on older systems like mine on Win 7, despite a sizeable minority of the population still using it.
The cost of 'upgrading' from our end is now much more expensive than it once was over the originally anticipated lifetime of the product.
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I think some OS providers (and that is more targeted at mobile phones and tablets) deliberately make their systems incompatible with software / apps in order to force users to upgrade both hardware and software (which I think you have to do with phones).
Largely agree.
Note how more and more providers of PC security and web browser software packages WILL NOT provide products that can be used on older systems like mine on Win 7, despite a sizeable minority of the population still using it.
The cost of 'upgrading' from our end is now much more expensive than it once was over the originally anticipated lifetime of the product.
Google search - as at January 2025 Windows 7 accounts for ~2.25% of the global market share for operating systems and the number is declining.
Were I a developer needing to interface with users of Windows operating systems I would not spend a cent extra to support Windows 7. My investment money would be targeted at the 98% who do upgrade and may have an interest in additional apps etc.
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I think the cost of the 3 years extended Windows 10 support is said to be $210 .
If you only have a basic laptop a new one available for around the £200 mark.
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Windows upgrades are overrated and it is quite irritating to upgrade frequently.
I have disabled upgrades altogether in my Windows computers. No problem whatsoever. Just run an up to date anti-virus. Computer runs faster without upgrades.
You can disable upgrade only with Windows 10 Pro edition, not in Home edition.
Edited by movilogo on 11/02/2025 at 09:19
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Windows upgrades are overrated and it is quite irritating to upgrade frequently.
I have disabled upgrades altogether in my Windows computers. No problem whatsoever. Just run an up to date anti-virus. Computer runs faster without upgrades.
You can disable upgrade only with Windows 10 Pro edition, not in Home edition.
The updates that Microsoft often have to patch are not always ones that a virus checker will work against - otherwise just having Windows Defender would be enough....they can also have updates that increase speed as things can work better.
For anyone that is not IT knowledgeable it's always best to get the updates.
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It seems that those who are not IT-knowledgeable prefer to stick their head in a bucket of sad though.
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I think some OS providers (and that is more targeted at mobile phones and tablets) deliberately make their systems incompatible with software / apps in order to force users to upgrade both hardware and software (which I think you have to do with phones).
Largely agree.
Note how more and more providers of PC security and web browser software packages WILL NOT provide products that can be used on older systems like mine on Win 7, despite a sizeable minority of the population still using it.
The cost of 'upgrading' from our end is now much more expensive than it once was over the originally anticipated lifetime of the product.
Google search - as at January 2025 Windows 7 accounts for ~2.25% of the global market share for operating systems and the number is declining.
Not sure how they get those figures, given it's not as though everyone is surveyed, and besides, there are so many OSes and platforms now that I doubt if one dominates like Windows 95 used to.
Even so, 2.25% is still several millions, maybe tens of millions of people. And note that the same lack of compatibility also applies to Win8 as well, adding some more millions. Yet, as far as I know, Linux appears to offer significant backwards compatibility on hardware - for free.
As I know from personal experience, a large chunk of Win7 OEM PCs can never be upgraded to run Win10, let alone 11, because those OSes were seemingly deliberately written to use completely different types of MB chipsets that use completely different software.
Imagine if they did that with cars, meaning 75% would have to change their car irrespective of the problem because the fuel was changed so much that it made them unusable?
To replace my PC and all the software I use (because the vast majority won't run on Win10+) would cost me (for a similar performing/storage computer) best part of £2k - for essentially a barely noticeable gain in speed or ability. Again, not sure if car owners would accept that trade off.
Were I a developer needing to interface with users of Windows operating systems I would not spend a cent extra to support Windows 7. My investment money would be targeted at the 98% who do upgrade and may have an interest in additional apps etc.
You imply by the 98% that they all use Win 10 or11, when they probably don't (see above).
Like with car manufacturers 'specifying' wide, low profile / big diameter tyres as standard even on lower spec models, computer and phone/tablet manufacturers get a big business boost in normal times from 'planned obsolescence' despite supposedly technology and manufacturing techniques vastly improving over the past 25-35 years that products should be significantly cheaper, more reliable and longer lasting.
Since the early 2010s, I see the opposite happening across many spheres using tech - home appliances, AV, building services and 'DIY' equipment, etc, etc. Unfortunately, as the 'good times' of spending on endless credit has come to a (hopefully permanent) end, people can no longer afford to shell out £0000s on such things, and yet manufacturers and regulatory bodies / governments are actively pushing to go even further to push such products out of reach of all bar the very well off.
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Imagine if they did that with cars, meaning 75% would have to change their car irrespective of the problem because the fuel was changed so much that it made them unusable?
Windows 10 was launched in July 2015 and is about to cease free updates. I hate to defend Microsoft but how many manufacturers provide free updates to their cars, let alone after 10 years?
Imagine the UK government decided that the regular regulatory enhancements required for new cars would in future apply retrospectively to all vehicles on the road. How many manufacturers would provide upgrades to 10 year old models, let alone free? Those who doubt such a thing should consider ULEZ. That applies retrospectively although you can stay on the road for a payment. How many manufacturers have provided ULEZ-compliant upgrades for cars already on the road?
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Imagine if they did that with cars, meaning 75% would have to change their car irrespective of the problem because the fuel was changed so much that it made them unusable?
Windows 10 was launched in July 2015 and is about to cease free updates. I hate to defend Microsoft but how many manufacturers provide free updates to their cars, let alone after 10 years?
Well, Mazda do, for example. The steering wheel airbag was subject to a recall and it was obviously done FOC. My car was well out of the production+10 year window at the time. Of course, my era of cars couldn't be 'hacked' and are probably vastly more secure than 'keyless entry' vehicles of today, and no built it touchscreen / satnav, so no 'software updates' needed.
I do get the occasional freebie small replacement item given they probably don't have much call for them anyway.
IMHO, if Microsoft had done better due diligence and engineered their products better, they wouldn't need so many 'security updates' or 'patches' to fix problems they likely already knew about before the OS was released, or ones caused by earlier (rushed) 'fixes'.
Imagine the UK government decided that the regular regulatory enhancements required for new cars would in future apply retrospectively to all vehicles on the road. How many manufacturers would provide upgrades to 10 year old models, let alone free? Those who doubt such a thing should consider ULEZ. That applies retrospectively although you can stay on the road for a payment. How many manufacturers have provided ULEZ-compliant upgrades for cars already on the road?
Where did I say that all products need to be completely future proofed forever? Making them 'backwards compatible' is useful, as it is for things like the latest ultra HD blu-ray players, which can also play 'standard' blu-rays, DVDs and CDs no problem at all, and most can also play the vast majority of recordable discs of those types too.
My point regarding PC tech was that there was inconsistencies even back in 2015 when Win10 came out, only a few years after Win7 and when most people still ran PCs on that system. People would accept that new OSes would want more powerful components to cope with the rigours of newer software and higher-def graphics / video, which might mean some older PCs are just too slow to keep up, but after just 4 years?
The problem mine has applies just as much to upgrading to Win10 as it does Win11. It was why I've said more than once that manufacturers often deliberately change how things work - even if that change gives no tangible benefits to the user in order to force people to junk their perfectly capable older equipment in order to buy the latest 'consumables'.
Mobile phones being the obvious example, where the OS provider deliberately locks out app updates after a certain period, then the same to not allow them to work at all. The daft thing is that many of those apps still work at lower resolutions for later, 'basic' phones or or lower settings, so it has nothing to do with performance.
A similar thing with EVs where there are loads of charger connector types where they aren't compatible. You can by adaptors, although I suspect they aren't £5 or are able for all types, often because of the voltage/current that type of charger uses.
Note that the issue with ULEZ compliance is akin to performance of PCs and newer OSes / software requiring higher performance components, not 'comparability issues'. Besides, my 19yo Mazda3 is still ULEZ compliant, despite being 5 years older than my PC.
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Imagine if they did that with cars, meaning 75% would have to change their car irrespective of the problem because the fuel was changed so much that it made them unusable?
Windows 10 was launched in July 2015 and is about to cease free updates. I hate to defend Microsoft but how many manufacturers provide free updates to their cars, let alone after 10 years?
Well, Mazda do, for example. The steering wheel airbag was subject to a recall and it was obviously done FOC. My car was well out of the production+10 year window at the time. Of course, my era of cars couldn't be 'hacked' and are probably vastly more secure than 'keyless entry' vehicles of today, and no built it touchscreen / satnav, so no 'software updates' needed.
They do that because someone being killed in a crash due to a known problem is not good for business...it's cheaper for them to fix it than leave it to chance and all the bad publicity.
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Imagine if they did that with cars, meaning 75% would have to change their car irrespective of the problem because the fuel was changed so much that it made them unusable?
Windows 10 was launched in July 2015 and is about to cease free updates. I hate to defend Microsoft but how many manufacturers provide free updates to their cars, let alone after 10 years?
Well, Mazda do, for example. The steering wheel airbag was subject to a recall and it was obviously done FOC. My car was well out of the production+10 year window at the time. Of course, my era of cars couldn't be 'hacked' and are probably vastly more secure than 'keyless entry' vehicles of today, and no built it touchscreen / satnav, so no 'software updates' needed.
They do that because someone being killed in a crash due to a known problem is not good for business...it's cheaper for them to fix it than leave it to chance and all the bad publicity.
Just like software firms provide updates because someone shows how easy it is to hack their product and use it to steal the users information, life savings, etc, etc.
I'm pointing out that software firms often wait until many people have been adversely affected or that some well-regarded industry expert has publicised the problem, even though the firm knew about it for ages.
My dealership also gives me freebies when something small/cheap/easy to replace breaks, because its good PR to help keep a long term customer on board for their next purchase, or at least a continued commitment to using them for servicing.
Not saying car firms are anywhere near perfect (Dieselgate, for example), but when have major software firms done that?
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Imagine if they did that with cars, meaning 75% would have to change their car irrespective of the problem because the fuel was changed so much that it made them unusable?
Windows 10 was launched in July 2015 and is about to cease free updates. I hate to defend Microsoft but how many manufacturers provide free updates to their cars, let alone after 10 years?
Well, Mazda do, for example. The steering wheel airbag was subject to a recall and it was obviously done FOC. My car was well out of the production+10 year window at the time. Of course, my era of cars couldn't be 'hacked' and are probably vastly more secure than 'keyless entry' vehicles of today, and no built it touchscreen / satnav, so no 'software updates' needed.
They do that because someone being killed in a crash due to a known problem is not good for business...it's cheaper for them to fix it than leave it to chance and all the bad publicity.
Just like software firms provide updates because someone shows how easy it is to hack their product and use it to steal the users information, life savings, etc, etc.
I'm pointing out that software firms often wait until many people have been adversely affected or that some well-regarded industry expert has publicised the problem, even though the firm knew about it for ages.
My dealership also gives me freebies when something small/cheap/easy to replace breaks, because its good PR to help keep a long term customer on board for their next purchase, or at least a continued commitment to using them for servicing.
Not saying car firms are anywhere near perfect (Dieselgate, for example), but when have major software firms done that?
Windows has often been given longer updates that first announced by Microsoft - and even held off dumping old versions of software.
If you are comparing how you are dealt with when buying a car compared to some software you need to think about the cost that you pay - when you get your new car it's a lot more costly that your OS which most people will never have directly paid for so your car dealer has more incentive to 'be nice' to keep your business.
I would disagree that software companies generally don't update their software until problems become prevalent or are well publicised - Windows, as an example, has updates most weeks so I can't see how they can be waiting before they fix them.
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To replace my PC and all the software I use (because the vast majority won't run on Win10+) would cost me (for a similar performing/storage computer) best part of £2k - for essentially a barely noticeable gain in speed or ability. Again, not sure if car owners would accept that trade off.
Unless you are using specialist software you would not need to spend anywhere near that amount of money on a PC...and most software has free to use open source variants that will do what the majority of people need.
You can't compare a car to a PC - they are not the same type of product....when you have a car it generally has no need to update...a PC needs changes all the time. If you are trying to compare it's more like you expect Microsoft to service you car and update the brakes/tyres/gearbox all for free.
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a PC needs changes all the time
Why a PC needs changes?
Are you talking of hardware change (e.g. upgrade) or just software updates?
It is not mandatory to apply any software updates, especially when it is working fine.
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a PC needs changes all the time
Why a PC needs changes?
Are you talking of hardware change (e.g. upgrade) or just software updates?
It is not mandatory to apply any software updates, especially when it is working fine.
Software - it's not mandatory but usually updates are for security reasons so best to apply them.
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Granddaughter has a cheap Asus for university lecture notes. 18 months perfect apart from the charger which went on the blink. She uses an Apple laptop for essays etc etc - all cloud based so everything is up-to-date and accessible.
About a month ago MS said Upgrade available Win 11 downloaded and she pressed install!
All well except for the touchpad - despite best efforts from her dad, she has had to revert to a wireless mouse - It's a pain at lectures.
There are drivers for Asus touchpads but none work with the one on her machine!
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Granddaughter has a cheap Asus for university lecture notes. 18 months perfect apart from the charger which went on the blink. She uses an Apple laptop for essays etc etc - all cloud based so everything is up-to-date and accessible.
About a month ago MS said Upgrade available Win 11 downloaded and she pressed install!
All well except for the touchpad - despite best efforts from her dad, she has had to revert to a wireless mouse - It's a pain at lectures.
There are drivers for Asus touchpads but none work with the one on her machine!
wherever possible it is advisable to wait a few weeks before installing updates apart from security updates, due to the hash up Microsoft keep making of the software and I`m not the only one saying it.
certain software has caused hard drives to lose software and other problems like severely slow internet due to incorrect upgraded software drivers, TBH there has been a mixture of problems with W11 to date, maybe the worst OS for some years IMO
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FWIW
Win11 by default only installs critical security updates, unless you made the mistake of selecting “Get latest updates” which includes drivers.
See your laptop/PC makers support to update both bios and ALL drivers.
There should be a shortcut to that makers update utility on your system.
Then set Bios to defaults & Pwr to balanced. At the end of the day shutdown, do not leave in sleep.
Do NOT update from any other source inc Device Manager
You only need to set the Advanced options for notify & Time, then leave win update to do its own thing.
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Win11 by default only installs critical security updates, unless you made the mistake of selecting “Get latest updates” which includes drivers.
Not what my Win11 does.
It finds dozens of driver updates and I do NOT select “Get latest updates”.
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Win11 by default only installs critical security updates, unless you made the mistake of selecting “Get latest updates” which includes drivers.
Not what my Win11 does.
It finds dozens of driver updates and I do NOT select “Get latest updates”.
No it does have a habit of installing what Microsoft tell it to, they control W11 which is one of the complaints about it, like New Outlook, its taken over on most systems as they no longer support the old version but I dont get why they had to mess about with it, the old version was better IMO
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Then your settings are incorrect
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Check yours out after an update, they very often get changed by the update, some programs turned off by me are often turned back on by the updates, Copilot- for one, I wonder sometimes if Microsoft are making life more difficult for people on purpose
I gather control panel is being removed eventually why fix what aint broke and worked very well, cannot see the point in all the changes ?
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I wonder sometimes if Microsoft are making life more difficult for people on purpose
To what end?
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I wonder sometimes if Microsoft are making life more difficult for people on purpose
To what end?
Very good question and one you need to ask Microsoft, while making W11 supposedly more updated if thats what its called, a lot of people were happy with the W10 OS being easy to navigate and quick to do what you want, bearing in mind W10 was as they put it -the last OS they intended to make apart from updating W10 there wasn`t any need to build a new OS
But it does appear Microsoft intended for people not to be able to alter settings and programs due to there layout and where some settings have been moved
A lot is now AI so I suspect a lot of people may use voice control, makes you wonder if mouse and keyboard will be needed in future, though I can see a lot of people rejecting modern tech as it will do away with us altogether
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I wonder sometimes if Microsoft are making life more difficult for people on purpose
To what end?
Very good question and one you need to ask Microsoft, while making W11 supposedly more updated if thats what its called, a lot of people were happy with the W10 OS being easy to navigate and quick to do what you want, bearing in mind W10 was as they put it -the last OS they intended to make apart from updating W10 there wasn`t any need to build a new OS
But it does appear Microsoft intended for people not to be able to alter settings and programs due to there layout and where some settings have been moved
A lot is now AI so I suspect a lot of people may use voice control, makes you wonder if mouse and keyboard will be needed in future, though I can see a lot of people rejecting modern tech as it will do away with us altogether
What can't you do in Windows 11 that you could do in Windows 10? I can't think of anything.
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I wonder sometimes if Microsoft are making life more difficult for people on purpose
To what end?
Very good question and one you need to ask Microsoft, while making W11 supposedly more updated if thats what its called, a lot of people were happy with the W10 OS being easy to navigate and quick to do what you want, bearing in mind W10 was as they put it -the last OS they intended to make apart from updating W10 there wasn`t any need to build a new OS
But it does appear Microsoft intended for people not to be able to alter settings and programs due to there layout and where some settings have been moved
A lot is now AI so I suspect a lot of people may use voice control, makes you wonder if mouse and keyboard will be needed in future, though I can see a lot of people rejecting modern tech as it will do away with us altogether
What can't you do in Windows 11 that you could do in Windows 10? I can't think of anything.
To be fair, Microsoft have chopped and changed features, useability and styling quite a bit since Windows 8 was released. I found that Win10 - even in 'Pro' form, was far less customisable than (my) Window 7 Pro is, with many settings not even available to change.
Plus Win10 didn't have 'Photo viewer' any more, something that a LOT of users still complain about to this day.
Oddly enough, around the same time, an 'update' of Windows 7 came out that meant many jpeg images were no longer viewable because of the 'system not having enough memory' or some other excuse, despite beforehand being completely fine to view it (and in MS Paint or other programs), almost as if Microsoft were trying to force people off that program out of spite.
As others have said, Windows 10 was always touted as the 'last' OS Microsoft would ever produce, just updating it, and yet, Win 11 came along, then loads of software houses started refusing to backdate compatibility with Win 7 and 8 at the same time, despite both still having (then) a reasonable share of the market.
No, nothing about money at all.
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