cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/30792652
Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?
If you bought your computer after 2010, there’s most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.
Installing an operating system may sound difficult, but you don’t have to do it alone. With any luck, there are people in your area ready to help!
5 Reasons to upgrade your old computer to Linux:
- No New Hardware, No Licensing Costs
- Enhanced Privacy
- Good For The Planet
- Community & Professional Support
- Better User Control
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I learned how to install Linux Mint on my old computer that had been running Windows 10 for exactly this reason. And then I bought a new laptop and installed Fedora on it. Goodbye Microsoft!
(Yes, I had to learn a new skill for this, but it turned out to not be that difficult, and it was worth it.)
Yup. It’s REALLY easy to install linux these days. Most of the time, you don’t even need to fuck around with drivers like you sometimes have to on winblows. It usually just works straight outta the box.
I downloaded Mint and am kicking myself I didn’t make the switch years ago. It’s exactly how an OS should be
I still have a dual boot option as a backup but I’m using windows 10 less and less. It’s sad to say goodbye to that OS but the enshittification has been a long time coming and this latest move is the final nail in the coffin.
The next project is to wipe Windows 11 from my ASUS ROG and install Bazzite.
Been a Windows user all my life. As Windows has been tanking over the years, I’ve finally started making the switch as of a few months ago. First was our home theater PC, which was shockingly easy - next was my desktop, which hasn’t been as easy but it’s been a joy to learn about and make it my own.
I’m happy to pay for a license for anything I use. That included Windows. But, sometimes, the free & open-source route is better - I’m no longer “locked in” to any one solution and it’s a fantastic feeling.
Yeah they’re fucking tripping if they think I’ll buy a new computer for an OS
on the plus side, there’s likely going to be a bunch of cheap computers hitting the market that will run linux just fine.
I started to dual boot LMDE about a year ago, and realized how janky Windows is. So many tweaks and little things that I just “put up with” that I never really paid attention to like when 12 programs all fight to steal focus on startup.
I run hardened windows 10 but now for no reason it’s displaying the “Activate Windows” watermark whenever I deny internet access to the system host, which I have done for years without issue. This is the nail in the coffin for me. My system is gonna be pure linux soon, bye bye windows
If you’re willing to put up with autism of some distro maintainers, go for it.
Right now I ise Manjaro, but I’m going to try out SteamOS once it comes out for general hardware.
I installed Mint this week, but went with btrfs so that it would be easy to just spin up a new partition for SteamOS when that’s out.
I’ve been considering making the step myself since the deadline is approaching and I feel my pc isn’t at the end of its lifespan yet. How would it work with games and other stuff I have installed? Would I need to reinstall everything? Or would it be able to pick up the game installations seamlessly?
You’re going to have to reinstall everything. It’s not as bad as it sounds.
i think that with sone shenanigans you might be able to keep your game installations, but you would need two separate harddrives in your system and some tinkering which i doubt will be easy when it’s your first time touching linux. i have done such thing, but only among different linux installs, and with some linux sysadmin experience. if you got the drives and enjoy the tinkering, id recommend you do that, cuz worst case scenario is you gotta reinstall them which you’d have to do anyways if you didn’t try…
here is how id do it:
- have a harddrive with the steam library and whatever else you want to keep on it.
- install linux on a second harddrive within the same system.
- mount the games harddrive from within linux.
- go into steam settings and add that extra harddrives steam library.
i think that all but the last step are pretty certain to work. the last one may cause you some trouble. note that it’ll probably only work with steam games.
Also make sure your games drive is not formated exfat. I tried this process with my steam library switching from windows to lmde, but Steam on linux needs access to a file sysyem with symlink support (e.g. ext4) to work properly.
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Those two already worked well before Valve revolutionised game compatibility. Nowadays it is almost trivial to run any game. Only a handful of games are problematic. Mostly those with kernel level anti cheat that didn’t enable Linux compatibility.
You can check the status of the latter at https://areweanticheatyet.com/.
Yes ! Counter-Strike 1.6 runs natively on linux. Just install Steam then CS as you’d do on Windows.
Warcraft 3 (original and reforged) should work through Wine. You can install it manually, or with a tool like Lutris.
I’ll be honest, I was going to post a two word crappy comment like “No thanks” mainly because the amount of blatant Linux boosting is too damn high on Lemmy and it’s irritating. However, then I remembered how much happier I am here on Fedia.io since leaving reddit and it reminded me of the value of questioning established norms. I jumped onto ChatGPT and asked it to lay it all out for me. Which would be better for me, Linux or Windows? I was surprised at how positive it was about Linux and particularly Mint and it got me interested.
In the positive column it listed:
Speed and Efficiency Security and Privacy Customization and Control No Forced Updates or Reboots Free and Open Source (no licenses to pay) Ideal for Developers or Tinkerers
In the more challenging column (related to me being a user since the 80’s!) it listed:
Software Compatibility Gaming Driver Support Learning Curve
Does that sound about right?
It also suggested I could try it with no risk or cost by booting into Linux from a USB stick without installing it. It also said I could do it via a virtual machine or a dual boot which is interesting.
I don’t think Windows has quite given me a good enough reason to leave yet but I am curious now…
“I didn’t know how to feel about something and asked AI to think for me”
You will deserve everything you will get from going down this path. Eventually they’re going to start putting ads in these responses and your dumb ass won’t have the critical thinking skills to question it since you outsourced all of those to ChatGPT.
That’s less useful thank you 🤣
i can’t believe I’m saying this but you should stay with Windows.
I can’t believe I’m asking this but why?
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so you can save on tech support costs, or your techie friend’s free time
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because you aren’t really bothered by Microsofts stuff
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because though people are saying it’s easy you will run into problems and i think you’d be happier not dealing with those
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tho im teasing you some im mostly serious. until you care enough, (and i don’t think you do) it’s honestly not worth the headaches you’ll have
Thanks for that. It’s only a big deal for me to switch because Windows is all I’ve ever known so there’s some ingrained inertia there. I am genuinely curious though.
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That’s mostly right, though I’d like to add that gaming is a lot smaller of an issue these days thanks to proton, it’s basically only multiplayer games with strict anti-cheat that don’t work these days. (Valorant, League, Rainbow six siege, many others)
Here’s a website that shows you if games with anti cheat are playable on linux
General game compatibility website
Driver support is also less of an issue, but it really does depend on what your personal use cases are.
That’s really useful thank you 🙂
You needed ai to tell you that?
I was just being honest.
Especially gaming and driver support are actually a coin toss nowadays and could be much better on Linux than on Windows. Most drivers are built in on Linux so usually it’s just plug and play. Apart from nvidia drivers I haven’t installed drivers on Linux in at least a decade.
Printers and scanners especially are usually set up automatically on Linux but are a pain in the ass on Windows. Like, my kids wanted to print something from their computers and just used our network printer without me having to do any setup.
To get nvidia graphics set up you have to install one thing which is usually just one click or one command to run. AMD and Intel graphics work out of the box without any issues.
Only niche devices might be problematic. But usually they are also magically supported out of the box.
Nice 🙂
Aurora and Bluefin Linux have been super easy to install and maintain, and they can’t “break”. Plus, with Flatpak as the default app store, it’s very user friendly.
I’ve converted all my computers to Linux a few months ago, and it’s been a great experience.
Just do it™
Just because support ends doesn’t mean you can’t keep using Windows 10. Or am I missing something?
I have updates turned off anyways.
Bad idea. Have you heard about security updates? They are there for a reason.
Go on.
As long as you’re running Windows 10 without an Internet connection, that’s totally fine! Have a good time my dude. But if you are using an Internet connection, security updates are foundational, especially on Windows. I know XP is ancient but this was eye-opening for me: https://youtu.be/6uSVVCmOH5w?t=10m32s
I still have a machine running Windows 7 with no problems. Surely a machine with 10 is no worse off?
I feel like so many people will continue using 10 it might not bee a problem. If browsers and antiviruses continue to update W10 versions even past eol, you would be fine if you practiced strict computer hygene and refused to install any new/untrusted programs and never visited unknown websites. Still walking a fine line though
Are you sure it isn’t already infected?
With what?
Trojans, Spyware, Cryptominer, …
… like Windows 11?
If you don’t care about security nothing stops you from doing that, sure.
Elaborate?
Or debloat your computer by using massgrave.dev, change your window version to IoT Enterprise + Sophia script from Github.
Why? Like, what practical reason do you have to Use an OS that will run like shit on old hardware. I know you aren’t playing fortnite or editing with adobe on that dell optiplex from 2012
Anti cheat issue, some games are inaccessible.
For games that have that level of ring-0 anticheat I dont see why you wouldnt just use Windows 11 at that point. You can disable the TPM 2.0 requirement at install, and if you have the knowhow to get the IoT/Enterprise LTS version of Win10, I feel like you would be able to bypass the TPM & debloat Win11.
I just like the look of windows 10 over 11.
Ok, gonna migrate my archive/plex server to linux on the next iteration/rebuild. I do have a question, as it will affect my timeline. I have an 18TB Raid6 array on a HW raid card. I plan on building out a new raid array when i build the new server, but the end of Win10 has advanced my time table. With HW raid card, can i migrate my array to new OS build. I thought about booting a live distro and seeing if it can recognize the array. Probably the safest approach. Has anyone migrated Operating systems with a raid array? Let alone from windows to linux?
The only Windows machine I still have is an old convertible my wife uses to check her bank account. I’m going to switch it over to Mint sometime soon. Let’s see if she even notices.
Here we go again.
