Ending support for Windows 10 could send 240 million computers to the landfill. Why not install Linux on them?
Ending support for Windows 10 could send 240 million computers to the landfill. Why not install Linux on them?
Analysts at Canalys estimate that 240 million PCs could end up in the scrap heap after October 2025, when Microsoft ends free support for Windows 10.
With support ending for Windows 10, the most popular desktop operating system in the world currently, possibly 240 million pcs may be sent to the landfill. This is mostly due to Windows 11’s exorbitant requirements. This will most likely result in many pcs being immediately outdated, and prone to viruses. GNU/Linux may be these computers’ only secure hope, what do you think?
You're viewing a single thread.
...What does the writer think support end means? Microsoft bricks the PC as soon as the support period ends?
They're going to just keep using Windows 10, security be damned. Probably a good number of users who weren't keeping their PC up to date even when Microsoft was forcing updates on them.
I still see XP pcs in the wild sometimes
Lots of hospitals seem to be running XP
I work in the behavioral health field as an IT security admin and network with hospitals/health clinics all all the time. The amount of them using XP and 7 in some capacity should scare everyone. The other security admins know it's an issue, but they just laugh it off.
I tell them if I were an immoral man, their company would be compromised just based off of that information.
Yeah I work for an emergency management SaaS company and we block outdated OSs and browsers and it’s wild how we will occasionally get pushback from potential new customers who are surprised we don’t support their outdated IT infrastructure due to the security risk
"what do you mean you don't service tin cans on a string?!"
Windows XP is basically firmware at this point, and has been for over a decade.
Lots of proprietary hardware that works perfectly, will not work on newer versions of Windows due to lack of drivers.
I see it constantly in factory situations with scales, scanners and robot controllers, it would only be worse for million dollar x-ray machines.
This. A lot of our lab's instruments are proprietary garbage. I wish the people buy these extremely expensive instruments would actually research if there's open source alternatives or help pressure the government's into forcing the code to be open. A lot of (public) spending for research is due to this sort of bs "instruments which only works with its own proprietary software" btw. The other good portion is eaten up by scumbags like Elsevier and other publishers.
As long as that machine is disconnected from the internet it's OK but as soon as you connect it you are cooked.
It’s been getting absolutely worse and worse with hardware as they shovel crap at you and then also expect you to buy subscriptions to make it usable. Keysight/agilent/ whoever they are had been really annoying about this.
Hell I've spotted some old systems still running a Telex exchange and Windows 3.1
Yep. Came across a computer recently still running Windows 2000 on it. Fan sounded like a truck with a bad lifter tick 😂
We have a piece of test equipment that runs windows 2000. It has to be quarantined on its own subnet isolated from the rest of the network.
In my line of work i routinely encounter msdos 6.22. It's surprisingly good for single-purpose real-time operations.
Looking forward to more, bigger ddos attacks with so many unsecured computers sitting around... :(