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 This will most likely result in many pcs being immediately outdated, and prone to viruses.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?
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Why not install Linux on them?
Because 1) it wont cut it and 2) when Windows 10 EOLs (and trust me MS will extend the current date) those machines will be trash either way.
It won’t cut…what
Probably meant that Linux wouldn't be appropriate for whoever's needs. That can be true for some cases, not really for casual browsing use cases when pretty much 99% of all the major players in the browsing industry maintain a Linux port.
Exactly. Personally, I'm relegated to Windows with a healthy dose of WSL. Wish it weren't so, but it is so.
not really for casual browsing use cases when pretty much 99% of all the major players in the browsing industry maintain a Linux port.
Those users couldn't care less about if Windows is supported or not. They wont send their 240 million computers to the landfill, they'll just keep using them.
Either way, Windows 10 22H2 EOL is set to 14 Oct 2025 and Enterprise LTS to 12 Jan 2027. I'm sure Microsoft will cave around January 2026 whenever the first 0-day for Windows 10 22H2 Pro goes into the wild and extends support for the Pro version to 2027 as well for no extra cost. For them this makes way more business sense than having 240M machines infected giving a poor image of Windows.
For 240 million devices I think there would be some Linux can "cut it". And second, no? My computer is 13+ years old and I am using it with basically no lagging, developing a couple of apps. Truth is all medium-tier computers made today and in recent years have reached the point where for normal use (that is daily tasks like communication, content consumption and calculations) only limiting factor for daily driver is software optimization.