April 2025 A possible alternative to binning a good computer
As most of you are well aware, Windows 10 support ends on the 14th of October. Microsoft is offering an option to pay a one off $30 for an additional 1 year (and only 1 year) of updates. Today that’s around £24 and it’s not a bad option, though it obviously just delays the inevitable.
Just to be absolutely clear, Windows 10 computers without updates will continue to run, but any hackers out there who have found weaknesses to exploit will almost certainly be sitting waiting to use them after October 14th knowing that there will be many computers out that that won’t able to stop their handiwork. So in a nutshell the only safe way to use a Windows 10 computer without updates will be to disconnect it permanently from the internet.
Some of you are probably sitting there thinking “I’ve got a perfectly good computer and Microsoft is going to make me chuck it in a skip and buy a new one!” I know I am!
And so to the point. I have been experimenting recently with some of the many alternatives to Windows that fall under the general name Linux. Broadly speaking they do the same job, just a little differently. I have been focussing on the ones that feel most like Windows.
Let me say up front that these Linux operating systems can almost certainly work on the computers that you might be thinking you have to skip. They run popular Windows browsers like Chrome and Safari, they’ll get your email and they run Office-like products, that alone covers many people’s needs.
They all do a good job of doing what Windows 11 does which is to provide an environment in which to run the programs that you want to run. They don’t necessarily run the same programs which means that you might need to find an alternative to some programs that you use, Office for example. But there are alternatives to Office! And there are alternatives to many other programs. Some companies offer versions of their programs on Linux. And some actual Windows products can be installed and run on Linux via a ‘utility’ called Wine.
So, for those of you out there that can handle change (and bear in mind that there are changes between Windows 10 and 11 too) and who mainly use their computers for surfing the internet and email, then this might be a very viable alternative to you spending £350+ on a replacement laptop or £450+ on a new tower.
Let me know if you want to know more. I will be happy to convert your computer to Linux at the same price I would charge to reinstall Windows. It’s my intention to become as proficient with Linux as I am with Windows, though that may take me a while! For more complex requirements, I could bring a Linux laptop to you to have a go with and let you find out if Linux could be the answer for you.
