there will probably be an extension of support for W10 that can be purchased for a time but that will eventually end so yes, you would eventually need a new laptop

Trying to make purchases before prospective tariffs on computers and laptops.

yes indeed

Or so they say....

Windows 11 will not run on older processors - even some I7s. There is not a clear line as to which processors are so-called obsolete.

It's quite possible that Windows 11 can be installed on unsupported machines, but no guarantee that everything will work.

I suggest two alternatives:

1. If you're set on a new laptop, consider Apple. The quality of their software is much higher than the crap I've seen out of msft for the last 10 years. Think about what software you must have, I bet it can all be found on Macs.

2. Keep your current laptop and switch to Linux. I did that many years ago and haven't regretted it at all. My laptop can do anything it did before, except for TurboTax.

I spent 9 years as an SDE at msft in the Windows division, so I have a solid understanding of software quality. My time before and since writing internals for Unix, Linux and Android have given me a very solid understanding of systems software.

My current employer made me upgrade their laptop to W11 and it runs much slower now. So glad to be retiring at the end of this week.

also wondering what Linux system you might recommend?

Because Linux is Open it is more secure. There are more people reviewing it, and they all have very different viewpoints. That helps immensely.

As for a good distro (version) to start with, if you are coming from Windows, Linux Mint will be very similar in operation. It's a great choice for many reasons.

Last edited Sun Feb 16, 2025, 10:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Linux desktop versions only have a few percent of the market share so It doesn't offer an attractive target for hackers. Why would they waste their time when there are so many Windows PC's out there?

It will run fine on your laptop and boots quickly and is intuitively easy to use.

I am typing this on an HP Envy Laptop made in 2014 that is running Windows 11 Pro with no problems. There are ways to bypass the Microsoft hardware requirements if you have some computer savvy and the PC is not terribly old. Other options are Linux or Chrome Flex OS. I am running Linux Mint on a 15 year old HP Desktop and find it is fine for about everything I need to do.

Or you can just stay with Windows 10 at least for a year or two. There are lots of people out there still running Windows 7. Just because Microsoft says they will not support Windows 10 this year doesn't mean your PC will catch fire in October. I suspect that MS will back off the date anyway. The hardware requirement BS is artificial and the acceptance of Windows 11 has been dismal.