Will staying on Windows 10 affect my computer or apps?

I’m using a computer with Windows 10 and don’t want to upgrade to Windows 11 yet. Will sticking with Windows 10 affect how my computer or apps run?
thanks

The short answer is no.

The long one is, not for the time being. Official support for windows 10 (meaning security updates from Microsoft) ends this year, but programs will keep working just fine. If I had to guess up until when, I’d say 'till 3 maybe 4 years after that. Basically, when you start facing weird behaviour from the programs you use (compatibility-wise), then it’ll be time to switch from windows 10.

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its important to note, that more modern hardware does sometimes have software optimizations that does not immediately (if ever) get ported back to windows 10. so while this is not necessarily a detriment, it is performance that is left on the table.

If you think MS is f*cking you up, maybe its time to try that Linux challenge and if you are able to survive 30 days with your workflow intact, then maybe its time to migrate for good and finally do the pegging MS deserves. By staying in Linux.

Might I suggest you start with Fedora workstation 41 for work and play?

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That, Nobara (based on Fedora 41), or when steam is is open the public. I installed the htpc variant Nobara on my htpc. Adding drives so that I have a dedicated steam games through steam/KDE disks is pretty straightforward.

I ran into some hiccups getting the nvidia and xbone drivers working for my RTX 2070. At some point borked my install trying to get the xbone drivers, but a fresh reinstall and system updated fixed both driver issues.

An annoying thing is that launching games from big picture mode works for a minute before locking up the system to the point where I need to reboot.

My guess is it’s some interaction between Nvidia and Wayland because launching from the desktop has no issues. I vaguely recall hearing that steam big picture mode uses Wayland, but I can’t find any sources to confirm this for Nobara.

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I couldn’t recommend Nobara for now. There has been a few issues that I have encountered that would trip up the display and end up with a blank screen for an extended amount of time especially with their Deck/Big Picture mode.

Also a major install issue would be that if the person migrating has Secure Boot toggled to on, Nobara would not boot or worse yet, would boot but show the MOK enrollment and hang up there. This could be fixed by actually enrolling the Nobara key but GE does not want to (IIRC).

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I’ve always wanted to try Linux, but I’ll admit I don’t know much about it. With so many distributions and so much information online, it’s hard to know where to begin. Any advice on how to get started? I’d really appreciate it!
But I’m afraid I’ll end up asking a lot more questions in the Linux section of the forum! :sweat_smile:

Welcome to the forum and more importantly

kermit-darkside

Welcome to the dark side!

First you may want to test drive how Linux feels first you need a way to flash one of the many Linux ISO to a spare unused USB (it will be reformatted basically).

This is one of the easier ways to flash a USB. You can also use Rufus if you are more technical and can handle the options. Otherwise balena is ok. I used to use it as it is a quick way to flash the USB.


Now its time to pick a Linux Distro!

Back then Ubuntu was the go to but because they’ve been acting more weird and pushing more corporate agenda, I may want you to try Linux Mint or Fedora these days instead.

Linux Mint:

It is Ubuntu based. You have 3 options here: go pick what looks comfortable to use Cinnamon aims to have the look of Windows 7, XFCE is for older computers, MATE is for those nostalgic for older Linux look. But they all work mostly the same under the hood, its just for the surface finish. You can customize the look further.

Fedora Linux:

Personally my pick is Fedora, because it is what I use everyday for work and play and it corporate backed, so it is very polished, mirror-like even:

The only issue is, because they are corporate backed Linux, they cant legally bundle some of the codecs for you to play your downloaded videos because that breaks some law somewhere. Fedora wont prevent you from installing the codecs, they just cant put it in the ISO file.


There are other variants of Linux “distros” out there. Others may recommend something else. There is a reason why they like it. Go ask around but do it gently, there is the reason why Linux is equivalent to the vegans of the computing world.

Go click around the DistroWatch website and see the page hit ranking of Linux distributions. I dont really think the ranking means much, it is more like reflective of the current active distros and the people who are clicking them for curiousity.

What you want is a trial of the Linux distro you are interested in. The live ISO you can try is also usually the same as the installation ISO.


Generally here people are nice. Go say hi to the Small Linux problem thread if you need help. Dont be intimated by the previous post and you dont have to read them. I dont understand half of it because I dont work in the computing field.


Of course there is the required warning of DO NOT INSTALL LINUX WITHOUT HAVING A BACKUP OF YOUR PERSONAL/USER/WORK RELATED FILES!!! You may need an extra PC just in case you want to reinstall windows or need to fix stuff and revert.

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For the most part security updates alone force you to upgrade eventually.

Also got to get my parents PC to windows 11 this year. Which is kinda annoying because it includes trips to the bank and what not to setup online banking. Does not seem like a good idea to keep running windows 10 at all for that purpose. Also the PC is really old and does not support TPM.

Though, its quite impressive what you can get for very little money now. Ordered some minisforum pc with a 4th gen ryzen 6 core, 16gb ram and a 512gb nvme for €250. Its cheap. Its small. It runs cyrcles around the old pc performance wise. And I dont have to build a pc.

So… situation could be worse. Forced obcolessence does not feel as bad when I look at the old PC. If it was mine I would have replaced it already.

My go-to solution; simplified being the tech guy for the non-tech family members and friends :joy:

Snap the RAM and SSD in… screw the lid back in …and I’m sure they can figure out what plugs into what.

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At least it tends to turn the problems into like “the new USB is so slow”. [User has plugged 10 Gb device into 480 Mb port.]

No they cannot. Or wont.

I would say if you have a nvidia graphics card, keep using the newest windows without paying for a cd key. I don’t suggest anyone try troubleshooting nvidia-linux related issue if they want to leave Windows. The moment you upgrade to a AMD graphics card, go linux. If you want to give linux a look, install a distro onto a drive and navigate it.

The NUC I bought for my parents has almost all 10 gbps USB 3.2 ports. I shoved a tiny dongle into the sole USB 2.0 port in the back. They’re also all USB-A, so there is no dumb shit like connecting a computer to another computer with USB-C.

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You can be certain that Microsoft will be doing all they can to discourage people running windows 10 moving forward.

They will potentially start to do things like:

  • change the driver model so that new drivers aren’t available for 10
  • refuse to sign drivers for windows 10
  • release a new version of directX that they do not supply for Windows 10
  • block logins to 365 and other Microsoft online services from Windows 10 (mandate new security technology that they do not back port)
  • be increasingly invasive with deploying self-upgrades to your windows 10 machine to go to 11 (or 12)

All of this sort of stuff happened with the jump from Windows 2000 to XP (which were otherwise mostly functionally the same when they dropped support for 2k, except 2k was better), they did it with the transition from XP to Vista/7, etc.

You’ll be OK for a while, but once support drops you really should be either upgrading or looking for alternatives (like now).

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