[Electronics-Talk] How serious is not being able to go to Windows11?

[Aaron Spears]

Hi.


It's relatively serious at this point. We are coming into 2024 and it is 
to be discontinued part-way through 2025. However there is supposedly a 
plan from Microsoft to offer updates beyond 2025 for those who are 
willing to pay for it, and apparently this will be available to 
individual users, not just businesses.


The other solution is to go to keysworld.com and buy a license for 
Windows10 ltsc2019 or Windows10 ltsc2021. These are business versions of 
Windows that Microsoft provides a lot longer-duration of support for, to 
help businesses who just need to have their kiosks, point of sales 
terminals, ATM devices, etc to remain stable and not have the cost of 
moving on to the next thing. Ltsc2019 has longer support and will 
continue until 2029, and ltsc2021 being shorter, in spite of being 
newer, will stop in 2027. Last time I looked it was about $35 to get the 
license. Then you just download the iso you need, use rufus to write it 
to a flash drive, then boot from it and reformat the computer and 
install ltsc on it. It will also run a bit better on lower-end hardware 
because there's less stuff on it. It doesn't however have the Microsoft 
store, or Edge, two things you will need to manually install. You won't 
be able to run uwp apps like Unigram without installing the Microsoft 
store first. There is a download available on Github for ltsc2019 and 
ltsc2021 each that will install the store and get  you ready to run uwp 
apps like Unigram. If you use ltsc2019, the file explorer is a different 
version that is less responsive, and alt+tab is a bit laggy compared to 
the 2021 version. I am using 2021 for now and plan to switch to 2019 to 
ride out the last two years. It is worth mentioning that Ltsc does not 
bug you to install Winblows11 even on systems that can actually run it.


In disclosure, this is what I am doing, but it's good to make sure it's 
known that ltsc is not supposed to be used by individuals. You'll be 
doing that at your own risk. Microsoft is not likely to want to provide 
you support for it. You can encounter software issues. There are NVDA 
add-ons that are not compatible with this version of Windows, like for 
instance the Windows App Essentials add-on. You will have to finnagle a 
bit and install older add-ons in newer NVDA versions, and that can be 
risky and break things. In the case of Windows App Essentials, once NVDA 
can't run the last version that is ready for that version of Windows, 
you will have to decide to use an old NVDA or just drop that add-on. It 
is also worth considering that as time passes, software that performs a 
critical roll in your live could possibly drop support for older 
versions of Windows, leaving you high and dry. Usually you could just 
stop updating the software, but if you're doing something that makes it 
necessary you keep the software up to date, then you'll be down the 
crick without a paddle should the software ever update itself to a 
version toat doesn't run on older Windows.


The Iso files are slightly difficult to find, but downloadable directly 
from microsoft. If you go this approach and need the download and can't 
find it, let me know by emailing me directly and I'll hook you up.


All that said, I think the vast majority of folks are going to tell your 
husband to suck it up and deal with it. That is probably the best 
solution, but what I'm talking about here does work if he has that 
strong of a feeling about it. Don't choose a machine that can't run 
Winblows11 if it is not critical that you don't use 11. You should be 
able to afford a Windows11 capable machine, or even one that already has 
it, as easily as just buying one so old that it can't actually run it at 
all. I however am happy to help with the ltsc solution, and I can even 
build computers from scratch if one is investing in a desktop, so feel 
free to email me if you need a paw.



Cheers:
Aaron Spears, AKA Valiant8086 General Partner at Valiant Galaxy Associates "we make (VERY GOOD AUDIOGAMES) for the blind comunity" http://valiantGalaxy.com

On 3/28/2024 9:27 AM, Tracy Carcione via Electronics-Talk wrote:
> My husband could use a new laptop, and I found one on Amazon that sounds
> good, a renewed Thinkpad.  I have a renewed Thinkpad, and it's good for my
> needs.  The only possible drawback to the one I found for my husband is that
> it says it can't be updated to Windows 11.  He's comfortable with Windows10,
> and doesn't like changes, so I think that could be fine.  I know machines
> keep working long after the operating system is no longer supported.  Is
> there some potential problem I'm missing with not being able to go to
> Windows 11?  He also does not really buy new software.  He just wants to
> cruise the Web, watch Youtube, get his email with Thunderbird, and use a CD
> player.
>
> Tracy
>
>   
>
> _______________________________________________
> Electronics-Talk mailing list
> Electronics-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Electronics-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org/valiant8086%40gmail.com