[Arthur McGowan]

I have a computer with Windoze 8 on it. It’s in storage. It’s eligible for a free upgrade to Windoze 10. I’m inclined not to upgrade until I decide to start using it, and also put off by all the stories about the totalitarian nature of Windoze 10. What about Windoze 11? Alternatives?

[Cold Heart]

My part time IT guy told me he was busy taking Windows 10 off of people’s PCs who had upgraded. One even had a crashed keyboard. I didn’t know keyboards could do that.

[Scrambler Bob]

Me too. New Win 8.1 in storage. Considering Win 7, but favoring Ubuntu.

[dayglored]

> What about Windoze 11? Alternatives?

Full disclosure: I like Windows 7 and they'll take it from me when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

So, that said, Microsoft has stated that henceforth there is only "Windows" and it's based on "Windows 10" but it's a moving target from now on -- just continuous morphing as more and more updates and patches are downloaded and installed whether you want them or not.

There will be no "Windows 11".

Alternatives? Linux Mint. A Mac. Personally I like CentOS Linux best with OS X second, but Mint is good and I use Ubuntu at work without severe mental damage.

I think the best alternative is:

• Mac Mini hardware.
• Any version of OS X from 10.9 onward. 10.6.8 and 10.7 / 10.8 were good, but they're old.
• VMware Fusion (about $50).
• Virtual machines of Windows, Linux, or anything else you want to run.

[JimRed]

If you do update to 10, be sure you have the correct ID and password or the product key for office. You have to activate office and it’s impossible without one or the other. All my files in word are inaccessible because I can’t activate it.