Posted on 01/25/2022 9:34:06 AM PST by dayglored
It's coming. Microsoft is preparing to start shoveling the latest version of Windows 10 down the throats of refuseniks still clinging to older incarnations.
The Windows Update team gave the heads-up through its Twitter orifice last week. Windows 10 2004 was already on its last gasp, have had support terminated in December. 20H2, on the other hand, should be good to go until May this year.
We started the first phase in the Windows 10, version 21H2 rollout for machine learning (ML) training. We are targeting devices on Windows 10, version 20H2 that are approaching end of servicing to update automatically to version 21H2. https://t.co/l7RbiFyq3O — Windows Update (@WindowsUpdate) January 20, 2022
However, while it is hard for any lingering Windows 10 2004 user to avoid 21H2 via Windows Update, 20H2 (which debuted in the latter part of 2020) is also in the crosshairs. Microsoft has warned it was "targeting devices on Windows 10, version 20H2 that are approaching end of servicing to update automatically to Windows 10, version 21H2" via the first phase in its rollout for machine learning (ML) training.
It intends to carry on that training "and deliver a smooth update experience." Of course, the update is, at first glance, pretty minor (as Microsoft focuses its energies on Making All The Things Rounded in Windows 11.) However, a bit ominously, the company also said "the update will install like a monthly update."
These are words to strike fear into the hearts of many a user left singed following the most recent monthly Patch Tuesday emission.
The latest set of statistics from advertising platform AdDuplex put 31.8 per cent of PC running Windows 10 20H2 and 11 per cent on Windows 10 2004. Those figures will have dropped in the weeks since, particularly with 2004's end of support and the undoubted bleating from the operating system about getting an update.
With many customers still unable to meet Microsoft's infamous hardware requirements for Windows 11, Microsoft seems set on nudging holdouts toward the light of 21H2 – whether customers like it or not. ®
Sounds like it :-)
I'm on 20H2 at the moment, but that's controlled by my team's WSUS server, not MS-Central.
I made the change to Apple and got a MacBook Air a year ago. I had enough of Microsoft and windows. It was a good move, the ease of use and such, even if it was a little pricy, was worth it. Their updates are great and I have no problems.
My niece had a MacBook Air for 11 years and never a problem. I will never go back to Windows.
Anything is better than Win 95. That OS crashed almost every day, sometimes several times a day. Supposedly you have one month after updating to Win 11 to uninstall and revert to Win 10, but who knows.
Nice looking desktop. How do you like the i3 CPU? I found them pretty low performance, but that was a couple years ago. The one in that machine is 4 cores and 3+GHz so it probably does okay?
I'm in the same boat with my home desktop. My processor is fast enough, but doesn't have enough cores.
IMHO the best Windows OS they ever had was XP hands down, so easy to use and so few problems. If I had a computer that ran Windows I might dig that back up and use it.
So, what additional loss of privacy comes with 21H2 (Win 10) or Windows 11?
My host platform of choice is MacOS (using VMware Fusion), but I've also had good luck with Ubuntu Linux (using VMware Workstation 15).
Windows as the metal host has caused me all sorts of problems in the past and I avoid doing it now at work and at home.
I’m using LTSC a bunch of places both embedded and not.
I agree.
Oh, joy.
Seems now that I've spent half my life running around my Engineering Department the day after an update getting the workstations back up.
But it's actually "only" thirty years. (Yeah, I'm old...)
Okay. What new and improved wet dream do I get to work around this time? Or, since I'm retired and don't play CAD much anymore, should I just grab that Ubuntu disk and see if I can pretend expertise (/jk) at that now?
Seriously guys, I'm getting too old for this stuff.
Maybe I'll just turn the whole thing over to our 5yo twin great-grand daughters. They have absolutely mastered every cellphone/tablet/electronic device they've seen since they started walking.
Scary little girls.
“the choice is to take ‘em or keep using something that’s not nearly as secure (Win7, even WinXP).”
I’ve still got Win7 on one machine, and haven’t gotten a virus, or even an attempted infection on it in probably 5 years. It may be less secure, but it’s also seemingly not a high priority target. What are you going to do with a bunch of obsolete machines on your bot net that can’t even run most modern web browsers?
I have a desktop still running Windows XP and an XP virtual machine on my laptop for running old software. The latest version of Windows Explorer for XP essentially does not work anymore so you have to use one that does. The choice of compatible anti-virus packages is limited and tend to slow old hardware to a crawl. Overall, the experience is less pleasurable than how most of us remember it for various reasons.
https://rigorousthemes.com/blog/best-browsers-for-windows-xp/
I am in the same boat with a 6 year old Dell home laptop. I can't upgrade because it lacks TPM 2.0 circuitry. It is not a big deal for me, because I don't store anything of a secure nature on the machine..
But that's the kicker with my desktop. I have TPM 2.0 activated, I have more than the minimum clock speed, but I just don't have the core processing power required.
Why does an operating system need so much computing power?
Just the other day I learned that shiny new Debian Linux will run on my G5 Mac.
It all depends on the Privacy settings you choose, and whether you believe Microsoft pays attention to them.
Very cool. :-)
I’ve been using win 7 since its alpha stage. Why should I switch to a disaster of a ui that is significantly more cluttered, harder to navigate and phones home to MS everything I do on it? Never ever had any malware on 7 using the generic defender.
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