Free Republic

No Copilot, no ads, no bloat, no AI — and seven extra years of official support. It sounds too good to be true, but there's a reason most haven't heard of it. Microsoft won't advertise it, and you're highly unlikely to stumble across it by accident, but there's a version of Windows 10 that drops the ads, the AI, and will be officially supported for years to come — long after most are forced to upgrade to Windows 11. For those unaware, Windows 10 is due to be retired by Microsoft on October 14, 2025. Beyond this date, the operating...

By stripping batteries and hacking Android phones with open-source Linux, researchers built submersible data hubs for AI-powered image recognition. Researchers hacked 15-year-old smartphones into tiny servers that outperform Raspberry Pi at a fraction of the cost. Kadri-Ann Kivastik/ Via Eurekalert ======================================================================== A team at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Computer Science has shown that obsolete mobile phones can be wired together to do the sort of heavy data processing normally reserved for expensive server farms while keeping thousands of handsets out of landfills. Led by associate professor of pervasive computing Huber Flores, the engineers stripped the batteries from four...

"We're done with Teams!" declared Digitalisation Minister Dirk Schrödter, speaking via an open-source video platform, in his announcement that the German state of Schleswig-Holstein will phase out all Microsoft software from government workplaces. The goal is to fully transition from Microsoft programs to Linux and open-source programs within the next three months. Also: Why Denmark is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for LibreOffice and LinuxThe decision will affect nearly every civil servant, police officer, and judge, about 30,000 employees. Eventually, the rest of the civil service employees, primarily school teachers, will make the open-source shift. The radical change is being...

It's not just TikTok that's in trouble over cybersecurity. U.S. authorities are investigating TP-Link, a Chinese company that holds 65% of the U.S. market for home and small-business routers, for potential national security risks, the Wall Street Journal reports today. The company’s routers have been linked to cyberattacks targeting Western organizations and government agencies. Key points Security Concerns: Microsoft found that Chinese hackers used TP-Link routers in cyberattacks. Government Probes: Commerce, Defense, and Justice departments are investigating, with a potential U.S. ban on TP-Link devices under consideration for next year. Router Flaws: TP-Link routers are often shipped with unaddressed security...

Microsoft has announced that it has open sourced the Windows Subsystem for Linux. WSL, as it's commonly called, allows users to run Linux apps directly on Windows. All you need to do to install WSL is run the following command in a terminal: wsl --install Refer to this article for additional details regarding how to set up WSL. WSL was first announced at the Build 2016 developer conference, and shipped with the Windows 10 Anniversary update. While the original release was based on lxcore.sys, a pico process provider that Windows used to run ELF executables natively. Microsoft released WSL 2...

Long story short – the problem began after Microsoft’s August 2024 Patch updates, which included a mitigation for a known GRUB2 vulnerability (CVE-2022-2601). The flaw allowed malicious actors to bypass UEFI Secure Boot protections using a compromised GRUB2 bootloader.To address this, Microsoft deployed a Secure Boot Advanced Targeting (SBAT) update (KB5041571) to block vulnerable bootloaders. Unfortunately, this had unintended consequences.While it was supposed to detect and exempt dual-boot configurations from being affected, this detection failed in several scenarios. As a result, many dual-boot users with Windows and Linux on the same machine suddenly found themselves unable to get into their...

Numbers don't lie Recently, however, I was looking for web search engine popularity numbers. The usual sites people use for these numbers, such as Statcounter, as Ed Bott recently pointed out, have real problems. So, I went to the most reliable source I know of, the US federal government's Digital Analytics Program (DAP). This site gives a running count of US government website visits and an analysis. On average, there are 1.6 billion sessions in the last 30 days, with millions of users daily. In short, DAP gives a detailed view of what people use without massaging the data. According...

What is PCPartPicker?PCPartPicker is a popular online platform that assists users in selecting compatible PC components, such as CPUs, motherboards, RAM, graphics cards, power supplies, storage devices, and more. It offers a user-friendly interface with powerful tools that help streamline the process of building a PC. Key features of PCPartPicker include:Component Compatibility Checking: PCPartPicker automatically checks the compatibility of selected components to ensure they work together seamlessly.Price Comparison: It provides real-time price comparisons from various retailers, allowing users to find the best deals on components.Build Guides: PCPartPicker offers pre-configured build guides for different budgets and purposes, making it easier for...

We’re talking Windows 10, of course, which will soon retire from service. “On October 14, 2025,” Microsoft has just confirmed, again, “Windows 10 PCs will no longer receive feature or security updates, increasing security risks and operational challenges.” Microsoft is taking this opportunity to push Copilot+ PCs, complete with a raft of new AI tools including its controversial Recall. But the primary benefit is the upgrade to Windows 11, which combines with a compatible PCs security module to better protect against all those threats targeting the world of Windows.Those using Windows 11, Microsoft says, “have reported a 62% drop in...

...A new round of security features scheduled to appear in Windows 11 over the next year will address more fundamental security concerns.... The biggest security issue is that the overwhelming majority of Windows users run using an account with administrator privileges. .. The fix is a feature called Administrator Protection, which gives the user standard permissions by default. If they need to perform an action that requires administrator rights, such as installing an app or changing a system setting, they'll need to authenticate using Windows Hello biometrics or a device-specific PIN. That authorization creates a temporary token that is valid...

Initially announced in May 2024, the controversial AI tool was branded a privacy and security nightmare right out of the gate due to how the feature stored the data it collected locally on the PC.This resulted in Microsoft being forced to pull Recall from launch just days before it was supposed to. The company has since worked to address the security issuesWindows Recall is a feature that captures everything you do on your PC via snapshots, and stores them securely on your PC.The Recall app lets you triage and view these snapshots, going as far back as you like. The...

ransomnote: This is just one of the countless articles and videos about installing Linux. It's written using Ubuntu as an example, but it also lists 5 popular distros (e.g., versions) of Linux in the article, and there are over 1000 different distros beyond those. Learn how to install Linux with this detailed step-by-step guide, covering everything from system requirements to post-installation setup.Linux, a versatile and powerful open-source operating system, has gained immense popularity among developers, IT professionals, and everyday users alike. Unlike proprietary systems like Windows or macOS, Linux offers unparalleled flexibility, security, and control over your computing environment. Whether...

[H/T openurmind]PlacesEventsDIY InstallSupport for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025.Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer.But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?If you bought your computer after 2010, there's most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.Installing an operating system may sound difficult, but you don't have to do it alone. With any luck, there are people in your area ready to help!Find someone to help you → [ransomnote: I removed the link. Only one...

With Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 in October 2025, millions of Windows 10 users will be left behind by the company. Upgrades to Windows 11 may be out of the question, due to stricter system requirements. While these can be bypassed, many Windows 10 users may lack the expertise to do so. This leaves Microsoft's recommendation to buy a new Windows 11 PC or subscribe to one year of extended security updates as the only options that Microsoft highlights in its recommendations. There are at least two additional options available to users, but Microsoft makes no mention of them....

I’m writing this article mainly for Windows users who’ve decided to switch to Linux. If you’re already a Linux user, chances are you’ve learned most of what I’m about to share—whether the easy way or the hard way.The main goal of this article is simple: to help you figure out whether a “Linux for Windows users” really exists—and to bridge the gap between what you might expect and what you’re actually likely to experience.Let’s start by taking a quick look at a niche group of Linux distributions that insistently want to look like Windows and then explain why that makes...

Never mind blocking workarounds to sign in with a local account, just give us a straightforward choice in the installation process. Microsoft just blocked a popular workaround to install Windows 11 with a local account Some people like to avoid having a Microsoft account linked to the OS due to privacy (or other) concerns While alternative workarounds remain, it’s likely they could be cut off too – and Microsoft is very much going down the wrong path here Microsoft appears to be moving to block Windows 11 users who want to install the operating system using a local account, meaning...

It’s official: after 10 years of noble service, Windows 10 will reach its end on October 14, 2025, and what a great decade it’s been. For many users, Microsoft redeemed itself after a run of disappointing operating systems – the mere mention of Windows 8 still sends some people into a rage – but Windows 10 got it right. That’s why the announcement of Windows 11 came as a shock. It felt too soon, too rushed – and unnecessary. Many believed that Windows 10 deserved more time to marinate. At least until it finally managed to migrate the whole Control...

Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide- January 2025 Win10 60.37% Win11 36.6% Win7 2.24% Win8.1 0.3% WinXP 0.27% Win8 0.16% Desktop Operating System Market Share Worldwide - January 2025 Windows 71.91% OS X 15.02% Unknown 7.43% Linux 3.71% Chrome OS 1.92% FreeBSD 0% Tablet Operating System Market Share Worldwide - January 2025 iOS 52.85% Android 46.99% Linux 0.11% Unknown 0.03% Windows 0.01% BlackBerry OS 0.01% Mobile Operating System Market Share Worldwide - January 2025 Android 72.24% iOS 27.28% Samsung 0.31% Unknown 0.1% KaiOS 0.03% Windows 0.01% [All platforms] - January 2025 Android [based on modified Linux kernel] 46.18% Windows 25.46%...

Come October 14, 2025, Windows 10 support dies. Despite that, more users than ever are using Windows 10 rather than moving to Windows 11. I can't say that I blame them. Windows 11 sucks almost as much as Vista – remember that stinker? In addition, Windows 11 is less of a desktop operating system than it is a remote Microsoft client equipped with AI-powered Recall, telemetry, and data collection. You may see these as features. I see them as spyware. All this and more is why I use Linux for my primary desktop.True, I've been using Linux as my desktop...

It's official SteamOS will be released this year for all and also Lenovo is an official SteamOS partner with the launch of the Legion Go S, SteamOS edition in May, GeForce NOW app is also coming to the Steam Deck and we also cover the latest beta news and updates!