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from the avoiding-planned-obsolescence-and-DRM dept.
The KDE community has an outreach campaign encouraging the use of the Plasma desktop by people with older, but usable, laptops. Vista10 support will come to an end and Vista11 has been designed not to run on many still viable models of computer due to several factors including Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) requirements centered around TPM-2.0. GNU/Linux can not only keep the old system working, it can improve its performance, ease of use, and general security. KDE Plasma can be part of that.
Even if you agree to this tech extortion now, in a few years time, they will do it again as they have done many times in the past.
But things don't have to be this way...
Upgrade the smart way! Keep the machine you've got and switch to Linux and Plasma.
Linux can give new life to your laptop. Combined with KDE's Plasma desktop, you get all the advantages of the safety, stability and hi tech of Linux, with all the features of a beautiful, modern and powerful graphic environment.
Their campaign page covers where and how beginners can get help, what the differences are, the benefits gained, and more.
[Editor's Comment: This is obviously a KDE/Plasma centric promotion - which doesn't mean that it is bad but there are lots of other options too. Which Linux OS and desktop would you recommend for someone wanting to make the move from Windows to Linux? Which are the best for a beginner, and which desktops provide the most intuitive interface for someone who has never sat down in front of a Linux computer before?--JR]
Previously:
(2025) Microsoft is Digging its Own Grave With Windows 11, and It Has to Stop
(2023) The Wintel Duopoly Plans to Send 240 Million PCs to the Landfill
(2023) Two Security Flaws in the TPM 2.0 Specs Put Cryptographic Keys at Risk
(2022) Report Claims Almost Half of Systems are Ineligible for Windows 11 Upgrades
(2021) Windows 11 Will Leave Millions of PCs Behind, and Microsoft is Struggling to Explain Why
(2019) Microsoft's Ongoing Tactics Against Competitors Explained, Based on its Own Documents
(2016) Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Require TPM 2.0 Module
(Score: 4, Interesting) by epitaxial on Sunday June 08, @02:22AM (1 child)
That was my upgrade path some years ago. Went to the LTSC build and it's great. No cortana or AI button bullshit that pops up. Only occasional security updates and no pop ups about trying to sell me a Xbox or clickbait news headlines. No web searches built into the start menu either. I still can't find a good way to permanently disable their stupid realtime virus protection.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 08, @02:55AM
"realtime virus protection"? Is that Windows Defender?
Some years ago I was using McAfee's "RealProtect". Rather than scan everything always, it watched critical system stuff and flagged any attempt at change. I'm a quite safe surfer so I rarely had it react, but a few legit things here and there, so I know it worked. And it stayed out of the way otherwise.
Sometime recently, past 9 months or so, they changed it so now it installs a pile of shinola, that is very difficult to remove. The supposed uninstaller won't even run (or it just didn't remove the crap- I forget now).
I've messed with 10, and of course have 10 and 11 at work, and I don't hate it there, but I'm not admin. I don't currently have lots of 'net data allotment. Enough to do normal stuff, but not huge updates. Anything big I need I take computer to work, library, etc., and download. But normal Windows 10 and 11 updates would destroy my monthly data allotment, so I can't run 10 or 11.
I have to wonder (dream / fantasize) about a world where an OS isn't released until it's mostly done. Not sending broken garbage out, expecting everyone to deal with garbage, huge downloads / long installs / reboots / possibly breaking things. I'd love a class action suit against Microsoft. I guess we need a govt. agency similar to NTSA or NHTSA to force them to only release correct software. Sigh.
Thank you for the tips- I will try it. I'm on borrowed time using older browsers on Win7. No problems yet, but I can tell some moronic sites are getting fussy.