SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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 number11 on Sunday June 08, @05:16PM
Never tried Plasma, but I've found that Linux Mint is GUI-similar enough not to freak new users. In my case XFCE, to stay close to my Win10 Open Shell that's doing its best to look like Win7. I haven't actually replaced the W10 machine yet (keeping it to run a couple of programs that I haven't got going yet under Linux), but have been running Mint for years on an (originally) Win7 netbook that's acting as a server. With a 4GB 2-core 1GHz CPU, it's a bit sluggish, but it's not like W10 would run better.
Yes, if you have exotic needs there will be a bit of a learning curve, there is some Win-only software that just won't work. But I am ancient and cut my teeth on CP/M, so command lines don't scare me, and there are few issues that someone else hasn't already experienced and written about online. The average user can use Firefox and LibraOffice, no problem.