Okay, so Windows 10 turns out to NOT be the last Windows ever, and in Micro$oft tradition Windows 11 is a bloated, invasive operating system that will sap your computer resources to the max. If you are in Ogemaw, Oscoda, Roscommon, or other regions within 50 miles of Rose City, MI, and are on Windows 10 you may need to assess your needs for upgrade before Windows 10 is no longer under Micro$oft support. This may require hardware replacement costing hundreds of dollars, a “hack” to make your current system accept the next Windows, or leaving Micro$oft altogether to use an open source, free to use Linux operating system with all the bells and whistles you need without the constraints and restraints that Micro$oft places on you. If you are looking toward the future and wish to consult with a knowledgeable source about your computing need in regards to operating systems you can get in touch at jeff@jeffdoesit.biz and I will be happy to help.
Category: Windows 11
Never Have So Many Owed So Much For So Little
An Open Letter To Microsoft:
Dear Microsoft,
It’s been a pleasure using your OS for these last few decades. As a freelance IT nerd and occasional business staffer I have been thrilled by the challenges of learning the M$ software that runs on Windows, from 3.1 to 10 and all the updates. Especially post Windows 7, when updates, more often than not, would change some crucial setting and render a critical 3rd-party application useless until I could divine the fix with hours (sometimes days) of searching online and experimentation to restore functionality. It was even more fun to watch you take things away, like WMC (Windows Media Center), the greatest HTPC application ever, so that over-engineered and clunky 3rd party applications like Kodi could fill the void with months of configuration twiddling to attain half the functionality of WMC. Really nice move, there.
But the greatest move so far is the one you have coming up, the one that replaces Windows 10, the system that you claimed was the last Windows you would ever put out, Windows 11. I have not yet installed this new and improved Windows 10, but I have seen the videos. I must say, I am impressed with the dramatic pictures that you’ve chosen for the background. And moving the taskbar icons to the center? Genius!
Of course, you know this will be driving some consumer-level Windows users to learn Linux. This is because some of us aren’t really ready to replace their trusty, perfectly serviceable, loaded personal computers with new ones that accept the TPM 2.0 that you demand. Granted, it’s four years before Windows 10 needs to be retired. That should give the average power user time to find the Linux replacements for M$ Office and any of the other software they currently use.
The big advantage for you, dear M$, is that you will force businesses, from small mom & pop to major corporations, to comply with your dictate and either update with TPM chips or replace their computers with new units to avoid having to do, on a mega-scale, what individual users who switch to Linux will have to do. Changing document formats, spreadsheets, whole databases? IT hell! And can you imagine the learning curve for the users? The re-education dollars would be immense. I’m sure you’ve calculated all that, though: replacement costs vs. OS switch. I’d guess you’ll come out on top, since you get a piece of the new computer sales from your partner companies. And, hey, you probably need the money. I’m sure you’re strapped for cash, after all this Plandemic stuff. And it’s not like there isn’t precedence for this move. The FCC did the same kind of thing a few years ago by taking away analog TV so that they could sell frequencies to cell phone service providers. Smart! Hell, people needed to buy cable or satellite subscriptions anyway. Those companies have better funded lobbyists. Gotta keep those political contributions rolling in. Good for America! Besides, everything looks so much better on a 60″ flat-panel LED television, made by $1.00/day labor in some Asian sweatshop. That is, until the signal gets weak during bad weather, or if you live in fringe areas. But I digress.
It is with heavy heart that I will not be able to afford to follow you, M$, into the Windows 11 money pit. I live on a fixed income and just cannot see my way clear to replace the high-powered, home-built machine that far exceeds the general requirements you’ve placed on Windows 11. I cannot even justify the cost of a TPM chip, something that used to cost about $10 before you announced the need for your upgrade, which naturally drove the cost to @ $90 now (love that free market. Are you getting a piece of that, too?)
So I have a question, M$: Which Linux distro do you suggest for my machine to keep it working just like it does with Windows 10? Just kidding; I know you don’t care.