Question Is Microsoft Going to Screw Its Customers?

[BonzaiDuck]

I've posted at least a few threads about dealing with the end-of-service for Windows 10 Pro, including threads on the "solution" of the IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC "upgrade" to extend support through 2032. I mentioned that I have three Win 10 systems, two currently Skylake and one Kaby Lake. The Kaby is the only system with the Enterprise LTSC version installed. It is doing "just fine".

But I've seen thread posts at other web-sites -- the MS Community, Ten Forums etc. -- suggesting that a Z170 motherboard with its latest BIOS, the addition of the appropriate TPM 2.0 plug-in module and a Kaby Lake processor will likely run smoothly without error for updates -- with the feature updates at least installable manually. I want to test my "theory" on one of these machines.

So today I'm going to install the TPM 2.0 module, poke around in BIOS, and then plan my approach: a fresh install of Win 11 Pro, because you cannot upgrade from IoT Enterprise 2021 to Win 11 Pro to "save files and programs." All I need to do is run this fresh install to put Win 11 Pro on the current NVME boot disk; all of my files and software installation programs are on other drives -- a 2TB Crucial SSD, and two hot-swap 2.5" HDDs.

HOWEVER! I did some more poking around to see about the support for Windows 11. MICROSOFT HAS NOW DEFINED SUPPORT ACCORDING TO VERSION FEATURE UPDATES! So support for Win 11 version 24H2 -- the latest -- only runs through 2026! If I thought I might really "need" the test system, it's hardly worth it if I cannot successfully update to the feature version that succeeds 24H2.

So this suggests something about the vague eventual release of Windows 12. Is Microsoft deliberately attempting to screw us out of even the eligible hardware we have or may have for Windows 11 Pro? Apparently their strategy for OS versions is now determined primarily with corporate IT in mind. How does that serve, or do disservice -- to "individual" users or customers? Are they going to screw us?

 

[quikah]

Tech companies have become more strict with ending life of products. Not just MS. Intel ended support for that Kaby Lake CPU last year.

This site has a pretty good summary of many end of life dates. https://endoflife.date/

Windows has moved to a 2 year support cycle for home and 3 year for enterprise. 25H2 should be coming in a month or 2. I really doubt they would leave everyone high and dry (but you never know).

Get ready for Windows 11, version 25H2 - Windows IT Pro Blog

Ready for the next feature update? Windows 11, version 25H2 is coming as an enablement package (eKB) later this year!

techcommunity.microsoft.com

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Tech companies have become more strict with ending life of products. Not just MS. Intel ended support for that Kaby Lake CPU last year.

This site has a pretty good summary of many end of life dates. https://endoflife.date/

Windows has moved to a 2 year support cycle for home and 3 year for enterprise. 25H2 should be coming in a month or 2. I really doubt they would leave everyone high and dry (but you never know).

Get ready for Windows 11, version 25H2 - Windows IT Pro Blog

Ready for the next feature update? Windows 11, version 25H2 is coming as an enablement package (eKB) later this year!

techcommunity.microsoft.com

So . . . what is this . . . "support" . . . that I "need" for Kaby Lake? The processor isn't going to die. What does support MEAN for that product?!

See, there was a time when I had computers that ran MS-DOS. When windows 3.0 came along, I got it. Then 3.1. Then 3.11. As soon as we had Win 95 -- I jumped on that sucker! Then the same with Win 98, and Windows NT, and Windows XP, XP Media Center, Windows 7 and Windows 10. I was staying AHEAD! But . . . I'm TIRED of this S**T! I need to squeeze more life out of this older hardware.

But you can check my other threads. I've got this licked! I DO! [For now . . . ] What's going to happen when I have dementia and can't remember my account IDs and passwords? Disaster! I have to stave off Disaster!!

 

[Jimminy]

If you get dementia, you likely won't even care about computers, much less try to use them.

 

[lxskllr]

What's going to happen when I have dementia and can't remember my account IDs and passwords? Disaster! I have to stave off Disaster!!

You should be using a password manager, dementia or not. Everyone should. It's the only way you can feasibly have good passwords that can be recalled. If you can remember your password, it probably sucks. Matters less for forums and trivialities than it does for finance or the keys to your system.

I like KeePass variants. Offline, but can be synced with the service of your choice, and you can fill it with data that isn't passwords. Anything useful to remember that you want to keep secure. You remember one uber password to open your vault, and the program remembers all the rest.

 

[mikeymikec]

Each feature update of Windows 10/11 is supported for two years. Before 24H2 EOL's, 25H2 and 26H2 will probably have been released.

25H2 is the same codebase as 24H2 so I would be highly surprised if there are going to be any compatibility surprises there.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You should be using a password manager, dementia or not. Everyone should. It's the only way you can feasibly have good passwords that can be recalled. If you can remember your password, it probably sucks. Matters less for forums and trivialities than it does for finance or the keys to your system.

I like KeePass variants. Offline, but can be synced with the service of your choice, and you can fill it with data that isn't passwords. Anything useful to remember that you want to keep secure. You remember one uber password to open your vault, and the program remembers all the rest.

Well actually I created an account ID and password database table. In several cases the web browser remembers ID and password. I'm just attempting humor at discussing the malady of growing old. Watching my Moms slide downhill really made me realize what many of us could be facing. If it sounds as though 10% of seniors will have dementia or Oldheimers, ANYBODY could be among the 10%. And ALL old people start to have more memory difficulties without being diagnosed with these maladies, even if they get checked by their physician or neurologist annually.

If I have lunch with friends in my age group, the conversation invariably includes remarks like "I just had a senior moment and can't remember" or "I had a brain fart".

A friend who died in 2022 at 80 described it this way. Assume the human brain is roughly functioning the way computer models of Turing and von Neumann work. There's a "stack", and it gets more and more crowded with age. So it takes longer to recall stuff that you'd previously had just on the tip of your tongue, as they say.

Each feature update of Windows 10/11 is supported for two years. Before 24H2 EOL's, 25H2 and 26H2 will probably have been released.

25H2 is the same codebase as 24H2 so I would be highly surprised if there are going to be any compatibility surprises there.

It raises an interesting question, given certain facts. For instance, the Win 11 IoT . . . LTSC versions have relaxed hardware requirements, so I was able to install it without any problem concerning my Kaby Lake processor. But with more and more feature updates, what are they going to do about their CPU eligibility list? Oh -- I suppose Win 11 is . . . Win 11. But either you or someone else said -- maybe it was Igor -- you don't know what M$ is going to do; you can't predict that future.

Otherwise, I'd use these retail box Win 11 Pro installations I have on the old hardware. At least one, however, is destined for my December Arrow Lake or Ryzen build -- whichever.