[HN Gopher] Windows 11 will create heaps of needless trash
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Windows 11 will create heaps of needless trash
        
       Author : yabones
       Score  : 207 points
       Date   : 2021-06-27 20:37 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (nbailey.ca)
 (TXT) w3m dump (nbailey.ca)
        
       | nwellinghoff wrote:
       | Windows 10 support goes through 2025. And they will prob do a
       | forced security patch so you should be good until 2027ish.
        
       | userbinator wrote:
       | This shouldn't be _too_ surprising, given that Microsoft is also
       | against right-to-repair...
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20318882
       | 
       | ... "because security". Securing what, exactly? Their profits and
       | control. They don't want you using older systems because they
       | have less control without a TPM and all the other horrors of
       | Trusted Computing that come with it, such as remote attestation.
       | 
       | It sounds almost conspiratorial, but I think this move by MS is
       | just another step towards the "you will own nothing" trend of
       | companies slowly herding their users with more and more
       | restrictions and "beating them into submission", so they can
       | extract more profits from them.
       | 
       | I have zero "smart devices" in my home. My decades old car and
       | other appliances listen only to me, are simple and easily
       | repaired, and last a long time. My PC is slightly over a decade,
       | but it's plenty fast for what I need to use it for. Others have
       | made the safety/security argument to attempt to get me to replace
       | them, and those arguments have likely convinced others, but I
       | know what they're trying to get me into --- and very, _very_
       | strongly oppose.
        
       | dosenbrot wrote:
       | > We should be extending the lives of existing machines as much
       | as possible right now, encouraging people to purchase new
       | computers right now is irresponsible. Not just now ..., our
       | entire economy is based on shoving perfectly fine hardware into
       | the trash. Microsoft is just a small part in this game. Also
       | everyone talks about "eco friendly" and at the same time things
       | like that happen: "you want the new operating system - buy
       | complete new hardware - its just slightly better then the old
       | one".
        
       | young_unixer wrote:
       | To think that all of this Microsoft bullshit could be the
       | propeller for Linux adoption, if only Linux developers had good
       | taste and had developed something worthy of replacing Windows.
        
       | jbluepolarbear wrote:
       | This is going to kill adoption of the new gaming features. I am
       | really excited for Direct Storage on windows, but what incentive
       | do the developers have to support it if only a small subset of
       | their users have machines new enough to run it. This is exactly
       | the same as the DirectX 10 disaster on Vista. It took a long time
       | for developers to switch from 9 to 10. Most skipped 10 for 11
       | because it had the same windows support. And direct storage is
       | locked to windows 11. Microsoft, you want to be a gaming
       | powerhouse? Maybe listen to developers and stop listening to your
       | executives that don't understand. Games ported from Xbox Series X
       | will be unable to run on Windows 10 if they require direct
       | storage support.
        
         | jmkni wrote:
         | Maybe I'm getting old, but it's mental to me that a regular SDD
         | over SATA3 is now regarded as _slow_ , and you need an NVME SSD
         | to run things quickly.
         | 
         | I have a gaming PC and really can't tell the difference between
         | games loaded between the two.
        
           | vvillena wrote:
           | Because the games don't take advantage of the higher
           | bandwidth. In fact, they probably don't even take advantage
           | of the SSD, because games are still built so that they work
           | when installed on spinning drives. The advantage of SSDs is
           | the random access time, but if you are streaming continuous
           | data, it's only about triple the speed of an HDD.
           | 
           | A NVME PCIe 4.0 SSD can be up to 15 times faster than a SATA
           | SSD. The difference is much much bigger.
        
         | keyringlight wrote:
         | I think it's going to be a little bit more challenging as the
         | consoles are ahead with the storage capabilities as a baseline.
         | Back in 2006 the consoles were (roughly) DX9 levels, so there
         | wasn't really much incentive to push ahead unless your studio
         | was a trailblazer. Now studios making games need to think on
         | which audience they prioritize.
         | 
         | To a certain extent I anticipate it could be "a storm in a
         | teacup", the new consoles have strong CPUs so that would
         | naturally drive people gaming on PC to upgrade anyway. There's
         | no games coming out (that I know of) with an imminent need to
         | utilize direct storage, but I'd guess late 2022/2023 onwards is
         | where it becomes strongly encouraged.
        
       | mikl wrote:
       | This assumes that owners of functioning Win10 machines will
       | decide to throw them away just to get Win11.
       | 
       | I don't think that's a reasonable assumption for the large
       | majority of users. If someone cares enough about having the
       | latest (if not greatest) version, they are likely also upgrading
       | their hardware frequently already.
        
       | cdolan wrote:
       | Could you not argue the exact opposite point with the same
       | underlying facts? Meaning "requiring modern low power CPU's is a
       | great thing for the environment"?
       | 
       | And how reasonable is it to say these PCs will be immediately
       | trashed? Seems like a straw man argument - I know plenty of
       | schools that will happily run Win10 until 2030
        
       | MarkusWandel wrote:
       | I just hope that some of that needless trash enters the secondary
       | market rather than going directly to recyclers. First of all
       | because Win10 will stay useful for most people for quite some
       | time yet, second because these boxes/laptops make great Linux
       | machines!
        
         | bifrost wrote:
         | Most recyclers repurpose stuff like this...
        
       | bruce343434 wrote:
       | It IS a heap of needless trash!
        
       | leucineleprec0n wrote:
       | The hype train is already starting RE: "people will switch to
       | Linux, etc etc". MS for once abandons the backwards compatibility
       | obsession, albeit in an understandable but not user-facing,
       | palatable way as with a unified UI - and is dammed to Techlord
       | Mordor. Poor strategy aside, MS just can't win with everyone, the
       | divide is particularly stark for their user base. IMO though they
       | should never have been remotely as lenient over the control panel
       | UI and such, or should've launched a reworked OS dubbed "tileOS"
       | that cleaved off cruft, nix-based with a unified touch & a great
       | package manager, terminal for the backend.
       | 
       | It feels to me like the current strategy splits too many hairs.
       | Apple understood this, which is why they haven't launched MacOS
       | RT/10X then scrapped it or some jazz. (And to be clear the issue
       | with 10X is it that it wasn't really approxmating a cleaned up
       | version of Windows - just a ChromeOS competitor for low-cost
       | garbage)
       | 
       | Oh, but as for Linux on the desktop - the only way that happens
       | is probably MS throwing in the towel (which is a poor phrase
       | given the context would almost certainly be a boon to most
       | everyone) adopting the Linux Kernel or some FreeBSD core, with a
       | compatability layer for Win32 bullshit.
        
         | GekkePrutser wrote:
         | But their backwards compabitility obsession is not seen as a
         | drawback by everyone. In fact I personally think Apple is
         | taking things too far.
         | 
         | The people that would complain about the backwards
         | compatibility are probably not the same people that are
         | complaining now. Those people would already be using their
         | fancy UWP Metro apps :)
         | 
         | By the way they are dropping the live tiles in Windows 11! So
         | tileOS would be a misnomer. I'm personally very happy about
         | that, I always spent a while cleaning up the start menu of all
         | that crap after every install. I never liked the idea of them
         | but admittedly I'm a pretty traditional user (and a power user
         | at that).
         | 
         | One thing I do really like in Windows 11 is the new pane
         | system. I haven't yet tried it but it sounds like an
         | interesting compromise between a traditional and a tiling
         | window system. And the good thing about it is that it doesn't
         | have to break any backwards compatibility (after all, neither
         | do tiling WMs on Linux)
        
           | leucineleprec0n wrote:
           | Haha I realize that re live tiles. I do think the tiles lost
           | their allure over time, but at the least the functional UI
           | within menus and such that MS has been evolving _at it 's
           | best_ looks great or superior to others of the day then/now
           | (metro, fluent).
           | 
           | Likewise re cleaning up the start crap, I'm not wedded to the
           | tiles haha! As a reluctant recent MacOS user though, I really
           | love the functionality of the start menu's easy-to-access
           | list of my software suites/programs. I just strongly feel the
           | Dock + Launchpad is a poor substitute for the Taskbar + Start
           | Menu. Much easier to shove my programs in hiding, or to
           | access.... Windows/instances for that matter in Windows
           | (because all instances remain visible within a scrolling
           | glance of an alias/icon, on Windows - it's something truly
           | bizarre to me in that MacOS users don't mention this flaw -
           | the dock is so easily cluttered and the setting to minimize
           | instances into an icon do not offer an easy glance as with
           | Windows).Anyways, I'd still really like them to unify the UI
           | - it's just a deadweight loss for everyone right now IMO.
           | Even the legacy IT managers... At some point asking them to
           | tolerate UI adjustment isn't insane.
           | 
           | RE: Apple: I do agree Apple have gone too far at times... I
           | mean, I think dropping 32-bit support was for the better
           | right now, not too many regrets as I write this on my M1 MBA,
           | though having to dual boot for a class was a PITA last year
           | with Catalina's lack of 32-bit support (and I am opposed to
           | the use of V*rtualbox). IDK, I guess my only real quibble
           | with Apple other than embracing iOS7 design is the direction
           | they're hellbent on leading the charge for with iOS' software
           | model. OTOH, where I part with some here is that I just don't
           | think MS is really out to stop people from installing Linux
           | via TPM - I think this is just usual poor PR and poor
           | strategizing. Looks like they're determined to further muddy
           | the waters lol: https://tinyurl.com/srk9zm7e
        
             | GekkePrutser wrote:
             | I use Mac a lot too (I do use pretty much all platforms
             | every day). But I don't use Launchpad for the same reason.
             | I don't find it fits well on my big 24" screen. I don't
             | want huge icons spread out over the whole thing, same issue
             | I had with Windows 8.
             | 
             | Instead, what I do is I add the Applications folder to the
             | dock and set it to pop-up grid mode. That way it provides a
             | nice start menu. Incidentially this was pretty much how
             | 'things worked' in earlier versions of macOS. In the oldest
             | versions you'd just get a finder window with your apps, and
             | when Stacks came in Leopard (IIRC) this became the de facto
             | 'start menu'. They later introduced launchpad as a unifying
             | thing with the iPad but I just don't think full screen
             | interfaces work well on large screens.
             | 
             | Also using spotlight is a handy way of launching apps. I
             | use both together a lot.
             | 
             | And yes I totally agree that the minimised windows are hard
             | to spot on macOS, and so is the dot to see which program is
             | running or not. Apple has been tuning down this dot a lot
             | over the years because they don't want users to care about
             | it. It used to be a perfectly serviceable triangle in Tiger
             | and went downhill from there.
             | 
             | And yeah I don't think the point is them preventing Linux
             | either. Even if you have a TPM you still retain full
             | control and can still add your own secureboot keys if you
             | want to.
        
       | pt_PT_guy wrote:
       | People have voted... with their money.
       | 
       | Microsoft can't longer afford being yield back by deprecated
       | processor technology. And the bad publicity of doing so.
       | 
       | By not bumping the requirements a lot of security and speed
       | improvements can't be done.
       | 
       | This is even more visible with the Apple M1 release. Because of
       | it Windows looks like insecure, insufficient and unoptimized.
       | 
       | People have chosen that they don't care about openness neither
       | about supporting legacy hardware and Microsoft is listening.
        
         | roelschroeven wrote:
         | What deprecated processor technology? The cutoff is not based
         | on CPU capabilities or processing power. They just choose a
         | point in time and only support CPU's newer than that.
        
           | pt_PT_guy wrote:
           | you're right. I was expecting that 10th+ intel gen had a lot
           | more hardware extensions, but looks like there's none
        
       | HenryKissinger wrote:
       | The basic problem:
       | 
       | Windows is forcing hundreds of millions of devices into technical
       | obsolescence, for no good reason other than another incremental
       | upgrade to its operating system.
       | 
       | Human civilization has existed for approximately 10,000 years.
       | The main purpose of a society is to survive indefinitely into the
       | future. I would like human civilization to exist in 10,000 years,
       | in 100,000 years.
       | 
       | If Microsoft changes its operating system every decade, we're
       | looking at 10 000 iterations of Windows in the next 100 000
       | years. 10 000 cycles that, if current trends continue, will each
       | render hundreds of millions of electronic devices obsolete,
       | representing billions of pounds of plastic and metals each. To
       | put it plainly, there are not enough petroleum resources and
       | metals in the upper crust of this planet to manufacture the
       | hundreds of millions of brand new electronic devices that
       | successive wave of consumers will demand every few years.
       | 
       | The author is right. The fact that Windows 11 will be available
       | as a free upgrade to devices already running W10 doesn't change
       | the fact that many, if not most, of them won't meet Microsoft's
       | specs.
       | 
       | I am very concerned about the environmental cost of electronics,
       | and I'm afraid we're not taking the issue seriously enough. We're
       | somehow trying to transition our way into a digital utopia the
       | likes of which exist in science fiction, without the
       | infrastructure or the resources to support it.
       | 
       | One of the most popular PC games of all times is Age of Empires
       | II, a game that originally came out in 1999. The original game
       | can practically run on a toaster, and still enjoys a large and
       | vibrant online community.
       | 
       | Why can't we... settle on the same operating system for a few
       | centuries? (I realize that Microsoft would not do this on its
       | own, and that it would require government intervention in the
       | market, if not an outright public takeover of Microsoft, but I'm
       | throwing ideas into the wind here) Now I'm _glad_ we 're not
       | still using Windows 95, but will OS's in 25 years be that much
       | more advanced than 2021 OS's compared to 1995? I don't think so.
       | I think Windows 10 is _good enough_ for a long, long time.
       | Microsoft 's concept of W10 as the final version of the product
       | was right, and I'm disappointed to see it go.
       | 
       | Maybe the long term solution is for the government itself to
       | start selling, if not mandating, its own operating system
       | software to consumers and businesses alike. Government doesn't
       | have to meet quarterly profit goals, which is a plus in favor of
       | long term sustainability.
        
       | arthurcolle wrote:
       | Sorry for the aside, but do these TPM 2.0 modules actually
       | guarantee any additional security?
        
         | bifrost wrote:
         | A TPM does provide security, but unclear if it'll actually
         | matter for the Windows use cases.
        
         | wang_li wrote:
         | An encrypted hdd/ssd will help of someone steals your computer,
         | removes your drive, and tries to read it from another computer
         | in order to bypass your passwords. It won't do shit for ransom
         | ware. Ransom ware runs as a user land program and does
         | encryption from within your OS where you data is live and
         | unencrypted. The end result will be a hard drive full of
         | encrypted files that is then reencrypted by bitlocker.
        
           | Aardwolf wrote:
           | If someone steals your computer, they also have the TPM,
           | which has the key, right? What am I missing about what TPM
           | does that is so secure?
        
             | yabones wrote:
             | The only thing TPM based disk encryption protects is the
             | kernel and the login screen. Without disk encryption
             | somebody could modify your kernel or boot sequence and
             | inject something nasty. Likewise they could do the old
             | utilman.exe hack[1] and get admin by replacing one of the
             | programs on the login screen with a shell.
             | 
             | If the device can boot without a password or PIN, there are
             | some surprising ways to get into it just by switching
             | networks (if network drives are mounted it will _sometimes_
             | send NTLM hashes), or by good old brute-forcing.
             | 
             | [1] https://blog.kaniski.eu/2020/12/utilman-exe-to-cmd-exe-
             | and-b...
        
             | mnd999 wrote:
             | The TPM combined with secure boot will only unlock the disk
             | if nothings been tampered with, meaning your OS security is
             | intact. If you switch off secure boot or mess with the
             | kernel or boot loader it'll just refuse to unlock.
             | 
             | I would guess extracting the keys from the tpm in other
             | ways is not impossible, but probably sufficiently hard to
             | be not worth it in most situations.
        
               | arthurcolle wrote:
               | So if you modify any components in a laptop, say RAM or a
               | video card, or you you mess with any BIOS settings, it
               | won't boot?
               | 
               | is this for real...?
        
             | my123 wrote:
             | The TPM gets the measurements of the state of the system
             | during different phases of the boot process, and only
             | releases the key if those measurements match.
             | 
             | It's also designed to not be able to be able to extract the
             | key material out of it.
        
         | azalemeth wrote:
         | As ever with security questions, the answer to that depends a
         | _lot_ on your threat model.
         | 
         | Microsoft say that the main features of TPMs are that they [1]:
         | 
         | > Generate, store, and limit the use of cryptographic keys.
         | 
         | > Use TPM technology for platform device authentication by
         | using the TPM's unique RSA key, which is burned into itself.
         | 
         | > Help ensure platform integrity by taking and storing security
         | measurements.
         | 
         | One can, in principle, imagine situations a la Apple's T2 chip
         | whereby this could be very useful to the end user -- for
         | example, in hardware rate-limiting whole drive encryption
         | decryption requests. Microsoft don't actually state this as a
         | potential use-case. They go for the rather more prosaic
         | 
         | > Antimalware software can use the boot measurements of the
         | operating system start state to prove the integrity of a
         | computer running Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016. These
         | measurements include the launch of Hyper-V to test that
         | datacenters using virtualization are not running untrusted
         | hypervisors. With BitLocker Network Unlock, IT administrators
         | can push an update without concerns that a computer is waiting
         | for PIN entry.
         | 
         | The rest of the page then goes on about hardware attestation.
         | In reality, I am increasingly convinced that this is all an
         | elaborate DRM scheme, similar to what they integrated in the
         | XBox, with its on-chip crypto. I think we will see increasingly
         | user-hostile, but more "transparent" DRM schemes based around
         | this idea, and continue the cat-and-mouse game of "you are
         | running this code in a VM and that is unauthorised for
         | $MONEY_REASONS".
         | 
         | I'll stick to Linux, thanks.
         | 
         | [1] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
         | us/windows/security/informatio...
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | hakfoo wrote:
           | I'm worried that pushing whole-disc encryption at people who
           | aren't aware of the consequences is a huge risk.
           | 
           | I suspect for most consumer and small-business users, the
           | risk of "a power surge blew out my motherboard and TPM, but I
           | can take the surviving SSD and plunk it in a new PC and
           | salvage my data" is a much more important use case than
           | "someone might steal my PC and get at my valuable unencrypted
           | data." I know we've heard people screaming about this on the
           | MacOS side, but thereit's intertwined with the
           | unrecoverability of a soldered storage subsystem.
           | 
           | Large and technical organizations who might need the
           | encryption are hopefully more likely to have IT staff and
           | policies for backups and recovery, so they'll be able to
           | handle that emergency better.
        
             | GekkePrutser wrote:
             | Yes this. I've scraped my SSD for data after it blew up :)
             | 
             | The data wasn't _that_ valuable otherwise I 'd have had it
             | backed up. The problem is it's my game PC. I don't want to
             | constantly backup and sync all my game files as I can
             | easily re-download them anyway and they take a ton of
             | space. The savegames I do want backed up ideally but
             | they're all over the filesystem. So, I recovered some that
             | way. It was educational too, trying to scrape stuff off a
             | broken NTFS image.
             | 
             | But I certainly don't need or want my desktop PC encrypted.
             | I only use my Windows box for gaming and I don't want to
             | waste performance on it.
        
             | easton wrote:
             | In Windows 10 today, enabling BitLocker backups the keys to
             | your AAD/Microsoft Account (depending on Home or Pro). If
             | you hook the drive to another Windows machine you should be
             | able to decrypt it with not a lot of trouble (you might
             | have to log into the Azure Portal to pull the keys out if
             | you are in a corporate environment, but that's it).
        
               | tiagod wrote:
               | Doesn't this defeat the purpose (at least partially?)
               | 
               | I assume law enforcement can request those keys from
               | Microsoft if they're backed up to the account.
        
               | ptk wrote:
               | I think the threat models of the overwhelming majority of
               | individuals would prioritize scenarios that involve lost
               | or stolen laptops/desktops over law enforcement. So
               | Microsoft defaulting to protecting the security needs of
               | the common man over criminals seems entirely reasonable
               | to me. Criminals (or the security/privacy conscious) can
               | organize their enterprises to make sure that their
               | BitLocker keys aren't stored where law enforcement
               | agencies can get them. And I say that as someone who
               | really does have concerns about the possibility that this
               | can be abused, but I still believe it's a reasonable
               | default.
        
       | koehr wrote:
       | I fail to see any mention of or link to the detailed requirements
       | talked about. To save y'all from yet another search engine visit,
       | they are basically Intel 8th Gen Core upwards and comparable AMD
       | CPUs. Here you can find the lists: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
       | us/windows-hardware/design/min...
        
         | yabones wrote:
         | Thanks! I updated the OP to reference this for people who may
         | not have been 'in the loop' and need this context.
        
       | btdmaster wrote:
       | I wonder how many will be convinced to install Linux, especially
       | given the increasing move for Operating Systems as a browser
       | shim.
        
         | bifrost wrote:
         | Probably zero.
        
         | Hamuko wrote:
         | Zero. Maybe some tens of consumers will have their computer
         | converted into a Linux box by a nephew.
        
         | forinti wrote:
         | If Windows 10 didn't convince you, nothing will.
        
         | krylon wrote:
         | I remember reading some blog posts from people switching to
         | Linux because they disliked Windows 10 for various reasons
         | (mostly privacy concerns and forced updates), but I think those
         | were fairly tech savvy already.
         | 
         | Most people will just use whatever Microsoft releases, either
         | because it comes preinstalled on their PC, because it's what
         | they know, or because they need Windows because of some
         | application or piece of hardware.
         | 
         | The year of Linux on the desktop will have to wait for a while,
         | I'm afraid.
         | 
         | (On my desktop it's been year-of-the-Linux-desktop for the past
         | 20 years, fortunately.)
        
       | nfca wrote:
       | Is there an actual risk of "heaps" of "trash"? If Windows 11 will
       | not be an involuntary, forced update then woudln't existing
       | hardware continue to run as it does today?
        
       | cpuguy83 wrote:
       | New macOS is similar, where it seems like they are dumping
       | support for any Mac that has an nVidia GPU.
        
       | fungiblecog wrote:
       | Our entire society functions on the idea that consumption is
       | good. And our desire for more crap is destroying our planet's
       | ability to sustain us indefinitely into the future.
       | 
       | So whenever I hear all these complaints about companies acting in
       | their interests - rather than for the common good - I wonder what
       | planet I'm living on.
       | 
       | Until we accept that governments not only have a right, but a
       | duty, to force us to reduce our consumption - rather than
       | encouraging it - we're going to continue down the drain. Market
       | forces and greed will not fix this problem.
        
       | sedatk wrote:
       | I think the article makes a good point about the arbitrary red
       | line drawn between two CPU generations with no justification
       | whatsoever, but "heaps of trash" isn't the strongest argument
       | against this. Arguably, Intel releasing new CPUs causes that even
       | more heaps of trash, probably orders of magnitude more than
       | Windows. It's a silly argument IMHO.
        
         | squarefoot wrote:
         | Releasing new CPUs doesn't make older ones unusable; making an
         | OS incompatible with them without good reason does.
         | 
         | The article wording might not be the best, still it's spot on:
         | users whose software will require Windows 11 (or simply who
         | won't feel like going back after upgrading) will be forced to
         | ditch their system, which in a world dominated by Windows,
         | therefore many users with the same problem, is a lot more
         | likely to turn into trash rather than sold as used.
        
           | Hamuko wrote:
           | > _Releasing new CPUs doesn 't make older ones unusable;
           | making an OS incompatible with them without good reason
           | does._
           | 
           | All those Windows 7 computers didn't become unusable once
           | Windows 8 came out.
        
             | squarefoot wrote:
             | That's because Windows 8 wasn't incompatible with the same
             | hardware that could run windows 7. You're making my point.
             | 
             | The article criticizes Windows 11 insane hardware
             | requirements, not Microsoft for making a new version of
             | Windows.
        
               | Hamuko wrote:
               | > _That 's because Windows 8 wasn't incompatible with the
               | same hardware that could run windows 7._
               | 
               | That only matters if people actually upgrade their
               | Windows 7 installs to Windows 8 installs. And since it
               | was a paid upgrade to an OS that was arguable worse than
               | what people had, people probably skipped out.
               | 
               | How Windows upgrades worked before Windows 10 was that
               | you upgraded to a new version of Windows when you bought
               | a new PC. Every other means of upgrading was minor at
               | best, since it wasn't available through Windows Update
               | for free.
        
             | roelschroeven wrote:
             | They became unusable, practically speaking, when support
             | ended (unless they're off the grid, or if you don't care to
             | be part of a botnet). Microsoft now says support for
             | Windows 10 will end in 2025; all those unsupported
             | computers became landfill at that point, even if they still
             | run perfectly fine.
        
         | jmkni wrote:
         | Is it abritary? I was wondering if limiting to new to newer
         | CPU's would enable them to stop supporting/rip out a load of
         | legacy code?
         | 
         | Also, is this _actually_ a good opportuinty for Desktop Linux?
        
         | Spooky23 wrote:
         | It hasn't in recent years, PC fleets have been aging forever.
         | 36 month refresh cycles are more like 50 months these days.
         | 
         | This is straight up a way to keep intel alive.
        
         | andyjansson wrote:
         | I don't think it's a silly argument at all. Windows 10 will
         | meet its EOL in 2025, meaning that our computers only have 4
         | more years left in them (or you switch to something like linux,
         | but that's not really an option for most people for obvious
         | reasons). This will make the computers unattractive on the
         | second-hand market. IMO a computer should be serviceable for
         | longer than 7 years.
        
           | Hamuko wrote:
           | > _IMO a computer should be serviceable for longer than 7
           | years._
           | 
           | How many Windows PCs are actually getting security updates
           | for less than 7 years? Your CPU will have to be like 8 years
           | old when you stop getting security updates for Windows 10 and
           | you can't upgrade to Windows 11.
        
             | andyjansson wrote:
             | >Your CPU will have to be like 8 years old when you stop
             | getting security updates for Windows 10 and you can't
             | upgrade to Windows 11.
             | 
             | Yes, and I'm saying that's unreasonable. Look no further
             | than this very thread and you'll find plenty of people
             | using 10-year old computers without issue.
        
         | Goz3rr wrote:
         | >the arbitrary red line drawn between two CPU generations
         | 
         | I've seen people theorize that it's because of the availability
         | of UMIP instructions
        
           | ColonelPhantom wrote:
           | According to WikiChip, UMIP got added in Zen2 (Ryzen 3000),
           | while MS supports Zen+ (Ryzen 2000).
        
       | cortesoft wrote:
       | I get the frustration with the requirements, but it is a little
       | dramatic to say those machines who don't meet the requirements
       | will go straight in the trash. Those machines can still run
       | Windows 10, and a lot of people will just keep using it. Why
       | would people who don't feel the need to upgrade to the newest
       | hardware as soon as it is out feel the need to upgrade to the
       | newest OS as soon as it comes out?
        
         | HenryKissinger wrote:
         | Because Windows 10 support eventually ends, and because of the
         | proprietary nature of the software, independent individuals
         | can't patch their own computer like an official Windows Update
         | can. So those individuals who keep using a W10 machine beyond
         | the end of extended support will be vulnerable to any number of
         | threats if their machine is not air gapped.
        
           | cortesoft wrote:
           | Yeah, and hardware support also ends.
           | 
           | Windows 10 is to be supported until 2025.
        
           | userbinator wrote:
           | _and because of the proprietary nature of the software,
           | independent individuals can 't patch their own computer like
           | an official Windows Update can._
           | 
           | At least for older versions, there have been plenty of
           | unofficial patches for various things, and many of those are
           | open-source too.
           | 
           | Patching binaries has been a long tradition in the
           | DOS/Windows world, going back decades.
        
       | Todd wrote:
       | Microsoft is late to the party here. This has been core to
       | Apple's business model for years. Here's an example of OS support
       | for the MacBook Air:
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Air#Supported_macOS_re...
       | 
       | The arbitrary cadence of abandonment is amazingly consistent and
       | has no basis in hardware capabilities.
        
         | hughrr wrote:
         | I'm not sure that's a problem. I usually thoroughly wear them
         | out before they go obsolete and quite frankly I don't want to
         | use a 7+ year old computer. They're pretty awful.
        
           | koyote wrote:
           | Really? I still use my now over 8 year old Thinkpad (upgraded
           | screen, hdd, ram and replaced the keyboard after an orange
           | juice 'incident') and it feels as quick as my 2 year-old work
           | laptop.
           | 
           | Moore's law is long dead for consumer perception of speed,
           | even other components have stagnated lately. RAM size and HDD
           | space has not really moved much in the last 5 years for a
           | regular laptop; CPUs have gotten a bit faster but the average
           | user will not notice the difference in their every day
           | workflow.
        
         | GekkePrutser wrote:
         | Exactly. I think part of this is driven by changes in
         | Microsoft's business model.
         | 
         | Previously every couple of years they'd come out with a new
         | paid upgrade. But since they basically made Windows 10 a
         | 'rolling distro', they've been losing a lot of income on this
         | side.
         | 
         | As Windows 11 will be free for existing PCs but new PCs will
         | have licensing included in the price (as they did with Windows
         | 10), they have a strong incentive to have as many people as
         | possible buy new PCs. Just as Apple does. After all, macOS
         | mainly exists to sell Apple hardware, not the other way around.
         | 
         | It's no wonder their support model is changing, but I think
         | it's sad they are dropping models so young. Windows used to be
         | great at very long term support on hardware. Probably the best
         | of the commercial OSes.
        
         | ashdev wrote:
         | That's true, but if you compare the resale value of PCs and
         | MacBooks, you'll find that MacBooks(even with outdated OS) have
         | higher resale value. Therefore, this is a bit of a tricky
         | situtation for PCs since they can't be sold for much.
        
       | frozenport wrote:
       | This article doesn't explain why it will create the waste? What
       | changed in the spec, is it enforced?
        
         | jorams wrote:
         | > This article doesn't explain why it will create the waste?
         | 
         | I was similarly confused by the article's lack of actual
         | information. As it stands it tells me there are arbitrary CPU
         | specs and a bunch of common hardware meets those requirements.
         | But then apparently the situation is terrible, people will need
         | to buy new hardware and the majority of consumer hardware is
         | deprecated.
        
         | midnitewarrior wrote:
         | I have a perfectly good PC from 2015 that has a Gen 5 Intel
         | processor. It is 64-bit, 6-core, supports TPM 2.0, and supports
         | the virtualization instructions, UEFI, etc.
         | 
         | I have 64 gigs of ram in this and other upgrades, it works
         | great, but it will die with Win 10 because the CPU isn't on
         | Microsoft's list. When Win 10 support is done, so is my PC that
         | I've invested a lot of money in. So yeah, it's going to become
         | trash or a Linux box I haven't a need for.
        
           | floatboth wrote:
           | Why do you think that there will be actual checks for this
           | list. This is just a list intended for OEMs that build new
           | machines. NO WAY there will be cpuid checks to exclude your
           | processor specifically.
        
           | astrange wrote:
           | Can't you recycle every component except the motherboard?
        
             | contingencies wrote:
             | Given a few years of time passing, generally motherboard
             | upgrades require changing the physical format of the CPU
             | and RAM interfaces, which means everything's wasted.
        
         | vorpalhex wrote:
         | Win 11 won't support a bunch of recent (3 year old) perfectly
         | good hardware because demands for TPM like features.
        
           | romwell wrote:
           | So the owners of that hardware will continue using Windows
           | 10.
           | 
           | Or, if they _desperately_ need Win 11, the resale value of
           | "good enough to do homework on" computers is still pretty
           | good.
           | 
           | But judging by the Win 10 rollout, the people who care enough
           | to have the latest Windows to _want_ it are a very small
           | minority who have recent hardware anyway.
           | 
           | I would bet it's a marketing choice, to ensure the the
           | rollout is smooth and people _like the experience_. The specs
           | might be a deliberate overkill to ensure that the first users
           | have more than enough hardware (which probably was tested
           | well enough), _and_ are more likely to be computer
           | enthusiasts who want latest-and-greatest.
        
             | vorpalhex wrote:
             | It has nothing to do with performance. It is almost
             | certainly either due to malware concerns or DRM
             | protections.
        
       | 1stranger wrote:
       | I don't understand this logic. The vast majority of people don't
       | care what version of Windows they're running. They'll just keep
       | running Windows 10 without a care in the world. Just like they
       | keep running Windows 7.
        
         | FridayoLeary wrote:
         | I prefer Windows 7. I like it's UI better. MS' ideal world
         | would apparently not include any OS besides Windows 10 and 11,
         | which is a great shame because i think there's so many great UI
         | features in older Windows.
        
           | chasil wrote:
           | The most dislikable thing about Windows 7 is the limitation
           | of clear text SMB2.
           | 
           | It's a good trade for local accounts and a superior ui to
           | what followed.
        
         | slver wrote:
         | Security fixes and support.
        
           | EvilEy3 wrote:
           | Most users don't care about that.
        
             | robocat wrote:
             | Users care: so much so that they pay money for antivirus.
             | 
             | They just don't understand the consequences of some of
             | their actions or inactions, because they are not security
             | professionals.
        
           | Hamuko wrote:
           | You still get 4 years with 10.
           | 
           | The Intel 8th gneration was introduced in 2017. So people who
           | bought a computer in 2016 can still push it to ~9 years of
           | service life, which is pretty good for an average Windows
           | computer if they manage to do it. I imagine your average
           | Windows consumer will have replaced a computer once already
           | in that span once all the installed crap has stalled the
           | computer to inoperable speeds.
           | 
           | This honestly doesn't really strike me as a major issue.
           | Especially since smartphones have like less than three years
           | of security fixes on average.
        
             | andyjansson wrote:
             | >This honestly doesn't really strike me as a major issue.
             | 
             | You're saying this from a position of privilege. There are
             | a lot of people that don't enjoy the same financial
             | security that you and I do that will be affected immensely
             | by this. I know a few and this is not news in their favor.
        
               | Zevis wrote:
               | Working in PC repair, a majority of my customers can't
               | just up and buy a new PC just because Microsoft
               | arbitrarily decides that whatever they have isn't good
               | enough, even though it has sufficient performance.
        
         | cpeterso wrote:
         | For an example of just how many people don't care about EOL'd
         | operating systems:
         | 
         | Microsoft's mainstream support for Windows 7 ended in January
         | 2015 (and paid "Extended Security Updates" service ended in
         | January 2020) and yet 21% of Firefox users are still running
         | Windows 7:
         | 
         | https://data.firefox.com/dashboard/hardware#goto-os-and-arch...
        
           | quantumsequoia wrote:
           | I think Firefox users are much more likely to be contrarian
           | with their software decisions. I'm not sure how much I'd be
           | willing to extrapolate from from data on Firefox users to the
           | general population
        
             | madeofpalk wrote:
             | You think Firefox users are going to be more likely to use
             | an EOL-ed OS?
        
               | bruce343434 wrote:
               | Perhaps, because win7 is known for being "the last good
               | windows" with some privacy. It may or may not be true,
               | but a lot of people are adamant about not using linux
               | while also trying to maintain privacy, hence they use
               | win7. I imagine such users would probably use a browser
               | like firefox.
        
         | benbristow wrote:
         | I don't think Microsoft would want to make that same mistake
         | again. I would expect Microsoft start pushing Windows 11
         | automatically through Windows Update for anyone on Windows 10,
         | or at least start pushing heavily through popups/notifications
         | to start the update like they did with Windows 10.
        
           | romwell wrote:
           | Soooo, the people who can't install Windows 11 will continue
           | to not care?
           | 
           | I don't understand the logic of your response. It's not like
           | Microsoft will brick machines not eligible for Win 11
        
             | IshKebab wrote:
             | They will drop support in 4 years though (or so they say)
             | which is very short notice for desktops OSes.
        
             | numpad0 wrote:
             | By cutting off at 8th Gen and TPM 1.2+2.0, they're cutting
             | off _a lot of current and high end systems built by
             | enthusiasts_ , while supporting far slower and inferior
             | PCs.
             | 
             | That's the problem. No one's arguing they're chasing off
             | cheap Celeron, they're trying to get rid of even some
             | _Threadrippers_ and _multi-socket_ setups, that could have
             | 128GB or more of RAM, for "performance".
        
               | tremon wrote:
               | So, what's in those generations that might actually
               | matter to Microsoft? As you say, it's unlikely to be
               | about performance. Is it some instruction set, or feature
               | flags? It's unlikely to be about virtualization
               | capabilities, as Intel still happily sells the newest
               | chips "differentiated" to be virtually challenged. Did
               | those generations introduce some crypto
               | algorithm/primitive that Microsoft doesn't want to go
               | without? A new system management mode? On-die microphone?
        
               | numpad0 wrote:
               | Intel sales is desperate to stop brand loyalty vanishing,
               | processors losing relevance, while Microsoft is trying to
               | recuperate costs on cancelled Windows 10X code. Those are
               | suspicions I have.
               | 
               | The "only the latest Intel enable $use_case" cliche is
               | their default marketing narrative. Microsoft or AMD or
               | NVIDIA normally don't do that.
        
           | Sebb767 wrote:
           | > I don't think Microsoft would want to make that same
           | mistake again.
           | 
           | The mistake of not pushing it? I still remember the uproar
           | when people needed to Google how to say "no" to the upgrade
           | dialog - if it did not simply install without asking, that
           | is. I honestly can't see how they would push Windows 11 any
           | harder.
        
           | wmf wrote:
           | We're talking about computers that (officially) cannot run
           | Windows 11. Obviously they won't be auto-upgraded.
        
             | benbristow wrote:
             | I'm sure they'll loosen the restriction of having TPM
             | enabled. That seems to be the only limiting factor.
             | 
             | Or they could perhaps find a way to build a piece of
             | software that will enable it automatically...
        
               | Teever wrote:
               | So what is the point of a restriction that they will
               | later loosen?
        
               | vetinari wrote:
               | > I'm sure they'll loosen the restriction of having TPM
               | enabled. That seems to be the only limiting factor.
               | 
               | They've _added_ restrictions since: 8th gen Intel Core or
               | 2nd gen AMD Zen required.
        
               | floatboth wrote:
               | That's just some list in the documentation, mostly
               | intended for OEMs building new computers with pre-
               | installed Windows.
               | 
               | NO WAY there will be literal cpuid checks excluding
               | earlier processors.
        
               | vetinari wrote:
               | This is not the Windows Logo program, which is intended
               | for OEMs.
               | 
               | There do not need to be any CPUID checks to exclude
               | processors; just a random update will not work and
               | Microsoft will shrug it off, well, that CPU is not on the
               | supported list anyway.
        
           | least wrote:
           | That wouldn't work if the person's computer doesn't support
           | Windows 11, though, which is the entire argument the blog
           | post is making. That because windows 11 won't work people
           | will just throw away their computers and create more
           | electronic waste.
        
             | agumonkey wrote:
             | "computer locked, you need to buy a new one to keep
             | enjoying our stuff"
        
               | otterley wrote:
               | Microsoft isn't going to do that.
        
           | mdoms wrote:
           | So your issue is that MS will force the upgrade onto machines
           | they have explicitly said can't be upgraded? Is that really
           | your concern?
        
         | sp332 wrote:
         | Win10 is fine for most people, and each benefit of Win11 can
         | seem a little "niche", but lots of people will fit into at
         | least one of those little niches. Gamers in particular, who
         | have gotten perfectly acceptable performance out of e.g. Ryzen
         | 1x00 CPUs, will need to upgrade to get the most out of their
         | fast SSDs or other features like Auto HDR.
        
         | iamcreasy wrote:
         | I left my laptop, that ran Windows 7, running for a couple of
         | hours, and came back to see a notification that says welcome to
         | Windows 10.
        
           | joshschreuder wrote:
           | Not sure how that's relevant to someone who can't upgrade
           | because of unsupported hardware. You can't get autoupgraded
           | to an OS your hardware doesn't support. And most such people
           | would happily continue using Windows 10 without caring (or
           | knowing, most likely)
        
           | Narishma wrote:
           | Consider yourself lucky it only took 2 hours to install.
        
       | fddddd wrote:
       | people are forgetting w11 will be the useless windows version.
       | 
       | everyone knows that between actual windows versions (3, 95,
       | vista, xp, 10) there are the BS money making by selling flashy
       | badges to PC OEM manufacturers (98, me, forgot the name , 8)
       | 
       | so obviously w11 can be safely ignored by everyone.
        
         | midnitewarrior wrote:
         | Microsoft can't afford to have a useless version, there are now
         | viable alternatives to Windows.
        
         | rzzzt wrote:
         | Isn't Vista the arch nemesis of 7? Also 95 is not too great but
         | 98 is definitely not the bad cop, especially SE. Windows ME on
         | the other hand...
         | 
         | 2000 is also pretty cool, but didn't show up on the list, and
         | not sure where the NT releases 3 and 4 would go.
        
           | GekkePrutser wrote:
           | I thought 95 was better than 98 - faster and less bloated.
           | Just the USB support was lacking but OSR2 fixed that mostly.
           | 
           | 2000 was definitely better than XP in my book. Of course ME
           | was a complete and total turd. But it was only built in a
           | couple months after MS changed their mind about Windows 2000
           | personal edition.
           | 
           | But really in my book XP was Windows 2000 Bloatware Edition.
           | Same with 98 over 95.
           | 
           | With Vista it went the opposite way though, Vista was all
           | glossy/bloaty and Win7 fixed that. And don't start me on
           | Windows 8, that was just a terrible POS on the desktop, with
           | its _huge_ start screen. Nice idea on a tablet, terrible on
           | the desktop.
        
       | modzu wrote:
       | or better still, maybe its windows 11 that ends up in the
       | garbage. give fedora a try :)
        
         | haunter wrote:
         | I'd do once anti cheat works for online multiplayer games
        
       | alkonaut wrote:
       | > A modest Intel Skylake laptop from 2016 meets all the core
       | requirements. It is 64 bit, supports UEFI, and even contains a
       | hardware TPM 2.0 module on board.
       | 
       | Is anyone suggesting Win11 won't _run_ on a 2016 Skylake?
       | 
       | That Microsoft says it's not _supported_ doesn't necessarily mean
       | that. It would be extremely surprising if windows effectively
       | checked the cpuid and arbitrarilily rejected a processor with the
       | necessary features.
        
         | vetinari wrote:
         | > Is anyone suggesting Win11 won't run on a 2016 Skylake?
         | 
         | Yes, Microsoft is suggesting exactly that:
         | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/min...
        
           | Kuraj wrote:
           | _This_ is what kills me most. Not the TPM part, as I can (and
           | have) bought an external TPM module for my motherboard for
           | like $10.
           | 
           | But this would basically require of me to build a brand new
           | PC, while this one still does a fine job for gaming,
           | development and audio editing.
        
           | alkonaut wrote:
           | You misunderstood me: are we assuming that the Microsoft list
           | of supported processors represents all the CPUs that _can_
           | run Windows 11, rather than the list that Microsoft
           | _supports_ (meaning they promise it works, promise it will
           | _continue_ to work) These at least to me seem like completely
           | different things (and have been in the past).
           | 
           | As an example: Windows 10 is not officially supported on
           | Sandy Bridge CPUs like the i7-2600K but it runs just fine.
        
             | floatboth wrote:
             | This looks like a list of processors they *approve for
             | OEMs* that build *new* computers with Windows pre-
             | installed.
             | 
             | Everyone is acting completely ridiculously thinking that
             | there will be actual cpuid checks.
        
               | vetinari wrote:
               | > The specification defines the Windows minimum hardware
               | requirements necessary to:
               | 
               | > Boot and run Windows
               | 
               | > Update and service Windows
               | 
               | > Provide a baseline user experience that is comparable
               | with similar devices and computers
               | 
               | It says nowhere that it is for OEMs, this is not the
               | Windows Logo program which is for OEMs; and in fact, some
               | of the CPUs mentioned are not on the market anymore.
        
       | andix wrote:
       | Just to put it in a perspective: an iMac bought in January 2019
       | (kaby lake) is not supported by Windows 11.
       | 
       | That's just crazy.
       | 
       | If Microsoft will continue like that, Windows will be the new
       | Android and you can't invest into new hardware, as it may be
       | garbage already two years later.
        
         | einr wrote:
         | Ahem.
         | 
         | You can buy an Intel iMac _today, new from Apple,_ that will
         | not run Windows 11.
         | 
         | https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-imac/21.5-inch
         | 
         | Yes, Apple still sells an iMac with a 7th generation Dual-Core
         | Intel i5. For $1099. No, you should not buy one, but... there
         | it is.
        
       | virgulino wrote:
       | I built a new desktop PC 2 months ago. I bought the only Ryzen
       | APU (new, not used) I could find online here in Brazil. Ryzen
       | 2200G, Zen 1st gen. Released in 2018, still selling worldwide.
       | 
       | Brand new machine. Not supported by Windows 11...
        
       | stephc_int13 wrote:
       | I do not plan to replace my computer until I need to. I still use
       | screens from 2008, they are working perfectly fine and might live
       | an other 12 years.
       | 
       | If I can't install Win11 on my computer, then I'll simply won't
       | install it before a long time.
       | 
       | We're not in the 90s anymore.
        
       | ferdowsi wrote:
       | The "will create trash" reason is why Apple refused to switch to
       | USB-C on the iPhone. They claim this while bundling USB-C to
       | Lightning cables with the iPhone 12 which is among the most junk-
       | worthy, limited-use types of cable I could imagine.
       | https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51208912
        
       | Schnitz wrote:
       | Or people just don't upgrade Windows, like when they skipped
       | Windows ME, Vista or 8 etc?
        
       | contingencies wrote:
       | Ubuntu and by extension the broader Linux and open source
       | ecosystem will benefit greatly from this decision.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | andrewclunn wrote:
       | You say trash, I say linux machines.
        
       | thrill wrote:
       | "After all, security is all about feelings rather than safety."
       | 
       | Really? I'm supposed to take someone seriously that makes a
       | statement like this?
        
         | nh2 wrote:
         | Reading the preceding and following sentence: You have
         | encountered sarcasm.
        
       | EvilEy3 wrote:
       | Oh noes! My thrasherinos! Think of environment!
       | 
       | Just because there's a new version of windows, PC is not turning
       | into pumpkin. It can run forever on old Windows version or
       | converted into Linux machine.
        
       | ezoe wrote:
       | I don't get it. Most users don't upgrade the Windows OS version
       | installed on the existing hardware.
       | 
       | Also, TPM and storage encryption won't protect you from
       | ransomeware if you let attacker allows storage access.
        
       | unangst wrote:
       | Modern Tech / Cheap Prices / Stewardship. Pick two.
        
       | illys wrote:
       | There is nothing new here. Any new Windows version has
       | transformed the previous generation of PCs into trash since
       | people moved from DOS as a main user interface to Windows 3.
       | 
       | And people say "my PC is slow because it is getting old"... Even
       | if the hardware has the exact same performance and almost the
       | same usage like in its first day.
       | 
       | Why should they stop when customers comply and give them money?
       | ... for ethics? for the environment? Who believes Microsoft has
       | such concerns?
        
         | Sebb767 wrote:
         | > Any new Windows version has transformed the previous
         | generation of PCs into trash since people moved from DOS as a
         | main user interface to Windows 3.
         | 
         | The difference is that earlier hardware upgrades were important
         | and did improve performance heavily. 2001 just saw the advent
         | of 1 Ghz CPUs [0]. In 2011, quad-core CPUs at 3.5 Ghz were the
         | standard, probably a performance upgrade of an order of
         | magnitude, at least. But since then? The i5 2500 does still
         | hold a bit of water to the Ryzen 5 5600 [0]. Sure, it has more
         | cores and more single-core performance, but it's nowhere _near_
         | that much of a difference. Windows 10 still runs perfectly fine
         | on this hardware, even better than Windows 7 did - and not by
         | accident, MS did optimize that!
         | 
         | This is absolutely a new low for Microsoft.
         | 
         | [0]
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Athlon_microproces...
         | 
         | [1] https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-
         | Core-i5-2500-vs-... (yes, I know it's MemeBenchmark, but the
         | general values should be solid enough)
        
       | poisonborz wrote:
       | The requirements list will be most likely eased later on - IIRC
       | it was also the case for virtually all major versions of Windows.
       | The reason of this strictness is usually lack of testing or some
       | compatibility features not being completed by the date of first
       | release.
        
       | eric__cartman wrote:
       | I hope the public backlash against Microsoft is large enough that
       | they revert there ridiculous system requirements. Requiring TPM
       | 1.2 is _sort of_ reasonable I guess. But TPM 2.0. You 've got to
       | be kidding me.
       | 
       | Also enabling secure boot is a pain in the ass for users that
       | dual boot, because in Linux, to load a custom compiled kernel
       | module you have to sign it first and do a whole lot of mumbling
       | around to get it working. Just try to install Virtualbox with
       | secure boot enabled. I get the security concern, but why not let
       | users install whatever they want on whatever hardware they want?
       | Come on Microsoft, it's not like you don't already have a working
       | kernel with arguably the best support in terms of drivers in the
       | whole personal computing market.
       | 
       | Also their "supported CPUs" list is a fucking joke. Why would
       | they cut off first gen AMD Ryzen, for example when all Zen CPUs
       | have full TPM 2.0 support built into the AMD PSP. The Ryzen 2000
       | chips they list as a minimum are basically the same in terms of
       | features and very similar in performance to the previous gen.
       | Zen+ is a slight improvement over Zen that didn't introduce any
       | groundbreaking features to warrant such a cutoff point. Or are
       | you gonna tell me that an Athlon 3000G will run Windows 11 better
       | than a first gen Threadripper?
       | 
       | Get your head out of your ass Microsoft, otherwise you'll be
       | stuck with another Windows Vista.
        
         | mjevans wrote:
         | I know someone that had to replace a Ryzen 1xxx (1st gen) chip
         | recently because games and other things kept crashing. They
         | realized this was the case shortly after the warranty elapsed.
         | 
         | As a supposition, it might be the previously reported "Linux
         | specific" issue for (pre week 30?) batch Ryzen 1 CPUs affecting
         | Windows at last as well.
         | 
         | https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ryzen-Se...
         | 
         | https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=new-ryze...
         | 
         | The second link confirms this instability was present in Ryzen
         | 1 units from week 25, and speculation is that week 30+ are
         | safe. Further complicating matters, there's no reported way of
         | examining this data short of visually inspecting the top of the
         | thermal interface: with thermal paste removed.
        
           | merb wrote:
           | what's even more strange is that ryzen 1st gen chips in fact
           | do have a tpm v2.
        
           | numpad0 wrote:
           | I think you might be mixing up segfault issues on Ryzen 1000
           | and RDRAND bug in Ryzen 3600. The latter affected games(and
           | yes it's Zen 2).
        
             | mjevans wrote:
             | I recall that affecting SystemD, it is a different issue.
             | 
             | Generally at least the Linux kernel does not use RDRAND,
             | even on Intel systems. (
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDRAND#Reception )
             | 
             | The third party that had this issue only mentioned problems
             | with their Ryzen 1 chip and replacing it (I forget if it
             | was with a 2000 series or 3000 series chip) which resulted
             | in those issues finally ceasing.
        
         | smarx007 wrote:
         | I think the CPU list and the S states are related to
         | https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/bitlocker-sleep-mode-vuln...
         | in some way.
        
         | Zevis wrote:
         | I seriously hope the EU becomes aware of this and forces MS to
         | change this crap. It's actually insane from a sustainability
         | standpoint.
        
           | jimmaswell wrote:
           | It would be unreasonable to force MS to list old hardware as
           | compatible in any case, especially given that 10 is
           | officially supported until 2025.
        
         | swiley wrote:
         | >sort of reasonable I guess
         | 
         | What part of that is reasonable exactly? As far as I can tell
         | the TPM only weakens security by storing the keys in a separate
         | computer, once there's an exploit with that someone physically
         | attacking your computer could easily exfiltrate keys where they
         | couldn't if you're just typing a passphrase into EG cryptsetup.
        
         | g051051 wrote:
         | I just noticed that my Threadripper 1950x isn't "supported".
         | Completely ludicrous. I'd love to see the technical
         | justification for that.
        
           | eric__cartman wrote:
           | https://i.imgur.com/wHtf0PF.jpg
        
             | Sebb767 wrote:
             | Do they actually earn that much from this? They were
             | basically throwing Windows 10 at people _for free_ and they
             | are not in the hardware market at all.
        
             | g051051 wrote:
             | How does limiting the number of machines that can run it
             | make money for Microsoft? I won't be paying for a Windows
             | 11 upgrade (I assume it's not going to be free this time)
             | until I need to replace my machine, which will be quite
             | some time.
        
               | einr wrote:
               | Windows 11 is a free upgrade if you have a Windows 10
               | license. You can't sell operating systems to consumers
               | anymore, you have to sell OEM licenses to manufacturers,
               | who in turn sell you a new computer with the new OS.
        
         | marcodiego wrote:
         | Stopping trash talking about Linux was the embrace phase. WSL
         | was the extend phase.
        
           | zeusk wrote:
           | Not sure how not supporting old devices is extinguish for
           | Linux but okay.
           | 
           | I work at MS so I have some background, but even I was
           | vocally opposed to this.
           | 
           | The real pushback for hardware floor came from IHVs and PMs.
           | IHVs don't want to support your old hardware beyond 2-5 years
           | thanks to what they're seeing in phone market. We've had
           | multiple user impacting bugs that graphic vendors I won't
           | name would not fix because that version of chip is NLA. I'm
           | still unsure why PMs pushed for this, but it was something
           | about mix of consistency, security and performance - whatever
           | that meant.
        
             | marcodiego wrote:
             | Check how more complicated it is to install linux and your
             | own compiled kernels with secure boot enabled and a tpm 2.0
             | chip.
        
               | zeusk wrote:
               | I did a quick bing (hah, jk I used google) but didn't
               | find anything other than having to install some tpm2
               | packages to use the module.
               | 
               | Also, if tpm2.0 is as redundant as people are making it
               | out to be, couldn't they just disable it in BIOS along
               | with microsoft secureboot keys?
        
         | JorgeGT wrote:
         | Fun fact: Microsoft will happily sell you _today_ a $3500
         | Surface Studio 2 with a W11-unsupported i7-7820:
         | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/surface-studio-2/8sbjxm0m5...
        
           | ChrisSD wrote:
           | Fun fact: the Surface Studio 2 is fully supported until
           | October 2, 2024 with no need to replace the OS!
           | 
           | Not bad for a niche device released in 2018.
        
             | FridayoLeary wrote:
             | Selling an extremely expensive piece of hardware while
             | acknowledging that you intend on making it obsolete in 4
             | years time, for arbitrary reasons sounds pretty bad to me.
             | And who cares if it's niche.
        
               | ChrisSD wrote:
               | Microsoft has made no secret of how long its hardware
               | support lasts. If anything, the total of six years is
               | longer than the Surface average of ~4.
               | 
               | The Windows 11 announcement changes nothing in this
               | regard.
        
         | TheGuyWhoCodes wrote:
         | I really don't see why they limit to 2.0 rather than 1.2 They
         | could support both easily but choose not to.
         | 
         | This could be their way to lower the amount of testing they
         | have to do, but for a company the size of Microsoft that's
         | inexcusable.
         | 
         | That fact the 7th gen Intel (like the 7700k that has TPM 2.0)
         | or first gen Zen aren't supported is bad enough but that
         | Microsoft is silent about it and even their PMs and Security
         | employees on twitter just brush it off as "There are more
         | requirements" is pure BS.
        
           | Sebb767 wrote:
           | > This could be their way to lower the amount of testing they
           | have to do
           | 
           | Given the amount of testing they currently do, this is hardly
           | an argument.
        
         | madeofpalk wrote:
         | > do a whole lot of mumbling around to get it working
         | 
         | isnt that the whole point of Linux?
        
         | ehsankia wrote:
         | While overall agree, Windows 10 will be supported until 2025.
         | By then any device without TPM 2.0 support would be at least 10
         | years old, right?
        
           | contravariant wrote:
           | I've got a 10 year old PC right now using decent but not
           | amazingly high end hardware (at the time), other than a
           | slightly limited memory capacity it's still on par with my
           | current (mid/high-end-ish) laptop.
        
           | mulmen wrote:
           | Just checked Newegg. I built my current PC in November of
           | 2010. It has a Core 2 Quad. Runs great.
        
           | numpad0 wrote:
           | "There's this cheap stuff for non-customers, go figure"
           | 
           | I think I've seen a eerily similar remark on Xbox 360 when
           | XB1 launched so... is that a part of Microsoft ethos? That
           | time the guy said that was instantly cancelled though.
        
           | thrower123 wrote:
           | I only just retired a machine I built in 2011, with 2009-era
           | parts. CPU advances have not been impressive over the last
           | decade or so.
        
           | overgard wrote:
           | I'm still using a 2013 Macbook Pro (dual boot), and honestly,
           | I could see that being useful for another 8 years. I won't be
           | playing games on it, but it has enough GPU to render High DPI
           | screens just fine. (Granted I feel no urge to upgrade to
           | windows 11 either, so I'm pretty fine leaving it on windows
           | 10 for the next few years.)
        
           | eric__cartman wrote:
           | Considering how unexciting new CPUs are nowadays I'd wager
           | that a 10 year old computer in 2025 will still be perfectly
           | usable for basic tasks such as email and web browsing.
           | Something like an 8 year old i7 2700k is still very usable
           | for a lot of home users. It might not be a beast when it
           | comes to crunching numbers, but a big portion of the
           | population would be happy using such a chip if you pair it
           | with at least 8GB of memory and an SSD.
           | 
           | I'm not a big fan of generating unnecessary waste, and
           | computers that get replaced because of artificial cutoff
           | points in software isn't ideal. What I like about Windows 10
           | is that you can boot the installer on a Core2Duo if you want,
           | and it'll install just fine. It'll probably run like crap,
           | but that's for the user to decide whether they want to use it
           | or not.
        
             | numpad0 wrote:
             | i7-2700K is not just usable, it's faster than Pentium
             | G5600(8th Gen) and on par with i3-8100(8th Gen) in most
             | benchmarks without overclocking.
        
             | alisonkisk wrote:
             | i5-2500 with 8GB-16GB RAM (hooray for upgradable RAM) even
             | with is integrated graphics still is winning platform for
             | all important non-gaming consumer applications.
        
             | williadc wrote:
             | To strengthen rather than diminish your argument, the I7
             | 2700K is over 9.5 years old. Source: https://ark.intel.com/
             | content/www/us/en/ark/products/61275/i...
        
               | Sebb767 wrote:
               | I run a i5-2500 and still game on it via VFIO (that is,
               | _in a VM_ ) and I can't complain about the performance.
               | Sure, the GPU is new-ish (GTX 1070) and I don't play
               | bleeding edge titles, but I can play everything at nearly
               | max settings.
        
               | layer8 wrote:
               | Still using an i7-2600 as my main workstation at work,
               | since 2012.
        
               | SECProto wrote:
               | Was coming to respond the same thing. I used a processor
               | from the same generation (2500k) from May 2011 to May
               | 2021, including for gaming. Upgraded to an SSD at some
               | point and the video card, but the processor was still
               | fine. I would've kept it another couple years but I was
               | having some issues (I think a ram stick had gone bad) and
               | the easiest solution was $500 canadian for a new
               | processor (10400F), motherboard, and ram
               | 
               | I'd take the argument farther - I suspect the
               | hypothetical 2015 computer referenced would be fine for
               | most users (with non-processor upgrades) until 2030.
        
             | vetinari wrote:
             | I have (a secondary) Thinkpad T430s, which is going to be 9
             | years old later this year. Since it is i7, with 16 GB RAM
             | and 500 GB SSD, it is still a better computer than a median
             | laptop sold today.
        
               | FpUser wrote:
               | I have an old 2012 Asus G75VS gaming laptop with Core i7
               | upgraded to SSD and 32GB RAM. It works like a charm and
               | beats modern cheap laptops to submission as well. However
               | I do not really care if it can be upgraded to Windows 11.
               | It runs few particular applications, is air gapped and
               | will stay this way until it dies in order not to get some
               | unwanted update/upgrade.
               | 
               | But if it was something like my spare development laptop
               | I'd surely be pissed off at Microsoft. The way this
               | laptop runs
        
             | dunnevens wrote:
             | One of the ironies of this situation is that Windows 11
             | does well on the Core2Duos. At least the ones with 8 gigs /
             | SSD, based on what I've seen people post online. I've seen
             | people claim the 11 leak is performing better than 10, and
             | 10 was running decently well on the C2D's.
             | 
             | They did the work to make it even faster on older hardware,
             | and now they're just going to throw it away? I could
             | understand if the older machines didn't get the Android
             | compatibility layer or if certain desktop animations were
             | disabled, but seems odd to just block them entirely.
        
               | chasil wrote:
               | Are you sure that they are blocked entirely?
               | 
               | A "hard floor" published earlier this week implied that
               | only TPM 1.0 with a dualcore and 4gb of ram is required,
               | although news emerged that the hard floor was revised up.
               | 
               | Microsoft is not handling the hard floor question well at
               | all.
               | 
               | https://www.pcworld.com/article/3623013/why-
               | windows-11-requi...
        
               | dunnevens wrote:
               | I guess that's part of the problem. No one outside of
               | Microsoft is sure. The uncertainty has completely
               | overshadowed the launch. One minute, they're talking
               | about "soft floors", and the next they're saying it will
               | refuse to install.
               | 
               | Makes me wonder if a power struggle is going on. You'd
               | think they would have a coherent message put together
               | before launch. Recommended system requirements + minimum
               | system requirements, and the justifications for both.
               | That's what's expected from any major software launch.
        
               | k12sosse wrote:
               | The ol' fishing for outrage. Let's just toss this out
               | there and see what bites. "We'll adjust our strategy
               | based on what we hear."
               | 
               | Kinda wonder, how much of this is "we asked and never got
               | a legit response" vs. "haHAA, gotcha bitch! NOW THATS
               | MEANINGFUL FEEDBACK!"
        
           | vetinari wrote:
           | First-gen Ryzens and Threadrippers, while they do support
           | fTPM, are not supported in W11 and they won't be 10 years old
           | in 2025.
        
             | snuxoll wrote:
             | This really gets me - my Ryzen 5 1600X and my wife's Ryzen
             | 5 2600 are still extremely capable chips, even if they're a
             | couple of generations old at this point. It's only been 3
             | years since I built my rig, and two since I built my
             | wife's. I can _almost_ accept the i5-4570 my daughter
             | inherited not being compatible - but hardware just over 3
             | years old not making the cut is unacceptable.
        
           | GekkePrutser wrote:
           | But who wants to be stuck on an older OS? It's still a big
           | reason to upgrade before it would have been technically
           | necessary.
        
             | userbinator wrote:
             | Everyone who isn't the sort of "rabid trendchaser techie"
             | that MS is trying to convert more of its users to...
             | fortunately, the majority of slightly-computer-literate
             | people I know are not. They use their computers to create
             | documents, email, browse Internet, and complain about the
             | constant churn of the tech industry. They are constantly
             | irritated by UI changes and other updates that had zero or
             | negative impacts on their daily use. "If it ain't broke,
             | don't fix it" is the norm, not "What's the latest and
             | newest? I must have it!"
        
               | EvanAnderson wrote:
               | Presumably Microsoft will aggressively push developers to
               | use Windows 11-only APIs to encourage adoption. I hate
               | it, but it seems likely.
        
               | GekkePrutser wrote:
               | Ok true, but this _is_ hacker news of course. I would
               | expect most people here to be exactly that sort of
               | "rabid trendchaser techie" :)
               | 
               | And of course, the question is how hard is MS going to
               | push Windows 11. They pushed the upgrade from W7 to W10
               | pretty hard towards end users.
        
               | Daishiman wrote:
               | Even the most die-had MS user is not excited about
               | Windows and hasn't been for the last decade.
               | 
               | Operating systems are finished products at this point.
        
       | mastrsushi wrote:
       | I've been using a late 2011 MacBook Pro with Ubuntu Mate. From my
       | experience, not only are operating systems becoming over
       | demanding in hardware specifications, but so are dynamic web
       | pages and the internet as a whole.
       | 
       | It's almost impossible to browse the internet with a 10 year old
       | pc. Something that was a lot more forgiving with older hardware 8
       | to 10 years ago.
       | 
       | Future generations are growing with TikTok, Instagram, and all
       | these apps that demand complex rendering tasks and large streams
       | of video data. This is raising the bar on hardware requirements.
        
       | makecheck wrote:
       | Whenever some "reason" is given to make a major foundational
       | break from X to Y, it almost certainly does not apply to 90% of
       | the things in the bundle. Various apps, system frameworks, etc.
       | do not _need_ to be held to the same minimums for hardware; they
       | just _are_.
       | 
       | We need to push for more modularity in the systems that serve as
       | a foundation. Or, at least push for open-source or flexibility in
       | the things that are _not_ strictly foundational (and
       | theoretically much more portable), such as bundled apps.
       | 
       | Suppose for example there is a nice improvement to some bundled
       | app in the next OS; in all likelihood, that change _could_ be
       | back-ported to several older versions and be usable on almost any
       | hardware. It won't be, because it is bundled to something that
       | wants to break everything.
        
       | mdoms wrote:
       | It will create heaps of machines which haven't been upgraded to
       | Windows 11. I don't see why these are "trash".
        
       | ArkanExplorer wrote:
       | Its grimly humorous that we need to upgrade hardware security
       | because of ransomware - enabled by cryptocurrency.
       | 
       | But we can't do that - we have widespread shortages of new chip
       | components because so much capacity is being dedicated to
       | cryptomining!
       | 
       | Instead of tying ourselves in knots, why not just regulate and
       | ban the base source of the problem (crypto exchange for fiat)
       | instead?
        
       | DarkmSparks wrote:
       | Personlly, I'm just disappointed windows 11 isn't a Linux fork.
       | No way I'm throwing out my Mac or Linux boxes for the trash they
       | just demonstrated. (and its been 2 years since I had anything
       | more than a win 7 VM now)
        
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       (page generated 2021-06-27 23:00 UTC)