As from last month itâs no longer supported by Microsoft.
@Socio That is what informs my worries James.
Richard @Richard_close2u
You are not alone
@Richard_close2u have you checked to see if your device is capable of supporting the windows 11 update? I presume your using a reputable third party antivirus software which I would have thought would provide some form of a safety net.
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Surprisingly enough, my version of Windows 10 suggested I should join a program of the Microsoft support extension FOR FREE! There are several conditions, though. You have to have a specific version of Windows, the latest update installed and a Microsoft account registration. Regular support is now secured for me for another year. As I know the 10 pretty well, I wouldnât be happy to have to switch to 11.
Oh, BTW, I found the invitation fro Microsoft in the Settings menu, Security and Updates submenu.
Hope you all OK, I think better put this in a new topic. And that tend, can share my own cautionary upgrade tale.
Some time ago we upgraded our PC with a new motherboard and CPU. Apart from better performance, we had one eye on the 10-11 upgrade.
All good, upgrading went out of mind.
Now it is time for the upgrade, we discovered that our PC does not support it. I shanât repeat the language.
Long story short, this was due to the way the main disc is setup, which was not changed or considered when upgrading the motherboard.
And based on the disc format the BIOS uses legacy boot, not the boot model now mandatory for v11.
Is it really necessary . . . I donât think so, but somebody smarter could explain the rationale. To do with security and rights management (I think).
Apparently, there are procedures you can full to transofrm the disc format and retain all data. Of course, it comes with the âshould work, but could failâ warning.
Edit
So now I have a dilemma. Risk the disc transformation and migrate or consider other options, principally a switch to Linux.
My issue there is the DAW and VST plugins. Will start a new topic to discuss that here
3 posts were merged into an existing topic: Should I stay or should I go - from Windows to Linux for Audio Software
Isnât that just extended security updates, so no technical fixes, support etc?
This Iâm not sure of. Yes, the security updates are certain, and that was of paramount importance to me; I donât know about the technical fixes.
All this has been making me a little nervous, as my PC did not meet the criteria for the W11 upgrade. But too many things going on to do a deep dive into options yet, especially a possible switch to Linux. Like DP I have many Windows audio products on the system so will need to look into things and hopefully this thread will provide some answers. I guess changing one of the laptops to Linux would be a start and see how things pan out.
In the meantime I decided to sign up for ESU for the next year at least.
Started some separate topics on this, Toby. So this can stay just about Windows upgrades.
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From the Microsoft website:
âESU enrollment does not provide other types of fixes, feature improvements or product enhancements. It also does not come with technical support.â
Thereâs a lot of scaremongering going on regarding the end of Win10 support, half of it generated by MS themselves and most of the rest by journalists looking for clicks and views.
As far as technical support goes, who cares? The OS has been around for years now, and the vast majority of major bugs were fixed long ago. Are there still bits and pieces that could be tweaked or fixed? Sure, when is there ever not where software is concerned? Is Win10 suddenly going to stop working and/or become incompatible with all of your current software? No, it is not.
As for security patches, sure, thatâs a bit more of an issue. However, just because support has ended it does not mean that your computer is suddenly wide open to every hacking scumbag on the internet. Support has stopped, not regressed. Youâre still protected from all the same things you were protected from before. You just wonât be protected from new threats in the future.
Is that such a major issue? For most of us, no, not really. The reality is that most criminals do not waste countless hours of their lives coming up with sophisticated new hacks and exploits in order to target the average PC user browsing the internet. They target businesses and organisations who either have valuable information that they can sell on, or have the money to pay ransoms to regain access to their systems.
The vast majority of âattacksâ against regular people like us are those that involve duping us into somehow giving access to our system willingly. Opening dodgy email attachments, downloading dodgy files, granting remote access to imposters, etc etc. No amount of security updates can prevent someone being duped. So, if you are vigilant and protect yourself against that kind of attack through good habits and behaviours, then youâll very likely be just fine on Win10 for months or years to come.
I understand that most people will take the word of a mega-corporation that mines and sells their data, as opposed to the word of some guy who has never once in thirty years upgraded to a new OS when official support has ended, yet has never once been hacked. And thatâs fine. âSafetyâ first and all that, and if you have a good enough PC then go for it. Iâm just trying to ease the minds of those who canât update, or donât want to. Chances are youâll be absolutely fine.
For the record, my PC is more than good enough to âupdateâ to Win11, but I have no interest in doing so. Looking back, I realised that I tent to grudgingly update every other OS or so. So, perhaps Iâll get Win12 when it arrives. 
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I agree with all of that.
From my previous experience of using Windows in a personal (non-corporate) capacity, the biggest issue is that, over time, new software and devices will only work with the new version of the OS.
Conversely, older software and peripherals may not work on the newer versions.
This does, however take a few years to start becoming a problem.
Cheers,
Keith
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