Windows 11 or what?

[jronald]

I have a Dell dual Xeon workstation as my personal everyday. Wont pass the windows 11 diag because the Xeon are not supported and TPM 2.0. Running W 10 Pro, like a bat out of hell.

Should I:
Force W11
Switch to a Linux Distro, and which one. I was an Unbuntu fan for a while years ago. I have a net book running Mint, that I rarely use.

One of the drivers, I think for USB 2.0 was a night mare to track down and install, so Im not looking forward to that.

Suggestions?
Thanks
Ron

[dr_st]

Despite what people will tell you, there is no problem staying with Win10.

[TPFanatic]

my opinion is 11 in the consumer market only exists to stimulate PC sales. this is just business as usual for Microsoft and all businesses, put a shiny new creative label on what is essentially the same product, because people will actually buy it. critical thinking is not common sense.

it is not for us luddites who know how to find entertainment and utility in anything. it may be years if ever before a particular product actually requires 11 to work properly. remains to be seen if 11 will just be another Vista or 8.1, gone and forgotten.

i’ll be keeping 10 on my machines with 10, as i keep 7 on my machines with 7, because as they are they just work and there is value in stability.

[jronald]

Little worried about updates, perhaps 10 Enterprise?

[RealBlackStuff]

W10 Enterprise LTSC 2021

[jronald]

Flyby11
Seek and ye shall find!


Ron

[independent]

If you've got experience with Linux go for it. Linux Mint, Debian edition would be a great place to start imo.

[ZaZ]

If you just want to work, Windows 10 seems like most likely path to getting there. If you want to learn something, Windows 11 or Linux will present more of a challenge. For my uses, not that demanding these days, Windows 10 and 11 are more similar than dissimilar in practical terms.

[pianowizard]

I've already "upgraded" some of my secondary computers to Windows 11, using Regedit to bypass TPM/CPU/SecureBoot requirements, but for my primary computer I will keep using 10 in the foreseeable future because I much prefer 10's user interface and it's also significantly faster.

Firefox ESR is releasing patches for Windows 7 through at least Aug 2025, >5.5 years after Microsoft ended support for 7, and MSE definitions are still released for 7 though they require manual installation. I feel safe using 10 beyond its end of life as long as Microsoft Defender and my preferred browser (Edge) are still getting updates. If 12 is better than 11, I will then upgrade my primary computer to 12. Windows versions tend to alternate between good and bad, so 12 might well be a worthier successor to 10.

[shawross]

All the replys above are sound advice. IMHO

We are told we always need security updates and this isn't only for our hardware but also for our biology.

Updated operating systems, hardware and browsers.

What is running everything currently in the world? It is artificial and they say it is intelligent.

Do you really think all these updates are for your personal security? Or are they for the security of the systems that run the world?

Saying that, there are ways to improve your personal security regardless of whether you are running XP or Win 7 or Win 10.

Or if you are using Android hardware or an older Thinkpad. Focus your attention in that direction.

[astral]

I will be largely remaining with 10 LTSC for the foreseeable future. 11 is a bloated mess.

[jacqylfrost]

I have a Dell dual Xeon workstation as my personal everyday. Wont pass the windows 11 diag because the Xeon are not supported and TPM 2.0. Running W 10 Pro, like a bat out of hell.

Should I:
Force W11
Switch to a Linux Distro, and which one. I was an Unbuntu fan for a while years ago. I have a net book running Mint, that I rarely use.

One of the drivers, I think for USB 2.0 was a night mare to track down and install, so Im not looking forward to that.

Suggestions?
Thanks
Ron

My personal suggestion is "Depends on what you use this for?"

If you play games, use software that doesn't play nice with WINE/Proton, and just want things to work, that sort of thing, either stay on 10 or use a stripped down 11, in my opinion.

If all you do is like, MS Office work, browsing the internet, or you're a tinkerer who doesn't mind breaking stuff and fixing it, you might find Linux is a good fit for you. I personally don't like Open/LibreOffice, but plenty of people find it serviceable for them.

As others have said, Mint is a solid choice. Ubuntu (Which mainline Mint is heavily based on) can be a bit annoying with upgrades if you tend to branch out and modify lots of things like I do. My W520 was running Mint and a standard upgrade left it unbootable for me, happened to a friend as well.

I have never needed to hunt down a USB driver on Linux, but perhaps I'm just lucky. The hardware support side is significantly better these days than it was say, a decade ago, let alone two.

There is always the simple answer of "Try it in a VM/Liveboot and see how you like it", or set up a live usb with persistence so you can actually install your software and try using it as a daily driver.

[pianowizard]

I have just enrolled two of my Windows 10 computers in the Extended Security Updates program so that they will keep getting updates through 10/13/2026. This free enrollment is a no-brainer.