Windows 11 Pro without TPM vs. Windows Server 2022

[dances_with_woof]

The end of lifecycle is coming for Windows 10 in about two years, and By my appraisal, it leaves two viable options for running machines past that hard deadline for service updates; either one installs Windows 11 Pro, without TPM protocols, or finds a grey market copy of Windows Server 2022, which does not require TPM and will have no-fuss security updates until October 2031. I'm more partial to Windows Server 2022 route. I also understand that many people don't think the statements Microsoft has put out about not fully supporting Windows 11 security updates on unsupported machines is sort of scaremongering, and that the security holes in older Intel hardware are so hard to exploit that it's a concern only for enterprise-level WIndows clients, but not for the average home enthusiast. Any thoughts?

[dr_st]

You can also install a "grey market" copy of Windows 10 LTSC, which will be supported till 2029 (2032 in some flavors).
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... nformation

I'm sure that as the mainstream support cycle draws to an end, some registry hacks or other patches will be discovered, which will present your Win10 as eligible for extended support, even if it was not initially an LTSC branch.

Kind of like everyone who wanted could get XP patches up to 2019 and Win7 patches up to 2023.

[dances_with_woof]

dr_st, I always get the best advice from these forums! I had no idea there was a third option, and I was on the fence about getting Windows Server 2022 grey-market, since it's so sketchy how people obtain discs out there being sold for less than a hundred dollars, when the program sells for thousands. It definitely buys some time.

[dances_with_woof]

dr_st, the 2032 end-of-life version of Windows definitely fixes my problems for my laptops and secondary imaging workstation, but my primary imaging workstation is a converted Dell R815 Server with 4-CPUs running on "Windows 10 for Workstations". Unsure of the end-of-service scenario on that Windows build, I think it's 2027? Anyway, if there is a 2032 end-of-life version of the Workstation-build of Windows 10, I'd love to know.

[farmall]

Since this forum is not for discussion of how to obtain software outside legal channels (including the many perfectly safe ways to verify .iso checksums and perfectly safe script-based activations which are legal to publish (the most popular is hosted in Github) I suggest going to specialty venues for that info (information hosting is not the same as hosting pirated software or OS). There is no need to gray market anything. Those sellers are directed at the clueless, but clues are very easy to obtain at any level of required detail.

For general educational use and to understand more about Windows versions the My Digital Life forums are outstanding and have been around many years.

While software and drivers are typically compelling reasons to run Windows on workstations that's not the case for file and media servers at which Linux is long proven. Mixed networks are common with each OS doing what it's best at.

I often use Windows but it's in virtual machines on Linux hosts, making restoration to a clean install as easy as rebooting the VM from a clean snapshot. That can be very useful when testing software or if a Windows update goes wrong.