From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On 2026-04-05, CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> wrote:

On 2026-04-05 9:01 a.m., Borax Man wrote:

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.advocacy.]
On 2026-04-04, CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> wrote:

On 2026-04-03 6:30 p.m., Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Not a new story any more, by any means
<https://www.theverge.com/tech/905946/windows-11-forced-obsolescence-linux-thinkpad>.
But look at the specs involved, and you get to see how stark the
contrast is between the hardware requirements of Windows 11, and what
is considered a perfectly serviceable machine for today:

This story was written on a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 with >>>> 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7600U >>>> processor. It’s a more powerful version of a laptop The Verge
reviewed when it came out in 2017. At the time, it was considered >>>> a high-end, ultra-portable workhorse of a laptop, offering upwards >>>> of eight hours of battery life in a surprisingly lightweight
package. It started at $1,100 when it was released, but my
configuration would have cost $2,100. I found this one used on
eBay for just $250.

...

After using it on Windows 10 for a few days, I had a hard time
remembering it was a laptop from nearly a decade ago. It certainly >>>> didn’t feel like a device that was ready for the laptop graveyard. >>>>
...

It seems like this laptop should be able to run Windows 11, but it >>>> can’t. Microsoft’s base requirements for Windows 11 include at >>>> least 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a TPM 2.0 security chip, UEFI >>>> Secure Boot, and a 64-bit processor with at least 2 cores running >>>> at 1GHz or faster. My ThinkPad has all of that — except its
processor is one generation too old.

Besides the lighter hardware requirements, don’t forget another advantage
of Open Source:

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms >>>> and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one
actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every >>>> single one of these agreements. But we’re going to start counting >>>> exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when
we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read >>>> and definitely can’t negotiate.

To install and use Linux Mint, you have to agree to:

* Nothing

Linux Mint is free and open source. You can install proprietary
software on Mint, some of which may come with user agreements, but >>>> none are required to install and use the operating system itself. >>>

There is no doubt that Linux is an excellent option for those whose
capable machines don't support Windows 11. Nevertheless, most people
will probably prefer to just upgrade.

Yes, but more people are looking at Linux instead of just upgrading.

The hardware is actually less of an issue, than Windows 11 itself.

The most knowledgeable ones are probably taking the Linux route, but
there is no reason to believe that they're sticking to it. Objectively speaking, they're probably liking it for a week or two and then
inevitably encountering many issues. Like me, they probably aren't
capable to fix every issue which might arise.

From my admittedly small samples size of 2 or 3, based on personal
experience in the last couple of years, they've been satisfied with the
switch and don't regret it.

One of the tried it years ago, moved back, but has tried again and found
it vastly improved. Particularly for games. That was the sticking
point.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy

On 2026-04-05, CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> wrote:

On 2026-04-04 10:42 p.m., RonB wrote:

On 2026-04-04, CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> wrote:

On 2026-04-03 8:06 p.m., MummyChunk wrote:

Lawrence DOliveiro wrote:
Not a new story any more, by any means
https://www.theverge.com/tech/905946/windows-11-forced-obsolescence- >>>>> linux-thinkpad .
But look at the specs involved, and you get to see how stark the
contrast is between the hardware requirements of Windows 11, and what >>>>> is considered a perfectly serviceable machine for today:

This story was written on a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 with
16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7600U
processor. It’s a more powerful version of a laptop The Verge
reviewed when it came out in 2017. At the time, it was considered
a high-end, ultra-portable workhorse of a laptop, offering upwards
of eight hours of battery life in a surprisingly lightweight
package. It started at $1,100 when it was released, but my
configuration would have cost $2,100. I found this one used on
eBay for just $250.

...

After using it on Windows 10 for a few days, I had a hard time
remembering it was a laptop from nearly a decade ago. It certainly
didn’t feel like a device that was ready for the laptop graveyard. >>>>>
...

It seems like this laptop should be able to run Windows 11, but it
can’t. Microsoft’s base requirements for Windows 11 include at
least 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a TPM 2.0 security chip, UEFI
Secure Boot, and a 64-bit processor with at least 2 cores running
at 1GHz or faster. My ThinkPad has all of that " except its
processor is one generation too old.

Besides the lighter hardware requirements, don’t forget another advantage
of Open Source:

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms
and conditions before you can use it " contracts that no one
actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every
single one of these agreements. But we’re going to start counting
exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when >>>>> we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read
and definitely can’t negotiate.

To install and use Linux Mint, you have to agree to:

* Nothing

Linux Mint is free and open source. You can install proprietary
software on Mint, some of which may come with user agreements, but
none are required to install and use the operating system itself.

Is the processor generation requirement only something related to the
TPM or some other security feature that was only included on newer
generation processors?

Certainly couldn't be anything related to processing power.

It is specifically tied to the TPM. You can bypass the requirement by
downloading the Windows 11 ISO on your own and using Rufus to set it
onto a USB thumb drive, but the default installation process will look
for TPM.

I wanted to see if I could get the Windows version of Trelby working (so I >> could pass on how to do it for Windows users). I was unsuccessful in my
attempt but, for a short while (an evening) I actually had Windows 11
installed on one of my poor, victimized Dell Micros. I downloaded Rufus
(using my wife's laptop) and eventually got Windows 11 on the flash drive
(so I could bypass the Windows login and TPM stuff). But it wasn't
straightforward.

Microsoft is now blocking Rufus from downloading the Windows 11 ISO
directly.

Use the MediaCreationTool directly. You have the option to download the
ISO there. In fact, it's the only way it will work right.

I had no intent of doing that. First, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have let
me install Windows 11 on a computer that doesn't meet their arbitrary requirements (TPM and CPU both too old on the computer I was using) and it would have required that I open an account with Microsoft (and that just
isn't going to happen... ever). Rufus and the ISO worked fine. I just had to jump through some hoops. The main hoop that surprised me is not being able
to download the ISO when using a Windows computer. Just weird.

Also, when I tried to download the ISO on my wife's laptop (which
is already running Windows 11) the download was refused (I tried three or
four times). There was some kind of notice that there was a problem with
the server... can't remember exactly what the claimed issue was. So I went >> to my Linux computer to download the Windows ISO (no server issue), then I >> move the ISO to the Windows computer to make the Rufus boot USB.

You might end up with an ISO that, once the installation process starts, claims that it needs a pile of drivers you don't have. That's been my experience, at the very least. What I do is I download the ISO with MediaCreationTool and then manually load into Rufus.

I didn't know I could do that, but the Windows ISO I downloaded installed
fine the way I did it. And that is definitely one of the options on Windows download page. It just appears that they block it if you're using a Windows
11 computer(?) — which seems weird.

So Microsoft is making bypassing their requirements more difficult. I
wouldn't bet against them closing the "loopholes" completely at some point >> in the not too distant future. (Now I wonder if Microsoft searches to see if >> you have Rufus on your computer to use as a reason to reject the Windows 11 >> ISO download.)

I stopped trying to bypass it myself. I figure that there is no reason
to believe that they will override your desires later on with an update,
so I just keep it at its default state.

In my case I wanted to test Trelby on a Windows 11 install and I didn't have
a computer that would work unless I bypassed the the CPU and TPM
requirements. And I definitely will not set up a Microsoft account. So I really didn't have much choice. So far the Rufus blocks still seem to be working.
--
Not all Jews are Zionists. Not all Zionists are Jews. Zionism ≠ Judaism.
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