I really hate misleading titles

Thread Starter

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Get a Lifetime Microsoft Windows 10 License for $14, Office for $26

BUT the lifecycle is set to end October 14, 2025!

Get a Lifetime Microsoft Windows 10 License for $14, Office for $26 (msn.com)


Even other OS had a longer lifespan than Win 10 will... And I cannot and am not ready to upgrade. Five years ago, I asked my son (who worked for MS and is in the business computing software realm) to spec a new computer for me. I ended up with an Alienware Aurora R6, 1Tb ssd, 2Tb hd,
1659379919190.pngwhich is/was a screamer! Very Fast! Quad-core I7 @ 3.6GHz! Who'da thunk it?
I've worn out keyboards and mice but the system is still fast and the drives have ~half capacity still available. BUT, it cannot be upgraded to Win 11! And it cannot be "enhanced" to do so. Still have a couple of years to consider and plan for a new one but I like the one I have now. Dell has also consigned it to the trash heap...
1659380602866.png
Long ago I said it was a 2 year cycle because the software/hardware was improving quickly. That has slowed down and Moore's Law is dead! Ah well, such is life I guess...
 

Externet

Joined Nov 29, 2005
2,200
Yeah, see it everywhere. Lifetime warranty. When told so, I always ask 'whose life' ?
What OS is that Aurora running ?
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
Moore's Law is dead!
Until someone comes up with a killer application for all of those extra transistors, Moore's Law is just bragging rights.

What are you going to do with 5 billion transistors running at 5GHz? Umm, play video games?
 

Thread Starter

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
What OS is that Aurora running ?
It's running Win 10 Home 64-bit now. Was originally installed as 32-bit if I recall correctly. The 64-bit may not have been released back then?

What are you going to do with 5 billion transistors running at 5GHz? Umm, play video games?
Only video game I play is some Windows Solitaire. And that 5B xstrs does not include the high end (at least it was) NVIDIA Ge Force GTX 1070 graphics card in addition to the onboard Intel graphics of the motherboard. My big slowdown is my ISP...1659394342930.png
I can (Usually) stream video and music @ high speed though. I like this computer! But it can't be upgraded, it's no longer supported, and in 2 years the OS has also reached its end-of-life. I remember years ago buying a Gateway that was advertised to be "Upgradeable"! It was a common idea among the hardware developers at that time and being promoted by the vendors but was pure BS. The only way to really upgrade it would have been to replace the motherboard with one of the newly released and upgraded to current standards one.

I ran my original genuine California garage-built 64k memory PC Clone with 8088 processor, DOS 2.0, single 360k floppy drive, and monochrome graphics for many years with many hardware and OS upgrades (first were 640K memory and date/time card) until it had dual 1.2 meg drives, CGA, internal modem, and a 20 meg hard disk. I used it for many years and finally gave up on it when it took ~10 minutes (or so it seemed) to process each entry into TuboTax! And it had a 4.77 MHz 8088 with a 10 MHz "turbo-boost" from the garage that built it!
 
Last edited:

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
But it can't be upgraded, it's no longer supported, and in 2 years the OS has also reached its end-of-life.
End of life doesn't mean what your thinking, at least I don't think it does. Their are people still using Win7 on their computers.
 

Thread Starter

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
End of Life - No Updates, bug fixes, or support. And typically, too slow to use. I did expect Win 10 to have a longer lifespan and my recently minted computer to be Win 11 compatible. Not that I'm sure I wish to use Win 11 but that remains to be seen. It all depends on what you want to do with your computer. My first computer was used for word processing, tax preparation, dial-up bulletin board access, and teaching my kids about computers. Today, it's more net access, schematic CAD, simulation, eBooks, streaming video and music, and keeping up with family, friends, and relatives. I've kept a few old computers and operating systems but haven't really found a use for them. In fact, I scrapped most of them due to age and needing space. I did keep the latest one to put Linux on to get some experience with it. I could use it as a standalone for my Ham Radio control software but it is even moving toward net access which gives old OS security headaches and compatibility issues. It kind of reminds me of an old Archie Bunker line "Youse don't buy beer, you just rents it"!
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I like this computer! But it can't be upgraded, it's no longer supported, and in 2 years the OS has also reached its end-of-life.
I'm using a 3rd generation quad core i7 that's in the same boat. It'll be running Linux when Win10 is EOL. I'll run MS apps under Wine. About all I need from MS is Office. I tried LibreOffice and I can't get past how crude it is compared to Office. That and having to relearn how to do things that I've been doing with Office for decades. I have a similar problem with MS operating version changes.
My big slowdown is my ISP...
At least you can get broadband. I'm paying for 12Mbps down, 1Mbps up and I rarely get that. If I stream from an inefficient website, that can consume most of the bandwidth that I share with 2 other family members.
 

Thread Starter

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
At least you can get broadband. I'm paying for 12Mbps down, 1Mbps up and I rarely get that.
Ouch! That's almost back to dial-up days. Even though I pay for what my ISP calls High-Speed Internet I've learned that even though my ISP sells me a certain download speed ability, the sites themselves set the download speed so they can support more simultaneous users by setting a low per-user download rate. I'm paying for a 50mbs download service and have never gotten it, close but no cigar. We can and do stream video on 2 TVs and a computer usually without jitters.
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
Get a Lifetime Microsoft Windows 10 License
You get a license for life. Doesn't say they'll support it for life.

Truth in advertising simply means they give you exactly what they say they will. They then depend on the purchaser to make assumptions about the product that are not supported. You'd think with a lifetime license the product is going to be supported for life. But that's not what they sold you.
 

Thread Starter

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Kinda reminds me of the scammers in india who purported themselves to be Microsoft Technical Support. Which was their "company" name, but they were not Microsoft^TM Support! Except this was an article written by a journalist for MUO, a trade ePublication, with links to highly discounted near "end of life" Win 10 software for sale with guaranteed lifetime support (albeit a very short lifetime left, gotta read the fine print which in this case there wasn't any). Only the deals are real but the software is scheduled to die soon which is why it is so deeply discounted. As are the computers that were sold with Win 10 installed unless they meet the requirements to run Win 11 or another OS. It's hard to predict the future but I somehow feel betrayed by this...
 
Last edited:

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
There are other OS available, and if you could learn to use Linux that machine would probably run much faster than it does. Certainly the learning curve is a big one. I tried it years ago and certainly switching from DOS to Linux is a huge move. But that is one option. And the best part of Linux is not associated with MS or it's ilk. Or try UNIX, which would be OK except for that 182 volume user manual, with 457 pages in each volume.
 

Thread Starter

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
I've kept a few old computers and operating systems but haven't really found a use for them. In fact, I scrapped most of them due to age and needing space. I did keep the latest one to put Linux on to get some experience with it.
I've played a bit with Linux and used old versions of Venix and Xenix for several years at work which were cutdown versions of Unix that ran on 8088/286/386 PCs with an added math coprocessor. Also ran Unix software under Win NT using a Unix interface software tool that NT provided called Nutcracker. I can use them but I'm no longer a real fan of command line OS although Linux has moved pretty much away from that to a GUI. That and to save my skin I can't remember how to grep and tar anymore. But I still have my antique UNIX books (not the monstrous manuals).
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,839
I can use them but I'm no longer a real fan of command line OS although Linux has moved pretty much away from that to a GUI.
It depends on what your main priorities are. If you want to program and do system administration, a command line interface is more than sufficient. Personally, I haven't been able to find a window manager on Linux that I like. I liked the setups I had when I worked, but I've tried on Debian is quite crude by comparison. I don't bother tweaking them much because they're mainly just a host for the terminal windows I use to do my actual work.

I don't use Linux for word processing, photo/video editing, etc, but I expect that there will come a time when Microsoft's antics will push me in that direction.
That and to save my skin I can't remember how to grep and tar anymore.
If you don't use commands often enough to remember how to use them, then it's probably not something you really need.

When Win 10 didn't support xcopy, I rewrote my XP backup scripts to use find and tar to replace that functionality. I still haven't tested them to my satisfaction, so I still copy files I want backed up to my XP computer that runs daily, weekly, and monthly backups (if it gets used).
 
Top