Windows 10 support is over. Likely switching to a version of Linux

[MattKing]

FWIW, while I've been grousing about Microsoft since I started using their operating systems - mostly - I have also used their operating system products to good effect for 40 years now, so most of my grousing is fairly muted.
I've always been amazed at how much support and updating I've been able to take advantage of without having to pay any additional payment - in some cases years of it on the same machine. And I always wonder about the economic wisdom of that approach.

 

[Taylor K Nankervis]

Never seen or used Linux.
Switched to Windows 11 years ago ... can't remember when; initial upgrade on an old Dell PC wasn't successful, so toddle off to buy a PC with Win 11 and I lived happily ever after...

...Sort of...

A few recent W11 updates have caused lock-ups / the dreadful blue screen of death; nothing a few mental gymnastics and daily backups cannot fix, very smoothly at that. I have switched off auto-updates so I can eyeball just what the updates contain and will do, potentially and theoretically, and chose whether or not to download them.

Generally after 4-5 years I ditch a PC and buy another, more powerful one. I'm about 12+ months away now from going down that route once again for the "next best thing"— whatever that might be.

 

[MattKing]

What pushed me over the edge was when Intuit announced the TurboTax desktop will not be supported in Windows 10 this year. Fortunately my computer is fully compatible but had it not been I’d probably buy a new one.

@BrianShaw ,
FWIW, at least in Canada, Intuit says their tax software is compatible as follows:

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

FWIW, while I've been grousing about Microsoft since I started using their operating systems - mostly - I have also used their operating system products to good effect for 40 years now, so most of my grousing is fairly muted.
I've always been amazed at how much support and updating I've been able to take advantage of without having to pay any additional payment - in some cases years of it on the same machine. And I always wonder about the economic wisdom of that approach.

How do you do that? I bought the extended equipment warranty from Dell, which covers Windows.

 

[4season]

My systems meet most of the W11 requirements, save that the CPUs are a generation or two older. For these, I performed a registry hack to disable CPU check, then installed W11 via bootable USB media. Major updates in which the version number changes (e.g., 24H2) aren't delivered automatically, and in order to get them, I download the latest Windows 11 installation media and create a bootable USB stick. I'd also patch said installer to bypass the need to create a Windows online account, or set up cloud services.

As I write this, Windows 11 25H2 is the latest version, but unless it contains useful new features, I may stick with 24H2, because it seems that the latter is considered a long-term support release, whereas 25H2 is not.

 

[BrianShaw]

@BrianShaw ,
FWIW, at least in Canada, Intuit says their tax software is compatible as follows:
View attachment 411651

Add "2025" to your search and see if AI gives a different answer.

Google Search

What I find interesting is that Intuit apparently wants to wean us off of the desktop version as they make repeated and constant attempts to drive users to the online version. I still prefer "possessing" both my software and data locally.

 

[MattKing]

Add "2025" to your search and see if AI gives a different answer.


What I find interesting is that Intuit apparently wants to wean us off of the desktop version as they make repeated and constant attempts to drive users to the online version. I still prefer "possessing" both my software and data locally.

I got my info from the Intuit website - the "system requirements" link.
Admittedly, that relates to the simplest desktop version - the one appropriate for up to 4 returns for individual (not business) users.
I'm wondering if Intuit updated their software to be usable with Windows 11, and somehow that was misconstrued as being only compatible with Windows 11.

How do you do that? I bought the extended equipment warranty from Dell, which covers Windows.

Directly using free downloads from Microsoft.
It was a bit challenging finding the Microsoft material back when I was updating our oldest, original Windows 7 machine, but it was there. IIRC, I did need to have in hand the Windows 7 system disks that came with that oldest machine.
More recent machines have only a license for the operating system associated with them, but the updates have come for free directly from Microsoft.

 

[BrianShaw]

I got my info from the Intuit website - the "system requirements" link,

I'm wondering if Intuit updated their software to be usable with Windows 11, and somehow that was misconstrued as being only compatible with Windows 11.

One needs to read carefully as the Intuit.ca still has information regarding 2024 software. This might shed more light for you. Intuit seems quite clear and is not prone to misconstruing themselves. [edit: In fact, I've been getting emails from Intuit periodically announcing this change for thier 2025 software.] If Canada still can use Windows10 then you are very lucky. I just bouth and installed the 2025 package to get an early start...

How does the end of support for Windows 10 affect my TurboTax Desktop experience?

Microsoft will end free technical support and security updates for the Windows 10 operating system on October 14, 2025. Read this Microsoft article to lear

turbotax.community.intuit.ca

 

[MattKing]

That is hilarious - part of the site says Windows 10 is fine, but the support files say otherwise.

 

[BrianShaw]

That is hilarious - part of the site says Windows 10 is fine, but the support files say otherwise.

I know that you are using the term "hilarous" facetiously. I find the internet quite annoying at times because too often one needs to be Sherlock Holmes to sleuth the truth. Too much old stuff remains without date stamps and too much remains with caveats that are difficult or impossible to easily discern. The link they provide that says Win10 is okay is 10 months old (so one can assume/imply that it refers to the 2024 software version) but nowhere does it make that clear, nor have they updated it to state that it is OBE. Grrrrr... I hope you have a Win11 machine or choose to use the online version.

 

[MattKing]

I've actually been using a competitor for the last few years, and their 2025 software isn't available yet.
But I look at the Intuit option each year before I decide, so I try to remain aware of it.
And I used "hilarious" more because of the irony inherent in tax software having trouble with what year it is!
By the way, in case it isn't clear, the screen I shared is where you get if you click on the link for the system requirements for the 2025 version of the Desktop "Basic" version!

 

[djdister]

I have 2 machines running Mint Linux - a laptop and a desktop, and I have one machine running Windows 11 - a desktop. I would happily give up Windows except for 2 things: tax prep software and printing to a Canon Pro-1100 from Photoshop.

Sure, I could use an online tax prep program in any browser, but as noted earlier, I like having my detailed tax records on my own machine, so kind of stuck with Windows on that for now. As for printing from Photoshop - I have gotten some decent prints from the Canon Pro-1100 from my Linux desktop, using GIMP, but the printing controls aren't nearly as refined as printing from a Windows (or Mac) machine. But I'm getting pretty close on that front.

I don't do any gaming, so I can't comment on ditching Windows for Linux for that purpose.

 

[koraks]

I have gotten some decent prints from the Canon Pro-1100 from my Linux desktop, using GIMP

The print interface of GIMP is unfortunately a very rudimentary one plagued with fundamental problems. This has been the case for...well, ever, really. It's a known issue, but there's apparently insufficient interest in the community to get it fixed. On a similar note, GIMP's scanning interface will often crash if you try to scan large images. Most of the time, the acquired data are preserved. Sometimes you end up with a black canvas (not blank, but actually black).

 

[loccdor]

Well, I jumped in headfirst, decided after review that even though my PC is 6 years old the hardware is still pretty good and I didn't need a new one. So yesterday I did a deep clean, blowing it out with high pressure and vacuuming it, and backing up files to external hard drive. Then this morning I went ahead with the Linux Mint installation, didn't even make a way to restore Windows, just erased it fully.

Before I started there were a few things I needed to do to the BIOS - disable secure boot, UEFI was already enabled, needed to change to AHCI because I had Intel Optane memory enhancement that doesn't run under Linux.

So far the things I've gotten to work:
NVIDIA drivers (version 580)
ProtonVPN
Gimp
RawTherapee
Steam
Deluge
Final Fantasy VII (original) - runs through Proton, needs to be run in Windowed mode, needed a launcher command to fix an audio skipping problem
EverQuest (project 1999) - runs through Wine, made a script to lower screen resolution when it launches, big surprise that it's actually more stable than on Windows
Firefox with uBlock Origin, Dark Reader, YouTube runs smoothly
VLC

Looks like getting the Epson scanner to work may pose a bit of a challenge. Apparently people buy VueScan for that, but there may also be a way to get it working with iscan. Not the biggest deal, I've mostly switched to DSLR scanning. Will look into it more later.

Overall I've been really pleased so far.

 

[Kino]

Looks like getting the Epson scanner to work may pose a bit of a challenge. Apparently people buy VueScan for that, but there may also be a way to get it working with iscan. Not the biggest deal, I've mostly switched to DSLR scanning. Will look into it more later.

Overall I've been really pleased so far.

Yes, I fought with that until I got disgusted and bought VueScan; no problems since, other than learning it's (to me) bizarre interface.

You should also notice a performance increase on boot times and just general "snappiness" of operation.

Nice job!

 

[djdister]

Looks like getting the Epson scanner to work may pose a bit of a challenge. Apparently people buy VueScan for that, but there may also be a way to get it working with iscan. Not the biggest deal, I've mostly switched to DSLR scanning. Will look into it more later.

Getting a simple scanner to work for basic scans (reflective) is actually pretty easy - for example I bought a Canon CanoScan LiDE 400 that worked "plug and play" on my Mint Linux machine. However, I have not tried my Epson V750 with Linux - I think high resolution film scanning will be tricky to do from Linux, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

You might also download Darktable just so you have a complete suite of image editing programs on your machine.

 

[loccdor]

Yes, I fought with that until I got disgusted and bought VueScan; no problems since, other than learning it's (to me) bizarre interface.

You should also notice a performance increase on boot times and just general "snappiness" of operation.

Nice job!

Yes, very satisfyingly snappy! I'm impressed.

 

[djdister]

Yes, I fought with that until I got disgusted and bought VueScan; no problems since, other than learning it's (to me) bizarre interface.

You should also notice a performance increase on boot times and just general "snappiness" of operation.

Nice job!

I didn't realize VueScan is available for Linux - that's great news.

 

[4season]

As long as you can get it to do what you want without too many modifications, like a compiling your own kernel, or adding unsupported, 3rd party software, it should be good. But I don't like seeing things break every time I do a routine software update, or needing to re-implement a bunch of fussy changes: A new path here, or modified permissions there. Because I'll typically forget what I've done, and why.

Then, there's the matter of UEFI Secure Boot: Since it's available to me, I like to use it, but not all Linux distros support it (Ubuntu does). But following an update, it would sometimes fail to boot, and I'd have to go back into the firmware and flush out old security tokens to restore correct operation. Not a huge deal once you know what's happening, but frustrating nevertheless.

 

[bernard_L]

Reporting back, slightly off -topic but still under the broader heading "how to resist MS-mandated updates".

Generally if it works on 7 it'll work on 10/11.

My interface is an Adaptec AVA 2904. Possibly the issue is not 10 vs 7, but 64-bit versus 32-bit. Anyway, under Win 10 64-bit, the interface is listed as SCSI of unknown type by the peripheral manager; under Win 7 (32?) it runs OK. As long as the LS-2000 works, I'll have a machine to run it.

I have remembered the root reason for not upgrading my hardware: my basic Adaptec interface needs a PCI slot. My motherboard is one of the last still having a PCI slot. Sure there are adapters PCIe->PCI, more stuff. Plus the dual boot is/was to run a 32-bit OS.

Next, to simplify my setup and get rid of the dual boot just to run Win7/32bits. I have followed the procedure to install an unsigned driver in:

SCSI on Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11: Adaptec AHA-2940 (29xx) Ultra, AIC-7870 (78xx), or 29320LPE Ultra 320 and LSI Logic – Steve's Blog

and downloaded the drivers at:

https://www.savagetaylor.com/hw/scsi/Adaptec_AHA29xx_modified_Aic78xx_driver.zip

the first choice under Step 2.

My Adaptec AVA 2904 is now recognized under Win10/64bit, and Vuescan runs my Nikon LS-2000 just fine.

I expect the Microsoft police to be at my at my door anytime soon.

 

[koraks]

I expect the Microsoft police to be at my at my door anytime soon.

Send them my regards, from a likewise rogue user. Seriously though; nice going! And the PCI/PCIe thing makes good sense. That's indeed a challenge. PCIe SCSI cards are a little trickier to get hold of (although still available here and there, mostly refurb/2nd hand).

 

[wiltw]

Just wondering...

1. continuing to use Windows 10 but with no further security updates from Microsoft
2. switching to Unix with no provided security updates from the supplier of Unix

...what's the difference, from a security point of view?!

 

[koraks]

For starters, you're probably not really going to run Unix, but Linux.

Having said that, the difference is kind of massive in at least two ways:
1: Architecturally, Linux makes it a lot more difficult to 'break out' of e.g. a browser window.
2: Due to the smaller installed base in the consumer segment, it's a whole lot less attractive to make malware for Linux variants, so there's naturally a lot less of it around.

Then there's the fact that you do actually get security updates for most common Linux distros.

 

[wiltw]

For starters, you're probably not really going to run Unix, but Linux.

Having said that, the difference is kind of massive in at least two ways:
1: Architecturally, Linux makes it a lot more difficult to 'break out' of e.g. a browser window.
2: Due to the smaller installed base in the consumer segment, it's a whole lot less attractive to make malware for Linux variants, so there's naturally a lot less of it around.

Then there's the fact that you do actually get security updates for most common Linux distros.

Thanks for explanation. But if one routinely uses antivirus software from an independent (not relying upon Microsoft for antivirus), is there any real advantage, from a security point of view to using any Unix derivative vs. continuing to use Windows 10 O/S?

 

[djdister]

Thanks for explanation. But if one routinely uses antivirus software from an independent (not relying upon Microsoft for antivirus), is there any real advantage, from a security point of view to using any Unix derivative vs. continuing to use Windows 10 O/S?

Your Linux setup will get security updates and patches almost weekly whereas the Windows 10 not at all unless you pay for extended support. There is very little malware that is targeted at Linux distributions, and the security configuration options for Linux are 10X what you have on Windows 10.