Windows 10: A new journey with Windows: Microsoft's "end of support" notice for Windows 10 users

Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system has about 18 months of official support left. Customers may further extend support by up to three years, but this comes at a cost.

Now, Microsoft is pushing another message on to Windows 10 devices. A new journey with Windows is a fullscreen prompt that appeared on the screen of some Windows 10 users.

This prompt, first spotted by users on Reddit, informs Windows 10 users about the end of support of the operating system in 2025.

It says:

A new journey with Windows.

We want to thank you for your loyalty as a Windows 10 customer. As end of support for Windows 10 approaches, we're here to support you on your PC journey.

Your PC is not eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, but it will continue to receive Windows 10 fixes and security updates until support ends on October 14, 2025.
​

While it is good that Microsoft is informing customers about the end of support, it comes with the typical mix of deceptive design patterns.

First, you may notice that there is no option to decline and exit the prompt. While you can click on "remind me later", this only means that the prompt will be shown at a later stage again.

Second, this particular version seems aimed at users who run devices that are not compatible with Windows 11. These devices cannot be upgraded to Windows 11 officially.

The solution that Microsoft has is simple: buy a new PC with Windows 11 and migrate your data to that new PC to continue using a supported version of Windows 11.

In other words, this is a big reminder that Windows 10 is running out of support and that the customer cannot really do anything about it other than buying a new PC.

Again, Microsoft does not reveal the option that Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 allow customers to extend support by up to three years. Granted, this comes at a cost. Enterprise customers may pay up to $427 for extending support by three years.

Microsoft has yet to announce the price for consumers.

Closing Words


Microsoft should inform customers about the end of support. Most Windows users would agree to that statement. Microsoft's "how" is probably not the way most Windows customers would like to be informed.

The company omits information and does not give users an easy opt-out so that the message is never shown again.

Expect more informational screens in the coming months. Systems compatible with Windows 11 will eventually be upgraded automatically to the new version. Microsoft has done so in the past when previous operating systems ran out of support.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post A new journey with Windows: Microsoft's "end of support" notice for Windows 10 users appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

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Microsoft Botches Up UEFI Support for Windows 7 on ASUS Motherboards



Microsoft suggests updating to Windows 10 to patch Windows 7

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• Chris Merriman
• 
  @ChrisTheDJ
• 05 May 2016

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MICROSOFT HAS confirmed a potentially lappy-borking problem that it won't be fixing, because Windows 7.

Woody Leonhard, the respected Windows columnist, points to a problem involving Asus motherboards, which also appear rebadged in a variety of other manufacturers' machines, and the activation of UEFI Secure Boot for Windows 7 in a patch KB3133977.

Short version: install update, welcome to Borksville, population you.

Both Asus and Microsoft acknowledged the problem. Microsoft entitled the article "BitLocker can't encrypt drives because of service crashes in svchost.exe process in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2", but we prefer to just call it "Trevor for brevity."

The firm's advice was that it's an optional update, leave well alone, you'll be fine, or alternatively turn secure boot off.

Then Microsoft did a silly, silly thing.

It moved the update from 'optional' to 'recommended' and anyone who reads this site regularly will know what happens when Microsoft does this. That's right boys and girls - it makes it automatically install, unless you've specifically told your machine not to.

So now, if you have one of the affected motherboard and you keep your security updates automatic like wot Microsoft recommends, then your machine will stop working properly.

We should add it's not permanently bricked, but it will take some mucking about in the BIOS to fix and that's a pain even for an experienced computer user.

Microsoft has, by offering a workaround, suggested heavily that it won't be fixing the problem, though we have asked the question, so expect a response in about a fortnight.

But the real kicker is this piece of advice: "Note The Secure Boot feature is supported in Windows 10. To learn more about the security advantages of this feature and about the upgrade path from Windows 7 to Windows 10, go to the following Windows website"

Holy toledo, this company really knows how to rub people up the wrong way.

After all - if the advice is to manually avoid the update or move to a version of the operating system where there's virtually no control over updates, then Microsoft is dealing in massive contradictions.

A more cynical site would suggest that it's yet another example of Microsoft running Windows 7 into the ground and adding built in obsolescence to encourage quicker updates. But we're not that sort of site.

Its the patching to force secure boot that is the problem win 7 does not support secure boot
hence it borks systems and well microsofts answer is Cactus >your Asshole > insert

from the inquirer

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

As you may already know, Windows 10 (as well as Windows 8) allow you to log in with a valid Microsoft account, instead of creating a local account that only works on your machine. However, you may prefer to keep a local account for privacy reasons. If you do, though, some Windows 10 features—like Cortana—may not work. Despite the default behavior, the Windows 10 Store is not one of them. You can still log in to your Microsoft account for just the Store without switching to a full Microsoft account. The process, however, is not terribly obvious. To do so, follow these steps:

• Launch the Store from your Start menu.
• Click the user icon next to the search box.
• Click “Sign-in” from the menu that appears.
• Choose “Microsoft account” and log in like normal.
• When the “Make it yours” box appears do not enter your password. Instead, click “Sign in to just this app instead.”

from Lifehacker