My Windows 10 updates had been failing for the past 6 months. When shutting down my PC I'd get the notification to "update and shut down", but the update would routinely fail. I thought the outstanding updates were the reason I wasn't given an option to update in place to Windows 11, but that was actually because my i7 7700k isn't officially supported. I ended up needing to create a Windows 11 iso that doesn't enforce hardware requirements with Rufus [0]. I was building a new gaming rig in tandem, so I reformatted the lone remaining SSD on the machine and left the new windows install unactivated as I plan to give it to a neighbor or family friend who can be tasked with buying a copy of windows. But this means I was left without any free Windows 10 -> 11 upgrade and had to buy a new license for the new rig. I didn't try to do anything other than browse the internet on the unsupported hardware, but things seem fine.

So far Windows 11 on the new rig has been very smooth/stable and I can't think of any issues I've had after 2 weeks of gaming and other typical use. But the amount of internet-driven widgets that ultimately are a medium for ads is frustrating.

[0] https://github.com/pbatard/rufus

The article doesn't say this explicitly, but I would guess the majority of the remaining Windows 10 population is not stubborn users that refuse to update, it's people who just can't because of the Windows 11 hardware requirements. I can't update my desktop without replacing the motherboard and CPU and I just don't want to to spend the time and money on that anytime soon. The computer works fine.

My desktop still dual boots windows 10 and ubuntu... 11 is acceptable compared to late 10, but it's a chore that will result in changes, and no benefits to me.

I might just go full linux, but 2-4 times a year this would make some friends sad when I can't play the crazy invasive anti-cheat games.

I ran across this for people who do not want to buy new hardware or cannot afford to. Hoping more things like this are done in other areas:

https://www.reddit.com/r/missoula/comments/1nvfvwc/linux_tra... s/

I will not have an operating system that shows me ads. This is my computer. It will do what I want.

My Windows 10 gaming system is apparently compatible with Windows 11 but I don’t get an upgrade option in Windows Update.

And I’m sure as hell not going to pay for Windows 11 when Windows 10 works “fine” (about as well as Windows ever does, which isn’t exactly high praise).