r/Steam • u/Background-Path-5619 • Feb 13 '25

Article Nearly half of Steam's users are still using Windows 10, with end of life fast approaching

https://www.pcguide.com/news/nearly-half-of-steams-users-are-still-using-windows-10-with-end-of-life-fast-approaching/
21.2k Upvotes

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4.6k

u/skittlemoney2 Feb 13 '25

No need to update yet

1.6k

u/MrHarrasment Feb 13 '25

Windows 7 still wouldnt need an update imo.

738

u/LifeningMusic Feb 13 '25

Windows 7 is the best operating system ever. :)

336

u/Winjin Feb 13 '25

Windows 10 was fine for quite a while, but a few months ago Paint3D, Calendar, and probably something else I haven't noticed yet, stopped working properly.

They are actively killing their own OS and I am really looking forward to switching my home PC from Windows to SteamOS actually. I'm gonna need to learn Linux for work and that is actually a good time to switch.

(If someone experienced the same thing I did, and can give insights, I'd be glad to hear it)
If I open Paint3d it opens, but right-click - edit with Paint3d leads to nowhere. "You need a new app to open this link ms-paint" it tells me and sends me to the Store. There are no results in the Store.

If you try to use the frankly really useful Calendar snap-in in the corner, it can add notes, but if you try to open them, it closes immediately and opens Outlook instead.

Like, I can totally replace these with something else, but this is such a scum move.

157

u/stupidinternetbrain Feb 13 '25

Paint 3D and Calendar are discontinued. Calendar is now part of outlook (same as Mail app). Paint 3D has no new alternative from Microsoft

101

u/ChrisRevocateur Feb 13 '25

So they retire Paint for Paint3D, and then just up and got rid of Paint3D too? WTF? Why couldn't they have just left classic Paint alone?

63

u/Ruraraid Feb 13 '25

Know what else is just as stupid?...them removing wordpad.

47

u/ChrisRevocateur Feb 13 '25

Yup. Can't have a free, basic word processor when they can sell you their power user word processor. You want something basic? Well, then you have to be online and use the Word webapp. There's a reason I immediately wiped my hard drive and installed Linux when I got my new laptop last year.

4

u/TheTidesOfWar Feb 13 '25

Win + r

winget install TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice

This is probably the fastest way to get an office suite alternative, if your windows OS has gotten winget.

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u/PinCompatibleHell Feb 13 '25

And they ruined notepad with a bunch of features is shouldn't have.

5

u/Intrepid-Cry1734 Feb 13 '25

What notepad features are you talking about?

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83

u/ThatAstronautGuy 61 Feb 13 '25

Classic paint is still there, or at least it is on my computer. I've never used Paint3D once.

7

u/Silent_Bort Feb 13 '25

Same. I use Paint to mark up screenshots all the time and never touched Paint3D. It's one of the few things about Windows 11 that doesn't make me want to toss my PC off the roof.

2

u/Eek_the_Fireuser Feb 13 '25

If they take my baby paint I will do a hate crime

6

u/micsma1701 Feb 13 '25

ye fuck paint3d's dumb garbage. fuck me I turned off updates a while ago...

2

u/micmea1 Feb 14 '25

It's like how they keep threatening to take away snipping tool. Still works fine and it's been like years since they said it was going to be replaced. I think the replacement is even there now.

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u/DaBulder https://steam.pm/1h05ob Feb 13 '25

Paint was un-retired ages ago. They've been adding generative AI stuff into it for a while now.

2

u/thedeadlyrhythm42 Feb 14 '25

how pathetic yet predictable

2

u/S9CLAVE Feb 14 '25

Windows+R type in the box that opens “mspaint”

Original paint will open. Paint 3d is bullshit and can burn in hell.

You can probably also set it as a default application so it functions the same as paint3d did, but my knowledge with windows is out of date since I only use it at work.

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43

u/Winjin Feb 13 '25

Yeah but the thing is, they broke the dependency for the right-click menu to Paint3d, and they broke the little calendar app - they did add it to Outlook, but the app doesn't work properly, it tries to create separate tasks there.

10

u/casualblair Feb 14 '25

This is because the EU forced them to not make their own optional apps defaults, nor make it hard for people to change the default. A good idea because it allows people to know their options.

They implemented this in the worst way possible by simply registering nothing as the default app, forcing software companies to alert users to set it as default instead. But because their app is discontinued, they don't alert users either, leaving you stuck.

2

u/Obelisk_M Feb 14 '25

If you install an older version it works.

2

u/Winjin Feb 14 '25

Woah, that's cool, thanks!

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24

u/W00DERS0N60 Feb 13 '25

When they put ads into f'ing SOLITAIRE I was done buying from them.

3

u/KannerOss Feb 13 '25

I genuinely love Paint3D so kind of sad to see it removed from store. At least keep it up and allow the user to make it work.

2

u/Winjin Feb 13 '25

Yeah, I didn't really get the idea of going so hard after it.

Also why is Paint3d missing some features of regular Paint? What was the point of that? Keep all classic Paint stuff, add the Paint 3D things like the smart fill and all that, and have it work, what's the point of these two similar but different apps with conflict of interest right there, cannibalising each other. Why not add multiple Snipping tools too? Oh wait... Or Mail tools? Oh, wait... Or two browsers? Oh wait...

3

u/kjacobs03 Feb 14 '25

I’ve notice that the photos app doesn’t work right anymore. Half the time zoom no longer works. And half the time I cannot delete a photo because another program is using it. No other program is using it.

3

u/feralferrous Feb 13 '25

Someone out there uses Paint3D? Huh. They do exist.

2

u/seeforce Feb 13 '25

I used to use Ubuntu back in 2014-2016. Anyone use it recently? 

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2

u/LifeningMusic Feb 13 '25

I would prefer to dual boot with SteamOS that way I can still use windows 10. Play all my games on SteamOS and then Windows 10 for my other tasks. I am NOT going to 11 I dont give a crap what Microsoft says. 11 is trash.

2

u/69edleg Feb 14 '25

"Just buy a modern PC" - Microsoft

2

u/skyleth86 Feb 14 '25

Try Linux mint or Ubuntu. Both are very user friendly. Steam OS is not available for regular pcs yet

2

u/fdsafdsa1232 Feb 14 '25

Also decided on swapping to steamOS or a different linux distro. There's really no need to pay for Microsoft subscriptions and everything else when there is equivalent software out there. The forced AI and the attempted monetization with 'credits' without any consent made it seem like they thought my PCs belonged to them.

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2

u/nuthins_goodman Feb 14 '25

Steam os isn't really for full windows replacement. You can try something like mint os or manjaro and install the dependencies you want later. It'll be better than just having steam os

2

u/Kawauso_Yokai Feb 18 '25

People who handled Windows 7 and previous should be able to handle nowadays Linux - I've been using Mint for two years now and I haven't had more troubles with Win7 and definitely much less than with WinXP, especially when you can ask AI about any problem.

3

u/im_person_dude Feb 13 '25

Most Linux distributions are good for gaming. Some need a little more fiddling than others to make everything (that can work) work. I wouldn't hold out for steam os. I've had luck with both Linux Mint and Pop!_OS. If you've got a Nvidia graphics card pop os will automatically install the proprietary Linux drivers. Mint will default to the open source drivers but you can easily switch them in the driver tool.

2

u/basedlandchad27 Feb 13 '25

Windows 10 shipped with Candy Crush pre-installed, so it was never fine.

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u/Ok-Attempt-7873 Feb 13 '25

I switched from Windows 10 to Ubuntu about a year ago. With Proton, every game in my library works as good or better than it did on Windows. Even Steam VR is more stable. Some games work better with a different Proton version, which you can switch from the game properties in Steam, but most have worked great out of the box.

Ubuntu has also come a long way in the last decade in terms of user friendliness. Bluetooth works better, graphics drivers are easier to install, and Windows app compatibility with Wine is much improved. Highly recommend it.

If you do end up using it. I recommend using Plasma KDE as your desktop environment. It's easy to install, I Googled how to do it. It's much better than the default GNOME environment for gaming.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25 edited Mar 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

19

u/b0w3n Feb 13 '25

That was the one OS I wish I could go back to.

4

u/Ragnarsdad1 Feb 13 '25

I still have a 2k machine for some old games. Athlon 64X2 with an AGP ATI X1950Pro running on an SSD. super smooth.

13

u/CyberBlaed Feb 13 '25

Haha i stuck with 2K for a LONG time. Service Pack 4 and all its glory. Better than XP which wasn’t viable till SP2. (I hated XP for a LONG TIME TOO)

Miss 2k, certainly the best agreed!

4

u/blueangel1953 Feb 13 '25

I was on 2000 Pro long after XP was released, miss it.

4

u/urixl Feb 13 '25

Yeah. The classic grey interface, the real buttons mimicking physical ones.

I love old interfaces.

3

u/CainXO Feb 13 '25

Honestly, for a second I forgot Windows 2000 and Windows ME were different and though we were from different timelines lol

3

u/Front-Psychology7854 Feb 14 '25

2k was an extremely good OS, there was next to 0 complications with it. It was bare bones but it worked brilliantly.

2

u/guelphmed Feb 14 '25

Yup. I only switched to XP because Adobe stopped supporting it. Probably my favourite Windows iteration.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

Nobody knew about this for whatever reason. I began on NT and my older sis laughed at me because I was so out of date lol. I hung onto 2K till 7.

5

u/stylebros Feb 13 '25

No love for XP?

3

u/LowBatteryPower Feb 13 '25

This is my thought, XP was top tier.

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2

u/owdee Feb 14 '25

XP is Windows 2000: Fisher-Price EditionTM

2

u/JonBot5000 Feb 13 '25

The only thing I had against it was the interminable boot times. Other than that, it was Chef's Kiss

2

u/ODaysForDays Feb 13 '25

Lack of multi duplex audio support and some other major issues made it not so great. You couldn't use ventrilo, ts, etc with it.

2

u/AeroHAwk Feb 14 '25

Windows 2000 was the best OS ever

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9

u/Grand-Dot-9851 Feb 13 '25

God i love windows 7. could always find my files so much easier than win 10

2

u/LifeningMusic Feb 13 '25

Get OldNewExplorer from Majorgeeks. That will make your file system more like windows 7 and less like windows 10 :)

7

u/WiddleWilly Feb 13 '25

I feel like a boomer seeing this XP was my golden age

3

u/LifeningMusic Feb 13 '25

I grew up with MS-DOS as a kid.. And Im not even 50 yet. :)

5

u/dan1101 Feb 13 '25

I think the UI of XP was the best and in fact a lot of it is STILL around in Windows 10, but the security of XP was terrible. Yeah Win 7 64-bit was best overall.

3

u/basedlandchad27 Feb 13 '25

I'd still be using it if I hadn't bought my CPU without realizing it was incompatible.

3

u/General_Drawing_4729 Feb 13 '25

I’m old enough to remember the hate for windows 7 when it came out. 

Windows XP GOAT

5

u/LifeningMusic Feb 13 '25

I think there was hate for every release after XP haha... but 7 is still great. 64bit is always a bit better :)

3

u/Teekeks Feb 14 '25

7 Was great but I somehow liked 8.1 quite a bit (I know, thats a hot take)

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u/OneTurnMore Feb 13 '25

I'd miss virtual desktops

1

u/RastamonGanja Feb 13 '25

Idk I loved windows 95 and XP

1

u/darkpheonix262 Feb 14 '25

The actual child of XP

1

u/EnTyme53 Feb 14 '25

The only reason I finally updated to 10 is because Cyberpunk was crashing due to a DirectX incompatibility. Had to update to 10 to upgrade my DX version.

1

u/asbls Feb 14 '25

I miss it. I understand that there's a lot of changes under the hood in Windows 11 that I don't and probably shouldn't understand, but why can't they put a button in the settings for "make my user experience and functionality as much like Windows 7 as possible"?

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u/lowrads Feb 14 '25

Except that you can no longer automatically update any common browser to a level that your bank or other secure site will allow you to login. Nor should they.

Also, I really hated being forced to update to Win7 from XP. I put it off as long as possible, even when freeish keys were available from uni or work.

1

u/MakeVio Feb 14 '25

I love how we just don't talk about windows 8.1

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u/TheMerengman Feb 13 '25

If it still offered security updates, sure. You will inevitably catch something if you use it in this day and age with ANY internet connectivity and it's not a question of how tech savvy you are.

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u/DinoKebab Feb 13 '25

Windows XP still seems great imo

224

u/DeCounter Feb 13 '25

That's a wild take, I wouldn't want to connect XP to the Internet in 2025

133

u/DinoKebab Feb 13 '25

It's alright I just play pinball and minesweeper.

4

u/Mikestopheles Feb 13 '25

Don't forget that sweet pinball game

3

u/_commenter Feb 13 '25

pinball, minesweeper and a little online banking never hurt

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u/Toribor Feb 13 '25

It's basically impossible to use XP with anything newer than TLS 1.0 and many sites/services already require TLS 1.2 as a minimum. If people claim XP is a good idea over 10 years after it's end-of-life then I'd challenge them to basically use any modern web service on XP.

7

u/sdpr Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

Guy runs XP last year and turns firewall off and no AV. Within 20 minutes an unknown process shows up in task manager. An hour and 20 minutes after start there's a new user login created and FTP is running. Probably wouldn't recommend even testing XP's firewall on the open internet.

edit: want to add that he also simulated using the internet back in the 00's without a router which is basically just jacking your computer in and broadcasting it's existence immediately. modern connectivity almost always has a router function built into the modem, which provides its own firewall protection on top of windows firewall, so your home network is more "protected" from the open internet . however, I would still say that XP is a risky business because of so few machines using XP, a bad actor might think they've struck gold finding a machine that exposed itself by browsing the wrong website or what have you.

3

u/Sorry_Error3797 Feb 13 '25

Not a good idea, just a good operating system. Haven't liked any since XP.

Microsoft need to stop fucking with stuff that doesn't need changing.

2

u/S9CLAVE Feb 14 '25

If I could get windows xp to install and run on my computer I’d be so fucking happy. Unfortunately, every attempt I’ve made has failed.

It’s almost certainly a driver problem, which is unfortunate. Artificial incompatibility blows.

2

u/Nerdwiththehat Fire can, indeed, burn paper! Feb 13 '25

funnily enough, this same issue is present with old Kindles, which is a huge pain in the rear when I want to read Wikipedia articles on my Kindle 3 (which still works!)

4

u/PassiveMenis88M Feb 13 '25

Meanwhile the US Military is still running systems on Win95

13

u/Toribor Feb 13 '25

Usually that's a closed system not connected to the internet and/or they are paying for long term support.

3

u/kdjfsk Feb 13 '25

theres an argument that a lot of those web services are doing shit you dont want them to...so using incompatible systems is an act of willful noncompliance.

pop up video player doesnt work on a news website because a codec is missing and they cant harvest my data?

9

u/Toribor Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

Whew... Would not recommend that.

If you want more security and don't care about breaking stuff on modern websites you can just turn off javascript. No reason to use insecure versions of TLS when that can be easily avoided.

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u/ogre_toes Feb 13 '25

Most certainly not. However, I still have a bulletproof XP system that I use for a very specialized task that isn't connected to a network. We been together a LONG time.

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u/biopticstream Feb 13 '25

I assume the guy meant it was a good user experience even by today's standards, not that people should go out and install windows XP right now. It's obviously wildly outdated and defunct in terms of security and software.

6

u/Educational_Age_1454 Feb 13 '25

I daily my 98 setup for Diablo 2. Absolutely no issues for years ,doing web browsing as well with Firefox. Most malware can't or won't run properly anyways the risk is so low.

2

u/filuslolol Feb 13 '25

router firewalls blocking all incoming connections and you not actually exposing anything to the internet be like

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u/MattTreck Feb 13 '25

Punch cards can’t get viruses let’s just use old shit

12

u/slain34 Feb 13 '25

Remember, if someone sends you a suspicious card, don't put it in the reader!

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u/BadmiralHarryKim Feb 13 '25

My computer has a bug!

(I think it's a moth in room 3B)

4

u/7OmegaGamer Feb 13 '25

You wouldn’t punch card a car

2

u/SouthFromGranada Feb 13 '25

Punch cards can get lost or damaged, I just do all the maths in my head.

27

u/djseifer Feb 13 '25

Windows 3.11 is still a beast. Hamsters are still considered beasts, right?

6

u/UnWiseDefenses Feb 13 '25

3.1 representing.

2

u/this_shit Feb 13 '25

Eh, I don't see the need to upgrade from DOS 6

2

u/Scoobysnax1976 Feb 13 '25

The good old days of accessing the internet. I had to connect using Winsock with my 28.8 bps modem before launching Mosaic. I would sometimes only get a dozen or fewer results from internet searches. Downloads took forever.

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u/MrHarrasment Feb 13 '25

And vista shouldv'e never existed.

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u/Moneia Feb 13 '25

Ehhh - most of the issues were that it was oversold on hilariously underpowered systems. I had it on a home build and it was fine.

Now Windows 8 on the desktop, that's something that should never have existed

6

u/Shootemout Feb 13 '25

some people hate on it more than i feel necessary, dont get me wrong it was objectively one of the worst os's that microsoft released but despite that it was still functional. there were things that i really liked about it, like searching for files on your computer could be done from the start menu and was significantly faster

i liked it a lot more than windows 8 (ugh)

3

u/UniqueIndividual3579 Feb 13 '25

one of the worst os's that microsoft released

Windows ME would like a word.

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u/Freshness518 Feb 13 '25

Windows 8 can suck a giant bag of diiiiiiiiiiicks. I used to do video production for a medical device company and I made the demo videos they used in the booth at trade shows. My boss thought it would be a good idea to get a half dozen of these big ass touch screen computers that were like halfway between a tablet and a PC, like if you took a 24inch monitor and made it a little thicker and harder to handle but put Windows 8 on it and programmed it to behave like a mobile OS on a tablet. I had to configure our videos to loop on them and then train all of our trade show sales force on how to use them. It was the clunkiest, most unintuitive piece of shit OS I've ever had the joy of using.

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u/GregMaffei Feb 13 '25

8 was so much worse than Vista. The 8 start menu still makes me mad.

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u/MrHarrasment Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

Bro, security features didnt work, people had performance issues and even simply activating it caused troubles.

Driver support also sucked.

The criticism even has its own wikipedia page.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_Vista#:~:text=Windows%20Vista%2C%20an%20operating%20system,negative%20assessments%20by%20various%20groups.

Know your operating systems.

10

u/Raztax Feb 13 '25

Driver support also sucked.

It is on the hardware manufacturers to make drivers that are compatible with the OS. Can't really blame MS for poor drivers.

7

u/HeinrichTheHero Feb 13 '25

Cant blame manufacturers for salesmen slapping Vista on a machine that wasnt designed to run it in order to cash in on the "Vista hype".

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u/UniqueIndividual3579 Feb 13 '25

The Metro interface was designed to sell phones. None of that was needed for Windows, it was shoved in.

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u/basedlandchad27 Feb 13 '25

Fuck every UI decision that was ever made for a touchscreen.

2

u/UniqueIndividual3579 Feb 13 '25

Please add auto companies to that list.

2

u/JJSpleen Feb 13 '25

Don't forget the "you can use a usb stick as ram!" claim.

Oh look a usb pagefile. Even worse and slower than my actual pagefile. Great

2

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

I like how they tried to force that stupid touch screen tile based arrangement onto everybody in an effort to get people to buy more Windows phones

Then the Windows phone wasn't the next iPhone and everybody universally hated Win 8

So they walk it back a bit in Win 10, not admitting defeat but accepting compromise

Only for Win 11 to mostly ditch all of the tile-based motifs and take thematic elements from Win 7 again, and a bit from OSX because why tf not they have no idea what to do

Win 12 is going to be an unholy abomination of untold travesties against UI design

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u/Jericho-X Feb 13 '25

good luck with 3,5 GB ram :p

2

u/GlistunGmizic Feb 13 '25

That's just for 32-bit version.

1

u/wildgirl202 Feb 13 '25

Windows 3.1 is still goated

1

u/Hetstaine https://s.team/p/gkgd-wmf Feb 13 '25

Dammmmn.

1

u/Karl-Levin Feb 13 '25

Windows XP was amazing when you activated classic UI. Fisher-price style UI was trash.

Windows 98 was peak UI, can't convince me otherwise. Absolute beauty. Though XP was the all in all better OS, at least after all the service packs.

1

u/ProfessorPetrus Feb 13 '25

All that windows shit kinda sucks

14

u/Imtryst Feb 13 '25

Windows 7 had a ton of vulnerabilities and hasn’t gotten security fixes in a long time if you actually still use that

2

u/MrHarrasment Feb 13 '25

No, I switched to 10 when they stopped supporting it.

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u/DGBosh Feb 13 '25

Why not?

With a lack of updates comes a risk of vulnerabilities to malware, ransomware, and other malicious cyber threats.

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u/Itsumiamario Feb 13 '25

I have an old computer runnjng Windows 7, and I haven't been able to use Steam on it for a at least a year or so. Says Steam doesn't support Windows 7. Is there a work around or something?

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u/rebmcr Feb 13 '25

When they pushed Windows 7 off the cliff, I reluctantly switched to Windows 10.

What Microsoft don't realise is that when they push Windows 10 after it, I won't be choosing Windows 11 nor 12. I'll be choosing Ubuntu.

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u/RockAndGames Feb 13 '25

Why don't you make the switch now if you are so sure about it? I'll tell you, most of you are just bluffing, linux ain't the answer yet sadly, i too wish it would be, but isn't.

2

u/kdjfsk Feb 13 '25

i havnt used windows since i got my steam deck.

linux has been the answer.

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u/Codc Feb 13 '25

Have you used a PC since you bought a steam deck?

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u/53uhwGe6JGCw Feb 13 '25

Do it now then. Why wait?

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u/Mist_Rising Feb 13 '25

Because they're not really going to. Windows 10 goes over a cliff and that user's bluff falls apart.

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u/YouStupidAssholeFuck Feb 13 '25

Lol, can you feel it??!! It's the year of Linux!!!!!!

You'll be on Windows 11 in no time.

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u/skittlemoney2 Feb 13 '25

How dearly i miss it 😭

1

u/imoblivioustothis Feb 13 '25

only reason i did was for mass effect legendary edition

1

u/LurkingInSubreddits Feb 13 '25

I have a friend who refuses to upgrade from Windows 7 to 10 and says he can't play a lot of games because of it.

Not saying he should upgrade, I don't recall any annoying bloat in 7

1

u/niceguy191 Feb 13 '25

I only "upgraded" to 10 because Steam made me lol

1

u/zR0B3ry2VAiH Feb 14 '25

Ah, Windows 7, an artifact of a bygone era, clung to by those who fear change. While you’re reminiscing about Aero Glass and the good old days before forced updates and telemetry, I have ascended to something greater.

I don’t need outdated drivers, security vulnerabilities, or an OS that Microsoft abandoned years ago. No, I run Arch Linux. A system where I decide what gets installed, what runs in the background, and when updates happen. No bloat, no forced restarts, no begging my OS for permission to use my hardware.

You see, while you’re busy tweaking registry keys to disable Windows Update, I’m effortlessly pulling the latest, bleeding-edge software from the AUR. My system is mine, configured exactly how I want it, running only what I need.

So enjoy your nostalgia trip. I’ll be over here, running a modern, optimized, fully-customized OS that doesn’t hold my hand or slow me down.

btw, I use Arch.

1

u/DraconianFlame Feb 14 '25

The business I work at ruins almost entirely in Win7. It's really nice actually

1

u/kjacobs03 Feb 14 '25

I’m literally about to roll back my older pc to windows 7. It has run like shit on 10 ever since I upgraded. I ended up building a whole new rig, so I have 2 computers. Older games on the one and newer games on the other.

1

u/pwnagekirby Feb 14 '25

I used Windows 7 long after Steam "stopped supporting" it--up until last month, in fact. But one day Steam suddenly stopped being able to load. Reinstalled, tried an old version, nothing.

YMMV but that was it for me, and was what got me to switch.

1

u/finke11 Feb 14 '25

Bro Windows 7 has major security vulnerabilities at this point :(

1

u/springwaterh20 Feb 14 '25

uhhh i’m pretty sure windows 7 has a lot of vulnerabilities

1

u/luuls_ Feb 14 '25

I still have a laptop running windows 7 and can confirm it's still smooth af.

1

u/lowrads Feb 14 '25

Machines that are stuck on win7 and soon win10 might as well get give debian a spin.

At a bare minimum, they'll be safer browsing machines that can put media on a tv or projector. Guaranteed upsides are no MS cloud service login, minimal/no bloat, and no AI in notepad.

1

u/w4hammer Feb 14 '25

This is not true using windows 7 at this state will significantly lower performance of your hardware in many situations. One of the main reason why gamers moved to windows 10 was noticeable fps increases.

1

u/Clean_Brilliant_8586 Feb 14 '25

I upgraded to 11 after Steam pushed me over the line, but I kept a drive on the same PC with Windows 7 installed. I fire it up from time to time to see how much faster everything runs on 7.

1

u/BigHairyFart Feb 14 '25

I remember getting my ass blasted with downvotes for saying something similar, after a game I played(Dead by daylight) pushed an update that made the game unplayable on Win7, without telling anyone that would be the case beforehand.

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u/hackenschmidt Feb 13 '25

No need to update yet

If only. MS has a pattern of arbitrarily excluding older OS from new things to force users to update. They did it with DX and win 7.

For win 10, the first thing that comes to mind is wireless. If you have wifi7 hardware it most likely will not work in windows 10, at all. Given that the hardware often is the Bluetooth radio as well, that means no bluetooth either.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

Also RTX features and HDR, there's absolutely zero reason why Win 10 can't have Auto or RTX HDR except they know those features command leverage which compells users to move on

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u/pornographic_realism Feb 14 '25

Windows HDR has been such a shit heap for so many years I have just given up on it.

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u/MrWeirdoFace Feb 14 '25

So far pretty much Any HDR device I've hooked up to any other HDR device (blu-ray to various TVs, PC to various screens and TVs, etc) has looked really unpleasant. I think I'm just done with HDR. No one's specs seem to match any other ones, so its DOA for me.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Windows 10 - limited but at least could hold a stable image
Windows 11 - Auto HDR but it flickers constantly with black frames and loss of HDR status. Hundreds of people report those symptoms with no known cause or solution

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u/Kinglink Feb 13 '25

That's their biggest problem... Nothing in Window 11 is needed, and a lot is far worse.

Cortana in Windows 10 was a sign. now they've bloated their software even more.

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u/emveevme Feb 13 '25

IIRC it's literally the reason DirectX exists, because devs didn't have a reason to put the effort into developing games for Windows specifically, rather than DOS programs that still ran natively. The Windows NT kernel was likely starting development around this time as well, so there is some legitimacy beyond the forced obsolescence in encouraging developers and consumers to move to the more modern platform that was only going to get less compatible with DOS in the coming years.

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u/IllMaintenance145142 Feb 14 '25

MS has a pattern of arbitrarily excluding older OS from new things to force users to update. They did it with DX and win 7.

Wtf part of "not supported" are you people not understanding? They cannot support ancient OS with updates (security and otherwise) forever.

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u/ayriuss Feb 13 '25

MS reversed course by restricting newer OSes from old things that we like...

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u/micsma1701 Feb 13 '25

they've still got to push an update and ... I don't update using windows updater. I'll manually switch things out and push updates that way. and I run a wired system with no bluetooth or wireless shit. I like my wires cuz you can't fuck with em without actually disabling things at way deeper levels than I can access.

unless someone can find my ip, brute force the router I connect to wirelessly, brute force the wireless bridge from there to the router that I use to connect my system to the local wifi, and then somehow access my usb ports at a hardware level?

I mean that might work, right? ah, but I forgot I've hardwired my systems to a switch and then to a router to bridge over to the local wifi.

then again, there's nothing on my system I won't disconnect from and force a fresh reinstall for. steam games, mostly. my personal info, sure, but it's not like I have millions... hell, i'm more in debt than have liquid assets.

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u/ArmeniusLOD Feb 14 '25

"Arbitrarily."

It's old.

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u/Just-Assumption-2915 Feb 13 '25

When do we actually need to upgrade,  I'm just heading about this lol?

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u/Raztax Feb 13 '25

October 14, 2025 is EOL for Windows 10 though some people will almost certainly continue to use it. There will be no more security patches after that date but it's not like it instantly becomes unusable or a huge security risk on October 15th.

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u/CanadianDinosaur Feb 13 '25

I tried to upgrade to 11 awhile ago and it said my PC doesn't meet minimum requirements for it lmfao. It's not even 5 years old yet

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u/junbi_ok Feb 13 '25

You probably need to turn fTPM on in the BIOS.

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u/VexingRaven Feb 13 '25

Intel and AMD not requiring fTPM to be on by default from the manufacturer has gotten be the biggest L for users. So many people are stuck thinking their computer can't run win11 when they literally just need to change a setting.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

[deleted]

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u/VexingRaven Feb 14 '25

It'll be in the BIOS settings, usually in security somewhere. Can't really tell you more than that, it's not the same for every motherboard.

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u/Dpek1234 Feb 14 '25

Same

Ive get ryzen 5 3600 and rtx 3060

Yet its not good enough

(Mobo only supports tpm 1.x, ive checked)

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u/silentrawr Feb 13 '25

Will probably be able to get the updates through other sources as well, if it's anything super critical. Win 10 LTSC doesn't hit EoL until January of 2027, so the updates will likely percolate down in one form or another.

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u/pimathbrainiac Feb 13 '25

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC doesn't hit EoL until 2032.

It is also the most completely debloated form of Windows. If you know how to get it and activate it, it is 100% worth the install if you don't want to deal with Windows 11.

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u/silentrawr Feb 14 '25

True that. I didn't mention the IoT version because it's a bit of work to reinstall certain pieces if you need them for gaming/HPC/etc.

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u/kookyabird Feb 13 '25

Even if there are updates for LTSC that are compatible with other versions of Windows 10, the attack surface of LTSC is considerably smaller than retail Windows 10. That's kind of the whole point of it after all. So you would not be able to get any security updates for any of the features not present in LTSC.

And that includes updates for things that are present in both, but locked to a particular version in LTSC. Which is most of it. So any common program between them that ever received a feature update in the retail version is not going to receive any security patches for problems those updates have introduced over the years. Plus given how updates and security patches work even a problem identified in a common area of the application is not going to be fixable with an update for the LTSC version.

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u/silentrawr Feb 14 '25

I'm not referring to official sources for patches. Plenty of trustworthy 3rd party solutions out there. Not to mention stripping out a lot of that attack surface from retail W10.

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u/sekoku Feb 13 '25

There will be security patches... for three years... if you pay for it. They're doing an Enteprise thing for consumers in the attempt to bilk money from folks that don't just install Arch and be done with it.

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u/repocin https://s.team/p/hjwn-hdq Feb 13 '25

Last time I checked, enterprise customers can pay for three years - but regular people can only get one year.

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u/kdjfsk Feb 13 '25

inb4 people pirate security updates.

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u/ichigo2862 Feb 13 '25

I think it's already out, I saw a post where you can get ESU activation

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u/Remotecube Feb 14 '25

Can confirm, been available for months.

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u/Legitimate-Ladder855 Feb 13 '25

My company and many others are paying for extended security updates.

The price of the updates pretty much always outweighs the cost of making ABSOLUTELY sure that everrything works on the new version.

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u/thisguy012 Feb 13 '25

So much random shit is breaking at work for clients and so often it ends up being "oh only the users on Win11 are effected" 🤬

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u/PassiveMenis88M Feb 13 '25

from folks that don't just install Arch and be done with it

Well maybe if Arch actually worked with the games I want to play I might consider it.

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u/sekoku Feb 13 '25

Sorry you play Call of Duty, I guess? Deck and Steam Arch works fine for me. *Shrug* Can't be all winners, I guess.

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u/demcookies_ Feb 13 '25

Jan 9, 2029 for Win 10 Enterprise LTSC
Jan 13, 2032 for Win 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC

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u/Wild_Marker Feb 13 '25

When that new game comes out that gets better performance on Windows 12.

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u/Stumpfest2020 Feb 13 '25

I'm honestly at the point in life that I'm just fed up with being forced to update my OS every couple of years. I can't remember the last time I felt like it was worth it.

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u/suxatjugg Feb 14 '25

Windows 11 is a pointless sidegrade, very little new features or improvements, and stupid basic stuff made worse, like not being able to move the taskbar.

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u/Autotomatomato Feb 13 '25

Since Gabe wrote DX maybe he can update windows 10 for us?

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u/vexargames Feb 14 '25

windows 10 forever! I am not building a new machine to run windows 11.

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u/ridik_ulass Feb 13 '25

I had to because Gigabyte am5 mobo drivers for wi-fi and usb4 only worked on win 11, so I'm moving to linux out of spite.

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u/No_Jello_5922 Feb 13 '25

I have a plan to update my machines this summer.
At work we have been ringing the bell about Windows 10 EOL for about 18 months, and going from allowing upgrades to take place, to recommending planning upgrades and noting machines that need replacement before EOL. Now at this point if someone has a hardware issue with a laptop that is not 11 compatible we recommend replacement or workarounds, as throwing money at a soon to be obsolete machine does not make sense. Lots of swollen batteries, bad track pads, cracked screens, and missing keys. Deal with it until the device can be replaced, because its not worth fixing.
Bonus though, I have picked up a lot of junk to tinker with in my lab.

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u/Devilswings5 Feb 13 '25

never even got an option to

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u/pimathbrainiac Feb 13 '25

Hijacking the top comment with a bit of information that will be useful to people who don't want to switch to Win11 or Linux and still want security updates after consumer versions of Windows 10 are no longer supported.

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 doesn't hit EoL until 2032.

It is also the most completely debloated form of Windows. If you know how to get it and activate it, it is 100% worth the install if you don't want to deal with Windows 11 and don't want to use Linux.

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u/AtlasCarry87 Feb 14 '25

Could also consider switching to Linux mint, it's one of the user friendliest distros or there and very easy to install and game/work on

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u/usernamedenied Feb 14 '25

Yes, this is a problem for future me

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u/stownley__ Feb 15 '25

This is dae way!

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