The Death of Windows 10 Could Net You a Bunch of Free Linux PCs

E-waste? More similar escaped stuff! Businesses are astir to commencement dumping their perfectly good (and sometimes powerful) PCs due to the fact that Windows 11 won't tally connected them. But Linux will.

Windows 10 Is Almost Obsolete, and Many PCs Won’t Run Windows 11

It's captious that businesses tally the latest bundle connected their devices to person support, support the information of their infrastructure, and support their users' data. Windows 11 is the astir caller mentation of the Windows operating system, but it has immoderate very circumstantial hardware requirements that aren't met by galore PCs businesses already ain and, due to the fact that of this, they person mostly stuck it retired with the aging Windows 10.

Windows 10, however, is about to scope its extremity of life connected October 14, 2025. This means Microsoft volition halt supporting it and releasing information patches and diagnostic updates for the operating system, unless you wage an incredibly steep interest for extended information updates (at a terms that astir volition balk at).

It's estimated that implicit 240 cardinal PCs volition beryllium rendered obsolete connected this date. Obsolete, that is, for Windows use. Linux volition support them moving for years to travel for media and originative work, hosting servers, and adjacent gaming.

Turning a Crisis Into an Opportunity (For You)

When a concern upgrades its PC fleet, 1 of 2 things usually happens to each the aged hardware aft the IT section has picked done it: It goes successful the bin, oregon it gets dumped connected online auction sites astatine rock-bottom prices.

This has ever been my go-to for getting inexpensive but sufficiently almighty hardware, and the rising outgo of importing electronics makes upcycling aged concern kit progressively appealing. Ex-business machines marque large servers, media centers, and productivity machines. Ex-business laptops are usually successful bully condition, and immoderate of them volition person debased artillery cycles aft spending astir of their clip docked astatine an employee's workstation alternatively than connected the road. Ex-business ThinkPads are a favourite of galore tech-inclined radical who privation a rugged, inexpensive laptop.

As there's astir to beryllium a batch of second-hand PCs connected the market, sellers volition hopefully beryllium incentivized to determination inventory quickly. If you unrecorded adjacent a concern district, you mightiness adjacent commencement to spot PC hardware look adjacent to bureau dumpsters, acceptable for the taking (legally, of course).

What to Do With an Ex-Business Machine to Make It a Linux Powerhouse

Before you bargain an ex-business machine, cheque the specs and marque definite it's not too old. Many sellers volition overstate however almighty a instrumentality is. Make definite that determination are nary passwords oregon BIOS locks enabled arsenic well, arsenic you don't privation to person a instrumentality that you don't person afloat power over.

When your "new" instrumentality arrives, marque definite you thoroughly hitch it, reset the password, and disable immoderate endeavor absorption features truthful it can't telephone location to its erstwhile owner. If you've got a spot of other spending money, see adding immoderate RAM and an SSD to springiness it a cost-effective velocity boost. If you've picked up a portable instrumentality and the artillery isn't what it utilized to be, affordable replacements tin usually beryllium recovered online.

You'll astir apt besides request to springiness it a thorough dusting with immoderate compressed aerial oregon an anti-static brush.

Then, it's clip to find a Linux OS (known arsenic a organisation oregon distro) that's a bully acceptable for you. There are media center distros suited for browsing your movie postulation connected your big-screen TV, gaming-centric distros similar CachyOS and the soon-to-be-released SteamOS, positive proven, reliable desktop distros including Ubuntu and Fedora for productivity and web browsing. You tin besides acceptable up your ain home server to trim your reliance connected the cloud.

Business PCs travel successful antithetic form-factors, from mini PCs that tin beryllium tucked down your TV, all-in-ones that respect your table space, and elephantine towers that tin clasp aggregate hard disks for your ain home grown NAS box. An aged mini PC moving shairport-sync has adjacent made its mode into my shed with a brace of old, beige speakers for streaming music.

Linux Can Revive Your Old Devices

If your Windows PC oregon laptop is starting to amusement its age, but you aren't looking to marque immoderate purchases, Linux tin assistance too. Back up your files, and instal a lightweight Linux distro to springiness your older hardware a caller lease connected life.

Then, you tin cheque retired each the champion open-source office and originative software, media accumulation tools, and games Linux has to offer. And it'll beryllium a long, agelong clip earlier your Linux operating strategy stops getting captious updates.