Windows 10

Upgrades

Upgrades

No, of course you don’t have to update to Windows 11. Same as you didn’t with Windows 7, 8, Vista, ME, or 98.

Microsoft thinks it is a threat to take away your support for Windows 10. Did anyone ever feel supported? Your life will only be better when Microsoft stops forcing buggy Windows updates on you. That is the totality of Microsoft support, btw, their Windows updates - the worst thing about Windows. Yes, take away our “support” Microsoft, and let us be.

Also, nothing gets onto your computer unless it comes through your internet browsers: Firefox, Chrome, (don’t use) Microsoft Edge. If you are using Chrome, Firefox, or even Edge, those programs update their security each time you open and close them, completely independent of Microsoft Windows Updates. So you will still be safe as long as those programs can update themselves, and that usually continues 3-5 years past this point we are at now in Oct. 2025 with Windows 10. What may happen then is that Chrome or Firefox may have a banner that says, that at some point in the future they will stop sending security updates because of the old operating system you are using. That point is three to five years away, given Microsoft’s previous scare campaign history with Windows 7 and before. But even then, take your time. If your computer is working fine otherwise, I would still do some research before taking a chance with the latest Windows operating system. It may be horrible and annoying.

So, as usual, ignore or do the opposite of what Microsoft tells you. You don’t need to do anything other than keep using your computer. Your goal is to be at the very tail end of any Microsoft changes; better if you can skip them altogether.

SSD Drives

SSD Drives

Buy no new computer with anything other than an SSD or M2 drive for storage.

The most valuable upgrade to come to consumer computing since I started business in 2000 are solid state drives. They are essentially a usb thumb drive, or flash drive shaped to look like the hard drive in your computer. Old drives consisted of magnetic spinning disks and a quickly moving laser arm to read them. Solid state drives are just circuit boards with no moving parts. They are so much faster than your old hard drive that you can put them into 3-5 yr old computers and make them run, in most cases, better than a new computer with a mechanical drive.

If after 2016 someone tries to sell you a computer without an SSD drive, look them in the eye and say, "why do you hate me?"

If your new Windows 11 computer does not come with an SSD hard drive it is like they are selling you a car with a carburetor, a 3 cylinder engine, and tires made of gummy bears.