Microsoft is destroying my kids laptops for no reason

Both my youngest children attend online public school and they require the use of Windows PCs in order to get their work done. With Windows 10 reaching EOL at the end of 2024, I am pissed that Microsoft is forcing me to buy new computers for them for no reason.

For my kids, their PCs are fine. They are old, yes. But, for working on documents in OnlyOffice and browser-based work, plus daily Zoom calls, the laptops they are using are more than enough. The issue is that they are not eligible for Windows 11 due to the age of the CPU.

There are workarounds, including some registry key hacks to trick Windows 11 into installing. But, based on this article on XDA today, there is no way I can trust those workarounds. I knew it wasn’t really an option because Microsoft would eventually pull the plug on it. Even if their laptops have POPCNT, it is only a matter of time when there is some other “issue” with older CPU’s and Microsoft will brick perfectly good machines.

The Windows requirement

The key app they need for doing their school work is a video conference, chat, screen share, interactive whiteboard application the teachers use for their lessons. It is essentially Zoom on steriods and then attached to the device that created Bane.

According to the apps website, you can use it in the browser. But, 90% of the app is not available in the browser. It is just enough in an emergency you can join a lesson. It is the same for the mobile app. I wish the mobile app was full functional because the easiest, and in my opinion best option, is to use an Android tablet with DeX mode.

It is even the same on MacOS. Officially, MacOS isn’t supported except for an electron-like app that is the same as using it in the browser.

The application is made for Windows first and for most of the features Windows only.

My situation

The reality is that the current application the school uses is significantly better than the Adobe software they were using last year. We used to have significant downtime due to the terrible support Adobe gave to schools using their platform.

As much as I could grouse about the school or the app they chose, my real frustration is with Microsoft. It is their choice to purposefully brick millions of perfectly good computers to force people into buying new out of greed. There is no reason why Windows 11 can’t run on these laptops for basic workflows. It is even more obvious that they work with OEMs that push out laptops with a Pentium N series CPU and 4 GB of RAM on new computers, but then say an Ivy Bridge i7 with 16 GB of RAM won’t work.

We’ve tolerated all of the Edge browser shenanigans (which is a fucking huge distraction when your browser wants to interrupt everything while doing FUCKING SCHOOL). And we are willing to tolerate all the Copilot bullshit being integrated to Windows 11 so we can have a consistent, stable school experience.

The worst part is we can’t afford to buy new computers. We are extremely low income and purchasing new computers is not in our budget for this year. And we are not low income in how people think, which is we just squirrel some money away and cancel a couple services. We are poor, like $10k below the federal poverty measure for families of our size. I know we have until 2025, but that means I really, really need to figure it out this year, ahead of the change.

Yes, there are charities that can help in these scenarios. But that is not the point. I’m not looking for a handout. I’m looking for a way to not be fucked over by a trillion dollar tech conglomerate for no reason other than they just want more money.

At this moment I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’m hoping to line up extra work throughout the year while also selling one of my cars to maybe fund buying new computers.

WhY nOt UsE WiNe?

I can hear people already asking, “Can you install it with WINE? Just use WINE and install Linux.”

I’ve been daily driving Linux since Ubuntu 9.04. I would NEVER rely on using WINE to use Windows software on Linux for non-technical people who are just trying to get their work done. It is laughable to even suggest it. Even in the best scenarios there are times when updates or features just don’t work. There are many instances where updates to WINE also breaks functionality or usability.

This isn’t a cut at the WINE project, they are doing amazing work.

But, asking elementary school age kids to use a Linux desktop and their primary application to get real work done runs via WINE with no local tech support.

GTFO.

I also know I could petition the school to switch to better software. Ah, yes. Nothing like suggesting to a school of 10k students and 500 educators that they should switch the primary software they use. The countless hours of deploying, maintaining, and educating the staff on how to use it should be thrown out because it doesn’t support Linux well.

Wait, another option is to petition the closed-source app developers to create a better version for other platforms. I’m sure they will get straight on it.

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