Support for Microsoft Windows 10 will end on October 14 2025, so Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates, or security fixes. After support ends, Windows 10 will still work, but it will become increasingly less secure.
A lot of computers will not have the requirements to run Windows 11, but they will have the ability to run Linux OS (Operating System). There are already a lot of laptops that are struggling to run Windows OS.
There are numerous versions of Linux which are called Distros (distributions). For this article I will be focussing on Linux Mint, but at the end I will insert a link to explore other Linux Distros in a virtual environment. Linux Mint is completely free.
CLI (command line interface) vs GUI (graphical user interface.
Times have changed, and using Linux Mint is very similar to using Windows. There is no need to know how to use a Terminal (the equivalent of Windows Command Prompt) although you could copy & paste command lines from the many Linux advice forums available online if you chose to.
If you want to try out Linux Mint on your Windows 10 machine, even if you intend buying another computer for Windows 11, you can run it from a USB memory stick. Booting into Linux on your computer, gives you the option to either try it out, or install it. Older PCs benefit from Linux Mint XFCE or MATE editions. The standard edition is called Cinnamon. There are also other Linux Distros that work on very old computers. You can run Linux and Windows on the same computer if you like. (Dual Boot).
It is always recommended that before you make any changes to your computer, you should always create a backup, either to an external hard drive, or to the Cloud.
You may benefit from watching YouTube tutorials about Linux. There are plenty to choose from, and there’s plenty of support from the Linux Community online.
Mac OS users who want to try Linux will probably feel more comfortable with Linux Zorin OS
Test drive Linux distros online!
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