The Windows 10 Apocalypse: A Pathfinder's Guide for Refugees
The Clock is Ticking
In October 2025, Microsoft is scheduled to end support for Windows 10. For millions of users, this isn't just an inconvenience; it's an apocalypse. They will be faced with a choice: buy a new computer that meets the arbitrary and restrictive requirements of Windows 11, or continue using an unsupported, insecure operating system. I believe there is a third, better path: this is the single greatest opportunity in a decade to escape the walled garden and switch to Linux.
First, Let's Kill a Stupid Lie
You will hear promoters of every operating system talk about the "out-of-the-box experience." Let me tell you, after more than 30 years in this field, from repairing every computer imaginable to managing my own servers, out-of-the-box usage is a stupid lie. No OS—not Windows, not macOS, and not Linux—can offer that. A system is a tool, and you must sharpen and shape it to your needs. You will have to add programs. You will have to configure settings. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something.
Before you can choose the right tool, you must first understand the job. And the job is your own workflow. What do you actually do with your computer? Answering that question honestly is the first and most important step on the path to freedom.
My Recommendation: Linux Mint
For the Windows refugee, the choices can be overwhelming. My recommendation, based on decades of wrestling with this stuff, is Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. Why? Because it is supremely usable. It provides a familiar desktop layout, it is incredibly stable, and its developers have a philosophy I respect: they don't replace things that work with half-baked "improvements" that fall short of users' needs.
This is a critical point. The Linux world is currently in a rush to adopt new technologies like Wayland and PipeWire. While they may be the future, in their current state, they are often buggy and missing features that veterans rely on. I've lost tools I used for decades, like Synergy for keyboard and mouse sharing, to these so-called upgrades. It has to stop. Linux Mint provides a stable, powerful environment that respects the user's need for a system that simply works.
The Price of Freedom is Control
Linux is not perfect, because nothing is. But what it offers is something no other system can: total control. You decide when to update. You decide what software to run. You are the master of your own machine. The trade-off is that you must be willing to learn and take responsibility for that machine. For a pathfinder, that isn't a burden; it's the entire point.
So when the Windows 10 apocalypse arrives, don't see it as the end. See it as an opportunity. The door to the prison is wide open. You just have to be willing to walk through it.