Worried about the demise of Windows 10?

[The Rhymer]

Yes, quite frankly, as I still use Word documents frequently.

So I was glad to see that you were addressing the problem in the newsletter, although I was less happy with the solution of reading Computeractive magazine in my "local library".

I am sure that I am not the only Lost Cousins member who lives abroad, and in a non-English-speaking country, to boot, with a local library which will most certainly not have a subscription to the said magazine. Would it be possible for you, or some other kind member of LC, to think of us benighted expatriates (whatever the reason; mine was love) and read the article and then make a summary of what they suggest?

Please?

 

[The Rhymer]

I think I may be making a mistake, which would hardly be surprising given that me and computers are like oil and water.

Over the past few months, whenever I have opened a Word Document, there has been a banner across the top saying something like "Windows will not be supported after " and a date. Of course, I can't get the message to appear today!

Is this / are these two different things?

 

[peter]

Are you aware of the ESU scheme? Details on this page at the Microsoft site?

It was announced at the end of June, but it seems that it hasn't been very well publicised.

 

[webwiz]

I think I may be making a mistake, which would hardly be surprising given that me and computers are like oil and water.

Over the past few months, whenever I have opened a Word Document, there has been a banner across the top saying something like "Windows will not be supported after " and a date. Of course, I can't get the message to appear today!

Is this / are these two different things?

Yes. Word is the word processing application program (app) which runs under the Windows operating system (OS). The latter is required to make the computer work but does not do anything directly for the user. Windows 10 will not stop working after support ends and many users will be able to carry on as before. The main danger is related to security but if you only use Word and don't do any financial transactions this may not be so important. You may not be able to run new apps or new peripherals in the future. Many people are still happily running even earlier versions of Windows without any problem but it all depends what you use the computer for. I have one old machine running a truly Jurassic version of Windows which I have kept because there is one app, the only one I use, which will not run on later versions of Windows even in the putative emulation mode.

 

[peter]

I wouldn't recommend that any LostCousins member uses an operating system that is not secure. The few who have the technical knowledge to 'safely' take those sorts of risks aren't going to be on this forum asking for advice.

 

[webwiz]

I agree, but no version is really secure. Security updates are only issued to guard against threats which have been uncovered so there is always a window of vulnerabilty.

 

[peter]

I agree, but no version is really secure. Security updates are only issued to guard against threats which have been uncovered so there is always a window of vulnerabilty.

Not necessarily - it depends who finds the bug first: Microsoft pay out millions of dollars each year in bounties to bug hunters. And even after a bug has been identified it can take a long time before anyone figures out how to exploit it.

With an unsupported operating system the bugs are probably never going to be fixed, whoever finds them first.

 

[The Rhymer]

Thank you for your replies.

I'm sorry I'm so late in popping my head back up over the parapet, but I've not been well since Monday. I even managed to get a home visit from the doctor Still not sure about my Windows, I've just asked the children (here for Sunday lunch) for advice, but they were no help, so I did what they usually tell me to do and typed the query into Google. A couple of minutes later, I had the reply: I have Windows 11, so all is well there.

On the off-chance, I opened a few old Word documents to see if I could get the message I had been getting, but it didn't work. They were asking for a new subscription, so either the time has passed (I wasn't going to pay until the very last moment) or they - whoever they are - have changed their mind.

 

[peter]

On the off-chance, I opened a few old Word documents to see if I could get the message I had been getting, but it didn't work. They were asking for a new subscription, so either the time has passed (I wasn't going to pay until the very last moment) or they - whoever they are - have changed their mind.

You may find you have been billed automatically - that's how it is set up by default.

With regard to the message you were seeing previously, this probably wouldn't have related to Windows 10, as you already had Windows 11. However support for the 23H2 version of Windows 11 is ending in November - the fact that you're no longer seeing the message suggests that you have recently updated to a newer versi0n (probably 24H2).

For the benefit of anyone who is not sure which version of Windows you have, this can be found under Settings/System/About (near the bottom of the page), eg

Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 24H2
Installed on ‎06/‎02/‎2025
OS build 26100.4946
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.197.0

There is rarely a good reason to stay with an old version - Microsoft release each version in advance to experienced users who have opted-in, so by the time it goes on general release it has been extensively tested.

 

[The Rhymer]

Sinking feeling ...

But I checked at the bank, and, touch wood, nothing has been paid out to Microsoft. I'll take your explanation gladly.

 

[peter]

But I checked at the bank, and, touch wood, nothing has been paid out to Microsoft.

I bought mine from Amazon (because they were cheaper) but they also renew automatically.

 

[G6JPG (John)]

If your version of Word/Office has "365" in its name anywhere, it is my understanding that that only ever lasts a year (the clue is in the name!). [I'm running Word/Office 2003 (with plugins), and it's fine for me.]
As for Windows itself - Peter and I disagree on the viability/safety of running old versions; I'd still be happily running Windows 7 if I hadn't had to switch to 10 to run something. I contend that there's a fair chance that most LC members are as experienced with computers as they are with genealogy; however, I'd agree with Peter that if you're in any doubt, err on the safe side (buying new hardware as necessary - if you're already on 10, you may not need to).

 

[peter]

I contend that there's a fair chance that most LC members are as experienced with computers as they are with genealogy

It's the ones who aren't computer-savvy who need advice. Suggesting that they can stick with an unsupported operating system when everything they read warns them not to, isn't helpful (nor is suggesting that they switch to Linux). Many wouldn't know how to do a backup or how to transfer their files to a new computer; these are people who rely on local computer shops, sons, or grandsons for advice. A significant number will have experienced serious data losses in the past.

 

[G6JPG (John)]

I agree: if you're not computer-savvy - for example, you wouldn't know how to back up your data, or to move it (and install whatever software you use) to another computer - yes, you should plan to move to Windows 11 (which may include buying a new computer if you're unlucky): though don't panic, Windows 10 will not suddenly stop working on The Day. But, since even as an experienced computer user, I wouldn't even consider the upgrade without having backed up, in case anything went wrong, I'd say learning how to do a backup, or getting whoever helps you with such things (child/grandchild/whoever) to do so, is much more important: you should be doing that frequently anyway, as disasters can happen any time: hardware failure (probably hard drive or SSD most likely), or you make an edit you can't (or don't know how to) recover from, such as accidentally deleting a chunk of your tree.

I would say implementing a backup regime - at what intervals, only you can decide, but I'd say definitely no less than monthly - if you haven't already done so, is more important than worrying about the end of support of Windows 10. (Arguably, it obviates the need to even do so at all, but if you wouldn't know how to use [restore from] your backup in the event of a disaster - i.e. you'd have to seek help to do even that - then having to do that at the same time as learning a new machine is probably best avoided, so getting the W11 plan in place is not a bad idea. [Since I would be quite happy with the process of restoring from my backup, I don't have any W11 plans,])

For what it's worth, I back up my entire genealogy data once a week to a memory stick (and my emails to another one), and my entire computer once a month to an external hard drive (which I really ought to be keeping at another address, though currently I'm just keeping it - and the memory sticks - at the other end of my home). Since I use something which only adds to the backup anything that has changed (which the vast majority hasn't, such as document scans and other images, for my genealogical backup), the backup doesn't take long. (I use FreeFileSync [which as the name implies is free], but there are several such utilities.)

Oh, one final thing: do check - with other users of it, or a newsgroup, or the makers, or a forum (such as this one!) - that whatever software you're using will actually run under Windows 11. I'd be very surprised if anything that runs under 10 won't run under 11, but you never know. If you don't know what software you're using, ask your helper. It is possible - in my opinion undesirable, but that's a whole different discussion - that you're keeping your entire data remotely, such as at Ancestry or similar (i. e. you always access it via a browser, such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etcetera); in that case, neither backups nor Windows 11 are of great concern to you. The same applies if you're not using a Windows machine at all - you're using a Mac, or Linux - though in those cases you should still be doing backups, unless again you're only using them as a terminal to Ancestry or whoever.

 

[peter]

I'd say learning how to do a backup, or getting whoever helps you with such things (child/grandchild/whoever) to do so, is much more important

Exactly - that's why it's one of the conditions for joining the Windows 10 ESU program.

 

[webwiz]

The option to enrol for Windows 10 essential updates for another year now appears in Windows Updates in Settings, and I have enrolled my secondary computer free of charge.

 

[peter]

The option to enrol for Windows 10 essential updates for another year now appears in Windows Updates in Settings

It won't necessarily be visible for everyone - Microsoft have been rolling it out gradually.

That said, with only 4 weeks to go they ought to have included most people by now. If you can't see it, it may be because you haven't updated to the latest version of Windows 10.

 

[G6JPG (John)]

If you haven't had the invite yet, and you have the latest W10 (you are on 19045.6036 or later), this seems to work: proceed at your own risk, but several of us (in the Windows 10 newsgroup) have tried it with success, and none have failed (summarised from https://github.com/abbodi1406/ConsumerESU):
• download https://github.com/abbodi1406/ConsumerESU/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
• unzip it somewhere (best to a new folder/directory [your unzipper may make one])
• open a command prompt as administrator in wherever you've unzipped the files (or move to it with the cd command)
• type (or, easier. paste from here) Consumer_ESU_Enrollment_run.cmd -License
(Consumer_ESU_Enrollment_run.cmd is one of the files you will have unzipped.) That seems to be all there is to it. If nervous, then after downloading the .zip or after unzipping it, run it or the files through your virus-checker before proceeding.

 

[webwiz]

John do you know why MS made it necesary to enrol? I suppose it might reduce the load on their servers, is that it?

 

[G6JPG (John)]

No idea, I'm afraid. The above procedure seemed to work without anything asking for personal details (and certainly no $30). Much more discussion in the newsgroup alt.comp.os.windows-10, in the thread "Re: Microsoft change the support for WIndows 10 - again - but it's confusing...", which is where I got the above (well, from the github page above someone there posted a link to).