Neowin posted an article today pointing to a Reddit post... Microsoft randomly locked the poor guy out of his OneDrive account, which in his case was disastrous, since prior to a move he uploaded 30 years worth of photos, planning on downloading them to a new drive when he was resettled.
reddit[.]com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1ldef4p/microsoft_locked_my_account_i_lost_30_years_of/
Same end result could have happened if he put everything on a new drive, and that drive failed -- I've had it happen. Long story short, don't put all your trust on a single drive, or Microsoft.
And Windows Central has a new article echoing your concerns Chris, "I love Linux, so when Windows 10 reaches end of life you might be surprised when I don't tell you to run to it with open arms"
windowscentral[.]com/software-apps/windows-10/i-love-linux-but-it-might-not-be-for-you
In that article Richard Devine feels that many casual users would be better off with a Chromebook, or if it works -- there's a pretty limited list of qualified devices -- run ChromeOS Flex on your existing hardware. Personally I've given a lot of thought to Linux vs. Windows, coming to the conclusion that I just don't know any answers.
My wife for example is interested enough to know what she needs to know with her Windows PC &/or laptop, but anything beyond that forget it -- it's not going to happen. That works for her because I'm her IT dept. If her PC was running Linux instead of Windows, and she could still do everything she wanted &/or needed, she'd notice that the desktop looked different, but that's about it. IF she had a problem with her PC she couldn't fix it regardless the OS. And I think she fits the mold of a lot of people working for businesses and governments. As long as they can do what they want/need without any significant drawbacks they're fine.
But I've no idea when it comes to the billions of people who own their own PCs/laptops. If something isn't right I've no idea how many Google looking for a cure, or break things with an alleged cure that doesn't work, or take their PC/laptop in for repair, or just put up with it until it's useless and then abandoned. Both Linux & Windows can be a B**** to fix &/or to get something working, with your success often riding on your Google search results [assuming you're smart enough to ignore the AI BS].
That said, *to me* the whole debate is an academic question to something that has a perfectly pragmatic solution in *most* cases -- just run Win11. While they can have an impact on a biz big enough to have their own IT dept., for everyone else Win11's hardware requirements are pure marketing BS. Microsoft could put an actual block in Win11 preventing it from running on non-compliant hardware, just like they could stop the sales of Win11 licenses for $10--$20, just like they could have the activation hacks and copies of Windows LTSC taken down, etc. etc... But they don't feel it's worth their time, aggravation, &/or cost. Besides, Nadella has indicated Microsoft values having people view the advertising in every Microsoft product they can shoehorn ads in. If you're not going to buy a new PC/laptop, Microsoft I think would rather have you viewing whatever ads they're running than not, and if that means running Win11 on hardware that doesn't qualify, so be it.
Microsoft demonstrates on a regular basis that they have little regard for their customers and that they'd prefer to not be in the software business at all.
Nadella's a cloud guy, and he wants to keep those customers happy so Microsoft's cloud biz keeps growing. He inherited the software biz, and unfortunately for him, it makes too much money to simply abandon. Was it wistful thinking when he said AI would eliminate the need for Excel? ;)
