Make the switch to Linux
YOU’LL NEED THIS
WINDOWS 11
An up-to-date installation.
LINUX ISO/DMG FILE
Installation media.
MICROSOFT HAS ANNOUNCED
that support for Windows 10 will officially end in October 2025. This is bad news for users of older PCs, because Windows 11 (and presumably its successor) requires devices to have at least an 8th-gen Intel or an AMD 3015e CPU. Your PC must also support TPM (Trusted Platform Module) v2.
If your computer doesn’t meet these requirements, you’re not alone. The tech market analysis firm Canalys estimates that roughly 20 percent of devices will become e-waste due to incompatibility with Windows 11—that comes to around 240 million devices.
Luckily, there’s a third option besides continuing to use an obsolete OS or junking your current machine. The Linux operating system has much more forgiving requirements, so works happily with older devices. In recent years, it’s also become much more user-friendly. In this guide, you’ll learn how to prepare your machine, then make the switch to Linux.
–NATE DRAKE
1 CHOOSE YOUR DISTRO
If you’re considering switching to Linux, you probably already have a distribution (aka distro) in mind. Still, the choice can be overwhelming. Ubuntu is definitely the most popular version, but its default Gnome desktop can be difficult to use for newcomers coming from Windows.