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E-waste or Linux? Charities face tough choices as Windows 10 support ends (www.techspot.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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In a nutshell: As Microsoft prepares to end free security updates for Windows 10 in October, a significant challenge looms for charities that refurbish and distribute older computers to those in need. With an estimated 240 million PCs unable to meet the stringent hardware requirements for Windows 11, these organizations face a difficult decision: provide potentially insecure Windows 10 systems, send them to e-waste recyclers, or explore alternative operating systems like Linux.

Microsoft's requirements for Windows 11 include a 1GHz or faster CPU with at least two cores, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, Secure Boot capability, and TPM 2.0 compatibility. However, the supported Intel CPU list only goes back to 8th Gen chips, introduced in 2017, while the AMD list includes Ryzen 2000 series and above.

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[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Microsoft's requirements for Windows 11 include a 1GHz or faster CPU with at least two cores, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage,

All of this is no problem and essentially any computer manufactured in the last couple decades can meet these requirements. They're effectively irrelevant for this discussion.

IDK about you, but the Pentium 4 is not an ideal CPU for modern workloads. The absolute oldest hardware I would use today for anything is the Core2Duo with 8GB RAM. I know this because we have an A1276 MacBook Pro with the P8600 C2D, and it's barely sufficient. You look at it and the cooling fan begins a launch sequence 😅 and that's running Linux Mint. Windows 10/11 would grind it to a halt trying to run multiple tasks.

[–] DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Super-slim distros like Tiny Core or Puppy will be a rocket on a P4.

[–] AtariDump@lemmy.world 0 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

And barely usable for standard user tasks in 2025.