KDE targets Windows 10 'exiles' claiming 'your computer is toast'
- Reference: 1749056348
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/06/04/kde_windows_10_exiles/
- Source link:
KDE's alarming "Exiles" [1]page opens with the text "Your computer is toast" followed by a warning that Microsoft wants to turn computers running Windows 10 into junk from October 14.
"It may seem like it continues to work after that date for a bit, but when Microsoft stops support for Windows 10, your perfectly good computer will be officially obsolete."
[2]
Beneath a picture of a pile of tech junk, including a rotary telephone and some floppy drives, KDE proclaims: "Windows 10 will degrade as more and more bugs come to light. With nobody to correct them, you risk being hacked. Your data, identity, and control over your device could be stolen."
[3]
[4]
Support for many versions of Windows 10 comes to an end on October 14. While there are ways of keeping support going, by either using a [5]different version (such as the Long Term Servicing Channel incarnation) or [6]paying Microsoft to keep the security updates coming, if an upgrade to Windows 11 isn't possible or desired, then the computer will indeed be trudging toward its end-of-life.
There are many reasons why users have yet to move to Windows 11. Some are related to enterprise IT policies, others are down to users hating the cosmetic and feature changes in the new operating system. Then there are users with hardware that is happily running Windows 10 now, but won't run the upgrade thanks to to Microsoft's draconian hardware compatibility requirements.
[7]
Microsoft's solution to the latter problem is, unsurprisingly, to purchase new hardware. KDE's answer is a Linux installation and its shiny new [8]Plasma Desktop .
While the Linux desktop has come on in leaps and bounds over the years, and desktops, such as Plasma, are not as jarring for Windows users as they might have been in earlier versions, moving from Windows 10 to a penguin-tinged alternative is not straightforward, particularly if the Windows user is embedded in Microsoft's ecosystem. Things can get very complicated very quickly, and no small amount of handholding is needed.
Further down KDE's call to action, the organization is a little more open (pun intended) about the challenges of moving to Linux. "Installing Linux is not as hard as it used to be," KDE states, "but you must read the instructions to do so very carefully!"
[9]Windows 11 market share stalls ahead of Windows 10 cutoff
[10]Three ways to run Windows apps on a Linux box
[11]What would a Microsoft engineer do to Ubuntu? AnduinOS is the answer
[12]The 'End of 10' is nigh, but don't bury your PC just yet
Or you can find a Linux enthusiast to help guide you.
According to KDE, once up and running, the Linux world is a wonderful place. There's no data slurping (in Plasma at least), and KDE boldly claims "no viruses or virus-related scams." This writer is old enough to remember Apple making similar claims – until the malware authors [13]began paying attention .
[14]
Linux malware does exist, and a user migrating from Windows 10 will still need to keep their wits about them. While KDE trumpets "no forced updates," users will need to apply patches when the inevitable vulnerabilities are identified and mitigated.
It's also important to realize that while support for many versions of Windows 10 will end on October 14, devices running the operating system won't suddenly stop working. Users not wanting or able to upgrade to Windows 11 do have options, and Microsoft recently [15]confirmed that Microsoft 365 applications running on Windows 10 would continue to get security fixes into 2028.
Even so, while KDE's statement might be a little alarmist, it highlights the fact that once support finally ends for Windows 10, users who really don't want Windows 11 have other options that Microsoft might not be so keen on. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://kde.org/for/w10-exiles/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aEDB6l6-MsYpXT5Ifr3Z3QAAAZE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aEDB6l6-MsYpXT5Ifr3Z3QAAAZE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aEDB6l6-MsYpXT5Ifr3Z3QAAAZE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/22/windows_10_ltsc/
[6] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/whats-new/extended-security-updates
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aEDB6l6-MsYpXT5Ifr3Z3QAAAZE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/kde_plasma_63/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/03/windows_11_market_share/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/28/three_ways_to_win_on_lin/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/23/anduinos/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/15/end_of_10_campaign/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2006/11/06/mac_osx_virus/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aEDB6l6-MsYpXT5Ifr3Z3QAAAZE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/windows_11_support/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Alarmist?
OTOH they're trying to appeal to people who've never installed Windows either, but who've just seen Windows as part of the PC they bought from the dealer.
Re: Alarmist?
I don't think "alarmist" means dishonest. You can tell only the truth and still be alarmist if you describe things as more serious than they are. As long as the things you're describing are all real, you're view on their seriousness is only your opinion. I don't have much of a problem with KDE's phrasing of the situation. There will be vulnerabilities in an unpatched Windows 10 system, Microsoft would make similar claims if anyone was reading them to encourage people to update, and so I accept them. I do find the phrasing a bit more strident than I'd have written it, but that isn't a thing they need to do anything about.
If you're embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem...
...then you just pay the price and get a new computer. Once of those small boxes that you can attach to the back of a monitor with double sided tape would do.
Meanwhile, if you don't pay The Man every month to use your system your're probably 90% of the way there anyway. If you need to keep the Windows system for a specific application then just move all your daily drive stuff -- mail, web, word processing etc. -- to the Linux box. If you find you just have to use the Windows system all the time then an investment in a new system will be justified. If its just a security blanket, you need it "just in case", you'll eventually be able to retire the old system.
Then there's also dual boot.....I have no idea why this sort of article never mentions this, its almost as if its written by someone from the Microsoft marketing department.
Re: If you're embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem...
Then there's also dual boot.....I have no idea why this sort of article never mentions this, its almost as if its written by someone from the Microsoft marketing department.
The article doesn't mention dual boot because dipping your feet in the Linux world isn't it's point. The point being, for most people Win10 needs to go away. KDE is offering a solution that doesn't require buying new hardware.
And really, how many people 'dual boot' any more? My grub rarely has anything beyond one OS install and the recovery tools. If I have Windows and want to play with Linux, there's WSL, Docker, or a virtual. And if Linux is my base, QEMU, etc. That way there is no need to shut down everything and boot to another OS, only to find out you need something on the OS you just left.
Gnome is my favourite… I think
Some of the extreme reticence to switch from Windows 10 to 11 surprises me. Forced obsolescence I accept is awful. But aside for that, from an admin point of view there’s not much to learn, and if you don’t like the start button in the middle just move it to the corner. They’re both Windows. They’re both dull. But in terms of the difference between the two it’s quite minor really. I’ve been using both for years now. Feels like old news!
I’ve switched gui in Linux so many times lately I keep forgetting which one is which. I loved KDE until I didn’t, Cinnamon was ok, XFCE was great but a bit glitchy rendering video on my system. I didn’t like Gnome but once it was installed I forgot to keep trying others. And after a reinstall to KDE the week before last I miss it. So maybe Gnome is my favourite? Didn’t see that one coming, but then again I thought Metro was quite good as well…
Re: Gnome is my favourite… I think
I don't really care whether W11 looks like W10 or not. We have three main computers in the house, 2 running only W10 and 1 dual-booting between W10 and Linux. Not one of them can run W11, whatever it may look like, because they don't have the required TPM, and I am not going to pay to replace 3 perfectly good, working, computers just to satisfy some Microsoft salesman.
Re: Gnome is my favourite… I think
this^^ I know I'll be doing something* for mom, both of her computers lappy and DT do not have TPM.
*Anything but Microshaft. I have an M1 macmini I can offer to replace the DT, and/or the linux route on the lappy and DT.
No Win11 here
TPM is an expensive issue for sure. My issue is more the push for Microsoft to control the login security on your systems. They continue to make it harder and harder to use local accounts, expecting your systems to authenticate through them. Both on the Home version and the AzureAD (Entra ID) push for businesses. I don't want my logins controlled by SaaS. I don't want my logins dependent on Internet access. I don't want Microsoft determining who can log in. I don't trust Microsoft's security.
The "Linux industry" needs to seriously get its act together and start appealing to ordinary users who wouldn't know a distro or a command line if it bit them. 1. Recognise the potential. 2. Stop having so many damned distros, each crap (or highly specialised) one reflects on all the rest. 3. So people can leave the Win ecosystem but keep their Win applications, make a Windows emulator part of Linux, don't rely on WINE or VMs, make it easy, and make it darned well work properly.
Remember, an OS should simply let people use their programs to Do Work with, then get out of the way.
But yes, I hear your comment about the "Linux industry" not being a single coherent entity. But what really is needed is someone (Linus?) to recognise the potential and work to make that the obvious option for ex-Windoze folk. Doh, that would be another distro. Aaarghhh.
Wow, just like being back in the '90s. Let's hope the world takes your advice this time!
And some vendor needs to take the plunge and start selling computers with Linux in high street stores. Only then will the great unwashed start to understand what it is. And get kids using it in schools.
"Linux industry"
Your use of quotation marks around Linux industry suggests to me that you know very well that none of this will actually happen.
There is no Linux industry. That is sort of the point is it not? It is free software.
Too many distros
I don't think too many distros is a problem. Really, there are just a handful that most people would be looking at.
The problem is too many have issues with installs. If you are new to Linux the last thing you want to do is play whack-a-mole with things that don't work after installing. Few people install Windows, all those annoying little problems are resolved by the hardware vendor. They know what components are most compatible with the OS they are installing, and choose accordingly. If you are repurposing a Windows machine, you're using the hardware you have and hoping it's all supported. Then there are the problems that crop up from the options that you choose. I've done a lot of Linux installs lately as I searched for a new distribution. And there are a lot of little things that need fixed. Example: package manager worked fine during install, but once booting under the OS has intermittent problems contacting it's servers. Turn out the the IPv4 DNSs were never making it from DHCP to the network config. And DNS servers are no longer in resolv.conf, it gets wiped at every boot. An then KDE Discover has trouble talking to the package manager because of some library version issue... Somehow it knows that there are updates pending, but it can't pull a list of installed applications.
Lots of distributions does dilute the developer pool some, but I suspect that quite a few that work on niche distros would simply not work on Linux at all if their only option was contributing to RedHat or Ubuntu.
(This was intended to be a reply to Nematode)
It's a tricky one. I know most/many Linux users welcome the choice, I do now after using Linux exclusively for a decade. But I remember the first step away from Windows (8.1) and it was tricky, I took the advice of a Linux using friend who suggested KDE Plasma. It was OK, but I eventually switched to Linux Mint Cinnamon. But on first ditching windows I did find the range of Linux alternatives quite bewildering and somewhat off-putting. All I wanted was something that was easy to install, use and maintain and didn't require learning arcane skills. The learning curve for Mint was minimal and the software I used the most was included in the installation: Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, VLC media player etc. The one thing I missed the most was Visual Studio, having earned a crust as a software developer I was in the habit of knocking up software for my own use. The closest replacement was Qt but never really got into it.
KDE is Acting Like a Leader
At least KDE understands that M$ is handing Linux a better window of opportunity than it's likely to ever get again. And this window of opportunity won't remain open indefinitely. Depending on individual needs and personal preferences, some good Linux-based distro suggestions for Linux beginners are as follows:
ChromeOS (Flex or Chromebook),
Fedora (Bazzite, Aurora, Budgie Atomic, Kinoite, Nobara),
LMDE, MX Linux, Kubuntu, Zorin OS, Vanilla OS.
Alarmist?
I saw no lies in KDE's statements.
As for installing, if you can install Windows, Linux is even easier these days.