LibreOffice Explains 'Real Costs' of Upgrading to Microsoft's Windows 11, Urges Taking Control with Linux (documentfoundation.org)
- Reference: 0178062081
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/06/16/068252/libreoffice-explains-real-costs-of-upgrading-to-microsofts-windows-11-urges-taking-control-with-linux
- Source link: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2025/06/11/the-end-of-windows-10/
"Now, The Document Foundation, maker of LibreOffice, has also joined in to support the Endof10 initiative," [3]reports the tech blog Neowin :
> The foundation writes: "You don't have to follow Microsoft's [4]upgrade path . There is a better option that puts control back in the hands of users, institutions, and public bodies: Linux and LibreOffice. Together, these two programmes offer a powerful, privacy-friendly and future-proof alternative to the Windows + Microsoft 365 ecosystem."
>
> It further adds the "real costs" of upgrading to Windows 11 as it writes:
>
> "The move to Windows 11 isn't just about security updates. It increases dependence on Microsoft through aggressive cloud integration, [5]forcing users to adopt Microsoft accounts and services. It also leads to higher costs due to subscription and licensing models, and reduces control over how your computer works and how your data is managed. Furthermore, new [6]hardware requirements will render millions of perfectly good PCs obsolete.... The end of Windows 10 does not mark the end of choice, but the beginning of a new era. If you are tired of mandatory updates, invasive changes, and being bound by the commercial choices of a single supplier, it is time for a change. Linux and LibreOffice are ready — 2025 is the right year to choose digital freedom!"
The first words on [7]LibreOffice's announcement ? "The countdown has begun...."
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/06/04/186206/kde-targets-windows-10-exiles-claiming-your-computer-is-toast
[2] https://kde.org/for/w10-exiles/Windows10exiles
[3] https://www.neowin.net/news/2025-finally-the-year-of-linux-libreoffice-explains-real-costs-of-windows-11/
[4] https://www.neowin.net/news/asus-joins-microsoft-amd-dell-urges-you-to-prepare-for-mandatory-windows-11-upgrade/
[5] https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-has-an-official-bypass-for-windows-11-installs-without-internet-microsoft-account/
[6] https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-updates-windows-11-minimum-processor-requirements-guidance-for-ai-pc-support/
[7] https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2025/06/11/the-end-of-windows-10/
Yeah but... (Score:2)
I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable. I mean full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain - reboot required for entering text into a browser text area or editing a spreadsheet, all unsaved data lost, start over like you're using floppies. It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.
Re: (Score:3)
> full OS lockup crash, which I can't even explain.
This has to be a hardware issue. Check the system logs upon restart. Check for bad RAM.
You also say that "It crashes more than windows/office". Windows/office isn't supposed to crash like it was in the 90s. If both Fedora and Windows crash, even if one less frequently than the other, you have a hardware problem.
Libreoffce crashes on me occasionally (I can't remember last time, maybe some months ago) but as I'm working with pre-releases I expect that.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. The only time my windows box ever crashes , its 99.999% of the time a Nvidia driver issue from me trying to stuff 10 billion polygons into a hole that only accepts 9.
Regular office app useage should never venter into these blacker waters.
Re: Yeah but... (Score:2)
This is exactly the problem - Linux crashes often and the average user sees the crash and says "hmm, that's unstable", not "hmm, let me go spelunk some cryptic logs". I'm a veteran tech and have no interest in even attempting to resolve this as I might have 25 years ago - I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.
. Windows wasn't crashing on this hardware, only Linux (and Ubuntu is worse). i can boot into windows and use it for months without a crash. Linux crashes often. Just a fact on this syst
Re: (Score:2)
> I just want stability. This keeps users on windows.
Fedora is probably the most popular linux desktop for software developers right now, and we don't hear it crashes. If you don't have time or will to solve it, that's fine, just keep using what works for you. But don't think this is what keeps users on windows. There are many reasons users stay on windows; stability has never been one of them.
Re: (Score:2)
It is helpful to first research for hardware that is known to work well with Linux based operating systems. In particular, the graphical hardware can be a problem area due to the need for proprietary or closed source drivers. Meaning, that a successful installation and a crash free experience of a Linux distribution is dependent on avoiding certain hardware.
Linux based operating systems are a best effort solution and so there will be some hardware configurations that give trouble in being unreliable. Window
Re: (Score:1)
Fedora is unstable by definition, it's Red Hat test bench. You should try a stable distro like Debian.
Yeah, Linux fragmentation can be problematic.
Re: (Score:2)
I've read here that Fedora is now the default desktop for RedHat employees, because it updates faster than RHEL. If it crashed they would know it, and we would as well through news on this website.
The poster also says computer crashes for no apparent reason. It's different from "unstable" in the sense of a distro, in the sense of: updatesto latest user software, and maybe LibreOffice crashes when calling one of the new functionalities. The kernel of a Fedora is going to be as stable as any other distro. A l
Re: Yeah but... (Score:2)
Or Arch. I've on Arch for over 10 years now. Can't remember the last time it crashed.
Re: (Score:2)
and CTRL ALT BACKSPACE doesn't quit X, you are saying your WHOLE machine is locked up ? Hardware, almost certainly is your problem.
Re: (Score:3)
Do you have a modern (11th, 12th gen) Intel CPU? They have a hardware design fault that makes them crash often - mostly in heavy calculations (e.g. unpacking video game textures) - there is a tool online you can run to see if your CPU is affected and you may even be able to RMA it if so.
And Windows doesn't save data on the fly so it would be affected similarly (though they are changing this - Notepad saves on the fly now - the youth are used to phones and think having to File - Save As every time is laughab
Re: (Score:2)
> I've been trying to make the switch to fedora/libre/Firefox for a few months. It crashes more than windows/office, which is actually pretty stable.
> It's sad, but Linux does not seem ready for the desktop in 2025, when there has never been a greater opportunity.
This is called a Hasty generalization. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faulty_generalization#Hasty_generalization
Can confirm... (Score:3)
...after switching and using linux. The win11 subscription nagging, ads everywhere, reconfiguring win11 after updates, because settings get reverted, very annoying. And i have the impression that it will get worse over time.
LibreOffice improved (Score:5, Insightful)
Some people are surely still holding on to the impression from a few years ago that LibreOffice (and OpenOffice) were very buggy.
These days, LibreOffice is completely usable and can serve as a replacement for MS Office (even if its design isn't always as slick). It also takes a little time to get used to.
Re: (Score:2)
I find there are still issues with Word documents people send me not rendering right, and not being able to fill in forms in that format.
The bigger issue is who do they think is going to provide the tech support for Linux? Are there even any distros that help you migrate your Windows files and apps?
Re: LibreOffice improved (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, an even bigger issue is that many times people send you a word-like document when a txt file would suffice.
Re: (Score:2)
The annoying thing is that Word can save in ODF format and that is usually fine. It's typically ancient Word documents that were made 15 years ago and have been hacked up repeatedly that cause issues.
Microsoft could have some code that cleans things up, but there is no motivation for them to do so. It probably needs some regulatory pressure.
Re: (Score:2)
As a regular user of mail merge function of Libre Office, I dissent....
Programs, not programmes! (Score:2)
You need better autocorrect LibreOffice!
Re: (Score:2)
The author is Italian, so he's maybe learned British English instead of American. In British English, although "programs" is now the preferred spelling in computing contexts, in the real world the two spellings are now interchangeable as computing terminology has become the most common usage. Doesn't really matter, it's obvious what the word means.
True, but there are bypasses and workarounds (Score:1)
It's still possible to install Windows 11 with a local account and bypassing some hardware requirements using Rufus (first thing you should do after buying a computer with a preinstalled version of Windows 11: wipe it and replace it with a version from MS), or to switch from a remote account to a local account after the classic installation. Moreoever, for a few bucks, you can buy a licence for Office 2024 or so from a licence broker, which runs on your computer, not in the cloud. But yes, this is not a so
Re: (Score:2)
What do you do when the workaround stops working? Even when there is a new workaround two weeks later, you're having an huge issue if you installed Win11 on all computers of your company.
Re: same same. (Score:2)
Unless you pick a Linux that is on rolling release. That's why I switched to arch years ago.
Re: same same. (Score:2)
You've touched on why the average user isn't switching. The is no Linux operating system. There are over 600 different distros, according to a quick search, and the typical advice is to try several to figure out what you like. That's not going to fly with someone who doesn't enjoy playing with operating systems.
Re: same same. (Score:2)
That's why companies have IT departments, so that someone who knows Linux and likes playing with OSes can make the choice.
Re: (Score:2)
Huh, I thought the distro-wars ended when they abandoned Unity. Every IT department diverging from Windows that I've experienced seems to have standardized on Ubuntu. Well known, you can Google the answers, and any Gnome-hater such as myself knows about how to select a desktop environment from the xDM menu.
[ That is unless your hosting mandates something from Red Hat land ... ]
Re: same same. (Score:2)
Fair enough, Ubuntu has been a popular choice for some time. Then they have chosen to upgrade periodically.
Re: (Score:2)
Support for the OS version may only be 5 years, but support for the underlying hardware will last a LOT longer and the new version is free, so you can update to the new version without having to buy new hardware.
Plus Linux distros generally aren't designed to tie you in to other services provided only by the distributor.