Should OS makers, like Microsoft, be legally required to provide 15 years of security updates?

  • merdaverse@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    Microsoft’s plan to end Windows 10 support next month — which may make an estimated 400 million PCs obsolete

    I don’t get this. Can’t those PCs update to the new version? Yes, I am very aware that win11 is a shit show and win10 was better.

    But Ubuntu also has a similar support policy for updates:

    Ubuntu LTS versions get five years of updates, while non-LTS only gets nine months.

    Would all the Linux versions out there be subjected the same 15 years of updates??

    • AstralPath@lemmy.ca
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      4 hours ago

      You don’t typically pay to run Linux distros. They’re open-source. I can’t imagine they’d be subject to this.

      • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Upgrades are more seamless as well, it’s definitely a bit more blurry of a process. Plus Ubuntu releases twice a year, so their versions are more like the equivalent of Microsoft’s service packs (or whatever they call them now) but on a rolling basis.

    • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      6 hours ago

      No, Windows 11 added extra, unneeded hardware requirements.

      Obsolete in this case actually means obsolete. Windows 11 literally blocks the update because you do not meet requirements, such as not having a TPM.

      Technically, there are ways to bypass this, but not for a casual user (and it probably breaks some ToS)

      • Smith6612@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        Yep, exactly this. You can bypass the TPM and Processor requirements, but at some point it will come back to bite someone in the butt.

        Microsoft with the 24H2 update broke Windows 11 for older systems (like Core2Duo, which are already ancient) due to a lack of required processor instructions. I’ve seen systems running under QEMU, and also on newer systems like the AMD Ryzen Zen1 platform experience “Unsupported Processor” BSODs preventing the system from booting.

        Even outside of that, Microsoft doesn’t deploy the yearly feature roll-ups to systems with unsupported hardware, even if Windows 11 is already installed. I’ve seen many unsupported systems end up stuck 1-2 builds behind, and they never see the update. They have to be manually updated using the same mechanisms that got Windows 11 installed in the first place.

        Microsoft I believe, expects Windows 11 to be running on a minimum set of hardware, and that’s all they are qualifying it for. So older systems are going to eat it at some point if they are used in production.

        The TPM checks are for security but, certainly not required if someone is willing to drop system security for some reason.

    • Verqix@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      Correct, the “obsolete” PCs can’t update to Windows 11. The Windows 11 update forces certain hardware support that a lot of devices don’t have. The security this hardware provides is mainly in someone physically removing data from your PC. As such it’s very business oriented but affects all versions of Windows 11.

      • barryamelton@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        It’s not business oriented, it provides a unique ID attached to the machine, cryptographically proven.

        Next step is to use that unique ID to identify you on the internet and digital life. Ending all privacy.

        You think this is far fetched? Kernel-level anti-cheat for games already does this and bans the machine from playing that game ever again.

        • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Couldn’t you theoretically swap out the tpm chip? Or spoof/emulate it? If not, how do VMs run Win11, do they just inherit the host tpm chip and that’s that? I feel like this was the same goal of having a mac address on each device, and it became irrelevant in short order.