Computer health has been a concern with PC users. (Piotr Adamowicz | Dreamstime.com)

By Adrian St.Onge

WHAT TO KNOW

Microsoft’s pushing PC users to Windows 11. Here’s what that means

Jun 11, 2024 | 9:27 AM

Microsoft users of the Windows 10 operating system received a message in recent weeks saying that support for the operating system will be ending next year.

According to IFIX owner Justin Neigel, operating systems being changed are not uncommon.

Neigel said that Apple operating systems tend to be more aggressive than Microsoft, and that Microsoft ushering users to Windows 11 is to keep up with competition.

“Well, right now, Microsoft is really trying to push their Windows 11 product and this is for a number of reasons. They’re trying to increase install base, where they have a huge, huge install base with Windows 10 and Windows 10 Pro,” Neigel said.

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“But they’re just not seeing that same kind of penetration in the market with Windows 11 and this is their way of accelerating that and pushing that,” he said.

“Whether it’s applicable for the average consumer, I don’t think it’s really a concern.”

Some computers are used for more than social media and checking emails however as surveys say over 1.5 billion computer users use PCs to play video games.

Future-proofing, a term used in the technology industry, is a practice of getting new parts to increase computer performance.

Neigul said that computer bugs during system updates are common, especially with new software but said that in most cases computers only need regular maintenance and are not in dire need of significant upgrades to support new systems.

“Right now, probably eight per cent of the time when something is slowing down for no reason, it’s likely because they have a mechanical hard drive in it and it’s failing,” Neigul said.

“If you don’t have your stuff backed up somewhere and it’s starting to read really slow, especially when it’s starting to boot up in the beginning, it’s probably because your hard drive is going to fail and you need to get it transferred onto something else or back it up quickly.”

Neigul stresses the importance of proper cyber-security as he says average computer and smartphone users are becoming more frequent targets for scams.