Before Windows 10 goes EOL, I'm testing three alternative Linux distros to save my 6-year-old laptop from the landfill

As the ship sinks, in which direction should you jump?

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An X390 running CachyOS from a live USB
(Image credit: © Future)

Support for Windows 10 is set to end on October 14 2025, and that means your old PC will no longer receive any software or security updates, nor will it enjoy any technical support. So we just throw these PCs into the landfill and buy a new Windows 11 PC?

No!

Creating installation media for the tests with Rufus

The CachyOS installer is beautiful, if a little tricky

Your Lenovo X390 can run Windows 11!

I can confirm that my Lenovo X220 works very well with CachyOS

CachyOS on the Lenovo X390

Is CachyOS the right choice for those moving from Windows?

Linux Mint has a silky smooth install process

Linux Mint software management — simplicity and not a terminal in sight!

Linux Mint has taken the lead! — but will it retain it with just one more Linux distro to test?

How does Linux Mint 22.1 perform on my old Lenovo X220?

Is Linux Mint the right choice for those moving from Windows?

Zorin OS 17.3's installer rivals Linux Mint!

Zorin OS — First Impressions are good!

Zorin OS score its first win over Linux Mint in my tests!

Zorin OS' Software Manager is the GOAT!

What version of Ubuntu is Zorin OS 17.3 based on?

I almost got Hades running on Zorin OS, using Bottles, Wine and Steam

Zorin OS checklist time!

ZorinOS Takes first place as the best Windows 10 alternative Linux distro!

99 Comments Comment from the forums
  • SomeoneElse23
    Or you can continue to use the laptop without official MS support.

    If you are going to retire it, at least recycle it!
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    Or you could use a tool like Rufus and install Windows 11 because TPM 2.0 is the only thing hindering most Windows 10 machines from running 11, or you could redeem 1000 Microsoft reward points for a year of extra upgrades...

    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-windows-10-extended-security-updates-available-using-reward-points/
    Windows 11 is still working just fine on my relatively antique (and underpowered as heck) Surface Pro 3 after installing with Rufus.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    Admin said:

    to save my 6-year-old laptop from the landfill
    Articles like this are very valuable. These machines that Microsoft has turned its back to still have plenty of years of good service left in them. Meaning, that's more $ that can remain in your wallet.

    Unfortunately, some will insist on using an unsupported version of Windows which is very unwise. That's just asking for viruses and spyware and to turn your personal computer into a bot aggregator that harasses all of us especially when these will turn into bot farms and DDOS attacks.

    Please do not go the route of unsupported software turned spyware. Please don't play your part in turning your computer into a bot drone.
    Reply
  • phxrider
    All the same things we've been doing to get Win 11 installed on VMs since it came out should also work on most laptops of that era. Rufus makes it into a one-step process.
    Reply
  • phxrider
    ezst036 said:
    Articles like this are very valuable. These machines that Microsoft has turned its back to still have plenty of years of good service left in them. Meaning, that's more $ that can remain in your wallet.

    Unfortunately, some will insist on using an unsupported version of Windows which is very unwise. That's just asking for viruses and spyware and to turn your personal computer into a bot aggregator that harasses all of us especially when these will turn into bot farms and DDOS attacks.

    Please do not go the route of unsupported software turned spyware. Don't turn your computer into a bot drone.
    Are you referring to suppressing the TPM 2.0 requirement for Windows 11 as "unsupported software"?
    Reply
  • ezst036
    phxrider said:
    Are you referring to suppressing the TPM 2.0 requirement for Windows 11 as "unsupported software"?
    Microsoft has stated that it will not support any computer that fails to meet requirements; yes, also TPM2.0. It means you still put yourself, and me, at the risk of your computer being an email spam bot or other nefarious bot setup. Here it is right from the mouthpiece:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-on-devices-that-don-t-meet-minimum-system-requirements-0b2dc4a2-5933-4ad4-9c09-ef0a331518f1
    If Windows 11 is installed on ineligible hardware, your device won't receive support from Microsoft, and you should be comfortable assuming the risk of running into compatibility issues.
    Now all of us suspect Microsoft will quietly change its tune and also suspect this doesn't include security-type updates, but keep in mind Microsoft did just this last week take the very aggressive stance of removing all drivers from older hardware. It is plausible that Microsoft is playing for keeps here and they will let you go down with the ship.

    At the end of the day the official word is the official word. No support means no support. Proceed with caution. Many people may feel happy risking mine and others well being, well, that's really classy of you. Such wonderful Gentlemen and Ladies around here.

    But do you put yourself at risk? Don't risk your own bank accounts and other information. That is, quite frankly, stupid.
    Reply
  • Dr3ams
    Lenovo's website states that your laptop (X390) can be upgraded to Windows 11.

    Lenovo devices supported for upgrade to Windows 11
    It might need a Bios update, which you can get here.

    Lenovo X390 Bios update
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    ezst036 said:
    Microsoft has stated that it will not support any computer that fails to meet requirements; yes, also TPM2.0. It means you still put yourself, and me, at the risk of your computer being an email spam bot or other nefarious bot setup. Here it is right from the mouthpiece:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-on-devices-that-don-t-meet-minimum-system-requirements-0b2dc4a2-5933-4ad4-9c09-ef0a331518f1
    Now all of us suspect Microsoft will quietly change its tune and also suspect this doesn't include security-type updates, but keep in mind Microsoft did just this last week take the very aggressive stance of removing all drivers from older hardware. It is plausible that Microsoft is playing for keeps here and they will let you go down with the ship.

    At the end of the day the official word is the official word. No support means no support. Proceed with caution. Many people may feel happy risking mine and others well being, well, that's really classy of you. Such wonderful Gentlemen and Ladies around here.

    But do you put yourself at risk? Don't risk your own bank accounts and other information. That is, quite frankly, stupid.
    This only means that the device won't get any support....
    As in you call microsoft and tell them "I have windows 11 on potato Pc please help" they will tell you "we don't support this device with windows 11"

    It has nothing to do with the OS not being secure.
    Reply
  • erazog
    For a Lenovo X390 you can just use Kubuntu which is regular Ubuntu with KDE desktop which is closer to current windows.

    There is also a Cinnamon version of Ubuntu if you want official Ubuntu instead of Linux Mint.

    Lastly there is also Lubuntu which uses LXQT this UI is closest to old Win9x and is the lightest version of Ubuntu, better suited for quite old PC's.

    Zorin is to me is a let down, simply because it claims to be for Windows users but then uses a terrible hacked version of the Gnome interface, Gnome does not behave like Windows at all in any way even if you skin it on the surface to look like it.

    Finally KDE and LXQT are both built using the Qt framework, a lot of open source software on Windows also uses Qt so applications with their Linux versions fit together UI wise much better than the GTK Gnome/Cinnamon approach.

    The only real downside of the Ubuntu variants is they don't enable Flatpak via Flathub support out of the box but that is easy to change and gives you access to a lot more software.
    Reply
  • milleron
    phxrider said:
    All the same things we've been doing to get Win 11 installed on VMs since it came out should also work on most laptops of that era. Rufus makes it into a one-step process.
    Absolutely. Not wanting to use a laptop without security updates, I just used a newer program on GitHub called Flyby that uses scripts to achieve the same thing Rufus does but it's even less hassle than Rufus. Flyby will not proceed if it finds processors so old that they're not capable of SSE4.2, which precludes Intel CPUs made before 2008 and AMD CPUs made before 2011 — i.e., it doesn't waste a user's time trying to upgrade a computer that's not going to work with Windows 11. It told me that my laptop had a "very high chance of success" with the upgrade.
    My laptop is 14 years old with an I3 processor of that era, 8GB RAM and a 250GB SSD. It's not used for anything intensive, just email, Web browsing, etc, and it now runs Windows 11 24H2 as fast as it ran Windows 7 and 10. My hardware doesn't provide all the security features of Windows 11, but it IS 100% as secure as it's been for the last 14 years and it's as secure as I need it to be for household use. I see no reason to switch to Linux for computers like this unless one simply wants to play around with Linux and would otherwise trash the older machine.
    Reply